New-York tribune., 1920-10-23

there is advanced the line of reasoning
which has so far failed to win accept
ance, except academically, in the case
of Fiume. Conceding the Polish char
acter of the city itself, the champions
OF the Lithuanian cause assert. with
correctness, that the countryside is
Lithuanian. But the countryside of
Danzlg is Polish and the status Of
Danzig has been determined in a fash
ION unfriendly to the Poles. The coun-
tryslde of Fiume is Slav, yet Fiume is
now a free Latin state and tomorrow
is destined to become a part of the
Italian kingdom.
The Irish Parallel
To take a familiar illustration. IN
derlying all the argument of the most
liberal of the British statesmen in the
case of Ireland notably that of Sir Ed
ward Grey, is the soicitude for the
safety Of Britain, which would be
Jeopardized were Ireland to obtain COM
plete independence and thus be free
to make alliances with Britan's enc
mics and lend Irish ports for subma-
rlne bases. But precisely the argu-
ment which has so far controlled Brit
lsh policy with respect to Ireland, even
IN the case of the most liberal minded
statesmen, explains the Polish view of
= the Wilma question. And for the Poles
there is no later barrier, as in the
case of Ireland
1T is true that the Poles have dis
owned the action of General Zellgou
ski. 1t is even possible that the govern
ment is innocent of all completely, that
it is controlled at the moment by lead
ers who recognize the need Of dis
playing moderation and preserving
the good will of the Western world.
But this government cannot control
Polish patriotism. The natural instinct
for security and for solidarity has got
beyond control, just as it did in the
case Of Fume, and it is obvious that
the mass of the Poles must, for mani
fold reasons, sympathize with Zell-
gouski.
And in this situation one comes to
the chief difficulty underlying the
League of Nations conception. Zell-
gouski is in Wilma as dAnnunzio is in
Fiume. Who is to put him out? Polish
troops are unavailable, because no Po-
lish government could live if it at
tempted to shoot down the Poles of
Zellgouski in order to force the sur
render Of a Polish city to a hostile
state. An attack by Lithuanians would
instantly arouse Poland as any attack
by the Jugo- Slavs would arouse the
Italians in the case Of Fiume.
League Ineffective
There remains the League of Ma
tons, but is it conceivable that the
British or the French, the Italians or
the Belgians would send an army.
would contribute divisions to an in
ternational army to be used to coerce
Zellgouski? Obviously not, and this is
the more impossible, because the
French openly sympatkize with the
Poles and the Italians cannot fail to
note the resemblance between the Viii
nan and Fiuman episodes and hope that
fresh failure by the League of Nations
IN the north will add vitality to their
own claims in the south. Thus. a.
though representatives of the League
CT Nations a~e on the spot and prepared
to render decision, what value can
their decision have, since all author
lty Is lacking to enforce the decision?
And can the America people, for ex-
ample, imagine any combination of
circumstances under which they would
be prepared to send their sons to Eu-
rope for the precise purpose Of enfore-
ing exactly such decision as will now
come from the League Of Nations or to