152 EMPLOYMENT OF THE PLEBISCITE [450 



the cases of the fusion of Valachia and Moldavia, the mer- 

 sion of the ItaHan States, the secession of West Virginia, 

 and the return of the Virginia section of the District of Co- 

 lumbia. But conditions are quite as often extremely com- 

 plex, and when this is the case, the plebiscite must of 

 necessity fall considerably short of its allotted function or 

 even fail altogether. For what would have happened if 

 the Norwegian vote had shown a considerable minority 

 against the disruption of the union, or if it had turned out 

 to be a tie vote? Judging from the statement made by N. 

 Eden expressing the sentiment of the Swedish Riksdag 

 that " in itself this Norwegian unanimity is a relief to us " 

 and that " if the Union is to be dissolved, nothing would 

 have made a settlement more difficult than a strong Nor- 

 wegian minority against such a solution "^ we may well 

 infer that resort to arms might have been the result. In 

 Great Britain, Ireland is the minority against the majority 

 represented by the rest of Britain. If a plebiscite held in 

 Ireland should, or rather could, establish a universal wish 

 for separation, then it would here again be serving the pur- 

 pose of gaining recognition for the minority. Unfortunately 

 Ireland itself has its own majority and minority and as 

 matters now stand, no plebiscite could solve the question 

 to the satisfaction of the two conflicting factions. Another 

 instance of this type we have in the case of Alsace-Lor- 

 raine. In 1871 the two provinces represented a solid mi- 

 nority against the newly created German Empire to which 

 they were annexed against the evident will of the people. 

 To-day a plebiscite taken on the question of retention by 

 Germany or return to France would undoubtedly reveal in 

 Alsace-Lorraine a majority and a minority, oneway or other. 

 Still, both Germany and France refuse to be swayed from 

 their respective positions. Germany, up to the signing of 

 the Peace Treaty, had consistently refused to consider the 

 existence of whatever remained of the original sentiment 

 in favor of France ; France, on the other hand, in the Peace 



* See above, p. 1 14. 



