Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-28
FRANCE NOW FEARFUL
FOR LIFE OF TREATY
Nation Also Disturbed Over Possibility
of Germany's Acting Against
Poland.

, inhabited by q Polish majority of to
| / {1,250, 900 to $50 600 according to the
German census of 1870. wishes to stay
| German, the powers consent to having
the question of whether Upper Stesia Is
| to belong to Germany or to Poland de-
cided by the vote of the inhabitants
themselves"
A plebiscite was therefore organ
lied and an interallied commission pre-
sided over by Gen. lie Rond, appointed
to carry on the government OF the
country until the people were consulted.
Germany tried tfenceforward the inn
poSsible-to stop the plebiscite or to
arrange for 1t to be unfavorable to
Poland She tried first of all to with
hold the coal she owned us, maintain
ing that she needed the Silesian mines
to pay us in full. she fostsred q state
of public feeling which eliminated
Kattowitz.
Not q Success.
She tried all sorts of stratagenas to
have included in the projected pleb-
iscite area 100000 Germans doyni-
ciled outside. To try to influence the
voting, she let across the frontier troops
from those organizations, the Orgesch
and the Einwohnerwelr, Which We had
the lack of foresight not to dissolve. She
leaned on the complacency of Mr.. Lloyd
George and of Lord d'Abernon 70 serve
her ends it was indeed Herr Wrth
who spared the least pains in these
shrewd arrangements.
These, however, were not success
The plebiscite gave a majority for the
Poles in 673 communeS, as against $50
for the Germans. Herr Wirth and the
Breslau chamber of commerce held
none the less that the result of the
vote should not have been determined
by commune and that justice demanded
that Upper Silesia should remain within
the borders of the Reich. At the same
time, grave incidents took place at Lob
scutz and at Beuthen. Our officers were
threatened and fired at by evening in
the streets. One of them, Maj. Monta-
legre, was aSsassinated. At Kraffitz,
the crowd insultsd Gen. Crater. More
over, the allied authorities were forced
to expel from Kattowitz SO German
police, members Of secret military or
ganiZations.
BY article SO of the treaty, the allied
powers could have fixed the frontier
themselves. But in order to be as in
dulgent as possible, they thought it
we'll to consult the League of Nations.
Lord Balfour, M. Leon Bourgeois, Senior
Quinones de Leon and NJ. Hymans were
charged with the examination of the
results of the plebiscite They began
by studying the German thesis of an
indivisible Upper Silesia. Conscience
made 1t their duty to put 1t aside, as
contrary to the treaty and to the show
ings of the plebiscite.
Admiration of Dividing.
Thus they showed their admiration
for the principle of dividing. But as
the voting showed in several regions
a terrible mingling Of Polish and Ger
man Sympathles, the League Of Ma
tions Council obviously was unable to
come to any conclusion which would
please everybody, Taking all things
together, it decided to sacrifice the
country q little to the towns, to the
disadvantage of Poland. Further
more. it took al pains to insure the
continuity of local economic life, pre-
coming duality without collision.
The conference of ambassadors was
charged with making this conscien-
tious opinion the decision of the
allied governments. The German Ma
tionaliStS protested vehemently. They
reproached Chancellor Wirth with
being too weak toward US. In Octo-
Der. 1921. the latter resigned ONCE,
not without repeating that Germany
had been deprived of part of her
self. Flourishing cities and four-fifths
of the factories of Upper Silesia had
been torn away from her, populations
OF German origin and language had
been thrown to the hapleSs care of
Poland. If, he said a solution in
conformity with Germany's sense Of
justice were not reached, the fnan-
cial capacities of the Reich would be-
come so far curtailed that reparations
could no longer be paid.
It is this same nine-year-old Lam
guage which we have just been hear
ing again. Can it be thus true that
the whole history of Germany con-
sists Of one eternal beginning
again." France still refuses to believe
it. She is too fond Of peace to give
up hope. She cannot, however, adj
nit that a monument dedicated to
Q European union should rest on
powder barrels It is not by reignit-
ing sxtinguished embers that We are
going to prevent confiagrations.
Let Germany and Poland get TO-
gether and try to reach r14W eco
noHic understandings Let them
come to an agreement to improve
communications between their coun-
tries and foster their trade. Nothing
could be better hoped for. But do
not let them hazard, without definite
mutual consent. any experimental re-
divisions of territory. For such would
be nothing other than the lightest-
hearted plunge into the unknown.
Copyright, 1880, by Inter-Eurepa, Paris)