THE POLISH MINORITY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 81, 3 October 1938, Page 9

THE POLISH MINORITY

CZECHS SUBMIT

CLAIMS ACCEPTED UNDER PROTEST

OCCUPATION PLAN

GUARANTEE OF FRONTIER

LONDON, October 2. The conditions in a Polish Note to Prague, which is stated semiofficially to demand first the token occupation of Teschen and the Silesian territory by noon on October 2 by the cession of the Czech part of Teschen; and, secondly, the evacuation of Czech troops and authorities from the remainder of Teschen and Silesian territory by October 10, have been accepted by the Czech Government under protest. It has agreed to the token cession of the Teschen territory. An official announcement from Warsaw states that Poland, after the occupation of Teschen, will make no further claims on Czechoslovakia and will guarantee the new frontier. The occupation of the Polish areas will be completed within ten days. Questions concerning the delimitation of the frontier plebiscites and other details will be settled by agreement with Czechoslovakia. It is announced from Warsaw that the Foreign Office finds the Czech answer to the Polish demands satisfactory. Poland will occupy Teschen and Frysztad, beginning with Teschen on October 2, and a plebiscite will be held later in the Trinec district. The area ceded to Poland is nearly 500 square miles, with a population of 295,000. This includes the towns of Teschen, Karwin, and Trinec, together with coal mines which are producing a million tons a year. JOY IN WARSAW. A crowd which assembled in Pilsudski Square demonstrated its joy when loudspeakers announced Czechoslovakia's submission. General Bortnowski has fbeen appointed military governor of Poland's new territory. The population of the Polish sector of Teschen celebrated at noon when it was confirmed that the dispute had been settled peaceably. A crowd gathered at the Customs barrier and waved to Polish friends on the Czech side of the river which forms the frontier. Finally they tore down the red and white striped Customs barrier and paraded the town with it. Frontier posts were also torn up and carried in procession through the streets and deposited in the municipal museum. The Czech General Hrabczyk arrived in Teschen to prepare with the Poles the technical details of the occupation. It is understood that before the settlement representatives of the French, British, and German Governments, in a joint demarche, urged Poland to agree to a pacific solution. Ominous rumblings of a possible conflict were echoing from Poland yesterday morning. Renter's Warsaw correspondent says Cabinet met at 10 a.m. Marshal Smigly-Rydz, commander-in-chief of the army, attended. The Warsaw correspondent of the British UniteS Press says that circles which are usually well-informed assumed that Polish troops would move into the disputed areas after the expiration of the ultimatum irrespective of the answer from Prague. It is expected that Polish; troops will occupy Teschen at the same time as the Germans march into Czechoslovakia. An official communique declares that Polish territory was under heavy fire at Godow on the night of September 28. FURTHER NOTE SENT. A further Polish Note reached Prague at 10 p.m. demanding fulfilment in a clear and precise manner of Poland's just claims regarding Teschen. An official broadcast last night stated: "The hour is approaching when Polish troops will free the Poles in Czechoslovakia with fixed bayonets. Twice this week negotiations with Prague have been broken off and resumed. The Sudetens receive their freedom tomorrow, therefore the Poles must have theirs at the same time." Another official broadcast said: "Since Poland was neither represented at Munich nor endowed anyone with a mandate to defend her interests in the Polish-Czech question, she is entirely unaffected by Ihe agreement," The newspapers are bitterly against the Munich agreement, declaring that England and France capitulated to totalitarian might. It was reported that the Note to Prague contained the final demands, which must be met before noon on October 2. If unsatisfactory Poland would consider immediate mobilisation. President Roosevelt, Mr. Chamberlain, and King Carol telegraphed President Moscicki urging circumspection, and the British Ambassador in Warsaw called on the Foreign Minister, Colonel Beck. It is assumed that the purpose of the visit was to urge moderation and The newspapers state that calls for the same purpose were made by the French, American, | and German Ambassadors in Warsaw. A Tokio cable states that Japan informed the Polish Government that it fully supported the demands. "Despite the fact that Japan is so far away, we fully sympathise with the Polish steps," the message said.