The Oamaru Mail. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1916. FOOLING THE POLES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLVI, Issue 12998, 10 November 1916, Page 4

The Oamaru Mail. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1916. FOOLING THE POLES.

Writing n few days ago witli reference to tlic Austm-German proclamation in ; Warsaw of promised independence to j Poland, we expressed the opinion that the whole thing was merely designed to : secure troops to aid the Central goners ■ in their hopeless prosccutioii- of the war, and that the Poles would not be found ready to place much faith in any promise made by Germany. What we said then has since received verification. Despite the violent efforts of German propagandists to make the world beliove that the proclamation had been received in Warsaw with demonstrations of great joy—that the whole people were in raptures over the Crospecfc of independence and old men shedding tears of gladness that the dreams as to the future of the Polish nation were to be realised—the brilliant dramatic effort of the designing Central Powers has. fallen flat. There have been no rejoicings, 'no processions and outbursts of wild enthusiasm. If there had been any real disposition on the part of the Poles to indulge in demonstrations of gladness it- would have received a rude and crushing check bj the impetuous haste with which Marshal von Hindenburg sought to carry into effect the design of the two Emperor conspirators. .Scarcely had the reading of the precious false proclamation gnded ere tie head of the German armv made a demand for the supply of 700,000 Polish levies. The call for levies exposed the scheme, and the Poles, instead of running wild with delight, looked askance at a promise that, from* bitter past expenence of Prussian promises, t-licy must from the outset have veiwed witli suspicion, rsow wc learn that prominent Poles say they look to Russia and not to Germany for independence. The scheme has failed • as it was foredoomed to fail because, in the first place, of the insincerity of tho plomise, and, in the second place, bv the inability of the Emperor Wilhelm and tho Emperor Franz Josef to tcivo to it tho substance of an accomplished fact. The conspirators have once more over-reached themselves. Thov have not only failed to befool and capture Poles of "Russian Poland, but tliev have watered the dormant seeds of discontent in Prussian - and Austrian Poland, whose peoples were not to*be included in a revived Polish nation according to the plan of the two Emverors Hut they have done, something more: they have brought the future of Poland within the international sphere, and prepared the way for tho ro-creation of Poland as an independent nation as one of the teiins of the settlement of peace. J hat was, of course, one of the things that Orernuinv and Austria had not in contemplation when the two Emperors issued their proclamation of great promise. It was a bi<; blunder, but the commission of blunders is no new thing with the Central Powers. They committed a gigantic blunder, as well as a "rave crime, when they made the war iind set all Europe aflame. Since then' to blunder has become somewhat habitual with them. By their -blundering they have made many very desirable things possible, as they will discover to their cost when the war comes to an end and the final settlement of accounts takes place.

for the belcian chiloren. The decision of the North Otago Patriotic Executive to appeal _to the people of the town and district for contributions to the Belgian Belief Fund was well timed, in at least one respect. It synchronised with an urgent appeal by the Lord Mayor of London for help to save two-and-a-half millions of Belgian children from a sad fate. Half of these children are under twelve yew's of age, and have been held captive by the brutal Germans for over two years, so the Lord Mayor tells Britishers all the world over in his cabled appeal, and he adds these sad and sorrow-beget-ting sentences: —"They are only kept alive by the humane intervention of the neutral relief commission, which distributes a bare minimum of food provided by the Allied Governments. The two vears of intolerable captivity is beginning to tell its dreadful tale. > Tuberculosis is rapidly increasing, and 1 rickets is : becoming epidemic." Is there amongst up a heart so callous to human suffering that will not bo stirred I to pity by this orief story of the utterly

wretched aiul hopeless , condition to ivhich these two-and-a-half millions of Belgian children have been reduced by » ruthless, and pitiless enemy. Is there to be found in this liappy Donunion anyone so poor as to be unable t give something to 'bring a ljttle ray of sunshine into {he miserable lives ot those innocent Belgian children who have been brought to misery and want because their little nation, for our sakes, for the sake of all humanity dared to oppose the imperious will ot a tvrarinous and brutal Empire. •i wealthy man or woman who will not loosen his Or her purse-strings in order to snvo those children from want, disease, and death? Surely there cannot be found such an one. r There can be no ear deaf to the plaintive cry for heh>, the pitiful wail for rescue from absolute annihilation, that comes to us across the seas from the fering children of Belgium. The special request of the Lord Mayor of London ,s that "on every British dinner table on ] Christmas Day an envelope for money be placed wherein as a thanks offering for the security and comfort enjoyed evcrvono should put what he or she can'spare, to save the oppressed «eigian children by providing them with additional nourishment, whereby alone the ravages of tuberculosis can be staved." But why wait until Chnstr mas u The need is urgent and pressing. Now is the time and now the hour for action. The longer succour, is delajecl the deeper will grow the suffering of those two-and-a-half millions of children and the smaller the hope of rescuing numbers of them from the sad and sickening fate that confronts them, lo all our readers we make the appeal: Give now, and give as freely as your means will permit. Christmas is still some weeks away, tfnd all who can niayj when it comes, make the tlianxs otteiing that the Lord Mayor of Lohdon suggests. The need for pity and help is now existent. Let tliem be extended fteely and generously and with that promptitude that adds merit to the giving. The Onerous lmpulsesot those whose hearts beat in sympathy ior suffering do not require the advent of Christmas to remind them of their duty. When Christmas conies we can make our thanks offering for the secunty and comfort we enjoy very greatly h«cause of the noble sacrifices made by the Belgians'without regard to the discharge of our present obligation.