PADEREWSKI: HERO AND PIANIST.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3149, 25 December 1922, Page 8

PADEREWSKI: HERO AND PIANIST.

When Ignace Jan Paderewski returns this monthi from Europe' to write another brilliant chapter of musical 1 history ''Finis'' will have concluded! that important political' volume for which, as Premier of Poland, he supplied' the materials. During thie thirty years in which he won applause from admiring audiences Paderewski was more than the master musician and the eloquent ora>tor. He was the trained engineer; he lie practiced scientific agriculture on his California estates, and studied other basic financial and social sciences, so that, when the hour sJiould strike toward which, he confidently looked, foe' might be fit to assist Poland to organise as a nation. The war endedi, the Allies proclaimed that Poland) should be reunited and Josef Pileukski, Chief of State at Warsaw, sent for Paderewski to accept the Premiership of the new republic. That Paderewski gave several millions dollars' toward the immediate necessities of his native land is, perhajis', not the most signal service which he rendered. Returning by way of Danzig and the Baltic Sea to Warsaw, he found that which he had all along known he would find —a people who had lived under repression Of nationalistic sentiment, lacking leaders trained in the philosophy of initiative and attempting lo weld' together Russian Poland, Austrian Poland and Prussian Poland, each of which had grown under differing social formations, ideals and purposes. Paderewski had taken to Warsaw his cheque book on a bank account enriched by every available asset of Ins fortune of more'than £IOO,OOO. Again and again lie wrote drafts on his bankers in sums to make the average person gasp. But it was more than that which he contributed. Paderewski knew that in those beginning days Poland was not yet a republic but was a mere mass of excited, confused, yet joyous, proud Poles, who, if the political experiment suo ceeded, must work out their salration and win to a settled, rational regime. He knew, and said time after time, that, first, Poland must preserve absolute faith with the Allies, and honor, not only the letter of the treaty but also that spirit of interpretation which cannot always be written in exact language. Second, technical men imbued with Ins own ideal must be asked to jio to Warsaw, to advise in the labor of organisation. Third, that there might be no suggestion of Imperialism in Poland's attitude toward territorial questions. And. fourth, that Poland must cultivate the good opinion and confidence of all the nations. "All for defence; nothing for conquest" was the essence of bis doctrine. Poland should have what army was needed to defend her borders. Poland should ask no Pole or friendly country to give a life or a dollar to Wrest sovereignty from a nearby people who were not made a part of Poland by the Paris Convention. In bis stand for preservation of the amenities of the treaty and against any suggestion of imperialism Paderewski rose to Ins loftiest level of statesmanship. And to express that Opinion is not to impugn the honesty of other Polish patriots who ap|>eared not to align with the Premier at that time. The wisdom of his policies became obvious when later. Paderewski gone from the Zamek, his Premiership ended, and Pilsudski supreme in his policy. the armies, a million strong, marched lo Kiev, in Russian Ukrainia. and a hundred kilometers beyond toward the Black Sea at Odessa; for those armies were hurled back in a defeat perhaps unparalleled in military history. The fruits of Paderewski's calling in technical advisors were quickly apparent. Such able men as Col. A. S. Harbor, of the United States Army; R. M. l<erduson, petroleum engineer; l)r K. Dana Durand. master of scientific statistical research ami valuable aid in conserving Poland's, food supplies; Frank W. .Morse. American railway genius, and others who advised in several departments, performed services, which have become of the warp and woof of modern history. .Millions were subscribed in the- United States for Treasury bonds, the initiative taken under Paderewski's Premiership. Mill antagonism arose between the Paderewski and Pilsudski followers. Some Paderewski adherents asserted that there was jealousy of the passionate love lor Paderewski manifested by ihe Polish masses. Some Pilsudski particans contended that Paderewski was impractical and that if Ins policies held they would deny to Poland much aggrandisement and power. Paderewski retired. his fortune* spent, and—so believe his friends—heart sore beset with a sadness from. winch few mighi ever have emerged. Poland passed through hitter trials and perils, domestic and foreign, ami finally obtained a more settled condition. Out from the welter of Polish and post war confusion, out from the apparent wreckage of his political efforts, there emerged a Paderewski not less beloved by the people of his uative. hind. lie had. :is most persons no" realise, laid dceph the foundations onwhich the future Poland must build and is building.