Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-03-16
UPPER SlE|SlA I.
RlCHCOUNT']R[|Y
Vote Will BE Taken March
20 to Determine Future
Of the State.

Berlin, Feb. 25.-(By the Aapseiat-
ed Press)-Upper Silesia, where q.
300 900 Germans and Poles will vote
In = plebiscite on Sunday, March 20,
to determine. whether that province
shall remain German or be annexed to
Poland. is q rich state. The two ma
EtionaHties are %contending for a ter
area or approximately the size of
Connecticut. In one year $4,000, 900
tons of coal were mined in Upper
Silesia and besides 1t has vast deposits
of iron. zinc and lead. &f
The dispute over its possession
which results from the clause in the
Versailles. treaty providing for the
plebiscite. has made Upper Silesia one
OF the storm centers OF Europe. The
been tense with both sides heavily
armed and the possibility Of civil war
always present.
The Inter-Aiied Council of Ambas-
sadors repeatedly postponed the elec:
EStton which nov seems fraught with
grave possibilities.
A Serious Blow.
The loss Of Upper silesia would be
= serious blow to the industrial
strength Of Germany.
1T would be impossible to carry on
the war except for the of
Upper Silesia," declared the German
c~hancellors. o .:Bethmann Hollweg.
In 1917. Assertion that without 81
would not be able to redeem her
treaty pledges or to work her own re-
construction" was emphasized before
the allied Preparations commission in
London on March l.. H. !.
The Germans. since 174O when
Frederick the Great wrested the coun-
try from Poland, have developed the
country into one of the greatest min
ing and industrial districts of Europe.
Germany, it is claimed, cannot live
without its coal. Poland, stricken
and devastated, looks to Upper Silesia
to save her economic life and make
her a real nation. Hence the bitter
ness OF the present struggle.
Antagontsm between the two peo-
plestis also qsaidato ahavevbeenS intensi.
fled by the fact that the large land
o*ners*and manufacturers in the dis
puted region are mainly German,
while the Poles, for the most. part,
are w~orkingmen and small farmers.
Numerically, the population is 81 per
cent Polish 40 per cent German and
! 3 per CEN other nationalities.
Much Money Used.
AL <AILlCElCdH Ecll0l worker III 'OD.
per Silesia said of the controversy:
Both sides are fighting to win and
large amounts Of money have beer
poured into the country for propa-
ganda.-purposes to- keep the popula-
ton stirred UP and create .enmities
among a people who wish to live in
peace. sThe population is nearly
equally divided between the Poles and
Germans. The wealth and education
are German and the Poles would, have
about as much influence as the Mexi-
cans would have in a plebiscite in
Arizona. were it not for other consid-
erations."
Among these other considerations
was the%decis'on of the c"--ema co-,-
ell in ordering the plebiscite within
40 AlOA..is u Li~ H., A..isillntl4 VI
the inter-allied commission" This
commission took over control of the
region on, February I. 1920. Since
then there have been frequent clashes
Poles have charged hat while the
French forces have been sympathetic
toward them, the British and Italian
officers have pursued another course,
some scions of aristocratjc families.
for social reasons, living ON friendly
terms with h wealthy German land
owners and Industrial leaders. The
~postofice, railroad and political au-
thorities also were allowed to remain
GerMan and this is regarded as an
other Polish handicap.
The greatest wrong" claimed to
have been suffered by the Poles, how
lever, is the fac that the inter-allied
commission has permitted the exis-
tehce Of the German 's~icherheits-
wehr," a military organization re-
cruited thfoughout Germany and