Expensive Tug-of-War

Just when it looked as if the French and Germans might forget some of their differences in the common peril, an ancient trouble spot set them snarling at each other. The spot: the smoky Saar basin, a tiny wedge of the Rhine valley on the Franco-German frontier. Barely larger (743 sq. mi.) than Allegheny County, Pa., though its population (900,000) is the densest in Europe, the Saar has both strategic position and rich mineral resources, and it has been a tug-of-war ground for centuries.

German until World War I, a League of Nations mandate of the French for 15 years after, the Saar has been a virtual French protectorate since World War II's end. Its mines and foundries supply 20% of France's coal, 15% of her iron and steel. Yet its people are primarily German; in the 1935 League plebiscite, 90% of them voted for union with Germany. French High Commissioner Gilbert Grandval, an ardent Gaullist, was not content with tying the Saar to the French economy, with which it has a natural industrial affinity. He was also determined to de-Germanize the Saar's inhabitants. Children of German-speaking parents must study French in grade school. The franc is the medium of exchange. French occupation authorities also outlawed the Saar's pro-German Democratic Party, censored German newspapers, expelled Catholic priests who opposed the separation of the Saar from the German bishopric of Trier. So long as West Germany itself was destitute, Saarlanders cynically adopted the slogan, "Our hearts belong to Germany, but our stomachs feel for France." But as West Germany's standard of living improved, Saar stomachs as well as hearts felt drawn to the Vaterland. Last week matters came to a head when France gave Commissioner Grandval a fancy new title: ambassador to the Saar.

As the French explained it, this oddly timed maneuver was merely a pat on the back for ambitious Gilbert Grandval. Angrily, German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer announced that German participation in the European Army would be impossible until the Saar's future is settled. Then he added a trouble-stirring threat: there would be no German troops for the defense of Europe until German participation in NATO is assured.

German truculence revived old French fears. "It is time to teach the Germans that they cannot have everything," snapped one French diplomat. In the heat of nationalism, both nations seemed to forget that the Schuman and Pleven Plans, which both are pledged to join, were designed to make such squabbles old-fashioned and unnecessary.

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