Reaction Grows Stronger

The turn to the left that we see in the political life of England and France has found a very vivid echo in Poland: the Vilnia newspaper "Słowo" frankly admitted that the defeat of Poincaré and the National Bloc in the latest elections in France is a defeat for Polish policy, which the French government has pursued until now.

But it must be admitted that Mr. Grabski, as head of the Polish government, has shown himself in this new situation to be a skilful politician: he understood that one can no longer address Europe in the language of Dmowski and the Polish fascists, and so we see representatives of the Polish "Left" travelling to London, to defend the present bourgeois-nationalist government with their "firm" in the eyes of the new leaders of English and French policy.

The man chosen as the specialist in "whitewashing" Polish policy toward the Belarusians and Ukrainians is… the head of the party "Wyzwolenie", Mr. Thugutt! But from the very first steps of his service to the "native" reaction Mr. Thugutt has disgraced himself terribly. We have in mind his reply to Mr. Painlevé, printed in the French press, to the protest against the "white terror" in Poland. Mr. Thugutt wrote to Mr. Painlevé that this protest was greatly "oversalted" and that a special commission is now working on the examination of the affairs of the "national minorities", in which there are representatives of the "minorities" — a Jew and a Belarusian. Well, Mr. Painlevé already has in his hands the urgent interpellations of the party "Wyzwolenie" in the Sejm, which fully confirm the facts of the prison abuse of political prisoners mentioned in the protest. As for Mr. Thugutt's statement that the commission for the affairs of the "minorities" includes a Jew and a Belarusian, it is the most senseless lie: there is not a single representative of the "minorities" in this commission, and, as we are told, Mr. Painlevé has already been informed of this too….

As we see, "Wyzwolenie", which at the time of the elections appeared among us in the role of defender of the Belarusians, has now shown its true face: before the whole world the "Wyzwolenie" men are trying to "whitewash" the very policy of national oppression against which they themselves protested so recently…

This sharp turn in the policy of "Wyzwolenie" is very characteristic and eloquent: it shows that the Polish progressive movement has entered into an alliance with the "native" reaction, and all this for the sake of the struggle against the "minorities", and in the first place against the Belarusians. The endek newspapers even report that Mr. Thugutt has held talks with the endeks about forming a joint government — under his own chairmanship, of course… And "Wyzwolenie" intends to reach such a reconciliation with yesterday's enemies at the expense of the "minorities"….

The political twisting and turning of the "Wyzwolenie" men, and likewise of the PPS together with Mr. Niedziałkowski, gives only one more proof that we cannot hope for anything from any of the government commissions on the affairs of the "national minorities". More than that: the endek "Gazeta Poranna" simply calls on the government to introduce in Western Belarus almost martial law (stan wyjątkowy), explaining this by… the need to fight banditry!

That banditry flourishes on our land in the most varied forms is confirmed by the daily reports of attacks and robberies. But in seeking the causes of this phenomenon, one must admit that it became possible precisely and solely because the Polish authorities have all along used, and still use, their 48,000-strong army of policemen (not to mention the defenzywa and its "collaborators" and "confidants") not so much for the protection of citizens' property and lives as, above all, for the political struggle against the "minorities" and the revolutionary parties. And now, when bandits of every sort boldly raise their heads, the endeks are again using this to strengthen the oppression of the "minorities" and the opposition by introducing the "stan wyjątkowy".

Well, then: might makes right! And we may expect that the outcome of the secret deliberations of the government commission on the affairs of the "minorities", held for the benefit of foreign countries, may prove to be the realization of the endek proposal. But that in its turn will be only new material for Messrs. Painlevé and… Chicherin!