the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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Poland in
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or "POLAND IN 1921. - It was still impossible in the autumn of 1921 to make any final or definite statement with regard to the boundaries of Poland; as regards Lithuania the situation remained unsettled, and it was only in Oct. that a decision favour able to Poland in respect to Upper Silesia resulted from the award of the League of Nations ( see Silesia).
Working on the principle of national rights it was attempted at the Peace Conference to make the boundaries of Poland conform to ethnographic divisions. A commission was appointed, under M. Cambon, which was to deal with the Polish question and submit drafted proposals to the Supreme Council. The first report of the commission concerned the western boundaries, the proposals being as follows: - The larger part of Posen and Upper Silesia should be transferred to Poland, " leaving Germany the western, predominantly German-speaking districts of both territories." According to the German census of 1910 the Poles formed about 65% of the population in the two areas ceded to Poland. In addition Poland was to be given " the central and eastern zones of the province of West Prussia, including both banks of the lower Vistula and Danzig," though racially the latter was distinctly German. The settlement in the case of the district of Allenstein, that is to say the southern zone of E. Prussia, was to be referred to a plebiscite.
These proposals were not accepted without modification, as it was urged by Mr. Lloyd George that they were terms to which the Germans would never agree. In the first place a modification was made with regard to the territory round Marienwerder on the E. bank of the Vistula. Instead of being transferred to Poland outright this territory was to be subjected to a plebiscite. More important, however, was the change introduced in the matter of Danzig. It was decided that Danzig and the small adjacent district were to form a free city under the protection of the League of Nations. Poland received the right of freely using all the waterways, docks and wharfs and was to have the control and administration of the Vistula river. Later a third modification was made with regard to Upper Silesia, when it was decided that in this territory too there should be a plebiscite.
The results of the plebiscite in the Marienwerder and Allenstein districts were in favour of Germany, a result which was largely due to the number of Germans who were imported into the territory. The plebiscite in Upper Silesia was likewise in favour of Germany as a whole, though in many districts there was an immense Polish majority.
The southern boundary of Poland is that of Galicia. In the N.E. the boundary between Poland and Lithuania was still unsettled in 1921 and the Poles were still in possession of Vilna, the capital of Lithuania.
With regard to the eastern boundary between Poland and Russia nothing definite could be settled at the Peace Conference as there was no recognized Russian Government with which to carry on negotiations. In order to facilitate the work of the Warsaw Government in organizing local administration in the part of Russian Poland which was certain to be ceded by Russia, a provisional eastern boundary was proposed which would include all the territory which might be regarded as having " an indisputably Polish ethnic majority." All the territories to the W. of this line were to belong unconditionally to Poland, whilst the territories to the E. were to be settled by future negotiations with Russia. Roughly speaking this provisional boundary corresponded to the old boundary of the Governments of the Vistula. This provisional boundary has since become known as the " Curzon Line." When the Poles appealed, in the summer of 1920, for help against the Bolsheviks an attempt was made by the British Government to secure peace. Lord Curzon, acting on behalf of the Government, proposed the acceptance of this line as the basis of the peace terms. The Poles being unwilling to sacrifice lands which were inhabited by an incontestably Polish population would not agree to this settlement and were later, at the Treaty of Riga, able to conclude peace with the Bolsheviks on more advantageous terms.
As finally settled at Riga on Oct. 12 1920 the line of the eastern boundary is as follows: Starting from the border of Latvia the line takes a south-easterly direction to Dzisna (Disna), thence S. passing very slightly to the W. of Dokszyce (Dokshitsi); it passes some 30 km. W. of Minsk and, farther S., 90-95 km. E. of Pinsk; it proceeds almost due S. and then slightly S.W. to Ostrog; for some 40 km. it continues in a south-westerly direction and then goes almost due S. again till it reaches the river Zbrucz; the boundary follows the line of this river until it reaches the Dniester, which separates Poland from Rumania.
Constitution
Poland is a Republic. The legislative power is given to a Diet and a Senate, which are summoned, adjourned and dissolved by the President. The Diet is composed of paid members elected for five years, upon a system of proportional representation. Suffrage is universal - all who enjoy full civic rights and who are over 21 being qualified to vote, but, since voting is personal, soldiers on active service are excluded. Citizens over 25 are eligible for election to the Diet with the exception of members of the Civil Service, who cannot be elected for the district in which they hold office. The minimum age for voting in senatorial elections is 30, whilst no one under 40 is eligible for election.
Bills go to the Senate after being passed by the Diet and if no objection is raised within 30 days the bill becomes law. Amendments are considered and voted on by the Diet. With regard to finance - a budget is fixed each year for the following year; taxes and customs duties can be established only by law and a supreme court of control superintends the management of state finance.
The executive power is exercised by the President and a council of ministers who are responsible for his official actions. He is elected for seven years by the National Assembly, that is, the Diet and Senate acting together. Laws are to be signed by him and by the President of the Council and the minister concerned. The President has the supreme power in the army, except in time of war when the Minister for War is responsible for all military affairs. The President can declare war and make peace only with the consent of the Diet. He has the right of pardon.
For purposes of administration Poland is to be divided into palatinates,. districts and urban and rural communes, these forming the units of local government. Economic autonomy is established by means of chambers of agriculture, commerce, industry, etc., which will together form the Supreme Economic Chamber of the Republic, the competence of which required further legislation.' Judges are nominated by the President whilst justices of the peace are popularly elected. Judges can be removed from office only in certain legal cases and following a judicial decision. All citizens are equal in the eyes of the law, protection of life, libert y and property being assured to all inhabitants. State protection is given to labour and insurance for unemployment, illness and accident is guaranteed. Roman Catholicism is the recognized religion of the country but others are allowed provided they are in accordance with the law.
Land must be cultivated from the point of view of public utility. The law is to decide to what extent citizens and independent associations may cultivate the land and exploit its mineral wealth, and in what cases the state may repurchase property to improve the value of its production.
| Russia: - | Kingdom of Poland . | 9,100,000 | Lithuania and Ruthenia | 2, 43 8,000 | Empire | 460,000 | Austria Hungary: | 11,998,000 | Galicia . | 4,672,000 | Spioz Orava, etc. | 200,000 | Teschen . | 2 35 ,000 | Bukovina . | 36,000 | Other provinces | 36,000 | 5,179,000 | Germany: - | Posen . | I,291,000 | W. Prussia | 60.4,000 | E. Prussia | 286,000 | Silesia . | 1, 33 8,000 | Westphalia, etc. | 580,000 | 4,099,000 | Different countries of Europe | Ioo,000 | Europe . | 21, 37 6,000 | Outside Europe: | N. America | 3,100,000 | S. America. . | 100,000 | Other parts of the globe . | 30,000 | 3,230,01)0 | Grand total | 24,606,000 Poland In 1921 Population. - It was still impossible in 1921 to give any accurate statistics with regard to the Polish population of Poland, etc., since the establishment of the new state. The following are the statistics ' A law was passed by the Diet in 1919 providing that the state should buy land from the nobles and distribute it to the Polish peasantry. Owing to the want of money the law has hitherto been in suspense. The execution of this law might eventually fall under the Chamber of Agriculture. Economic DevelopmentIn considering the economic development of Poland the following territories are included: the kingdom of Poland, parts of E. and W. Prussia, Posnania, Silesia and Galicia. AgricultureThe majority of the people of these lands, with the exception of Silesia, were engaged in agriculture before the war; the percentage being 56.6 in the kingdom of Poland, 54.1 in Posnania, 49.9 in W. Prussia, whilst in Galicia there were 71 agriculturists per square kilometre. Arable land predominated. The most important crops were rye, oats, barley, potatoes, wheat and sugar-beet. Agriculture was most highly developed in Prussian Poland where the latest agricultural implements and scientific manures were employed. The breeding of domestic animals, especially horses, showed distinct progress before the war. In the kingdom of Poland pig-breeding was particularly encouraged. Cattle and pigs were most numerous in Posnania and W. Prussia while in Galicia the horned stock were well up to the average for Austria in general. Of the percentage of area under forest, there was in the kingdom of Poland in 1909 some 18%, in Galicia (1912) 25%, in Posnania 19%, W. Prussia 22% and in Upper Silesia 28%. In E. and W. Prussia more than half the forest area belonged to the state, in Posnania about a third, in Silesia only about 12 per cent. The kingdom of Poland had 17 agricultural syndicates in 1909, for selling agricultural products and buying machinery, manures, etc., the most important of these being the Central Society of Agriculture, founded in 1907. These societies were most developed in Prussian Poland, particularly in Posnania, where in 1913 there were 388 Polish agricultural societies. There were also numerous cooperative societies. Galicia also possessed agricultural, cooperative and mutual insurance societies. MineralsThe most important production in Galicia was that of petroleum, which was estimated, in 1914, as being 3% of the world's output and 9% of that of Europe, including Russia. The petroleum industry has attracted an abundant flow of international capital and has thus been able to adopt every device for profitable exploitation. The chief coal-fields are those of Silesia where the production in 1911 was some 36 million tons, while that of Galicia was 12, and that of Poland 5* million tons. Other notable mineral industries are those of iron, zinc and lead. ManufactureOf industrial workers Upper Silesia possessed the largest number: 47.7% of its population were engaged in industry (1907). In the kingdom of Poland this proportion was only 15.4% (1897), in Galicia 8.8% (1900), Posnania 23.4%, W. Prussia 24.1% (1907). In the kingdom of Poland the most important industry was the textile, which occupied about 150,000 workers. Cotton manufactures were the most important, wool being second. Before the war this industry was handicapped by the high tariff charged by the Russian Government for the transport of raw material. Second in importance was the metallurgical industry, the most important manufactures being machinery, boilers, materials for bridge building, nails, wire and sheet iron. The manufacture of machinery was of considerable importance in Silesia but less developed in Galicia. Of other industries that of the potato by-products is most important. More than a quarter of the potatoes produced in Posnania and the greater part of those of Galicia were used for the making of alcohol. Before the war the wood industry was in a poor condition owing to severe German importation duties on manufactured wood, but these duties encouraged the development of the saw-mill industry in Prussian Poland. The coastal fisheries of E. and W. Prussia are of considerable importance; likewise the pond fisheries in Poland, but fishing is generally only a subsidiary occupation. The industry of Poland was very much influenced by the Jewish population. In the kingdom of Poland before the war nearly 15 of the population was Jewish and the following trades were more or less in their control: leather goods and the boot trade; stocking industry; manufacturing of the so-called " astrakan " caps; malt refuse breweries and small mead breweries; manufacture of paper tubes for cigarettes; and potato starch. TownsThe chief towns in the kingdom of Poland were Warsaw, Lodz and Sosnowice - which had over Ioo,000 inhabitants. The principal towns of Galicia are Lemberg (206,000), Cracow (154,000), Przemysl (54,000) and Kolomea (44,000). In 1910 E. Prussia had five towns with a pop. of more than 20,000: Konigsberg, Tilsit, Memel, Allenstein, Insterburg. There were in W. Prussia three towns with upwards of 20,000 inhabitants: Danzig, Thorn and Graudenz. In Posnania there is an unusual number of small towns, but there are only nine with more than 10,000 inhabitants; the most important are Posen (154,811 in 1910), Bromberg (70,000), Schneidemiihl (27,504), Lissa (17,156). Silesia has seven towns with a pop. of more than 50,000: Breslau (537,000), Gorlitz (86,000), Komgsbutte (72,000), Liegnitz (69,000), Beuthen (67,000), Gleiwitz (64,000) and Zabrze '(59,000). CommnunicationsOf the natural water-ways in Poland the Vistula is the most important. It has 21 tributaries, of which the total length, with that of the river itself, amounts to 7,770 kilometres. In 1864 a convention was made between Russia and Austria for the regulation of the course of the river; in Austria 64.47% of the work was completed by 1909, in Poland 39.7 per cent. Thus in Poland the Vistula is almost impossible for regular steamer traffic. of 1910. It will be seen that the coal industry has, in spite of housing and provisioning difficulties, increased from the pre-war standard. The production of coal in Congress Poland and Galicia does not suffice to cover the requirements of the countries at present constituting the Polish State. The Reparations Committee assigned to Poland only 250,000 tons of coal per month from Silesia; and the Polish Coal Sub-Committee has granted a lump sum of 450,000 tons of coal. This lack of coal is one of the most serious hindrances to the reorganization of Polish industry. The oil industry was not much devastated by the war, but for the first five months of 1919 the Boryslaw-Truskawiec basin and that of Bikhov were under Ukrainian administration, and oil had to be used instead of coal for working the shafts. In 1920 about half the textile industry had been mobilized and many factories started in Lodz and also in Czenstochowa, Kalisz and Bielsk. In 1919-20 the output of sugar scarcely amounted to 65% of the expected output, i.e. instead of 500,000 q.m. only 350,000 q.m. were produced. The iron foundries came to a standstill during the war and no plant was left without some essential part wanting. In July 1919 the first blast furnace started work and by the beginning of 1920 a few others were in working order. Steel production is hampered by lack of coal. Finance.-The revenue of the Russian Treasury of the Kingdom of Poland in 1912 amounted to. about 609 million francs and the expenditure amounted to about 371 million francs. From 1905 to 1912 inclusive, the excess of receipts over expenditure in the Kingdom amounted to 1,034 million francs. State officials administered the finance of 116 towns in the Kingdom of Poland. The revenue of Warsaw according to the budget of 1914 was 39 million francs. The rural communes possessed a limited autonomy. In Galicia the largest item contributed to the Austrian State was from the taxes on consumable articles and monopolies. The total receipts were 42'37 francs per inhabitant and the expenditure 26.90 francs per inhabitant. As regards the finance of Galicia as an autonomous province, in 1911 the expenditure amounted to 66 million francs, derived mainly from taxes on articles of consumption and provincial surtax on direct contributions. In the 74 autonomous districts the income amounted to 12 million francs, derived from the surtax on direct contributions and the tolls of the districts. The budget of Lemberg was over II million francs and that of Cracow nearly 9 million francs. In Prussian Poland the finance of the Empire was based on indirect contributions, customs yielding the largest return. In Prussia direct contributions played the most important part, the income tax producing 9 million francs in Posnania in 1911, and 7 million francs in W. Prussia. The total of the autonomous taxation of the province, districts and communes amounted to 24 francs 35c. per head in Posnania and to 30 francs ore. in W. Prussia. In the Kingdom of Poland the chief bank was the State Bank. In 1914 there were 38 private branches accredited to it, five branches of Petrograd large banks and five branches of the Riga Bank of Commerce. In Galicia the most important were the Austro-Hungarian Bank, with 13 Galician branches and 20 branches of Vienna and. Tchek Banks. Branches of the Reichsbank and of large German Banks protected the German element in Russian Poland. In addition to these there were joint stock banks for credit for short periods. In the Kingdom of Poland there were nine; the deposits amounted to over 296 million francs in1914. In Galicia the Mortgage Bank was the largest joint stock bank, which in 1912 discounted bills of exchange for 178 million francs. In Prussian Poland the most important was the Bank of the Federation of Cooperative Societies, which had a capital of 29 million francs in 1916. Credit for long periods depended, in the Kingdom of Poland, on the Land Credit Society and the Peasants' Bank; in Galicia, on the Land Credit Society and the Commission of Rentengiiter, and in Prussian Poland chiefly on cooperative credit societies. Finally Poland was in a crippled condition financially. The mark which was at 40 to the pound sterling in 1919, touched a new low record on June 28, 1921-namely 6,400 to the pound, and after that fell for two days to 9,000 to the pound. This rate of exchange prevented Poland from trading internationally and consequently hindered her economic reconstruction. On July 30 the Polish budget for 1921, the first real balancing of expenditure and revenue produced by any Polish finance minister,was presented to the Diet and showed a deficit of 80,000,000,000 marks (the exchange on that day being about 8,000 to the £) for Russian and Austrian Poland without the Polish part of the Austrian duchy of Teschen. The former Prussian provinces which only came under the Ministry of Finance on Sept. I 1921 have a surplus of 6,000,000,000 marks which reduces its national deficit to 14,000,000,000 marks. The Ministry of War was responsible for 30% of the expenditure, railways for 21% of the expenditure and food supplies for some 10 °A. But it may be said that the existing low rate of exchange gave no real indication of the prosperity of the country. Polish indebtedness was not great (about £6,600,000 at the exchange of July 30 1921), the productive capacity of the country was increasing, and the harvest prospects were excellent. References. -The one indispensable introduction to things Polish for English readers is the little volume entitled Poland in the Home University Library by Prof. Alison Phillips. In that admirable summary there are but two lacunae. The Exodus to Paris after 1830 and the Jewish question are not adequately treated, but it The Niemen is navigable from about halfway between Grodno and Kovno to the Prussian frontier. The Pilitsa is navigable for rafts from a point near Novo Radomsk to itsunction with the Vistula, so for a small portion of the year is the Bug from the point where it first touches Poland and likewise the Narew for a considerable distance. The Oder affords the products of Silesia an outlet not only to Stettin near its mouth, but also to Berlin and Hamburg with which it is connected by an extensive system of water-ways. The Dniester is used in Galicia only for rafting timber. The chief canals are the Dnieper-Bug Canal; the Augustowo Canal, uniting the Vistula to the Niemen through the Narew; and the Bromberg Canal, uniting the Brahe to the Netze and thus the Vistula to the Oder. Of these the latter is the only canal navigable for large boats and steamers. As regards railways, in 1912 the kingdom of Poland had 2.9 km. per sq. km., the Polish provinces of Prussia had 9.27 km. and Galicia (191 I) 5.24 kilometres. As the railways were constructed for the most part from a strategical point of view, industry did not benefit so much from them as it might otherwise have done. The poor railway system between Russia and Danzig was one of the causes of the decline of the trade of that port. Trade.-With regard to commerce-the kingdom of Poland was closely attached to Russia by the protectionist system introduced in x877 and this made trade with other countries difficult. The interchange of goods with Russia was about 22 times greater than that with other countries. The following were the chief exports: textiles, three-quarters of which went to Russia, though trade with countries further E., notably Persia and Mongolia, was increasing; clothing and boots, which found their chief markets in Russia; horses, poultry and eggs. The chief imports of the kingdom of Poland were :-raw wool and cotton from overseas and from Russian Turkestan; iron ore and pig-iron from Russia; cattle from the steppes; and flour from Russia. In 1909 over 1.4 million q.m. of Russian flour was imported, this forming a formidable competitor to Polish milling thanks to special transport rates. Galicia was united to the fiscal territory of Austria in 1784 and her commercial interests were generally subordinate to the will of the more powerful states of the west. The principal customer of Galicia was Germany. In 1909 the exports of Galicia to Germany amounted to 10.6 million q.m.; the imports from Germany to 6 million q.m. The chief exports were salt and petroleum and wood. The chief imports were:-textiles to the value of about 300 million francs; iron and iron goods from Germany; coal, of which 71 million q.m. was imported in 1908. The industry of the Polish provinces of Prussia began to decline after they were assimilated to the German hinterland. On the other hand, the protective custom tariff acted beneficially on agriculture and the trade in provisions. The principal customers of Posnania were the other states and provinces of Germany. The chief exports were sugar, alcohol and cereals. There were exported annually from1885-1908250,000 q.m. of wheat, 2,000,000 q.m. of rye, 410,000 q.m. of barley and 210,000 q.m. of oats. The rye was sent to Bohemia, Austrian Silesia and the kingdom of Poland, rye meal to Scandinavia, Belgium, Holland and Finland. Except for the products of local agriculture and forestry these provinces were entirely dependent on outside sources. Cooperative credit societies developed vigorously and by 1913 they had together over 75,000 members and deposits of over 202 million francs. The Cooperative Societies' Bank, founded in 1910, formed a financial centre for the societies. With regard to savings banks, by the end of 1912 there were in Galicia 53 banks with depossits amounting to 336 million francs. In Prussian Poland cooperative societies were established on the principles of Schulze-Delitzsch and on the Raiffeisen system-after 1900 buying and selling societies were founded. The Polish credit institutions in Prussia, deriving their capital solely from Polish sources, had at disposal the sum of 498,631,000 francs.
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