Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-06
POLE-RED ENJOYS
WILL SIGN TRUCE
BEFORE FRIDAY
BY ISAAC DON LEVINE.
By Cable to The Star and Chicago Daily News.
Copyright, 1920.


RIGA. October 6.-Last night q
peace pact was concluded between
Jan Dombski and Adolph Joffe bind
ing both sides to sign an agreement
for preliminary peace armistice be-
tween Poland and soviet Russia be-
lore october 8. 1t was a personal tri-
urnph for NJ. Dombski, whose mod
crate policy prevailed. In the last few
days Dombski and Joffe have had a
number of meetings as individuals
and these interviews paved the way
for an understanding despite the Sc
rious difficulties encountered by the
Pollsh envoy in his own delegation.
DOmbski Overcomes Big Odds.
Most of the foreign observers here
doubted the sincerity of NJ Dombski's
peace professions because his record
| was not generally known. 1t is now
permissible to disclose that he was
a member of a secret commission of
hve statesmen appointed by the Pol
! ish government February last to con-
slider the soviet peace proposals. NJ.
Dombski then was the only one
| among the Ave favoring the accept
ance of Foreign Commissar Tchit-
cherin's offer for the conclusion Of a
permanent peace with Russia.
When at the end of last week it ap-
peared clear that no results were
possible at the formal sessions, NJ.
Dombski resolved not to let the con-
ference collapse, but to seek conflden-
tial interviews with NJ. Joffe.
SO great was the factional strife
within the Polish delegation that
Stanislaw Grabski, when NJ. Dombski
went hunting last Sunday, introduced
number of provoking passages in
the Polish reply to the soviet peace
proposal without Dombski's knowl-
edge. W. Grabski. representing the
! militarist element, thus sought to
wreck the conference, but he only
succeeded in provoking Dombski and
Fastening the latter's understanding
with NJ. Joffe.
Boundary Line Plans.
The basis of this understanding is
the minimum Polish line indicated in
my previous cable dispatches, namely,
the Branovitch Luninetz railroad.
Only six days ago M. Joffe, in pri-
vate conversation, assured me that
the soviet government would not
make any such concession, but appar-
emily personal contact accomplished
what seemed unattainable at the for
NAL meetings.
Yesterday morning, when the soviet
ten-day ultimatun was about to ex-
pire, NJ. Joffe announced to the Poles
that his mission was finished and
that the conference would be ended
if no tangible proof of a Polish
intention to conclude peace were
not given Immediately. The soviet
delegates actually began preparations
to depart from Riga.
Signs as Climax Nears.
Confronted by this abrupt ultima
tum, NJ. Dombski took the decisive
step on his own initiative. signing an
unusual document, which declared that
the chairmen of the Russian and Pol
ish delegations, after arriving at an
understanding as to the basic princi-
lples involved, promised to sign within
the next three days an armistice pre-
liminary to peace.
NJ. Dombski was unable to do this
because of the heavy allied pressure
brought to bear on the Warsaw op-
position. This foreign influence, it
is claimed here. was responsible for
the victory won by the progressive
Dombski party, and it makes possible
the rise of the progressive elements
in Poland to permanent power.