Evening star., 1944-12-16
Mr.. Churchill on Poland

Mr.. Churchill on Poland
In exposing what he very frankly
describes as the grim bare bones"
Of the Polish problem, Prime Min
lister Churchill confronts this coun-
try with a political dilemma of the
first magnitude.
Britain, he says, is supporting the
Russian demands on Poland And
he makes it quite plain that the
Russian terms will be imposed on
Poland by the Soviet Army If that
unhappy country refuses to accept
them voluntarily.
These terms would nullify at
least two of the stated principles
of the Atlantic Charter-principles
which Cordell Hull once described
as pledges" About one third of
prewar Poland, lying east of the
Curzon Line,sis to be turned over to
Russia. Britain and Russia are will
ing that Poland should compensate
herself by acquiring territory in East
Prussia and Eastern Germany. To
keep these territorial adjustments in
line with sound ethnographic doc
trine some 100000 people will be
shifted about in mass transfers Of
population.
Thus, the British and the Rus
slams, both subscribers to the At
lantic Charter, serve notice that
they will not be bound either by it's
prohibition against territorial ag-
grandizement or its ban on any ter
ritorial changes that do not accord
with the freely expressed wishes of
the people concerned" There is also
good reason to believe that the third
declaration of the charter-the as
surance to all peoples of the right
to choose the form of government
under which they will live-is in Sc
rious jeopardy so far as Poland is
concerned.
Mr.. Churchill does not say it in
SO many words, but his statement to
Parliament strongly suggests that he
is yielding to what he regards as
the inevitable. Russia is adamant
in her demands against Poland. She
has the means of enforcing those
demands, and, apparently, is de-
termined to impose them by force If
it should come to that. In this situ-
alton, Mr.. Churchill has preferred to
come to an agreement which avoids
break with Russia, and which also
seems to have given the British a
free hand in Greece and perhaps
in other sections.
The Prime Minister makes it plain,
however, that he is troubled by the
attitude of the United States. Presi-
dent Roosevelt has been kept fully
informed of the Anglo-Russian
negotiations, and Mr. Churchill has
been advised of no formal disagree
ment" on our part. He is disturbed,
nevertheless, by the failure of this
Government to define it's attitude
with precision" and he also fears
that the practical settlements being
worked out between Britain and
Russia may prejudice the people of
this country against the kind of
postwar organization to which Brit
ain and the other nations of the
world look for security.
There would seem to be good
reason for all of Mr. Churchills
apprehensions. This Governments
attitude is in doubt. A little more
than year ago, the President, at
Ottawa, expressed himself as being
"everlastingly angry only at those
who assert vociferously that the four
freedoms and the Atlantic Charter
are nonsense because they are un-
attainable." A few days ago the
State Department rebuked Britain
for bringing "outside influence" to
bear in Italy, and stated that this
policy of ours would apply to an even
more pronounced degree with regard
to governments of the United Ma
tions poland is one) in their
liberated territories.
This is enough to leave Mr..
Churchill, and the American people
as well, in grave doubt as to what
this Governments attitude is with
respect to the Polish and other
European settlements. That doubt,
If permitted to grow, will gnaw away
at the foundations of our present
willingness to assume responsible
international role in the postwar
world, and will play directly into the
hands of those who are already at
work trying to turn us back into the
old, fatal path of isolation. For this
reason, with many others, the COM
prehensive statement promised by
Secretary of State Stettinius assumes
an Importance that can hardly be
exaggerated, and it cannot come too
soon