THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, MAY 13, 1921. THE SLLESIAN ISSUE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17780, 13 May 1921, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, MAY 13, 1921. THE SLLESIAN ISSUE.

The best friends of Poland will be most pleased if —in spite of some evidence to the contrary — Korfantz's insurgents have consented to cease hostilities and retire behind an agreed line until the Allies announce the final adjustment of the Silesian boundaries. Although the insurgent movement was directed primarily against the Germans and was not officially countenanced by the Polish Government, it could not have been persisted in without compelling Allied military action or without seriously prejudicing Polish aspirations in this debatable territory. The Allies are in the meantime responsible for the maintenance of order in Upper Silesia. They are bound by one measure or another to assert their authority, and.they are no less bound to allocate the territory in the way that will best promote good government and peaceful development. Germany's claim that her majority vote entitles her to the whole plebiscite area is exceedingly feeble. The Treaty of Versailles distinctly lays it down that the voting should be by communes, and that the Allies shall determine the frontier with due regard not only to the wishes of the inhabitants, but also to geographical and economic conditions. It is their duty, therefore, to reject the German contention that success in 10 of the communes carries possession of all 17, and to resist Korfantz's attempt to force their hand by seizing the doubtful communes. They may indeed consider that this latest exhibition of • indiscipline weakens the Polish title to districts where the population is fairly evenly divided and where restraint and magnanimity are essential in the government, whatever its national colour may be. Politically, the Poles are the merest children. They have blundered right through their history, and their indiscretions since the armistice suggest that they have learned little from their* tragic mistakes. Now, as ever, they are an easy prey to a chauvinism which often negatives the really fine traits of their national character. The significance of Korfantz's raid lies in the unevenness of the plebiscite voting. Over the whole area the Germans polled 61 per cent.-of the votes and the Poles 39. With an important exception, to be presently noted, the vote showed a strong geographical bias, in the sense that the districts nearest Poland voted Polish and the German majorities were largest on the German frontier. The second feature of the voting was the preference given to Germany in the towns and to Poland in the This to some extent modifies the apparently decisive character of the poll and produces the special problem which has attempted to solve in his roughshod manner. The southern portion of the plebiscite area showed a large Polish majority. This district is richly mineralised, but is comparatively undeveloped. The very important mining and industrial district farther north, though nearer the Polish; than the German frontier, voted German by virtue of its large urban population, but the majorities were not large. A rural district still farther north declared for Poland, and the remainder of the north and the whole of the west proved indisputably German. The Allies are now called upon to decide the fate of the industrial triangle which divides two Polish districts. Korfantz attempted to precipitate a decision by seizing the triangle, which contains Beuthen, producing two-thirds of the zinc-ore of Germany, and Konigshutte, with its extensive ironworks and machine-shops. His idea no doubt was to confront the Allies with un fait accompli by driving the* Germans to the Oder, but it is obvious that so delicate a problem admits of no such rough-and-ready solution, and to accept Korfantz's plan would simply be to sow the seeds of future trouble.

The industrial triangle for which the Poles have fought is the crown of Silesia Within it lies a good proportion of the coal and most of the zinc and lead which are the foundation ot Silesian industry. To follow the line of the popular vote would leave this triangle a wedge between two Polish districts. This would not only be inconvenient, but it would be unfair, in view of the fact that the majorities for Germany were not decisive, that they depended largely upon the introduction of outvoters who were brought from all parts of the world, and that the portion of Silesia adhering to Poland is entitled to a fair apportionment of;

economic assets. It would, therefore, appear to be inevitable that this triangle should be subdivided between the two nations, if, indeed, the Allied Commission does not prefer some sort of joint control. Enough has been said to show that the determination of the new frontier on purely national grounds is impracticable, and in considering the geographical and economic arguments which they are compelled also to weigh, the Allies must act very cautiously if they are to reach a settlement which will last. The problem is a very intricate and delicate one, which cannot with advantage be .hurried. The effect of Korfantz's irruption can only be to delay the decision and to create an atmosphere altogether unfavourable ' for the tranquilisation of Silesia.