Evening star., 1925-08-18
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL y. COLLINS.

gust 80, 1924, and registered and
promulgated by the League OF Ma
tions February 10, 1925. This was
done at the initiation Of Poland,
against the wishes of the Germans
that any migration should be com
pulsory.
Article 13 of the Vienna treaty pro
vides that the two governments
shall give the necessary instructions
to the competent authorities TO faCil-
itate as far as possible both the jour
neys which the optauts may require
to make, preparatory for their settle
ment in Germany or in Poland, and
the actual journey of emigration"
Germany failed to take advantage
of that provision or to make any
preparation to receive her nationals.
Hence there is now considerable
scandal and distress connected with
the camp Of refugees in Schneide-
muehl, where some 10000 destitute
Germans are gathered. In a mes.
sage from Gov. Won Buelow of the
frontier Province of Posen the gov
ernor advised the editor of the Nos-
siChe Zeitung: You are right; condi-
tions are scandalous."
Eyicted Germans have sent a pro
test TO their government against the
They beg the President and govern
ment to alleviate the unbearable lot
of the refugees by every possible
means and to adopt severe reprisals
against the Poles living IN Germany.
especially to evict the same number
of Poles from Germany, by the ideu
teal methods employed by the Poles.
X x x \
In a recent interview Secretary for
Foreign Affairs Stresemann declared
that Poland had "confiscated the
dwellings Of Germans, forcing them
to emigrate and sacrifice their prop
erty."
In answer to that charge, Polish
officials point to the fact that no
German who owned real estate had
been deported, nor would any be
forced out before next January I,
under the provisions Of the Vienna
treaty of last August; that all Ger
mans had a definite notice of a year;
that, having the option to remain Ger
man citizens, they were obligated TO
leave Poland August 1, If not owners
of real estate, or next January l, if
holders of real estate. Hence there is
no foundation for Secretary Stresc-
mann's charge.
In cases where Germans held leases
on Polish property, they were order
ed out, and the leases Cancelled Au
gust 1, according to the Vienna treaty
but that worked no financial loss
They could have remained if they
had been willing to become Polish
citizens.
When it was found, in 1920, that
Poland and Germany could not agree
concerning the boundary dispute and
the exchange of nationals, the matter
was referred to the League of Ma
tions, which appointed an eminent
Belgian jurist, Judge Kaekenback, as
arbitrator. in applying the terms of
the Versailles treaty. He ruled that
1t was the right of any nation to eN-
clude or deport aliens, at will,
/ Y X Y x
The deportation of nationals has no
connection with either the plebescite
Of 1921--a year after the opt as to
citizenship retention-or with the eco
nomie dispute now pending between
the two countries.
Under the Versailles treaty, Ger
many was obligated to receive free
of import duty 900 tons a month
/ of Polish coal That obligation eX
pired July 1, 1925, and Germany has
refused to accept any more coal i'm
portations without a tariff protecting
her own coal.
For some years Germany has Suf
fered French occupation of her Ruhr
coal district, but now that the Ruhr
has been restored to German control
she no longer can use Polish coal eX-
cept at the expense of her own pro
duction. German industries today are
in a state of stagnation, which re-
duces her coal consumption. All of
the economic crisis is quite independ-
ent of the exchange of nationals.
Copyright. 1925. By Pam V. CouinAl