New-York tribune., 1921-03-20
Colonize by 4 OO, y 600 Ger
man SFloaters' French
Say 800, 600 70 Vote
on Self Determination
Armed Bands Ready
To Storm Polls
Berlin Governments Plea
Is It Cannot Pay ANY
Indemnity if Deprived
Of Rich Coal Region
By William L. McPherson

~ eV-uAyS pleDlSClte Germany
mas colonized at least 100000
hoaters" in Upper Silesia--the
French newspapers say 100000. No
fare trains have been run from the re-
motest corner Of the Reich, carrying
toward Oppeln voters who claim to be
Upper Silesians by birth. Hundreds
of Germans have been brought from
the ends Of the earth--from America
and Australia to take part in an cleo
tion which has been advertised as an
act of self-determination by the people
Of Upper Silesia.
1t would seem reasonable that the
| population who live in this district,
/ carry on its industry and till its soil
are, in the. last analysis, the ones to
decide-if there is any need Of popu-
lar decision--to what sovereignty they
| will adhere. But under the curious
provisions Of the peace treaty Germany
is permitted to take an appeal also to
| the casuals and wanderers-to the chill
dren of Prussian civil officers or army
officers who happened to be born with
in the plebiscite limits, to long de-
| parted emigrants, even to Germans
who long since have lost their nation
ality. Germany continually whines.
about not being able to pay her war
reparations debt. But in the last
twenty months she has spent millions
and millions of marks preparing to
carry the Silesian election. She has not
only organized illegally armed bands to
| intimidate the residents of the dis;
trict, but has mobilzed q Hindenburg
strategic reserve with which to storm
| the voting booths So far as the Allies
are concerned, she has millions for
! purposes Of defense or reconquest, but
not cent for tribute. AS ex-Presi-
/ dent Poincare is SO fond of saying,
poor Germany"
Plebiscite an Afterthousht
OF Gathering at Paris
| The Silesian plebiscite was one of
the unhappy afterthoughts OF the peace
1 conference. 1t would better have been
| left unheld It's pendency for nearly
two years has encouraged the Germans
| in their efforts to annul or rewrite
the treaty. AT the recent London con-
ference they conditioned their meager
| lreparation 5ffer on the retention of
Upper Silesia. If they had lost it out
right at Paris, as they lost Alsace
Lorraine, Danzig, Posen and West
Prussia, they would be TAR less OBJ
| streperous now.
! There was Just as much reason for
giving Poland Upper Silesia as there
| was for giving her Posen and the Vis-
| tula corridor. or for giving Czecho-
| Slovakia Teschen. 1t was originally
intended to make the new Polish state
commercially and economically inde-
pendent. Upper Silesia is nearly as
essential TO her economic independ-
| ence as the outlet to Danzig is to her
commercial independence. Upper ST.
Ilesia furnished in 1913 40.4 per cent
! Of the coal consumed in what is now
1 Poland. Upper Silesia is predomi-
| nantly Slav in population, of the 2,2OO,-
| 900 genuine inhabitants 81 per cent
being Polish. There are also many
Czechs in the plebiscite area.
| Moreover, from the point OF view ot
Fdisarming Germany the transfer Of
| Upper Silesia to Poland was highly
desirable move. This industrial region
had become during the war center
| for the manufacture Of war material,
\ suppllmenting the centers in Western
Germany. The representatives of ST.
lesian industry, gathered in convention
| in Oppeln in 1915 made this boast:
ssThe war has proved that the industry
/ of Western Germany is not able to
furnish sufficient material for the Ger
man armies Without the furnaces Of
Upper Silesia the fabrication Of arms,
munitions and all other necessary
articles would have fallen short"
In other words the Silesian plants en-
/ ahled Germany to conduct the var Tor
] four years on two fronts In 1918
! Silesian metals syndicate, der Ober-
schleische Berg und Hlttenmannischer
Verein,' published pamphlet to show
that without Silesia it would be i'm
/ possible for the Reich to make war
! again, ssFor this reason," said the
authors, to detach Upper Silesias
from Germany is to lay the foundations
Of the latter'sl servitude'
Lloyd George Baked Plan &
To Give Poland District
The peace conference had planned
up to the last minute to give Upper
Silesia outright to Poland. But Lloyd
| George, who had shown marked indif.
| ference to the new Polish state, and
| had already successfully kept the Poles
from annexing Danzig, insisted son
1 change Of program which would keep
Germany's title alive and give her 2
a.