191 33 Alsatia?t Homecoming 



menis 



that **/<? reiour d la France a He unaniment salute 

 comme juste, legitime, et en parfait accord avec les voeux 

 de la population. ^^ ^ 



In the return to the Motherland, however, certain 

 difficulties naturally arise, to be removed by time and 

 patience. The loss of a separate status is a matter of 

 some regret, and the over-centralized system which 

 prevails in France has irksome features. Submerged New 

 therein as three departments or judicial districts — embarrass- 

 Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin, and Moselle — the combined 

 province has lost somewhat of its cherished individual- 

 ity. As already stated, ^ early in the last century the 

 French government obliterated the old provincial 

 lines, creating ninety "departments" devoid of polit- 

 ical significance. It is certain, however, that no 

 freedom-loving Alsatians look back with longing to 

 their ^ connection with Germany, for under the 

 Prussian system discipline was always a matter of 

 caste control, painful in the highest degree to men 

 who have tasted freedom. 



* "The return to France has been unanimously welcomed as just, legitimate, 

 and perfectly in accord with the will of the people." 



* See Chapter xxvii, page 66. 



C 511 -} 



