Evening star., 1921-08-20
To the Editor Of The Star:

To the Editor of The Star:
After reading your article about the
supreme council meeting and your
brief discussion Of the Upper Sile-
sian question. have decided to in
form you of some facts which are
not generally known. The supreme
council is to decide whether Upper
Silesia will be retained by Germany
or whether it is to be divided up, and
II SO. to determine the share that each
Of the claimants will receive.
or course, the recommendations that
the allied commission. which was sent
to Upper Silesia to study the situa-
tion, makes. will have to be consid-
cred. 1t is devoutly to be hoped that
these recommendations will favor Po-
land rather than Germany.
However. most unfortunate fore
casts Of the said commissions recon-
mendations have appeared in the
press. These forecasts suggest that
only the districts of Rybnik and Pless
will be granted to Poland. and that
Germany will be allowed to retain the
balance of the country under dispute.
Needs Industrial Districts.
Any such decision would be dis
blow to Poland: without the Indus
trial districts ofUpper Silesia, which,
in fact, form an indivisible entity
with the Industrial districts on the
Polish side of the frontier. her inde-
pendent economic recovery Is MADE
impossible.
ANY such decision can only mean
that Poland must either sacrince her
hopes of economic recovery, In order
to retain her Independence, or sacri.
fee her independence to save herseii
from bankruptcy. Without Upper 81
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or into the arms of Germany.
The atmosphere which surrounds
the Upper Sileslan question is far from
being favorable to Polish interests,
ana the principal cause for this Is
the general belief that Upper pp.s.l. silesta a
Germany than Il is to Poland. This be-
lief has further engendered the fear
that tho loss Of Upper Silesia would
impair Ge!manyS ability to pay debts
to the allie2
any expectation that Germany. il she
is allowed to keep Upper Silesia.
will pay the allies one penny more in
reparation than she is compelled to.
is doomed to disappointment. And
they will not be surprised to learn
more necessary to Germany than to
Poland was originally exploited by
Germany, and has been continually
and consistently pressed by means of
German propaganda. An array OF evi-
dence could be adduced to show that
as q matter of fact Poland and Upper
Silesfa are to a great extent interde-
pendent one upon the other for coal
and for ore and for food supplies. and
that Germany in time OF peace is not
nearly so dependent upon Upper Si-
lesia as she would now have the allies
believe.
War Necessity for Germany.
It is only true to say that Upper
Silesia is. essential to Germany at one
time and In one way. She is
necessary to Germany in time of war
when she is the arsenal that pro-
vides her with the weapons of war.
This has been admitted by Germany
herself. In the memorial Of septem..
Der 3. 1916, the all-important part
played by the iron foundries of Upper
silesia during the war is fully set
forth. The report explicitly states
that without the iron foundries of
Upper Silesia Germany would not
have had a suficiency of arms. NUM-
tions and other war material. And
again. in another memorial addressed