FRIDAY, MAY 21, 1915. A PLEA FOR POLAND

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 21 May 1915, Page 4

FRIDAY, MAY 21, 1915. A PLEA FOR POLAND

Belgium, -as we all know, lias suffered terribly in the present war, and so, too, has though in Serbia's case our knowledge is, it would • seem, less intimate than it is dn that of1 [Belgium. Even -more than this, .however would, we fear., -have to be said with respect to what we know concerning•'Poland^ though that anost heroic, most interesting and unhappy country has, not less;than the.y, drained sufferitfg^i|A:"ifs bitterest dregs/ This ; ■ has latterly, if not all along,'been realised in England^ and: also our Australia^ where Madame Melba, who is.JQ.ow in Sydney, is' oi>: ganising a Polish Belief Fund. Assists anee-sis ■■so,r.e.^v.;iie^ded^^/'ioy ( . ;;iihii>usaiidy;Ve^ famine andi;>.p^^urp/;4urm^.;'&e'"iw|^'; ' t9r i; Whilei' v<3ut:'• of ;abou^' people in Russian, Prussian, and Austrian Poland, at least 10,000^000' ate almost completely destitute. Hundreds of towns* and villages have, been "braaiied tio the ground, and the unfortunate i inhabitants -have been living in fhe ■ forests throughout the winter.. In Lodz, the, biggest Polish mairufa^uri^g* town, with a pajwi|atit>ri of nearly 700,000, the Germans confiscated-every particle of food, and the population (according to-the latest news) were MHing cats and dogs for food, CtonditiioEs appear to be almost as bad in Austrian Poland (GaEcia), -where the Russian armies have commandeered !900,00© ■hordes, 2,000,000 cattle, and' all the cereals in the country, which they left waste. The Russian Government nas spent £10,000,000 in relief since the beginning of the war, and the Czar nas given £200,000 from his private purse, but even these huge sums are not sufficient, as they are equivalent to only about £1 per head of the distressed population: There was, therefore, ample justification for Paderewski, the famous Polish musician and composer, writing to The Times at the beginning jof April in an appeal to the British people. "Five generations (he said) have passed away since the crime of Poland's partition, the true cause of this -war, was committed. After long years of most cruel oppression, aftei many desperate and vain efforts, a happier future seems at last to await my country. "In a noble, supremely beautifully-worded manifesto, a solemn promise has been given to restore complete freedom to the reunited Polish nation. From the ancestral shores of the Baltic Sea to the southern elopes of the Carpathian Mountains, every truly Polish soul was moved with gladness and with hope. Thousands and thousands of Polish soldiers joyfully gave their' lives for freedom's sake. Now their widows and children, their younger brothers and aged parents, are dying of hunger in the land. Many are no more, multitudes may disappear, and the sun of liberty will rise only to shine upon their graves. Can the civilised world remain indifferent in the presence of such a tragedy? Nobody knows better : than I do the kindness and generosity of the British people. For five and twenty years I have served the English-speaking public. Whatever may have been my shortcomings, I do not think that any artist could have ever surpassed me in reverence for art, in respect and thankful affection for the audience. My listeners always felt this and bestowed upon me every mark of encouragement and appreciation. I never left my platform without the impression that I had spent a couple of hours with kind and good frierirls. To these friends, cherished though unknown, I now appeal, asking them to help, according to their power, my stricken nation." Tho Times itself cordially supported this appeal. "Notless (it said) than the Belgians and the Serbians, the Poles deserve our sympathy and support. Historically it is undeniable, as M. de Paderewski says, that the crime of the partition of Poland was 'the true cause of the present war.' That crime was perpetrated by three German potentates—Frederic of Prussia, Catherine of Russia, and Maria Theresa of Austria. Of the three, Frederic was the most, and Maria Theresa perhaps the least, culpable. She at least foresaw the evil consequences of the conspiracy to dissect and destroy the living body of an ancient people. Despite their errors and misfortunes, the Poles have never lost the hope of national resurrection.1 'Not yet is Poland lost, 5 run the fust words of the hymn which Poles, the> world over, have sung for generation? with impassioned faith. The Grand Duke Nicholas, whose proclamation to the Poles on the outbreak of hostilities first struck the keynote of national freedom and' redemption that" runs through the terrible symphony of this world war, rightly declared 'the soul of the country is hot dead. It continues to live, inspired by the hope that there will come for the Polish people an hour of resurrection and of fraternal reconciliation with Great Russia.' But in the process of rebirth Poland has been ravaged and ruined, her towns destroyed, her villages burnt, her fair fields laid waste, her population decimated. Thousands of her sons have gladly given their Ihes to the snored cause, fighting in true brotherhood-m-nrms by the side of their Russian fellow Slavs. Thousands more will die ere victory and reunion be achieved. The Polish peas-ant-women have tended with loving care the wounded soldiers of the Tsar

,»mrpwv^ij^i^d^jSf4he-;f^& )f we <me> it toyours^lv&j jHp&them 4 not'to'be behindhand,itt^heWork of * charity to 'Vhien> , Mv lie Paderew^ki calls us." thougn't-dui^effpr^are'' being steadily m&de wifch'a yiW ta the $&e^ation <>f such sufferings as those which are thus described; so 'i ar Poland has no* been deliberately induced within thew scope. But it is aot yet too late, aiic perhaps the practical directors of those efforts wilL devise some practicable plan for associating Foland with Belgium, Serbia, ami oyTselves as an object of our -special war-evoked sympathy. Poland certainly nobly deserves and sorely "ne,eds this in consequence of what she has done, is doing, and suffering as an ally of ours in connection with the -war. . ,