The Washington herald., 1916-11-27
FATE OF BELGIAN MEN
RESTS ION NPOLE'SACTION
May Be Forced to Fight for Kaiser il
Poles Are Tractable.
BY JOHN L. BALDERsToN.
Downright. 1916. BY the Mcclure Newspaper

BY JOHN L. BALDERsTON.
DOWNRIGHT. 1916. BY the Mcclure Newspaper
| 6yndicate.)
London. Nov. 11.-British diplomat
lists and their colleagues Of entente
countries In London regard the con-
stitution by Germany ana Austria OF
an Independent" Kingdom of Poland
with mixture OF anxiety and relief.
They fear that Germany may be able
to secure hundreds OF thousands Of
Poles to refill her exhausted reserves.
They. rejoice that. by detaching q part
Of Russia from the Cars domains be-
fore the end of the war Germany has
dealt deadly insult to Petrograd,
which proves that all hope of q sep
rate peace with Russia is at an end in
Berlin.
The new 'kingdom'' is regarded In ON
cial circles as the most brutal farce in
modern diplomatic history. The urgent
need OF the German army for men for
the 1917 campaignsis held to have forced
the German diplomats to legalize the
conscription Of Poles. against the ,politi-
cal interests Of Austrta-Hungary. and
even of Germany herself, which cannot be
helped by the present coup. Resentment
in Hungary against the German proceed
ure Is said to be intense. Hungary has
for centuries been friendly toward Polish
L
Kingdom" Is simply Q change Of masters
for the Poles.
Opposed by Austria.
| Austria held out for months against
the desires of Germany, hoping to obtain
a real Independent" Poland, which
should adopt a benevolent" attitude to-
ward both Germany and the Hapsburg
kingdom without being controlled exclu-
sively by either. The objection in Vien-
ma to the steps taken in Warsaw Is based
on Jealousy Of Berlin. It IL claimed that
with Poland q vassal state Of Prussia,
under a Prussian or even q Bavarian
king, Austria will sink still further In
her humiliating dependence upon the
Hohenzollerns.
The powerful opposition parties in
Hungary desire independence not only
Tor Russian Poland. now in German
hands, but for the Prussian province of
Posen and the Austrian province Of
Galicia. They want. in other words, the
ancient kingdom re-established within its
former boundaries and given complete
independence. This program is necessary
Tor the realization of Hungarian Nation
alist ambitions. since Hungary desires a
separation from Austria after the death
| OF the Emperor. and II she is to be fnde-
pendent she desires to weaken as much
as possible the great states which sur
round her. In a Central Europe COM
posed Of Germany, Austria, Hungary and
Poland, Hungary hopes to rank second,
and she seeks also to insure herself
against attack from Russia by placing a
really neutral state between her own
frontiers and those OF the Gar
Hunsarian's Plea,
| Count Karolyi, head Of the Inde-
pendent party in Hungary and most
powerful politician in the country, ex-
cepting Premier Tisza, wrote last
July: we have been in close COM
munication with the leaders Of the
Polish National Party. representing
all the Poles. Austrian, German and
Russian-and have given our pledge
to support the reunion of Poland, and
the restoration of her independence
We shall demand that that shall be
one Of the foremost conditions of
peace, and hope that the Western
Entente powers will support the plan
should any objection arise on the part
Of Russia, which I consider most un-
likely"
These hopes have now been dashed
to the ground by Germany, whose
proclamation of independence was as
sociated with a semi-official warning
to the German Poles that they must
not expect to shake OF their allegiance
to Prussia; and at the same time
Franz Joseph. overborne by the dipIo-
macy Of Berlin. announced in vague
! terms measure of autonomy" and
a construction" for Galicia within
the Hapsburg realm-an announce
ment intended to end Polish hopes to
regain their ancient capital of Cra-
COW. How much the promised auton-
/ omy and constitution are likely to do
for Galicia may be estimated from
the fact that Bosnia, HERZEGOVINA and
Croatia already rejoice in constitu-
tions granted by the Hapsburg mon
archy.
Russia May Change Front.
There exists here a disposition tn
hope that Russia, exasperated by the
! present situation and realizing the
danger that millions Of Poles will be
misled by German promises, may take
liberal stand towards Poland which
would win the unqualified support of
the western allies and the United
States. A powerful bureaucratic party
in Petrograd opposes, however, any
extension of Polish liberties ON the
ground that 1t would be followed bv
demands for similar treatment from
the Firms and other subject national
tiles.
Meanwhile the SOLDIERS, leaving the
diplomats to their own worries, are
estimating how many soldiers Ger
many will be able to conscript for her
armies in the new Kingdom" The
problem is complicated by the fact
that Russia held Poland for a year
Of war and during that time called
up for service in her own armies a
large part of the available man power.
Hilaire Belloc, the well-known war
expert. declares that there are in Rus
sian Polan about 100000 ft men of
military age who will have to toin
the Polish National army" whose
formation was announced In Warsaw,
In other words they will have to fight
for Germany. There are in addition.
however, among the 1.250,00o Russian
prisoners of war in Germany and Aus
tria. probably at least zoe, 900 Poles,
and these will presumably be given
arms and sent to fight against their
former comrades.
Recruiting Outlook Poor.
Mr. Belloo declares that q tr,o po1