Evening star., 1925-08-23
BY FRANK III. SIMONDS.

TINE persistence and growing
bitterness of the crisis pro-
voked by the expulsion by the
L Poles of German residents of
upper .Silesia who in the
plebiscite three years ago voted for
German sovereignty has evoked many
American comments, not a few of
which have been based upon senti-
mental rather than critical grounds.
1t is obviously nothing less than
tragedy to see thousands Of people
suddenly driven forth from the land
in which they were born, and the
conditions which have attended the
enforced migration have added to the
horror. Moreover, used as we are in
America to the peaceful association
of many European races come here
to establish themselves, the whole
episode seems barbaric.
Yet the facts are rather different
from the superficial appearance and,
bad as the method of expulsion may
appear, it is still a matter Of debate
| whether in the long run it may not
prove, where possible, the simplest
| solution for one of the most difficult
world problems. In the present Polish
| instance the situation is clear. In the
plebiscite of three years ago taken in
all Of upper Silesia the vote favored
Germany by approximately seven to
| five, but the north went solidly Ger
man and the south equally solidly
Polish, while in the great industrial
| region of the center there was only
a slight German preponderance. In
| accordance with the provisions of the
! treaty of Versailles, and after long
| disputes, the territory was divided
under the decision of a commission
named by the League of Nations. and
| Poland received the south, Pless and
Rybnik Counties, which voted for
Poland, and a portion of the center,
| including the cities of konigshutte
| and CattowitZ. which had voted for
| Germany. Thus Poland acquired a
| considerable German population
which had indicated its desire to re-
main German.
Germans Were Immigrants.
| This German population was
| grouped in cities and about indus
| trial establishments and, while it had
been relatively long settled in Silesia,
was nevertheless the result of immi-
| grafton, for the native population has
| been, since the beginning of history,
| Slavic. These Germans had come
| and settled after Prussian conquest
and they had been responsible for
the great industrial development of
| the last century, but they were not
withstanding quite as foreign as, for
example, the Scandinavian influx
| which has peopled much of the Amer
| lean Northwest.
Unlike our immigrants, however,
| they had declined to fuse with the
| native race or, rather, they regarded
| the Poles as our immigrants regarded
! the native Indians. Supported by the
! central Prussian government, they
exercised political control. But with
| the return of Polish rule after nearly
! seven centuries, they found them
selves not only minority but, hav-
! ing voted to retain German rule. liza
BILE to expulsion under the terms of
| the general settlement. The legal
right of the Polish Government to
expel them was presently upheld by
the League Of Nations itself.
| Despite this legal right, however,
| not a little American comment has
| dealt severely with Poland, arguing
| that the part of wisdom and human
ity demanded that there should be no
expulsion and a policy of reconcilia-
| ton, not severity, would have
| been better. This Is, however, to ig-
more certain facts. Germany on her
right the loss of Upper Silesia and
steadily reaffirms her purpose to re-
gain it. In the present negotiations
| over a guarantee pact with France
| she has declined to give similar assur-
| ances for her eastern frontiers.
Poland is therefore on notice that
| Germany means to reclaim Upper
| Silesia.
Danger to Poland.
| This German purpose has two con-
| sequences. In the first place, the
| German residents have no temptation
i to yield to the situation of the hour
and become loyal Polish citizens. In
| the second place, they constitute a
| permanent danger as they serve not
alone as a basis for German manipu-
lation but also preteXt for German
| propaganda. While there is a large
German population in Polish Upper
| Silesia, the agitation for reunion in
Germany will continue and, in case
| of war, Polish security would be com
| promised by this alien and hostile
| element.
| But the Upper Silesian question is
! only a detail in the far broader Ger
man-Polish dispute which covers all
| the border land from the Baltic to
| the headwaters of the Oder, from
| DanZig to CattowitZ. Here for ten
| centuries the German and Slavic races
have not only been in contact but as
the tides have ebbed and flowed the
| races have become intermingled
| There was time when the Slav from
| tier was west of Berlin and there
was a moment in the period of great.
| est power Of the Teutonic knights
| when German rule was pushed far
| to the east of the existing line. AS
! the treaty makers at Versailles dis.
covered in 1919, it Is quite impossible
to draw q frontier which would sepa.
rate the two races.
| But before the war the German
frontier had been pushed very deep.
ly into undeniably Polish territory and
| several millions of Poles in West
| Prussia. Posen and Silesia were Ger.
man subjects. They had been de
prived of national and racial inde
| pendence by the odious partitions OF
| the earlier, century and they we're sub
| jected to a long regime of tyranny
which eliminated in the efforts tc
| replace them on the land by enforced
appropriation, one of the most brutal
of the Bismarckian policies. In al
| this frontier region the Germans were
in the minority. although they had
settled largely in the cities and in a
few scattered country districts about
the cities.
Treaty Started Migration.
The Treaty of Versailles did not un.
dertake to return to Poland her an.
cient frontiers; 1t limited itself to
seeking to give the Poles the dis.
| tricts in which there was a clear
Polish majority, although this nat.
urally involved transferring to Polish
| sovereignty many enclaves with a
| German majority. districts in which
the people were German and obvi-
ousIy hostile to the Polish annexa.
tion.