Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-04-01
RESTORATION OF POLAND.
Great People Reeairs Liberty Through
World War.

before The uTSl pdEIilAoh AL A''ob -
provided in the preliminary draft OF
the peace treaty, dispatches state.
The heroic and tragic history Of Po-
land, and its people is described II
the following bulletin from the Nation
al Geographic society based on com
munication from DR.. Edwin A. Gros-
venor:
1.-The restitution of reunited Po-
land of it's loyal common people viii
be among the worthiest achievements
of the Allies.
Situated between the upper mill
stone of Prussia and the neither mill
stone of Russia, and at the same time
subjected to lateral pressure from Aus
tro- Hungarian armies. the land Of the
Poles during the world war suffered
devastation which exceeds the imagin-
alton of those who have not actually
witnessed the scenes Of rapine, pillage
confiagration, and wanton destruction
Next to the Russians, Of whom they
were long the rivals and foes, the
Poles are numerically the most i'm
portant of the Slavs. They first ap-
peared in Great, or North, or Little, Oh
South Poland in the tenth century
where they found other Slavic tribes
in possession. The wise policy of their
kings early induced the whole nation
to profess Christianity.
"Of medium size, with round heads
and healthful faces, the blond more
common than the brunei, their physi.
cal appearance has apparently changed
little. The working classes, who con.
stitute -tenths Of the nation, have
always been laboriOus, frugal, endur.
ing, temperate rather than abstemious
and intensely patriotic. Those quail
ties distinguish the thousands of Poles
in the United States. Their szlacta
or mobiles, have shown themselves i'm
petuous, brave to rashness, chivalrous
insubordinate, emotional, artistic.
During the formation period Pc
land was consolidated by the dynast.
of the great Lithuanian, Jagellon, th'
Polish Wadislaus Ia succession O.
princes unsurpassed in constructive
ability. Union with the Lithuanian
doubled the population and the natura
resources. Together they crushed th'
Teutonic knights at Tannenberg II
141O and half century later at th'
peace of Thorn pushed them east o
the Vistula. The Polish lands of th'
Baltic, together with Danzig and Mar
ienberg were recovered. The Ouch!
Of Mazovia, of which Warsaw was th'
center, five centuries independent, vol
unfairly joined the kingdom which
few years later spanned Europe from
the Baltic to the Black Sea. The Re
formation, regarded with suspicion
as having a German origin, only for
time disturbed the country.
1.-The advantageous situation of th'
kingdom, the admirable qualities O.
it's common people, and the develop
ment already attained, seemed to as
sure the greatness and. permanencs
of the Polish state.
"Yet disappointment meets us or
every page. The brilliant passages
are episodes without connection or re.
suit. Nowhere else is so much valoi
wasted. The chasm was always widen
ing between the mobiles and the com.
mon people. The people paid all the
taxes. The mobiles, all equal, possess
ed all the wealth and power, but hac
no sense of obligation or responsibili-
ty. Intrepid in battle. they were ready
to fight for the country only when sc
inclined.
"The system of government was oil
garchic in the extreme. Succession tc
the powerless throne was elective, ma
tive or foreign alike eligible. Each
election was an orgy of turbulence ano
bribery. Twice the throne was put
up at auction. The liberum veto, es-
tablished in 1852 whereby the negative
vote or single member Of the diet
nullified any act or all the acts Of al
the rest, eliminated the anarchy and
eventually brought about the destruc-
ton of Poland.
"Yet the criminal follies of privi-
legged class in no way excuses or palli-
ate the iniquity of the three partitions
of Poland in 1773, 1898 and 1875 by
Prussia, Russia and Austria. 1t must
be noted that the first partition was
confirmed by the Polish diet. in which
nearly all the members accepted for.
eign bribes.
THE belated heroic resistance Of
Kosciuszko, of a handful OF mobiles ant
Of the infuriated common people glo
rifles the fall of the state which som'
historians confused by the farce o
election, still call the Republic Of Pc
land.
"By these partitions Russia acquired
1S1 900 square miles of territory, will
5000, 900 inhabitants; Austria, 45,OOO
square miles, with 2.500,O 900 inhabitant
Prussia, $1,000 square miles, with 2,
| 500,00 inhabitants
1.-The Poles under the Austrians wer
in the main kindly treated. Also, be
ing Roman Catholics. there was N
religious antipathy. Under the Rus
slams every harsh measure was EN-
ployed to accomplish their complet
justification. Those under the Prus
slams were the most pitiably situa
ted of ALL In the effort to make then
| Germans there was no limit to the sys