The Wanganui Chronicle. TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1938. LITHUANIA AND POLAND

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 68, 22 March 1938, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle. TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1938. LITHUANIA AND POLAND

'T'HE conduct of Lithuania in accepting the terms of Poland is 1 ‘to be commended, not because it is a submission to superior force, but because it ends an intolerable situation. lor twenty years’practically diplomatic relations between the two countries have been severed. This has hindered the development of a more satisfactory state of affairs in the north of Europe and provided the world with inflammable material which was highly dangerous. The world at large has. on the whole, lost patience with Lithuania, and will welcome the resolution of the matter, despite the methods adopted by Poland to bring it about. The basis of the controversy between the countries of Poland and Lithuania rests upon the ownership of the town of Vilna, the ancient capital of Lithuania. This was ceded to Lithuania by Russia when peace between the two countries was established, and the boundary line which gave Vilna to Lithuania was the subject of an agreement signed at Suwalki in October, 1920. by Poland, so on historical and legal grounds Lithuania has full title to the city. Nevertheless, when General Zeligowslti forcibly took possession, although acting irregularly, his action has nevertheless been sustained by the Government of Poland ever since. The matter has been before the League of Nations many times, and in 1923 the Allies sanctiond Poland’s occupation on the ground that the city was within Polish boundaries. The contending countries claim that the city is populated chiefly by people of their respective countries, but the probable, truth is that the majority are Jews. The Allies sanctioned an act of banditry similar to that which Hitler has carried out on a. larger scale in Austria. While Lithuania’s claims io Vilna may be well grounded, it was obviously impossible for such a condition of affairs to continue indefinitely. It was desirable that Poland, a strong neighbour, not unfriendly to Lithuania, should arrive at a modus vivendi, and while the absence of legality is to be deplored,-the fact that such modus vivendi is likely to he established in the near future is all to the good.