Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-15
THE POLISH QUESTION In PRUSSIA.
as to hem in the German colonies and Il
make handsome pecuniary profits 70
their associations

as to hem in the German colonies and to
make handsome pecuniary profits for
their associations
4 4
Count Arnim told the chamber that the
question was. whether the Polish prob
lem could be solved by
Question of peaceful means; or. II
not. what other means
Ieace' must be employed" 1t is
seldom says the Times. in commenting
upon this remark. that responsible
statesmen deem 1t advisable to proclaim
to the world the possibilities of such con-
tingencies as these words suggest"
Herr Won Burgsdorff in the discussion
in the chamber declared the law Of ex-
preparation to be heavy with conse-
quences which would fall upon future
generations. His committee could not
conquer its scruples at the proposed vio-
lation Of the sanctity OF individual prop
erty."
Count Arm1n. minister Of agriculture.
replying, said that the policy Of concilia-
ton Of Frederick Nv and of Caprivi had
effected nothing. and that the Polish
question constituted a great danger
against which German colonization was
the only arm: agitation would prevent
eminent, therefore, had decided upon ex-
preparation.
+ Count Mirbach, representing the land
nobility, delivered an eloquent discourse
demanding the rejection OF the project
of appropriation pure and simple. In his
opinion the application Of this law would
have the effect Of rendering more acute
the conflict in the east part of the king
dom. He protested against the princi-
pie of appropriation. Under pretext of
iCa ~ he pol
he cried. what would be the indignation
in Germany If the Russian government
undertook to appropriate the German res
idents?"
The count emphasized the fact that his
opposition and that of his friends was
not directed against the general policy
of the government. nor the person of the
chancellor himself. Nevertheless when
Count Mirbach left the tribune and ap-
preached the ministerial bench the chan
cellor manifested his displeasure toward
the eloquent speaker.
Count Oppersdorff, Silesian magnate.
denied Prince Buelows theory that the
land and property market would become
demoralfzed If the powers contemplated
by the appropriation bill were to be ma
terially curtailed. HE did not believe
that appropriation was the only means
by which the German element could be
prevented from leaving the Polish prov
inces: And he could not reconcile the
which he had sworn as a member of the
chamber of lords to observe the consti-
tuition. Prussia, he said, would remain
Prussia without the assistance of the ex-
preparation clauses of the BILL but it was
questionable whether the integrity Of
Prussia would be maintained IL the bill
were passed"
The Prussian minister of justice. DR..
Beseler, declared that the bill did not
involve q breach either
Legality of articles or 9 of the
,. Prussian constitution as
onooooIeu' charged, but the legality
of the government propositions was I'M
assailable.
The Polish leader, Prince Ferdinand
Radziwill, protested against the habitual
suspected traitors. instead Of Prussian
subjects. with historic rights, who had
remained loyal to Prussia during the
wars of the last century.
The Poles had received various ma
terial benefits at the hands of the Prus-
sian administration, but the authorities
had done little or nothing to satisfy the
spiritual and intellectual needs of the
Polish people. On the contrary, every
aspiration which was essentially Polish
had been vigorously suppressed. The
themselves in a moment of their nation
ality, as If 1t was an old coat, and it
was the national feeling Of the Poles
which had led them to adopt an attitude
of eff ne:t This was not
STA or toward Germany; nor was it due
to any desire to excite comniseration
abroad. 1t was necessary, however. to
add that in every country distinction
was drawn between what the world owed
to the German mind and spirit and Ger
man Of Prussian policy. which he, too,
was at liberty to criticize. not as a
foreigner, but as a Prussian subject
Prince Radziwill reminded the govern
ment that the promises which his grand
father received from the King Of Prussia
in 1915 were. on a far more lavish scale
than the demands which the Poles were
making at the present day. The Prus-
sian minister Of agriculture was mistaken
when he asserted that the rebellion of
lenient treatment which they had re-
ceived. AS a matter of fact. there had
been no rebellion in Prussia in 1880. The
only Revolutionary movement" to which
the governme mt could point was the Polish
school strike last year but this has come
to an end. The strike was due to the
governments refusal to afford opportuni-
ties for religious instruction in the Polish
elementary schools.
The Prussian government, instead of
promoting the interests of it's Polish SUBJ
jects. had decreed their
Radziwill's extinction and had given
them notice to quit. That
was the tendency of the
bill before the chamber, and Providence
alone knew whether that would also prove
to be it's effect. 1t had been noted with
satisfaction in Germany that as a result
of Herr Dernburg's visit to Last Africa
the German government proposed to aban-
don the policy which it had hitherto pur-
sued In the German colonies and to make
the moral and intellectual development of
the natives its chief concern. He asked
the government whether the peaceable
rural population in the Polish provinces
was to be treated with less consideration
than the natives in the German colonies.
Prince RadZiwill declared that he made
no appeal to the sentiment of the cham
Der.
Prince Won Buelow then arose.
THE government, he said, ''in ques-
ton Of interior policy took no heed Of
praise or blame coming from the for
eigner The German people had always