Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-03-21

mentss Upper RilesianS who m ac-
3tnAlly born within; the BORDERS Of the
! province but who now live IN Ger
many or elsewhere In the world. have
they return to their native .pfecfncta~
L. II III believed that in this way close
no S00,b00fG errhAn votes will be added
TO those cast by the present residentt
OF Upper Silesia; q couple of days agc
dispatches announced that more than
100,0004of these nonresident vo&ers
had returned for the purpose 6t-tak.
ing part In the plebiscite.
Mater or Dconomics.
While it 10 true that Germans are
lanxiops to retain Upper Sileeia for
the sake of their national honor and
for the sake Of tradition, It Is also
true that economic considerations are
predominant in this connection.
Although the province is slmall--iti
lAtea is about 5000 square miles-.it
hossesses enormous coal deposits, the
anHnal production amounting to about
moe s,6e overlooked by the German.
Iwshenattis recalled that they are under
obligation to surrender a great per-
icentage of'the coal mined in the Ruhr
and Saar regions to the Allies. Also,
lthe province produces about $50, 000
tons of iron, and its steel and iron
products are estimated at more than
$3oo,000,o0 o a year.
Relation to Reparattons.
At the recent c~opferAncesat London
where Germany's representatives werA
invited to accept the terms formulated
in January at Paris, DIR. Walter
Simons, German foreign minister, Ae.
clared that one of the conditions f6r
the counter proposal which he pre-.
senteds to, the Allies, was that Upper
FSilesia must remain German. -.
DR.. Simons emphasized the asDefr
ton, now so prevalent in Germany,
that no reparations money could be
paid within the retention of Upper
Silesia. -.
AS 1t will be remembered, the Allies
did not heed any counter proposals.
but Proceeded to occupy German
cities, as a pena1izing measure.
On its very face, the German prop
osition as to Upper Silesia is full Of
Inconsistency. The Germans, in the
name of the principle of. self-dcter1
mination Of peoples, loudly demanded
that 5plebiscite be held. Their wish
was granted-nO' doubt because the
Allies themselves agreed that the
fundamental principle Of a piebiscIte
was Just.
M.- | -.n.
Now They're Dissatisfied.
AS soon, however. as the Germans
learned that the Allies were 10 bluff
fling in regard to the INSPIRATIONS duAs-
ton, they Immediately insisted that
Upper Silesia be awarded to them.
They did not speak OF the d%esirability
of a plebiscite when they appeared IN
London. They merely said. in effect:
We must have Upper Silesia, plebis-
cite or no plebiscite.
What the result of today's voting
will be no one can say in advance.
fsltrue OF nearly all of them that they
are .ba sed upon biased Information
and are, therefore, unreliable. 80.
10 Allied Jews ihn~regard to Upper
Silesia do not literally agree. It sie
true that there have been no outward
manifestations Of discord, but 1t IL
also true that Great Britain is not
particularly enthusiastic at the pos
sibility of Poland's gathering addi-
tional strength.
French-Polis Understanding.
Only q few weeks ago President
Ptlsudski OF Poland was in Paris. and
although he did not return to Warsaw
with any definite alliance treaty in
his pocket. he did succeed in creating
la~-great deal Of active French SYM
pathy in favor of his owl COUNTRY.
An informal "entente corbiale" wal
arranged. and in spite of.the fact that
this undoubtedly foyges q, new link1in
the chain now gradually surrounding
Germany, EnEfand secretly objects to
too MANY Changes in the balance OF
power. on the continent.
In the meantime, the Timer SileSiar
most prominent in the consciousness
Of both Polssan Germans. The i'm
portance attached-to the plebiscite in
both camps may. be . little difficult te
realize at this distance because sc
many details are lacking in the in
formation cominG t0 the Tinted States