New Britain herald., 1918-03-20

Ike. Such was the plight
 of Pulaski and kosciuSHko,
 fllch has given So many
 Foreign legions, but
 cruel jest of fate
 to help defend it's
 hes,
 Df Poles iN this and
 ke contributed gen
 Ends which poured
 Band, and men of
 btrove heroicalN 10
 faat she needed most
 Mngain the mailed
 ushing blow. Not
 ecatins what crops
 sfemained after tue
 nany deprived the @the chance to be
 &s more charitably
 6g for months to
 ent of food into
 &undel conditions
 e it easy for the
 8ties to turn over
 Tat was intended for
 e Of Poland.
 Knows whereof he
 EiaAs seen the suferings
 Shas himself endured with
 Lie oE the lesser ignominies n upon Holland by the naughty 6tfers who brazcnly attempt 10 gover the shame of their every misdeed with the mantle they call military necessity" His heart went out to the people of this unfortunate country, torn apart 1 by three greedy ilaiscrs who not only 1 dsm embcrcd the territory itself but also did their utmost to eradicate the ! inhabitants thereof by curtailing their right to the use of the mother tongue ! in the schools and by sending father 1 against son. and brother against 1 brother to battle to the death i'll all l unholy cause
 l But they are men Of stout hearts, 1 these Poles. Despite their trials and | ] maddcned monarchs, they have per ] severed in the firm belief that justice 1 will ultimately triumph and through ! out the past one hundred and twenty years have kept smouldcring the fires l of hope in the eventual restora ton of l their sovereignty, And if he who pens these lines witnessed their afflic- 1 tions and their crosses, he also was ] privileged to see these smouldering 1 fires of hope burst into bright, leaping 1 flames on the 3rd day of May, 1916, 1 when. for the first time since the 1 country became a Russian province, ] he saw the stalWart soldiers of the 1 Polish legion march proudly through 1 the streets of Warsaw, and thrilled l and Wept with it's citizens when the ! beautiful amaranth and white colors of the Polish flag were once more un- l furled to the breeze and foated from ] the housetops. Finally, he experi- enced the electrical effect on the peo- 1 pie of Poland that memorable day in 1 December of the same year, when i President Wilson, speaking as the head 1 of the great American republic de l claTcd to the world that no peace is l conceivable without a "united and ] independent Poland" Only those who were present in Warsaw when the 1 Christmas message was received can ! realize what it meant to the Poles 70 | hear such hopeful words from a na- 1 tion which has always championed ! the weak and the oppressed. Just 8 ! month before, the rulers of the Cen l tral Powers had promised to Poland 1 assurances were met with cool re- l serve indicative of the skepticism and i dlStruSt which mark the attitude of ] the nation toward the invaders at 1 win the good will of the people they ! have Wronged so deeply. Contrast 1 this attitude with the boundl less joy 1 and enthusiasm Of the Poles a few weeks later when President Wilson. I thousands of miles away, uttered these 1 words which guarantee to Poland it's 1 ultimate triumph. Their appreciation 1 and gratitude were pathetic. too. when 1 our consular officers there finally l succeeded in bringing into Warsaw 1 ten carloads of condensed milk for l the Polish babies, despite tho obstin- ! acy of the German military authofj. |