Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-31
POLISH CORRIDORINC
AROUSES PRE-WAR HATES
German Threat Menaces BRAND Plan
and Franco-G German Feeling
Since Evacuation.

peace treaties. which would begin by
restoring German possession of the Cor
rider.
what wise men in all countries per-
ceive is that since no country is at the
moment ready to fight for q treaty revi-
sion it is better to keep silent than to
discuss such burning issues, for the
Polish Corridor is but one of half q
dozen ethnic disputes which have no
| chance of being submitted to juridical
determination. But If the wise men are
agreed. the nationalist in all countries
are steadily bidding for national ap-
proval at the risk of international dis
| turbance, and Traviranus is only one
among many offenders.
For better or for worse the Polish
, Corridor is likely to endure until such
time as Germany is able by force and
through : to bring about revision,
or France by withdrawing her support
from Poland puts Poland in such
hopeless situation in FACE of GER
tain German, and possible Russian, at
tack that she may, although the chance
is small. assent to sor.-e peaceful read
justment.
Population Gains Worry Germany.
But what troubles the Germans is
that, on the one hand, the lost terri
tory is rapidly losing its German popu-
lation, and, on the other last Prussia,
cut off from the Reich by a new FROM
tier, is declining alike in population
and in prosperity. If you go to the
region of the Polish Corridor, as / did
several years ago, --ot only do you have
the once familiar sensation of visiting
a battle front but also there is the
sense that the German is waging q
losing battle, and that If existing con-
ditions continue indefinitely he may
end by seeing East Prussia engulfed by
peaceful penetration of the Polish
population, which is increasing more
rapidly than the German and Is ready
to take over the Improbable farms.
Unless Germany keeps steadily raising
the question at every chance, and I'M
less it can get some Satisfsc tion before
too long, the issue may settle itself by
the practical disappearance of the Ger
man element, which has already largely
vanished from PoSen and the Corridor, |
from cities like Bromberg and Thorn, |
and is only holding on prepariouSly in
Upper Silesia.
AS a practical matter. Polish possess
sion Of the Corridor today imposes very
little actual hardship upon East Prus- |
STA, since the railway traffic is now adj |
Justed to avoid all unnecessary delays, |
and under the S. ,erviSion of the |
League treaty trains pass without any
customs or passport eXamin atoms But, |
as the Germans point out, in the past |
the Poles did impose MANY hampering |
regulations and remain able at will to |
repeat the performance.
1t is customary to refer to the crea- |
ton OF the Polish Corridor as one of |
the great-perhaps the grtatest-blun- |
der or crime of the treaty Of Versailles. |
But the truth is that the real trouble /
arises from the mixed character of the
population in the regions concerned. |
There can only be a German solution
totally unacceptab' to the Poles or a /
solution equally repugnant to the Ger
mans. Poland without access to the
sea would be economically at the mercy !
OF Germany. East Prussia, cut off from |
the Reich, can be hampeIed, but still /
retains cheap and e, " co Communication |
with the fatherland by sea.
Bad Feeling Grows.
Beyond any doubt, the present Incl
dent will end without any more serious |
consequences than a new wave of re-
elimination and bad feeling extending |
from Paris to Warsaw and affecting |
Brussels, Prague. Bucharest and Bel |
grade, as well as the French and Polish |
capitals. But just as certainly similar |
speeches will presently provoke similar |
outbreaks and serve, as die the present |
burst of German oratory, 10 remind the |
world OF the volcano existing just below |
the surface of Europe that is LAYING |
aside discussion Of the inevitable war |
to talk of European federation at |
Geneva.
All in all, given the stin recent
Franco Italian crises and the eternal |
rowing between the Little Entente and |
Hungary, this latest international epi- |
sode indicates that Europe is having a |
bad year in its international relations, |
and that the weather signals must be |
set for storms.
Copyright, 1901