The Mankato free press., 1921-03-18
FIGHTING FOR S|LES|A

Berlin, March 16.-Upper Silesia,
where 2,500,0OO Germans and Poles
will vote in plebiscite on Sunday,
province shall remain German or be
annexed to Poland. is a rich stake.
The two nationalities are contendig
for a territory about 5000 square
miles in area or approximately the size
of Connecticut. In one year 100000 900
tons Of coal were mined in Upper
Silesia and besides it has vast de-
posists of iron, zinc and lead.
The dispute over its possession
which results from tie clause in the
Versailles Treaty providing for the
one of the STORM centers CT Europe.
The situation there for many months
has been tense with both sides heavi-
ly aimed and the possibility OF civil
war always present.. The Inter Allied
Council Of Ambassadors repeatedly
! postponed the election which even
now seems fraught with grave possi-
bilities.
Loss Serious Blow To Germany
The loss OF Upper Silesia would be
a serious blow to the industrial
.
/ 1T would be impossible to carry on
! the war except for the resources OF
| Upper Silesia," declared the German
| CHANCELLOR, Won Bethmann Hollweg, in
1917. Assertion that without Silesia's
natural resources, Germany would
not be able to redeem her treaty
pledges or to work out her own re-
construction" was emphasized before
the Allied Reparation Commission in
| London on March l. Z.
The Germans, since 1740 when
Frederick the Great Wrested the coun-
try from Poland, have developed the
country into one OF the greatest min
ing and idustrial districts of Europe.
Germany, it is claimed, cannot live
devastated, looks to Upper Silesia to
save her economic life and make her
real nation. Hence the bitterness
of the present struggle.
Antagonism Intensified
Antagonism between the two people
is also said to have been intensified
by the fact that the large landowners
region are mainly German while the
Poles, for the most part, are working
men and small farmers. Numerically,
the population is fifty seven percent
Polish, forty percent German and
{ three percent other nationalities.
An American relief worker in Upper
Silesia said Of the controversy: Both
sides are fighting to win and large
into the country for propaganda pur-
poses to keep the population stirred
up and create enmities among peo-
pie who wish to live in peace. The
population is nearly equally divided
between the Poles and Germans. The
wealth and education are German and
the Poles would have about as much
vfaor y
have in a plebiscite in Arizona were
it not for other considerations"
Other Considerations
Among these other considerations
was the decision. of the Supreme
Council in ordering the plebiscite
within eighteen months of the estab-
lishment of the Inter-Allied Commis
sion" This commission took over
control Of the region on February I,
1920. Since then there have been
frequent clashes between the rival ma
icnals. The Poles have charged that
while the French forces have been
@vr0rathetic toward them the British
and Italian officers have pursued an
other course, some scions of aristo
ing on friendly terms with wealthy
German landowners and industriab
leaders. The postoffice, railror, and
'itical authorities also were allowed
to remain German and this is regard
ed as another Polish handicap.
The greatest wrong claimed to
have been suffered by the Poles, how
ever, is the fact that the Inter Allied
Commission has permitted the exist
ence of the German "sicherheitswehr"
military organization recruited
throughout Germany and which is
charged with oppression and provok-
ing riotous outbreaks. The Germans
also are accused of trying to terrorize
on the East bv Poland, on the South
by Czechoslovakia and on the West
| by Germany.