The sun., 1919-04-01
PRIEST PLEADS FOR
POLISH REPUBLIC
Capt. Iciek Tells Troubles
Paderewski Faces In Re-
building Nation.
DANZIG rs VITAL NEED
No Jewish Pogroms and Jews
Here Should Help to Edu-
cate Coreligionists.

The troubles of Ignace Paderewski's
Polish republic. with the Russian Boil
sheviki pressing hard on one hand and
German anarchy on the other and an
oversupply of Jews In between. were set
forth at the Pennsylvania Hotel yes
terday by the Rev. 8. A. Iciek. Roman
Catholic priest Of Duluth, Mimi. who
went abroad last autumn and became a
chaplain in the Polish army with the
rank Of Captain. He said that he was
sent by the Polish National Depart
ment, with headquarters in Chicago and
representing 100000 Poles In the
United States He landed here on Fri
day.
From the Polish standpoint. Capt.
Iciek said. the war stopped too soon.
for Germany was not completely de-
.:eated, and the German soldiers were
mistakenly allowed to return to their
own country with their arms and equip
ment In the second place, the status
OF the new Poland was not definitely
stated In the terms Of the armistice.
And that territory 10 stiil without al
lied Intervention.
AT last" he added, "the Allies are
anxious to send from France the Polish
army Of $4,000 that has been fighting
there. but Germany refuses to let them
land at Danzig. Now Danzig holds the
same relation to Poland and the Vistula
River as New Orleans holds to the Mis-
sissippi Valley. with this difference:
America has large harbors on the At
lantic and the Pacific, while Poland has
only Danxig. What Germany proposes
IL, as It were. to hold the mouth Of tho
Mississippi and give Us Galveston az
seaport
Danxig Lung OF PoIand's Life.
"Danzig Is indispensable to Poland for
her national existence: II Is the lung or
her life. II Danzig remains In Ger
many's hands Poland becomes her slave.
Poland is cut In twain, the Baltic be-
comes German lake and Sweden. Rus
sla and Poland are at the German
mercy. With Danzig In Polish hands
the nation of 35.ooo,o00 people becomes
a world neighbor This ia OF interest to
America. as Poland 10 anxious to get into
commercial relations with US and become
a rich market for many American man.
ufacturers. II Danzig Is left in Ger.
many's hands foods from America will
have to be disernbarked at Hamburg or
Bremen and an additional duty and
freight rate will have to DO paid to get
them to the interior of Poland.
at will be n calamity II the Allies
yield to Germany's objections to giving
up Danzig and II they delay sending
home our Polish troops to form a strong
barrier between Russian Bolshevism and
German anarchy"
Capt. Iciek said he had specially in.
vestigated stories of massacres of Jews
in Poland and found them untrue. Dur
ing the war. he said, the whole popula-
ton, Christian and Jewish. lived as best
II could and food was eauitabiy divided.
At present the jews are protected
throughout Poland and lootcrs are shot
at sunrise. no matter who they are.
'"rhe Jews are not prosecuted in Pc.
land" he continues. They have the
same privileges as others; they 60 to
their synagogues and places of business
as they please. In Cracow I cav Jews
serving with Christians as members of
the citizens police. There are eight Jews
in the Polish Diet.
Food Riots After Armfstice,
There Is no denying that when some
soldiers returned. Just after the arm,s-
t!ce was signed. there were food riots
and stores were broken into. Christian
stores and Jewish stores and people
were killed, but they were food riots,
not anti-Jewish riots. Also In Lemberg
about three blocks OF buildings occupied
by Jews were destroyed. The soldiers
said this IVES because they were fred
upon from Jewish homes. Whether or
not Jews did the firing I don't know /:
| It may have been Ukrainians or Polish
criminals from the jails which had been
thrown open by the Ukrainiana
"A synagogue also was burned A
Polish officer told me It was because
machine guns in the synagogue were
firing on Polish troops. All this was in
November. When I left Lemberg the
! Jews were trading as usual and the city
was in order. There has been nothing
else which by any stretch OF the imagi-
nation might be called n pogrom
"As 4 matter OF fact" Capt. Iciek
went on. there are too many Jews in
Poland for the economic good Of the
country. There are 100000 OF them,
| and you must remember that the new
Poland Is only about the size Of Wis
consin. Minnesota and Iowa combined
Poland is used TO the Polish Jew and
gets along with him all right, but when
10000 Russian Jews came In after the
Russian ri.ssncres OF 1905 and 1906 Il
was too much. The commerce OF the
whole nation is in Jewish hands and
| there Is not enough OF II to 20 around
The Jews are so numerous that CONNER
cially they are stepping on one another
neck. There are more Jews In the city
OF Warsaw for example, than in the
! whole Of Italy.
Solving the Jewish Problem.
THE twofold solution of the Jewish
problem in Poland lies in emigration
and education. II the excess Jewish
| population could be scattered to coun-
! tries that have room for them-Canada.
the British colonies. America, France
or elsewhere-it would help both Po-
land and the Jew. Then Poland could
encourage the Jews who remain and
who have resisted modernizatlon-I re-
fer particularly to the Russian Jews.
| to get in step with progress.
Instead of knocking the Polish Gov
eminent the Jews in America. England
and France should cooperate with the
Polish republic and help to make IL eco
nomcally strong, with access to the sea
I