POLAND

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10610, 8 June 1920, Page 4

POLAND

The arrest of General Bwusiloff by tho Soviet authorities clears up tho situation in .Southern and M estern Russia. After the first phase of tho war with Poland, tho Russians under Brusiloff assumed the offensive, determined to swoop the tide of victory buck over tho Polish border. In the beginning they gained »some territory •from the Polish armies; they boasted of very much more ; and their sympathisers in tho British Press proclaimed tho impending total defeat of Poland. But the boasts and the sympathies fell silent ; the territorial gains of the Ucds melted away; the cities of their capture proved to have remained m Polish hands; and it appeared ms M the Polish General Pilsudski, who had won such prodigious; victories in- the first phase, was proving himself more than a match for his formidable adversary. There was uncertainty, however, except about the fact that the Red armies made no further advance. The arrest of Bfusiluff removes all uncertainty, and the charge against him —that his looses in action were enormous- —proves that once again the Poles have -inflicted .grave disaster on the enemy. That the disaster is decisive, we arc encouraged to believe by the news that the people of the Ukraine arc arranging their affairs on the ruins of the Soviet-Bolshevik administration imposed upon them before the advance of tho Poles to their help. That Ukraima and Poland aro demanding recognition of tho States they have established by their victory over anarchic oppression is furtUei proof of the extent of that victory. They deserve this recognition, and help to restore their financial, agricultural, and commercial position. Their request for that help is an appeal tq the gratitude of the Allies for tho establishment of a stable harrier against the Russian anarchy and German revenge.