Omaha daily bee., 1919-03-19

All nations engaged in the war
agree that their should be an indie
pendant Poland. The first who called
attention to this need was President
Wilson in his message of January
%, 1917. And for this all Poland is
truly thankful to him. Even Ger.
many sought to establish a Poland
out of conquered Russian territory
Poland that wiuld be Germanic, a
Poland by which the Teutons hoped
to kill true Polish nationalism. The
Poland which the Polish national
committee has asked the allies at the
peace conference to establish as a
permanent state is far different from
tie false Poland conceived by the
Hohenzollern. 1t will gather togeth-
er as far as possible the fragments
of ancient Poland, which Prussia,
Austria and Russia divided among
themselves and held subject for
more than century.
Unite $4,000 People.
The national Polish committee
formulated plan for the creation
of true Poland, which would not
only give the Poles what is right
fully theirs, but contribute more
than anything else to the future
peace of Europe. 1t will contain a
population of 100000 of whom
about 100000 speak Polish. Of
the remaining 100000 there are
several million more of ancient Pol
ish lineage, who speak Slav dialects
very similar to Polish. The new
Poland will not include large parts
of the Ukraine and White Russia,
where there are many millions of
Poles and which were included with
in the boundaries Of ancient Poland.
In these regions the Polish popu-
lation is in minority that would
hardly justify the inclusion of many
millions of other races unde Polish
control.
In the reconstruction of Poland
it is absolutely necessary to pro-
vide for two things. In fact they are
the warp and wool of the whole
structure.
l-Complete Polish control of
the port of Danzig and the Vistu-
la Valley.
2-Adequate frontage on the
Baltic sea.
Vistula Polish Mississippi.
The Vistula river is to Poland
what the Mississippi river is to the
United States. 1t flows through the
heart of the region where the Poles
constitute the largest proportion of
the population. With Polish control
of Danzig and the Baltic littoral on
either side of Danzig, the hinterland
of the Vistula valley would be cut
off from the rest of the world and
the new Poland even though polit-
ically independent, would become
the industrial vassal of Germany.
1t is necessary, therefore, to re-
turn to Poland all west Prussia with
land on each side of the Vistula,
thus making separate German
state of that part of east Prussia
which lies between the Vistu1a val
ley and Lithuania. This region, as
the result of systematic oppression
of the original Polish population.
has become almost entirely German.
Germany will, of course, cry out
against the surrender of Danzig to
Poland, arguing that at the present
time it is a German city. We admit
that the population Of Danzig today
is largely German, but only as a re-
suit of carefully planned German
aggrandizement and exploitation.
Danzig belonged to Poland until its
second partition in 1898.
When Danzig was the port through
which flowed the whole of German
trade it was the largest and wealth.
lest city on the Baltic. Under Ger
man domination it stagnated, until
TO-DAY its population does not exceed
10000. Under Polish control it