Evening star., 1920-05-23

r
boundary of the Polish state. In-r
stead. the Paris conference commando
ed the Poles to retire behind the Bug.
This same Paris conference permit
.ed the British to occupy Mesopo-
tamia. Palestine. Arabia, as bar
riers against possible danger to Brit
Ish interests in India and in Egypt.
II divided the German colonies be-
tween the French and the British
TO insure the abolition of the danger
which German desire for a place in
| the sun carried for both British South
Africa and the French empire be-
tween the Congo and Lake Tchad.z
But TO all Polish proposals for a bar
rier between Poland and her Russian
enemy there was raised the vehement
denunciation of Polish imperialism.
In the last analysis British and
| American policy at Paris and sincr'
Paris. has been dominated by a de-.
i sire to preserve Germany and Russia.
/ Both American and British repre-
sentatves have frowned upon the.
| aspirations of the Poles. the Ru-
| manians and. for that matter. uponr
the fancied aspirations of the French.
to partition German or Russian .
/, states. The smaller races have fefN
I, and resented this attitude, and now,
and in the case of Poland. a war has
| been the result. In the end tho
great powers have been compelled 70
| sit by and see great armies engaged"
| to see the Poles undertaking to es-.,
| tabIish by the sword those frontiers.
which were denied them in the conf
| ference r
| Like Holy Alliance.
| The fact seems to me more i'm,
portant than has as vet been general.
| ly cognized century ago the con-
uuerors Of Napoleon undertook to-
establish a board of directors to regu-.
| late the world. they called it the holy.
alliance. but its purposes were httle
! different from those of the cotempor-N
ary league of nations. These pur-s
poses were comprehended in the no.
| tion of preventing war and preseG-S
! ing that arrangement which had been
created by the congress OF Vienna so"
| far as the partners in the scheme
were concerned. they were above the
| Law. Russia Prussia and Austria wer"'
permitted to enslaye the Poles. 1taiNi
| was reduced to tyranny and foretc',
I orrunation. but any smaller people"
| rebelline against the decisions OF thrn
| holy alliance was to fel the moral
ss well as the military influence off,
| the combination.
Now the Paris conference undertook
! similar adjustment Of the world In'
abrogated to itself the right to act
a.s the guardian OF the smaller ma
| tions It fixed the frontiers OF tha
lesser tribes without regard 70 their
will Where it did not follow Vienna.
because it could not was in provid,ns'
force to carry out its decrees. And.
less than a year later. what has hap
pened? Obviously the lesser trfbesf
are proceeding to remake their owSr
frontiers and SO far no Intervention
by the great mowers has even heenn
concentrated The Poles are in Vilna:c
l., Lemberg, they are in Minsk and
Pinsk Instead Of halting at the Bus7
thev have passed the Beresina and the,
Dnieper. The Ruma mans are in Bes-
sarabia. and for thar matter. rnst
Italians have never left Fiume.
II this means anything. it means
that we are to see in the next fewr
wears are in fact. perceiving in an
situation in eastern Europe as totall,~
outside the wish or will Of the Paris
conference as were the liberation OF
, Italy and the unifcation Of Germanvs
beyond the vision and opposed to the
| desires OF the statesmen who met ine
Vienna.
Attitude OF Cnited states.
| Had the United States remained. as.
at Paris. a steadfast ally of the Britt
ish. had the two countries continnedc
to act in close co-operation as thev.
did while the President was in the
French capital. the situation would
have less cause for disduiet in Lon
don But there is no Disgusting the
fact that the United States has left.
Europe Nothing is less 1ikelv than
that the United States will undertake.
TO join the British is calling on the
Poles along the Dnieper or disciplin-,
ing the Rumanians at the Dniester-
Even if Pilsudski's troops go to Mos
COW America will do nothing officially
and at least fraction of the Ameri-,
can public will rejoice. The rise Of
Ukrainian state will excite no bit
terness in Washington or New York.
and the total change of conditions on,
the Black and Baltic littorals will not
provoke any American gesture.
In sum. the Polish campaign against
Russia is interesting in the first
place as the clear evidence OF the es.
cape of the peoples of the east or
Europe from any real or pretended
control exercised by western nations,
1t may mean changes in the man OF
Europe as startling as those which,
followed the defeat of Germany and
the collapse of Austria Hungary Tt
may mean the arrival of two more
nations. as strong in NUMBERS ana
great an area as France or 1talv. 1r
may lead to a total change in Euro
mean policy. to a readjustment of al
lance, to the isolation OF the BRITISH
to the erection Of Latin-Slav aiii-e
ance.
eapinr armies beside which thee
forces employed in our civil war seem
insignificant. 1T leads to victory Tor
the Poles it must mean somethinS-
approximating dissolution ;or Eus
MANY. If the Poles are defeated, the
last barrier will be removed to CO.
operation between Russia and Ger
many. between Ludendorn and Lenin:,
All in all IL may easily prove the
most important incident since armi--
stice Of Rethondes ushered in the.
brief and troubled span OF peace
which has now given way to new
war begun in the old way and grow
ing out Of the oil dcauses. hvineS
confutation of most of all that wasc
claimed for the work of the states.
men who made the recent settiemenoS
of Paris. =
TC,,r-ipbt- 1920. Mcclure Newspaper Syndicatc.)
IlnnnlUrlIIllInnkIn