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Show 1 If 1 A Sketch of the Pitiful Condition Con-dition of That Country Now So Much In the Pub-lie Pub-lie Eye. ;1 1 Copyright. l'JU', The International Syn.ll'ito AKXE of the nations which passci (I il1 of cx:cn' iho result ol I I Bihe policies of the Holienzoll' rn- of Prussia, Hie Hapsburgs of lljli' Austria and the Romanoffs of Russlfc I was Poland. A sympathetic world j; "1 listened :o the nd story of its d.s-jP d.s-jP ' ruption and many expressed the hope that the time would come when that once proud and happy people would 'ill' he united under a Government of their jjt own. They had felt the hand of op-"T op-"T predion and .suffered all the ignominy i of a conquered and despised nation. iiiUi Their history, if It can be called hls-Ijf hls-Ijf i :it.v, during :"ne last hundred years Jfljll! should hove taught them to be con-)l con-)l siderate and merciful to those In dls-!l'e-s "ni1 t0 hold out a helping hand to a people struggling for cx.stence JLji and for the mere right to live in fi peace. But now thut they have gained , i.. their freedom and their right to live l'l' a a -epirite and independent nation f'tttt 1,1S occn reeocnl.e.;. one of the first acts to be connived at or at least tol-"IiJ tol-"IiJ crated is the harsh and unjust treat-Uf'IM treat-Uf'IM ment of the Jews. During the pogroms of long aero one ll was led to believe that they were Brought about through the Instigation lj' of the clique about the Czar, and those I of Kiev and Kitchmoff no doubt' had I such an origin, but the most recent ones have occurred in Poland. It iln seems that whatever may happen n there the Jews are in some way drawn ,i Into the melee and a number killed , and there have been many ou'r.'g..- filwj arainst this race since November 7, At ' 191S. These have consisted of looting, ,f', assaults, burglaries and fighting. Jews applying for permits wore robbed and flogged. Their religion was even rldiculcdand many houses were burned 1 to the ground. in Treatment Of Tho jews The Jews, like the Armenians, have been perseeutcLfor centuries and aft-1 er nil is said and done by tho Peace1 Conference there is little doubt there1 will be outbreaks of that typo from time to time. However, It Is certain there will be some provision against the harming of innocent peoplo merely mere-ly because they are of another race. Tho Poles are a peculiar people for they seem to dislike other nations except ex-cept themselves. During the time they were under the Russian government they refused to speak tho Russian language or to study It at school They were forced to use It In transactions transac-tions with the government. They were always sullen and no matter what fsv. ors Russia offered to I hem they made no effort to conciliate the Czar's Court land even refused to recognize him as I the Czar, but spoke of him as the i King of Poland. They claimed that they were loyal only to Poland and were continually prating about wha' a great nation they had been. Early History Polish history professes to go back to tho fourth century, but its history up to the tenth century Is too legendary leg-endary to have much value and even at that period there was little of In- j lerest. Not until SIglsmund I, sur- i named tho Great, came to the throne in 1506 was the country raised to : prosperity. This ruler was generous and was well beloved by his people ' and he brought about harmony among the turbulent nobles. He, however. became Involved In a war with Russia Rus-sia and lost Smolensk. His son Slgis-mun.l Slgis-mun.l II reigned well and finally the Polish land stretched across centra.'. Europe from the Baltic Sea to the Dniester with Its net front less than ninety miles from Berlin and Its eastern east-ern border about 150 miles from Moscow. The land has always been the hotbed hot-bed of intrigues and many European countries looked upon its rich land with covetous eyes and In ITTii It be-pan be-pan to shrink In slee Then came the second partition when five millions lot Poles were bluntly told that they were to consider themselves Prussian br Russian subjects according to the I new frontiers drawn by the treaty. I Poland was rendered helpless and felt a victim to Prussian and Russian j trickery Before they had recovered I thcr"c was a third partition. Then the j great Kosciusko, tho most chivalrou: figure in Polish history camo to the' front. He soon reached America j and fought under General Washington, Wash-ington, where he displayed such military ability that ho became a General. Gen-eral. Ho returned to his native land in 1783 and started a revolution. Tho! common people rallied about him but ' the cause was lost although he made a gallant fight, having three hordes! killed beneath him. He was finally! taken prisoner. Warsaw had become the seat of government gov-ernment of the country In 1550 and was the scene of Kosciusko's fight, aj terrible battle where soldiers, civilians. ; women and children, suffered alike and the streets ran red with blood. After Warsaw's fall the powers decided decid-ed to divide Poland again The Empress Cathcrlno of Russia, who was well known as an intriguer, was the leader and together with Fred erlck William and Marie Theresa they planned and connived with the result j that the gains of Russia consisted of an area of 181,000 square miles and a population of fi, 000. 000. Austria's, sharo was 45 000 square miles and ' 3,000 new subjects and Prussia's new I territory 57.000 square miles In ore;' j and 2,500,000 population. This left a comparatively small number of Poles, ashamed and grieved at the loss of 1 their national existence. At last they thought If they would fight for France this country would help them organize organ-ize a government in return for thelr servlces, but tho French laws would not permit of their enrollment In the army Flnallj R few were able to get Into what was called Napoleon s Polish Pol-ish Legion and about 15,000 of these were sent to S'. Domingo to suppress I tho revolt headed hv the negro Tou-salnt Tou-salnt rOuvcrtyrc. Many of them die 1 of yellow fever so they gained no help for Poland They at last settled down as an unhappy un-happy people, the three'prt.s of which were ruled by Austria, Germany and Russia. They suffered humiliation frovn each one and were known as the saddest people in Europe. Divided Between Nations Then the great war came which threw the great armies of Europe In conflict on tho dismembered soil of Poland. Tho Poles were Slavs but they owed allegiance to three nations and were drawn Into these armies Finally they concluded that if some fought with each army they mfght in some way gain recognition. Russia made tho biggest piny for them by pr-'inr .t, , tli. ni .i certain frc lorn and the Czar oven sent a religious address to them which caught many and they tried to fhrht against Germany with the Russians, hut the retreat of the Russian army left them an cosy victim to the Huns who devastated Poland as they did Belgium, destroying hundreds of villages. Battles At Warsaw A part of the campaign was fought lout at Warsaw and the Poles v. ere j made prisoners in their own country I only to be beaten and starved as wed. There were several drives mado by the Huns aid Hie women and children of ihe city- loffered untold horrors. Now that fighting has ceased the people arc merely existing In Poland and the Rockefeller Foundation has made an Investigation and reported I that unless something Is speedily done the entire civilian population will I starve. Tho Allies have decided that Poland shall, after centuries, come into It own and the better class of Poles have been trying to straighten things out. Paderewskl. the famous pianist went homo sometime ago and was the President of the country for a short time. But there Is always trou blc and no matter how careful the ' people who arc working for tho good ; of the land, may be. German propaganda propa-ganda will creep In and cause disturb, j ancc and unrest. The entire country j must be reconstructed. The land is valuable but all the farming machln-I machln-I ery Is destroyed for It seems that ! wherever the Germans were compelled ! to move out they wrecked and ruined every Implement of agriculture as weli as everything else In the hope of starv! ing the people. The land Is productive but tho po. pie have no farming implements and l hey arc so weak from lack of food that they ennnot even work If the) had the machinery Warsaw, tho largest city, Is beautifully beauti-fully situated on a plain on the Vistula River. The main part of the city u close to the r.vcr. and houses art quaint and many arw very old. Th cliy has always been an Intellectual enter and many of our finest singers and musicians have culled Warsaw their home Pitiful Condition The Socialists have appeared but they are not making any attempt lo feed the women and children who stand about boshing for food. Numbers Num-bers of children arc going blind through suffering with trachoma, the dreaded eye disease Thore are also several thousand 111 from tuberculosis Both of these diseases are from lack of medicine and proper food. The old Jewish market, where- a great part of the foodstuffs were hsLridlad la almost empty, as few can get any food to offer. The once beautiful beau-tiful boulevards, built In Imitation of j the Champs-Elysess of Paris, show lit. Me of their old time Jplendor. Beggar are everywhere. The Catholic church predominates as a religion, but there arc more than 300.000 Jews about the city, both Polos and Jews have little food and no work Poland's plight Is pitiful and it may be many years and only after much suffering that this chrysalis of a nation maj come Into the sunshine. |