The Carlisle independent., 1918-03-07
ITHUANIA, which has declared it's independence of Russia, has

q A4loAOL ' tLAttI ARA AAIAle4 NNi7 oA years was intertWined with that of Poland, with which it long main- tained a loose sort of union. At the time of the dismemberment of Po- land it went for the most part to Rus sia. Lithuania now comprises the Rus sian "goyernmentsn of Koyno, Wilma, Grodno. Yitebsk, Minsk, Mogilev, and Suwalk (the last a part of Russian Poland) This territory is almost en- tirely occupied just now by the Ger mans, who swept over it in their cam paign of 1915 against the Russians. In the heydey of the Lithuanians the dominions of their princes extended, however, far beyond the limits of to- day, reaching even the shores of the Black sea, and embracing districts now included in Ukraine, Poland, and oth- CT parts of Russia.
 A most interesting point about the claims of those who have brought about the Lithuanian declaration of independence is that. in their extreme form, they contemplate not only the separation of Lithuania from Russia but also the incorporation into the new state of German territory which cen turies ago formed part of Lithuania. This district includes the important city of Koenigsberg. in what is now East Prussia, as well as Tilsit and oth- CT towns. If this district should form part of the new Lithuania, and if an independent Poland should have free access to the sea after the war through the seaport Of Danzig formerly Polish and now German, there would be small wedge of German territory, iso- lated from the rest of the empire, be- tween Polish Danzig and Lithuanian Koenigsberg. The Lithuanians re-en- force their claims to Koenigsberg and other cities now under German or Rus sian rule by pointing to the fact that they have names for them in the Lith- uanian language which the cities bore in the old days before they were seized by Teutons or Slavs.
 Once a Great Principality.
 The Lithuanian nation in the fourth century of our era was living along the coast of the Baltic sea between Riga and Koenigsberg.
 From the tenth to the sixteenth cen tury the Lithuanian prfncipality ex- tended from the Baltic to the Black sea. In that territory were White Russians and Ukrainians or Little Rus sians. White Russians are mostly of Lithuanian stock. Whoever goes from Lithuania to White Russia soon no- tices that the same types, customs and festivities exist there. The language of White Russia is 9 per cent Lithu- anian, and the attitude of the people toward the Lithuanians is very friendly.
 The Lithuanians are Indo-Aryans fair, light-haired, blue-eyed, tall, and strong. They are in no way related to the Slav or Teuton. They are said to have crossed from Asia to Europe about 1000 B. c. They settled along the Black sea, near the mouth of the Danube. Gradually they were driven by other races until they came to the shores of the Baltic, where they final ly settled. Here Lithuanians grew and prospered. They were peaceful folk, never fighting unless attacked, busy with agricultural pursuits, and a few with hunting and fishing. As a nation they were prevented from going into manufacturing or into commerce by physical surroundings. but some of the more venturesone made trips to Ro- man territory with cargoes of amber and various products of their country.
 The language of the Lithuanians has been preserved to this day. Some even say that 1t is the oldest language in use. It closely resembles the Sanskrit and, in many cases of research work, is the key to it.
 Beat Germans and Mon5ols.
 The Lithuamans lived in clans until the thirteenth century, when, because of national danger they banded togeth- CT. They chose Ringaudas as the first grand duke of Litnuania, and he soon