RECOILING TYRANNY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 218, 12 September 1916, Page 4

RECOILING TYRANNY.

Russia, is said to pc using a. large num bei of her Polish prisoners as soldiers in I her own army to fight against the Teutonic alliance. It was known. of course, at the beginning of the \va.-. that a section of the Poles who were under ("ierman or Austrian rule) were disaffected, and thousands surrendered to the Russians rather than tight against their fellow countrymen fromi Ruse-inn Poland, but tlic employment of tlu«e eamt prisoners in the ranks ot thej I Kuesian army shows that they believe Russia-is their best friend, and that the cause of the Allies is the eaute also o ! If he Polish nation. This is their re eponee tc the German promise of a king norn of Poland under a German ruler as King. To Austria this attitude irill be peculiarly embarrassing, ac the Poles oi" Galieia still remaining in the Aui=tria.n ranks "will 'be called upon to fight against their own section of the Polish race, and we may expect to hear of eti'.l further surrenders or even of open mutiny. It i≤ pretty generally conceded that Austria has treated her polit-h sub jc-ets better than either Russia or Germany, and. during the" last half-oentury the Austrian Poles have had little to complain of. But the . of the Prussian Poles has been far different, and the nation now recojmises that the victory of the- Central Powers would mean the domination of Austria by Germany and'the subjugation of the Galician Poles to the harsh rule of Prussia. Austria has to suffer for the ems of her ally. Those who want to know what German rule would mean would do well to study the history of the Prussian Poles. The Prussian Government made supreme efforts to suppress all attempts of the Poles to prosirrve their national individuality. They began 'with the schools. The use of the" Polish language was forbidden, and children using their native tongue were brutally flogged. Many Polish teachers were transferred to other parts of the Kmpire. and those who remained were forbidden to speak Polish even in their own homes. The persecution, was carried into the domain of rollsion. and "Roman Catholics were subjected to every form of insult and i I'iimiliation. and even -children were fori bidden to pray in their native tongue. j.Lu, jregard to land and hpuses posocssed iby the Poles the Germans "brought in a : Kill, w-hhkh gave tho Government Ipower iro take such laad by force and sell it at their own price to Prussian colonists. Tn many raises the Poles were forbidden ito build" on any land they possessed, the i object 'being to compel {hem to sell the j land at a nominal price and to disi courage. them from buying any further j land, but the ingenious Poles evaded ithis la.v by putting all their buildings on wheels and moving them from place 1 1« place.- Persecution only served to in--1 fla-me the national spirit of the Poles, and it is small wonder that they regard, with dismay the proposal of the Teutonic Powers to make a Polish kingdom under the rule of the HobenzollcrnsKussia has offered the Polos the restora- : tion of their land under the protection of tho Czar, and this offer has been received with gratitude by representatives or all the leading democratic partita connected with the Polish nation, including the Democratic National party, the Polish Progressive party, -the-B«al*t-party, and the Polish Progressive Union. In a manifesto issued by representatives or all these parties, the. Poles arc called upon to unite in combat against the Germans and so assist in realising tho aspirations of the Polish nation. Hitherto Austria has been able to count on n- certajn amount of loyalty amongst her Polish population, as she has given them 'a.' good deal of liberty, and they have enjoyed a considerable measure of Homo Rule in Galieia. but the Poles recognise that Austria is doomed, and so Russia is atile to count on her Polish prisoners as allies, and to utilise them to light in the ranks against a common foe. The persistent persecution to which the Prussian Poles have been .subjected has roused the whole of the Polish nation to -unite in resisting the German proposal of a Poland under Hohcnzollern rule, and thus has added to the many difficulties under which tho Dual Monarchy is so rapidly crumbling to pieces.