The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1921-09-11

Going back to the treaty of YER
gllles. this document provided, in
its first draft, that Poland should
have Upper Silesia. so clear did the
Polish claim then appear. But, in
the final draft the British, fearing
that Germany might not sign the
treaty and thus that economic recov
, cry would he postponed with evil
fleets for themselves, procured an
amendment, providing for n plobis-
cite 90 determine the final posses
sion of the territory.
on behalf of the Poles the French
procured an agreement in the treaty
that the results should be viewed
by districts, by towns and villages,
since Paris perceived that while a
portion of the contested area would
certainly fall to Germany and that a
majority Of the total vote might be
German, but that certain areas along
the Prussian- Polish frontier would
surely go for Poland.
It's Rich in Coal.
Now the real value of this Upper
Sill csi a n territory. economically
speaking, derives from the existence
Of the second largest coal deposit on
the continent of Europe, the So
called industrial triangle" But
this mineralized and industrial!zed
area lies close to the Polish frontier
and contains the largest percentage
VI Polish inhabitants. although IT
Ia worth recalling that even German
statistics conccde that the Slavonic
element outnumbers the Teutonic in
Upper Silcsia, as whole.
The plebisCite was held last spring
and the results were about what the
French had fnFnGpnn Tho dist riHt :
north and west of the Upper Silesian
province, voted oVcrwhe elmingly for
Germany But these districts are in
the main purely agricultural. No
dispute exists as to them, although
the Poles have, on the basis OF the
"Kernanty line" demanded a fraC-
ton Of this region, where the Poles
were in the majority. on the whole,
however, this claim cuts very little
.shgurc in the dispute.
How the Germans Got Votes.
In tho so-called industrial area"
the result was quite different. Here
are nine divisions corresponding
roughly to counties, with us. OF
these nine the Poles carried five and
he Germans four, namely. Pless
RybniH, Kattowitz Country. Bcu-
hon Country and Tarnowitz The
Gtrmans carried Hindenburg and
the three city areas of Kenishutte.
kattowitz and Beuthen. The total
vote Of the Poles in this region was
33o276 and Of the Germans only
2S9,3SS. Thus tho Polish majority
was 4O.3Ss. As for the vote viewed
by municipal units, that is by towns,
cities and villages, here the Polish
triumph was overwhelming as more
than three quarters of these units
voted for the Polish union.
In reality the fact was this. the
German population was concentrated
In tour considerable industrial cities
ka'toWitz. Bcuthen, Konishutte and
Hindouburg. the Polish population
occupied the whole of The country
Moreover, the Polish population wa'
Indigenous, while the German Gle
mcnt In the cities was the product ni
systematic immigration. Finally, the
Gounan vote was swclled enorm ous-
~ by the return of former German
residents OF the cities who had
gone TO other parts Of Germany, but
came back merely to cast theii
votes
Thus what actually happened, ~
would he indicated on a color map
showing the municipal units whicl
voted FOR Poland, in black and the
HerWan In red, was that few towns
wholly surrounded by a Polisf
countryside, voted to remain Ger
man. on such a map the task %
the commission empowered to doa
WIN this question would seem easy
N'd interpreted Ia the way th'
'.tr of Versailles was written, tn
Polish right to the whole industria
area would seem beyond debate.
mother British ChcHnut
We have, however, tn reckon
WIN the British point of view.
which Il the result Of very COM
plea considerations. First of all
lI' British believe that the short
c,l way In the economic recovery
"' lurODc Is the economic r'stora-
non OF GERMANY. This means, IN
= simple terms, that Germany con
SniutcS enc of the best markets
Iur Great Britain and an enormous
hllttSh trade with Central lEuronc
depends upon settled conditions in
n"'mahy, itself, Thus the british
nave worked steadily for the rca-
ltlhtion OF Germany economically.
=, Hut 10 deprive Germany of IN
Ipp'r Silosian mincra lied and IN
quS'raliZed area would be like taktn
f'N0srlvania from the tnit"'
states. This is, perhaps an extrem
S1''mont, but It would be tire
n0nduus loss. And this law woul
W".E two ways, il would obviousl
- ln'nlsh the possibilities of Ger
Hta recovery and II would similarl
reduce German capacity to meet he
I"ralions obligations TO all of he
rtTlpean enemies Of the world val
flhally--and the circum stance is i'm
poIlant, the loss of Upper Sllesi