Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-26
BY JOHN GUNTHER,
Correspondent of The Star ana Chicago
Daily News in Poland.

30,0OO,O00 people, the fundamental
inherent political importance of which
cannot be gainsaid; it is country
which just misses being a great power
and which is certainly the first Of the
lesser powers; and it lies, perfectly
! fiat expanSe with no natural geo.
graphic frontiers, between two other
powerful nations, who for many years
thought Of 1t only with bitter enmity.
Thus the first problem for Poland
was to stiffen itself Germany and
Russia were like gigantic levers on
either side That first problem has
been met and solved. There Is no
longer any danger of collapse between
the two What counts now is for
Poland to improve her internal posi-
! ton so that this will react favorably
to her foreign affairs, to the end that
relations with Germany and Russia,
at first very bad and still only tolerable,
shall eventually be good.
Strong in Alliances.
| The first Polish move was defensive;
/ thus the alliance with France. This
! Is tire very bedrock and corner stone Of
! Polish foreign policy. The Franco
! Polish alliance is a mediating factor
of great Importance in Europe; obvious
| ly the possibility of French action
! against Germany will always tend to
hold Germany neutral in case of trou-
| BILE between Poland and Russia. Next
! to the French alliance comes the al
lance with Rumania. Poland Is pledged
to aid Rumania in case of attack by
Russia over BesSarabia.
After these fundamentals, 1t is easy
to sketch the general trend of Polish
foreign policy.
Poland is friendly to the Little En-
| tente being drawn toward it by COM
mon sympathy with France. Poland
wants recognition as the big brother
of the Baltic states Poland is eager
to play closely with Turkey, Persia
and Afghanistan. and indeed with all
other countries which border Russia
the impulse being a desire for COM
mon action in regard to the great,
sprawling neighbor. Finally. seeing
what a power italy is getting to be in
the Balkans, Poland wants to be friend
" with Ita'y-but never so friendly
that the Fundamental t!e-up with
France could suffer
AS far as relations with Germany
are concerned. politically they are bet
ter now than they have been in years;
but commercially they get worse. A
war" is on.
Corridor Mus. Be Polish.
1t is assumed in Poland that Ger
many will never finally give up for
lost her eastern frontiers But on the
other hand Poland sees the first rcbid
hatred Of Poland by Germany on the
wane: the recent swing to the left in
the German elections won applause in
Poland And Poland hopes that PER-
haps Germany regards the loss of the
Dan2ig corridor, at least. with some
firality because here again rises an
other fundamental in Polish policy:
the corridor must remain Polish for
ever.
The commercial war between Poland
and Germany has been going on UNI
Poland Was given the right to export
SEQ, 900 tons of ccal Fer Month to Ger
many from what had been German ter
ritory in SilsSia. bit following the quar-
rel over the GIassan p,ebescites, the
| Germans cut the quota 10 100000 tens.
/ Polish reprisalS followed. to which the
| German answer UaS . total embargo
on oo.lch cc2l--ard the wer began.
| Poland has cuf.ered seriously IS re-
| suit IN wcy, the i2cs CT the German
market srurred Pciish industry to new
| efforts In research ana expansion. but
| that has not recompensed the loss on
: 1000 tons of coal month which
must be sold a. hsd competitive Price
, elSewaere.
1 Polish reprisais to Germany are est
! ~ in the form of intD9rt prohibitions
| on machinery. manufactured articles
| and the like but tee cl-r"el has taken
| other avences 10 direct airs>iane Serv-
! ICE exists between cclard end Germany,
and planes flying from Ftga TO Berlin
! dodge Polish territory by flying over the
! sea. In her turn, Germany fcrbids the
through shipment of articles. like meat,
| from Poland to France.
Live Stock Embargo.
| The chief obstacle to ending the war
| just now appears TO be the pig. Poland
wants a3 EN- essential condition to
agreement TIE free right to export ag-
! ricultural &C IS. ca.e.1y EGGS, live stock
, and PCS. to Germany. this the German
/ agricu.tcr.stS. led by the Germand Land
! Union, ahSo. Isely REFUGE, Another OBJ
/ stacle tG agreement on a real COM
mercial treaty is fear by Fc'and CT col
! onization" by German merchants, banks
and farmers of the Polish western
| frontier.
But the real difficulties are psychic
| logical. So, at least. most Observers III
| Warsaw believe Difficulties between
| surmourtas,e. ret Jlss because Ger
many Gees ret want Polish Pigs and
| Poland Will not have German manu-
! features, but because the F0lcS see hun
| CRY Germ al eyes on Ssle2ia ard DanEig
to say nothing Of the corridor. And
| the Pole can only put out his hands and
| say what is true. that the population
| of the corridor Is as Polish as that of
| Warsaw, Grd that the corridor gives
10000 600 their only access to the sea-
There has. nevertheless, been a con-
siderable recent amsGoraticn In rela-
lions.
A timber agreement has been signed.
ana after prolonged wrangle a conven-
ton on Immigration end settlement has
been neutrality-suspicious. Further
| negotiations are proceeding, Polish
commission Il sitting IA Eerlin, and the
optlmissS say that a commercial treaty
| Is rc2Slbiity-~with en- end TO the
present commercial War--within a year.
Polaad's relations with Soviet Russia
are described as Normal" Nevertheless
Poland Keeps an army of nearly $4,000
men and the pick CT its officers posted
along the lorg 900 miles of the Russo
Polish frontier.
Those SEQ miles are pretty important
In Polish life. They explain a good
deal In such apparently unrelated fields
AS finance, high politics and the sud
den airplane trips Of the minister of
the interior Remember, that those 900
miles trace a line through region 50
fiat that only IN the Frybit marsh dis
trict is there euy physical obstruction
to the passage Ct tracrS and renem~
Der that on the ether side of the 600
miles is country which has been Po~
lands worst enemy fer 2l1 years. This
explains why QhCnt 40 per cent of the
Polish budget gees to military ex-
penditure, Why Poland Is ltnlsed in the
political game to France and R,lmanla,
why Poland desires good relations with
Germany ard breads Rolshevlsm like
poison.
Al Odds With Russia.