The New York herald., 1921-05-12
FRENCH IN SILESIA HALT
GERMANS; IGNORE POLES
Accused Of Failing to Carry
Out Terms In1partially.

Special Gable to TIE NEW York HERALD.
Copyright, 1921. by THE New York HERALD
OPPELN, Upper Silesia, May 1.-THE
Inter-Allied Commission in Upper Silesia
has been discredited through the failure
of the French to carry out the plebiscite
terms impartially, is the charge made
i'm many quarters. The commission Is
functoning in accordance with the in
structions OF the peace terms. Tho
French. with the full accord of British
and italian delegates. have stamped out
German military conspiracies by arrest
ing agitators and confiscating arms. The
British have been complaining, however
that the French have refused to act with
equal energy against the Polish conspir-
ators. overlooking rifle running and re-
fusing to arrest Poles when asked to do
so by the other Allies.
A British district commander tells me
that so far as he knows the French
made no arrests of Polish insurrection
leaders in his district and ignored his
indications and requests for assistance.
When the insurgents were entering his
city he appealed to the French officer
to give his support in ordering the in
surgents to leave, but the Frenchman
declined. The case of French punitive
tank expedition has now been verified
by an allied officer who saw the tank
crew exchange salutes with small bands
of armed insurgents on the road outside
Beuthen.
When the uprising began French Off
GERS at Oppeln assured me they Intended
to take vigorous action, but already
they are reducing their control along
the Polish border. / have passed the
frontier when 1t was unguarded by
either Poles or French and again when
two French sold iers were Indifferent TO
the crossing of armed insurgents. I
have seen villages where insurgents and
French soldiers covered the same streets,
ignoring one another.
The Insurgents are grateful for the
French tolerance. They told me that
a couple of minor conflicts between
their forces and the French were the
result of mistaken indentity and that
each side was taking precautions to
prevent a recurrence. The laXity Of
the French In executing the plebiscite
decisions indicates that the general
! policy is TO show Polish leanings.
They limited that French officers are
acting under secret instructions rather
than those of the Interallied Commits
sion, and complained that the French
excluded them i'm the practical execu-
/ ton of important details. British off,
GERS feel humilated over this, one Brit
/ ish commander resigning rather than re-
4 main in an isolated and ambiguous po-
sition.
From long conversations with all par
ties I conclude that the charge OF dl-
/ rect French completely is less grounded
/ than the charge OF general tolerance
/ toward Polish Conspirators and the un-
willingness OF the French now to take
any steps which might prejudice the in
surgents and favor the Germans
The Germans in Upper Silesia feel
/ themselves unprotected and although
| finding the British troops unfriendly
I have welcomed their protection. The
/ italian troops are popular with the Ger
mans and there are indications OF some
/ determination. But the French from the
1 beginning have made common cause with
| the Poles against the Germans. cooperat-
ing In unearthing secret arms depots
and refusing similar Investigations OF
Polish bureaus.
The French permitted 400 former
| Polish officers to participate IN Suppress
! ing German military organizations, but
| the Germans were not authorized 10 take
similar precautions against the Poles.
Outside opinion criticises the French.
not for sympathizing with the Polish
cause. but tho French plebiscite commits
sion for violating its mission.
This situation continues, making in
tolerable the position Of the British and
Italian missions. who have demonstrated
BY their efforts their desire to execute
the plebiscite The insurgents with
justification assert that they have won
q military victory.