The Washington herald., 1920-12-29
PROSPECTS FOR NEW
TRADE RELATIONS.

against the Boisheviki, contrary Il
a statement made so often since tn,
fall of the Empire Of Russia, &C
cording to John w. O1ols. of New
YORK, commercial representative O,
the young republic of Latvia. seer
ae the Congress Hall yesterday.
Ozois, who wants to see recogni.
ton OF Latvia by the United. States
government In order to improve
trade relations with this important
Baltic manufacturing center and tc
lend encouragement to the efforts
OF the Let's toward the realization
OF their desire for political freedom
reminds American citizens that thil
little country is one OF our few Eu.
ropean debtors which has made an,
attempt to pay any interest on the
wartime loans extended by thii
government.
MY country has already paid
N2s.ooe interest on the s3.50o,ooo OF
surplus war materials borrowed
from the United States for food re.
lief, said Ozols. "1n this she has
done better than some OF the other
allies"
Since the average American clti.
Zen Is not 80 conversant with Let.
tish affairs as he probably is with
those Of the great European powers
Ozols reminds US that Latvia Is a
small country bordering on the
Baltic Sea. with a population of
several millions. To the north lies
Esthonia and to the south Lithuania,
while Russia borders Latvia on the
Nsast. Latvia, Esthonia, Lithuania
are distinct nationalities, and be-
long to the group OF infant repuo-
lies created, by the provisions OF the
treaty OF Paris.
EACH BULwARK
AGAINST B0LsHEvlsM.
'-Thse countries are separate
states from the Poles and Poland,
and each and every one OF them has
been a mighty bulwark, an immov-
able barrier against Bolshevism for
the last three years" Ozols declares.
The Let's are not Slavs, but Of
Indo-European origin. and. accord
ing to ozols, their language Is one
OF the Oldest known, being related
to Sanscrit. Some 700 years ago
Germans invaded Esthonia and Lat
via, conquering the land by force
of arms and made serfs of the peo-
pie. as William the Conqueror in
vaded England in 1866 and made
serfs and churls OF the Saxons. The
Letts never ceased to hope that
some day they would regain their
freedom and their lands.
Their opportunity came during
the world war. when the defeat OF
the Germans and the destruction Of
the empire of the Car removed
from Europe the two great oppres-
sors OF the Let's, and for that mat
ter. the Esthonians.
During the war, Ozols says, the
Let's organized their own army and
drove the Germans back. when the
Russian army broke down the Let's
were overpowered by the Germans
and fell for a period under German
rule. They were able to set about
OF their own, however, with head
quarters at Riga, on the Baltic.
Since the armistice they have sue
cessfully repulsed all attempts Of
the Bolsheviki TO overrun their
country.
Latvia now has a constitutional
government. dating from November
Is, 1913. The legislative body Is a
constituent assembly. elected by the
people. The executive power Is
vested in a prime minister.
Contemplating a cultural union or
Latvia. Esthonia and Finland, a
conference was held at Riga last
August. Although there is no lin
gual relation there are common cul-
tural developments, Ozols says. and
the Lithuanian language is similar
in origin to the Lettish.
LATvIA CENTER OF
MUSIC AND DRAMA.
Riga, the capital Of Latvia, is a
great center of music and the drama
at the present time, according to
Ozols. The country has 100000 ma
tional songs, many of which have
only recently been written and COL
lected, having been handed down
from generation to generation by
word of mouth. Riga has q large
opera house and many theaters. Not
only is il the center of Baltic cui-
ture, but IL is the principal seaport
and railway terminal of that region,
Il per cent OF all Russian
exports and imports before the war
THE cause Of Latvia, along with
that of the republics of Esthonia,
Azerbaidjan, and Geor- |
gia has been ably presented to the |
American Congress by Representa-
tive-elect Walter NJ. Chandler. Of |
New York. Ozols said. Chandler |
represents the political interests of |
these republics in this country. hav- |
Ing made a complete study of north |
ern Europe and trans-Caucasian
As for the objection that legally. |
under international law, the allied |
nations cannot recognize them as
governments, since the |
doctrine of elf-determination is in
Tended to apply only to the enemy
countries in the late war, and that
application of this principle to these
would be virtual dis
of the territory of a
friendly country, ozols answers
hat Russia has never been in any
proper sense a friendly country
'ince the last days OF the Kerensky
regime.
"The people of Latvia feel deeply
grateful to the citizens Of the
United States for the splendid re-
Iponse to the. appeal of my people
made after the armistice, and will
always remember the relief work
,arried on by Americans in Latvia,"
aid OZols F. W. O.