The Dominion TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 1919. A BARRIER TO BOLSHEVISM

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 142, 11 March 1919, Page 4

The Dominion TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 1919. A BARRIER TO BOLSHEVISM

One of to-day's messages states that the inter-Allied Commission sent to Poland by the Peace Conference is making good headway in negotiations with German delegates, and that "a speedy and satisfactory conclusion is hoped for." This is good news as it bears not only upon Polish national aspirations, out Lupon the prospects of stable peace, and incidentally upon the prospects of raising a' sound barrier to the westward spread of Bolshevism. The reported anxiety of the German representatives to set a period to the sporadic hostilities which have occurred lately in the Polish frontier lands indicates that they recognise the hopelessness of contesting' Polish claims by force of arms. The Germans would hardly be in any such conciliatory mood if definite progress were not being made with the internal reorganisation of Poland under the Government which has been set up with M. Paderewski as Prime Minister. If Poland were falling into a state analogous to that of Russia the Allies would be as powerless to help her as they aro to help that unhappy country. The Huns would certainly not be slow to profit by developing disorder in Poland; their apparent willingness to submit to the determination of Poland's claims by the Peace Conference (through the agency of the inter-Allied Commission) implies a belief on their part that she is capable, in spite of all she has undergone, of asserting and obtaining the national rights: of which she has so long been bereft. Should it prove in fact that a new day has dawned for Polish nationalism the whole peace-loving world will have reason to rejoice, oh grounds of interest as well as sympathy. It is a matter of common knowledge that the question of righting Poland's ancient wrongs is one of the. most vital raised in the war. It is as well known that of all the areas over which the war has ebbed and _ flowed none has suffered more terribly than Russian Poland, !he "Polish salient" which . figured so prominently in the early RussoGerman campaigns of the war. Now that the question of reconstituting Poland as it existed .unpartitioned until 1772 is raised in practical shape, far more is involved than justice and redress to a bitterlywronged nation. The reunion in an independent State of the Polish territories upon which Russia, Prussia, and Austria respectively laid violent hands is demanded as a ■simple act of justice, but it is demanded also as an essential condition of future peace in Europe. The events of this war sufficiently demonstrate! that to leave the Pofes or any considerable section of them in bondage would make future conflicts inevitable. On the other hand, if the Poles are enabled to.set up a compact national State the forces of disintegration which are playing havoc with Russia will be met.and repelled on the borders of the area in which they have attained their worst and most clangorous development. _ More indeed than the mere creation of a barrier to Bolshevism may he. hoped for. Whatever forces of restoration still exist in Russia would undoubtedly bo stimulated and strengthened by the example of Poland rising in recovered power and prosperity out, of the ashes of war. At the "same time Poland has an essential place m the bulwark which must be created against, any new development of German aggression towarou the east. As one of her gifted spokesmen has said, it is her destiny to bo the comer-stone of 'a wall of Slav and German-hating nations extending from the Baltic to the-. Adriatic. So far as territorial' adjustment is concerned this implies the reconstitution of Poland out of Prussian, Russian, and Austrian territory and with a sea-coast on the Baltic including Danzig. Such a reconstitution, envisaged by President Wilson when ho declared for the reunion and independence of territories inhabited by indisputably populations, which should be 'assured a free and secure' accesstothe sea," would leave-East Prussia isolated and enclosed on its land boundaries by Poland and Lithuania. On the "south Poland would join the Czecho-Slovak State, and this in turn would link all the federated Jugo-Slavo territories exthe Adriatic. The Polish populations to be reunited aggregate about twenty-four million souk. While it is clear that Poland is cast for a great role in the future history of the world it is as evident and should be the keynote of Allied policy where she is concerned, that she has terrible initial handicaps to overcome iu< resuming her former status as a nation. An authoritative survey of .these handicaps and also of the possibilities of recovery was made in a recent articlo in the New York Outlook by Waclaw GousKi, a stepson and colleague of Paderewski.

lliero is no reason (he wrote) why . . 1 oiand should not resume her previous position among nations and become again a bulwark against invasions from the east and a-powerful rampart against bermany s expansion towards that same east. She will need the financial support at first of other nations to repair tho damage'done by the war: 2500 villages razed to the ground; more than v OO towns reduced to ashes; 1600 churches in nuns; worth of industrial and agricultural property destroyed, which sum be it said parenthetically, is equal to the total wealth of Belgiumbefore the war. The period of recuperation may be long, but let us remember that Poland is above all an agricultural country that once upon a time not so long ago she was called the granary of Europe, and that damages done to the soil can be more rapidly remedial than those done to other industries requiring build)l S \ S n , d maoWnery. The chances are that Poland will resume normal life even sooner than other countries affected bv the war. " .M. Gokski alludes also to the famous textile industries of Poland, to its rich and varied mineral deposits, and to its great resources in water-power. While pointing to these and other material factors which will assist recovery and reconstruction he recognises that the greatest factor of all is the spirit of the Polish people. Maintaining proudly that his countrymen are equal to every demand that will be made upon them he instances not only the past glories of the nation and its fortitude during long years of oppression, but the steadfast courage with which it has faced and endured the heaviest trials of the present war. That the Polish race is faithful unto death was demonstrated with finality when Germany, in 1916, set up a mock "Kingdom

of Poland," in the hope of recruiting a Polish army. "By releasing convicts from gaol," M. Gorski states, "Germany secured the fighting services of exactly 680 Polish volunteers, while 30,000 young men were hanged for refusing to enlist. Enfeebled and impoverished by the awful ordeal through which she has passed, Poland in_ recent days has had to struggle desperately to make Bead against the predatory attacks of Russian and German freebooters. No detailed account has been given of the assistance rendered , her by the Allies, but to-day's news puts her prospects in a. brighter light th.an_migb.fc have been hoped for. It is evidently incumbent on the Allies, on all grounds, to give her all the assistance in their power.