Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-07-13
JOB OF PEACEMAKING -.
FAR FROM COMPLETE
Problems Remaining to Be Solved Almost
Hopeless and Contain Seeds Of 30 90
Another World War.


Polish hinterlands.
In the solving of it, the main qucs-
ton will necessarily be the self in
terest OF the western powers. II
would be idle to expect Great Britain
and France to ALLEVIATE Russia by
cedinG her territories TO Poland and
one or more independent Baltic states.
thus insuring speedy combination
of Russia and Germany to undo TINS
work.
Upset Balance of Power.
The fact that every European rec
ogniZes and most Americans dtsrc-
gard is that the German victory ever
Russia destroyed the balance OF
power in Europe. which WAS restored
only when We sent great armies to
the continent. These armies have
mostly departed, their return under
any circumstances is at least prob
lematical: therefore il is of utmost
importance to the western powers, II
they are to exist. to prevent an ALI
ance between Russia and Germany.
which would be almost irresistible
This can only he avoided. il at all. ny
SO framing the terms of peace as not
to dissatisfy the Russia of tomorrow.
which. they must assume, viii he
strong and mindful of its historic
greatness.
That is why the whole Russian
problem has continued to paralyze the
Paris conference mistake. the
BACKING OF the NIOnS morse. Houln
be fatal Lloyd George and Wilson
were willing to firt with Lenin some
months ago. because neither WAS d.
rectly exposed to Russian invasion III
the reactionary ia ctiCn reEained cou- .
troll But France is. and has been in
vaded by Russians at least twice in a
little more than a century, and France
was always opposed to that maneuver
which ended ingloriously in 1.-The
Prinkipo fiasco.
We have, as a result of our pearr-
making so far. alienated Italy and
created sullen. resentful. revengeful
Germany. Both circumstances were
approximately inevitable-at least
there was no escape from the German
detail To add to these Russia
destined to be again the greatest pow
err on the continent would he Tor
France and Great Britain. with her
| Indian empire and her Mesopota milan
colony, to commit suicide.
Long and Difficult Task.
Therefore. it is not going to be
easy or rapid work. this settling the
eastern frontiers of Poland ami fu-
mania and the future status of, the
Baltic provinces. ! should guess that
! in the end Finland would be confirmed
in her independence. Poland in the
| possession of not much more than
the old area of Russian Poland. in I.
| GLIDING Cfolm. while Rumanian pos
session OF fSeSSdTdDld. Wnlck eAlSlS..
might be tolerated. but would hardly
| be sanctioned. That is it might he
left for Rumania to settle the dis
pute directly with Russia without.
however. receiving in advance any
| guarantee from the western powers.
although no one disputes the fact
| that the great majority of the popula-
tion are Rumanian by race.
| Even this summary retreat docs
/ not. however. dispose of all the ques-
| fferfiOU Poland. TODAY PollSn
armies are fighting the Ukrainians
| in eastern Galicia. and there is a ms
| toric dispute between these peoples
for the possession of eastern Galicia-
with Lemberg. the capital. which is
| itself a Polish city surrounded by :.
Ruthenian speaking country. Had
| Russia stayed in the war she would
have annexed all of Galicia with tho
consent of the western powers, put
what now?
First of all will the Ukraine en-
dure as a separate state or Will II
revert to Russia? Should the west
ern powers follow the German eX-
ample and recognize the independence
| of the Ukraine or not? To recognize
would be to ALLEVIATE the northern
Russians and the Poles; not to recos-
nize might be to guess wrong. Tor the
Ukrainians might gain liberty. But
| to bestow eastern Galicia upon the
Poles would ALLEVIATE both the Rus-
| slams and the Ukrainians and lead to
| serious consequences. N1tdIliht thc
/ Poles hold ali of it, as result of
| their victories. and mean to hang on
Doesn't Want Independence.
Then there is the dispute between
| the Poles and the CZechoslovaks over
! Teschen. a tiny territory, Immensely
| rich in minerals. lying between PohSh
/. and Czech peoples at the 'headwaterS
| of the Oder and the Vistula. ma
| jority of the population is Poiish. 'bul
! the Czechs have an economic neces-
| sity to possess the land; at least they
| allege such necessity. and the Paris
| conference once conceded II 10 tnehi.
| Then it repented. Now the question
| is open again. with the two SlaN
| peoples at daggers drawn. To give-t
| to one would be to ALLEVIATE the othsF.
! to establish a separate state under
! the guarantee of the league OF ma
! tions would be to ALLEVIATE BOTH, ana
erect an indefensible state-one more
| indefensible state in Europe, without
| any desire for independence and
with absolutely no means of defend
| ing its unsought independence OF re-
| ceiving aid from the nations winch
| would thus create IL.
| To sum up then, the allies, with
| orr assistance, must give Poland an
eastern frontier. since they have rec
| oenized its right to exist 10 90 tftis
/ thew must assign Russian territory
| to Poland; yet il is OF utmost I'M ,po.
| lance that they do not ALLEVIATE hus-
sian national sentiment, drive re
| stored Russia into German arms. The
same problem must be faced IN deal
| ing with Finland. the Baltlc prov
| inces. Lithuania. while there rs alSo
| the grave danger incident to aliena' =
| inp the Poles the Lithuanlans, the
peoples of the Baltic provinces ah9
| the Czechoslovaks, as each or All leei
| their own rights. under the fourteen
( points. abridged by the necessities OF
! the great powers "a
Runanian Question Remains. =
There remains an almost eauaifNS
| ticklish puzzle, which we may call
| the Rumanian question. The new
! Rumania is shaped something hke
J SQUARE and on each OF It's TOUR sizes
| il has a nearWar IN progress VII
| the east it disputes with the lkrainl-
| ans. and thus with the territory once
| comprising the Russian province of
! Bessa RAJ ia. On the north II Is at
! odds with Hungary over vast area
of neutrality-suspicious. lands wnlch q
| it has taken in recent months on
| the south there is the Old quarrSf
! with Bulgaria over all of the Dobrud-
| ia in general and the southern
Dobrudja in particular. On the west
there is a new quarrel with the Serhs
over the western fringe of the Banat.
For the western powers to recognize
Rumanfan claims to Bessarabla Wou!u
be to ALLEVIATE Russian opinion. pre- =
cisely as in the north. But to fSdi
to recognize Rumanian claims would
be to deny the fourteen points. SINCE
the people are Rumanian and rail-
already self-determined themselves to
/, be such and. even more serious. u"
ALLEVIATE the Rumanian nation. which
destiped n he of the great