RELIEF IN POLAND

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23278, 14 August 1945, Page 7

RELIEF IN POLAND

Industrial Prospects It is impossible to visit Poland to-day without being impressed by the very genuine relief and happiness which recognition of the new Government by Britain and America has brought to the vast mass of the people, writes Iris Morley in the “Observer.” Now there will be English newspapers and books again, and that interchange of news and ideas with the West which all Poles feel to be necessary for their national culture. Poland to-day finds herself in a happier position for being the bridge between Russia and Western European culture than ever before. The possession of Silesian industries which, modern and undamaged, now represent the greatest industrial unit between the Russian border and the Atlantic, makes Poland, potentially at least, a European Power on a level with France and Italy. The greatest and most pressing need is for the return of Polish citizens from abroad to relieve the labour shortage which prevents her industries from being in full production. She also needs a great quantity of machines for the clearance and reconstruction of her cities. Tire cleanest sweep in Poland has been made in land reforms. This is a real agrarian revolution, but the real business of making it an economic proposition, of substituting farmers' cooperatives for the old feudal unit of the estate, will not really begin until after the harvest, has been got in.