Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-07-26
MILITARY AGGRESSION
is AGAIN DlSCREDlTED
Poland Is Harvesting Her Folly and
Soviet Russia's Victories Are
shadowed by New Perils
From Within

Shadowed by New Perlls
From Within
/ TNllE way of the aggressor is hnrd'
l. Poland, humbly seeking a truce with
! the armies of Soviet Russia. has been
! travelling this rugged road. Two Napo-
Icons and German emperor plunged
down this destructive route. More than
! two millcnniums ago NerXcs, the Per
| sian took the same course. Historic
/ para lcls cannot, of course. b. pressed
too closely. The philosophy of human
events Is cmbarrassingly intricate. The
cynir can cite in profuson instances
Of triumphant national wrong doing.
And the moralist with an eye on ulti-
mate consequences can usually prove
his 1Ioint. Interpretation of history
leaves a wide margin for reflective dis
rrcpancirS.
Occasionally. however. the world en- .
trrS upon an era the dominant temper
of which is not susceptible of variant
| readings. Such, with all its innumer-
able failngs. is the present aftermath
of world strife. Aggressive wars are in
exceedingly bad public favor. 1t is OBJ
vious, ethics aside, that they do not
pay.
The case of Poland is in many ways
significant. At the outset the recon
structcd nation unqucstionably enjoyed
| an abundance of international good
/ will IT was this spontaneous indorsc-
mont. coupled with the odium with
which most of the world viewed the
Bolshevist methods and tcncts. which
confused the nature of the lamcntabc
struggle waged east of Warsaw.
Possibly an uninterrupted series of
Polish victories would have perpctuated
the deluson. But defeat is the sharpest
of all spurs to critical investigation.
The facts of the reckless Polish venture
have swiftly accumulated. Propaganda.
dread of bolshPvism. Fictitious or other =.
wise. are now pOwcrlcsS to color the
truth. The Polish invasion of Russia
was pushed far beyond legitimate
cthniC boundaries.
In other words. deliberate war of
conquest had been undertaken in gro-I
tcsQue reputation of all the alleged
| "lpssons'' of the universal upheaval
and in direct contravention of the
prevalent thought and spirit of an un
! easy age.
How mucf the Entente governments
were to blame for the venture Is QueS-
! ton which cannot be settled offhand.
In the light of scant information. how
ever, it appears that the Poles were
encouraged when they won and that
official warnings against their course
wcrr inaudible until the disaster.
| The present crisis, following tho fail
Of GrabSkis imperialistic ministry.
| suggests that the desperate Poles have
outgrown. through bitter experience.
their Quibbling tendencies OF some,
months ago, when peace was repudi-
ated because Of dispute over the
meeting place of the armistice com
missioners. From the standpoint of the
Warsaw government. n truce is an i'm
mediate necessity.
But the promptncSS with which the
Soviet Government has responded to
the Polish appeal and the repeated pro-
posals that have emnnatcd from Russia
somehow lack the atmosphere Of au-.
thentic and satisfying victory. Nations
that are winning easily seldom halt in
mid course. Evidently this new war,
which has so grievOusly stained the
worlds struggle toward good behavior.
is no longer popular with either bellig-
crent. Out of tho depressing implica-
tions Of the conflict arises this gleam
Of sanity and hope.
There is, moreover, u strong possi-
{ bility that the highly effective reorgan-
iaation Of the Red army and its series
of really brilliant military successes
ar" not accurately indicative of the
, strength Of the Soviet regime. Indis-
putably the war against the Polish in
vader has been a national war. a con
flict the inspiration for which is at
tributabe far more to patriotic in.
stinCtS than to harmonious subscrip-
ton to the theories of an impractical
communism.
The names of Brussiloff and Pavli-
YanOtf. formerly soldiers of the czar. in
the new Russian army are sufficient to
start the fascinating. If not always de
pendnble. game Of historical analOgies.
The French revolution, which began
with iconoclasm and the practice Of
extreme and bloody radicalism. ended
in foreign military triumph and domcs.
tic Dictatorship. 1t has been intimated,
and it is worth considering, that Brus.
siloif and his group are only outwardly.
and for purposes of cXpediency, sym
pathetic to the Soviet system.
Hints Of an imperialistic coup on the
tide of victorious campaign, guaran-
tecing the national territorial integrity, |
are multiplying. II this view is tenablc. !
the readiness of the Bolshevist govern.
mont to stack arms Is easily explicable. |
The revolution Of 1880 was later
trAduccd by some Of the very men who
contributed most to its success. In the |
case of that upheaval. however, the
world war was the sequel of the radi. !
cal outburst The French armies were |
comparatively fresh under the incom. |
parable leadership of Napoleon to chal |
lcngr Europe.
Conditions today are reversed Tho |
universal conflict spent its force, pros
tratcd humanity. 1t was amid the most
intense loathing of military strife that
the Bolshevist republic was born. The