The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-03

eve live in a time,''. said Mr..
Churchill in his review of the Cri-
mea conference, when the quail
ty Of decision is required from all
who take part in our public af-
fairs" The decision which the
American people take about the
Yalta agreement on Poland is of
enormous importance: it may we'll
play determining part in the
restoration of the Polish nation,
and by that in what the future is
to be between the western nations
and the Soviet Union.
To discuss these issues at all is
grave responsibility. Thus if we
take the view that Yalta was a
betrayal, then we are exerting our
influence against a reunin of the
Polish factions, and against a re-
Cancellation between Poland and
the Soviet Union. For men like
the late General Sikorski or for
M. MikolaicZyk now it becomes in
finitely more difficult to work for
the future of Poland if in the Unit
ed States powerful voices insist
that they are conniving at the be-
trayal of their country.
Undoubtedly the Prime Minister
had this in mind when he told
the House that there would have
been no Lublin committee or Lub-
lin provisional government if the
Polish government in London had
accepted our faithful counsel of a
year ago. They would have enter
ed into Poland as it's actual gov
eminent. They would have entered
with the liberating armies of Rus
STA. Even in October, wnen the
Foreign Secretary and l toll
ed day and night in Moscow.
Monsieur Mikolapczyk could
have entered Polant with Mar
III a Stalin's friendship and
become Prime Minister of a more
broadly constructed government
which could now be set up at
Warsaw, or wherever in view of
the ruins Of Warsaw, the center
of government is placed. But these
opportunities were cast aside and
complete expulsion of
Germans from Poland has taken
place. OF course, the Lublin gov
eminent advanced with the victor
ious Russian armies. 1t was not
therefore possible, so far as rec
ognition was concerned, to pro-
cure dissolution of the Lublin gov
eminent simultaneously and to
start from a swept table"
Why were the opportunities cast
aside last October? Not least
among the reasons was that in our
own Presidential election votes
were sought by statements which
encourage d the irreconcilable Poles
in London to think that they could
afford to reject the compromise
which Mikolajczyk was offered.
The question now after Yalta is
whether Americans w il once
again encourage irreconcilability
which would make it almost impos-
sible to establish free and orderly
government in Poland, and could
easily lead to civil strife. No doubt
those who believe that clear and
deep injustice has been done will,
no matter what the consequences,
hold their opinion. But others will
hold with a good conscience that
the disputed issues do not lend
themselves to certain and absolute
moral judgment, that they fall in
the class of cases where, as one
eminent moral theologian puts it,
sobscurity exists as to the
application of moral principles to
concrete cases (and) we are
frequently at a loss as to what
course duty prescribes."
The territorial dispute is a pc
culiarly difficult case to judge
morally. Thus we could debate to
the end of time without settling
# absolutely whether territory
which Poland conquered in 1922
must remain Polish under the AT
1antic Charter which t h e Soviet
Union did not sign until after she
~ recovered her lost provinces:
DIT do we serve any cause-that
- po1an5 or of international just