Chronicle: “Holas Belarusa” closed and other news

• "Holas Belarusa" closed. Of the 21 issues of "H. B.", Nos. 14, 15, 19 and 21 were confiscated. For the article "Independence and Dependence" in No. 14 the newspaper has been closed by the judicial authorities.

• Belarusian deputies visit Delegate Roman. On 13. V. Deputies Tarashkevich and Yaremich made an intervention with Roman, the Delegate of the Polish Government for the Vilnia region (the voivode), with the aim of speeding up the examination of the case of M. Kepel, M. Kostsevich, A. Salahub and others, arrested during the night of 1 May, and of having them released. The Delegate promised to take steps to expedite the examination of the case of those arrested.

• On 11 May, at the Belarusian Drama Workshop, the next lecture was held by Mr. A. Lutskevich, "On the Dramatic Work of Y. Kupala". After the lecture there was a concert section.

• On Sunday, 25 May 1924, an Evening of Russian Music will be held in the hall of the Workshop (9 Vostrabramskaya Street). The programme: Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Arensky, Cui, Rubinstein, Balakirev.

Taking part in the concert are Viktar and Tamara Beyer, Vinchas-Voychys and the choir of the Drama Workshop.

The proceeds will go to needy pupils of the Vilnia Belarusian Gymnasium.

Beginning at 8 p.m.

• The Central Belarusian School Council expresses its sincere gratitude to the Ukrainian donors who sent, through the newspaper "Ukrainskyi Holos", 50 million Polish marks, and to the Belarusian students in Prague for the 25 dollars and 580 Czech crowns they sent for the development of Belarusian schools.

• A meeting of the Belarusian Deputies' Club in Vilnia took place on 12 May. Many important decisions were adopted. The meeting, with a short break, lasted from 12 noon until late at night.

• The Vilnia Court of Appeal is to examine on 22. V. 24 the case of Dvaretski, Shloyd, Shatsior and other Belarusian young men from the surrounding villages near Alyakhnovichy station. The Vilnia District Court sentenced these lads in its time to terms of 6–8 years each "for participation in a conspiracy aimed at tearing the Belarusian lands away from Poland, and for armed robberies", as is stated in the verdict of the District Court.

The defence counsel is the Vilnia lawyer T. Urublеўski.

• In the same court on 27. V. 24 the case of Mikola Yakimovich of Hrodna will be examined; he was sentenced by the Hrodna District Court to 2½ years of fortress imprisonment. The Vilnia lawyers T. Urublеўski and S. Mitskevich are to appear as defence counsel.

• Arrest of a pupil of the Vilnia Belarusian Gymnasium. During the night of 30. IV to 1. V. of this year, the Ashmiany police arrested in the village of Zarudzichy, Benitsa gmina, Ashmiany county, Al. Salahub, a pupil of the IV class of the Vilnia Belarusian Gymnasium. The reasons for the arrest are unknown. The arrested Salahub is still being held in the Vilnia prison at Lukishki.

• "Repainting". A correspondent of the "Dz. Wil." had a conversation with the government delegate, Mr. Roman, who said that in the near future the Vilnia Administrative District is to be renamed the Vilnia Voivodeship.

It is known that this has no practical significance. But something else is interesting. Until now the Polish government treated the Vilnia region as some separate country and called it not a voivodeship but an administrative district, with a government delegate instead of a voivode at its head. Now, as it appears, the authorities want to stress that the Vilnia region unquestionably belongs to Poland.

It is interesting why only the present moment was chosen for this.

• 1 May and the schools. As we are informed, on 1 May, the workers' holiday, the police went round the schools and checked which of the teachers did not appear for classes that day.

One Jewish newspaper reports that the Vilnia school superintendency (kuratorium) has sent a circular to the government schools instructing their heads to submit lists of teachers and pupils who were absent from school on 1 May without a valid reason. As we can see, the superintendency, instead of occupying itself with educational matters, is turning into a branch office of the political police. It will not teach the people much that way!