Evening star., 1920-03-08

sucb n factor in Europe in the last
yeueration Holding the Dnlestef
against the Russian and the lhiess
and the Danube against any ne" pan
Germau operation, the Rumanians
will be. like the Poles. precious alds
to the preservation of order in Eu-
rope.
Small Peoples Sacrificed.
The danger lies in the possibility that
at the last moment. in their haste TO
have done with the troublesome RUSSIAN
affair, the western nations Will sacrlnce
the future of both Poland and Rumani;l
to the immediate needs OF the great
mowers The story of the Paris confer
ence is the history Of the brutal sacri-
flee of small peoples to large, ana al
ready Rumania and Poland. lacking any
effective championship among the
Anglo-Saxon peoples, have su1ereo
cruelty.
Just why the Americans and BRUSH
at Paris displayed toward the Slavs OF
the Vistula and the Latins OF the Dan
ube a hostility and a bitterness which
was revealed in a score OF incidents
which are little short of shameful, re-
mains matter for conjecture. But
there is no conjecture about what was
done Territory in which the Poles
constituted two-thirds OF the popula-
ton was subjected to plebiscite. to
give the last possible opportunity to
prevent union with Poland; areas in
which Rumaniin populations dominated
were torn from their natural assocla-
tions, and ridiculous frontiers arranged.
which prevented industrial districts from
having access to waterways or rail-
roads. Why? The answer has been
frequently whispered. but the whisper
is unworthy of repetition.
Old Questions in Final Form.
The Russian settlement now raises
the old question in a final form. IL
the allies insist upon surrendering
Bessarabia and the Polish narches 10
the bolshevists, then Poland and Ru-
mania will be doomed. They will both
mean an invitation to the Germans and
the Hungarians to attack them in the
rear and they will be crushed. in the
end This will be a terrific price to
pay for a peace with the Russian an
archy, which is after all victorious
fact bound to have momentous conse-
uuences in the future. that just as the
bolshevists finally had the best Of their
German conQuerors OF Brest LtoVsk
days. they now have the better OF their
allied opponents.
For the British the existence of two
strong states on the west Of Russia
might have a real value, II the bolshe-
visits presently resume the RUSSIAN
advance toward India. for the French
fOldnu Is II HldllcE u IlAc anu oC0Sh
now that the Anglo o-French-American
guarantee has practically disappeared.
Even the Italians might be expected
to see with some apprehension the
possibility of the reincarnation of
powerful Russia, which may easily be
reused by pan slavic passions when
the moment arrives to put aside eco
nomc follies, since 1t is with the
southern branch of the Slav family that
Italy is now at odds.
OppOrtunism in Action.
But despite the great importance for
the western allies of the Russian
question there is nothing to suggest
in recent history that their policies
will go beyond the opportunism of
the moment. A little peace now seems
worth any risk as to war in the fu-
ture. AS for the momentary pause in
negotiations this is merely a decent
regard for the appearances. Even
when they are going to surrender. al
most without conditions. the allies
have to go through the form of impos-
ing conditions: otherwise their very
eagerness might lead the victorious
bolshevists to demand unconditional
surrender as the price of peace.
Henceforth it is not the bolShevists
who need the western nations, but the
western nations who are satisfied that
they need the bolshevists-this is
long way from February, 1919, but not
impossibly we shall get much further,
now that the allies have taken this
roadway.
Copyright 1920, Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate.)