New-York tribune., 1915-03-13
Suffering of Divided Land
Greater than That
of Belgium.
5000 VILLAGES
RAZED TO GROUND
Men of Same Race Forced to
Fight Against Each Other
100000 Among Lost.
rRy Gable 20 The Tribune. ]

Ky cable 70 Ite Iflnune.J J
London, March 13.--Concurrently
with the Petrograd announcement that
an important decree relating to the
autonomy of Poland will shortly be is
sued, "The Daily Chronicle" publishes
the following:
For no country, not even stricken
Belgium. has the war spelled a greater
tragedy than for unhappy Poland. The
people of Belgium, despite their intense
s.. .erings, can find some comfort in
the knowledge that Their misfortunes
spring from common cause and are
mitigated by a common inspiration, but
the Poles have no such satisfaction.
An appeal by the General Relief Com
} ittee for the victim5 Of the war IN
Poland brings home the meaning OF the
war TO that distracted country. over a
line of $50 miles, some three millions
of AuStro-Germans and four millions
of Russians are fighting each other.
For more than six months they have
been treading down and tearing IN
their turn the Polish land, whose in
habitants are forced {. fight IN oppo-
site camps for causes which are not
their own. The Poles must engage in
fraternal strife, and are put by both
sides in the first line of battle, and
Wy often kill each other in bayonet
charges. The Poles have hitherto fur
nj he'd a million and a half OF soldiers,
almost equally divided between the
Russian and Au ro-German armies.
Up to now four hundred thousand OF
them have been lost in killed, wounded
and prisoners.
"Everywhore the tide of fighting has
repeatedly oyerrun the country. II has
submerged about two hundred towns
and nIic thou and villages. The mate
rial damage amounts TO more than El2O,-
coo COO Some 5000 o. these villages
have been razed to the ground, either
in battle or in retreat 10 stay pursuit.
Innumersble country houses and farms
have been burned, more than one hun
dred churches pulled down and more
than one thousand badly damaged. All
stores of corn and forage have been
seized or destroyed, and one million
horses and two million cattle have been
taken for the armies Jr nave perl-hed
for want of pasture. KUN mas come
equally upon the peasant popu alton
and the great land owners, VINO have
forfeited considerable ...vestments. A
rural population of 100000 Is reduced
to beggary.
"Three-quarters Of the towns are in
the midst O. the operations of the war.
Some, like kalish, with fifty thousand
Inhabitants, have been destroyed;
others, great industrial centres, such
as cnetochowa and Sosnowice, with
seventy thousand inhabitants each, and
LODI, which was twice captured. with
100000 inhabitants, suffer terrible
financial crisis. Warsaw, the capital,
with its 100000 inhabitants. nearly
twice as popu Gus as either Brussels or
Rome, has also been sorely tried by
being constantly threatened with capt
ure. Overwhelmed by aerial lombard
merits and cut of from the weaithlest
western districts OF the country, all its
factories have stopped working. Many
are greatly damaged, and hundred
very important ones are destroyed
The whole of the industrial production.
amounting to more than 4oO.OOO,OOO
yearly, has been ruined, and 100000
workmen are now without means Of
subsistence, together with multitude
Of artisans and tradesmen. The great
maiorit of townsmen, three millions
in number, are destitute. In these cir
cumstances Poland appeals to the civil
lied nations for aid. Donations may be
sent to the Swiss National Bank at
Lausanne"
Berlin, March Il via wireless TO Say
Vile. n. YD.-The Overseas News
Agency gave out to-day the following;
The Stockholm 'Dagbladet' reports
that the visit of Emperor Nicholas to
Ioi.;,,,fors prObablv is intended TO
prepare the people for a proclamation
Of conscription. Up to the present the
men in Finland have been free from
military service. The frontier Is being
closely watched to prevent the people
from crossing into Sweder. The most
prominent Finnish Senators have been
summoned to Petrograd. Several
Russian provisional governors have
given warning against an extended CON
scription Of Russian peasants, declar-
ing that the number Of men required
for agricultural work already is insult
ficient."