651 L5 n? Copy 1 3^ -^^M**<'>^^^^g»^S^g#!S4* ^fc^aliX ' ^^r. . The Ariierican Press on Lithuania's Freedom X i J, T.U rOi ) QNOAS ^ = < c;kami stkkft Hrmj.jMi, \, y ;9.o The American Press on Lithuania's Freedom Published by TAUTOS FONDAS 458 GRAND STREET Brooklyn, N. Y. 1920 FOREWORD HIS book is published for the purpose of showing 'P 1j the interest taken by the American press in the Lithuanian people's fight for independence and freedom. During a period when news of important character has poured into newspaper offices in a volume never even approached at any previous period, the newspapers of the United States have published columns of matter pertaining to Lithuania. No better proof of the essential justice of Lithuania's cause could be asked. Whatever the American editor's views may be regarding local afifairs, his attitude toward the question of Lithuanian independence, of Polish im- perialism, etc., is that of the unbiased, impartial, analytical observer and judge who forms his opinions according to the dependable evidence submitted. It affords us, therefore, the greatest satisfaction to know that an overwhelming majority of the daily press of the I'nitcd States is supporting the claims of the Lithuanian people. The clippings reproduced herein are taken from thousands Which have been gathered from the countrj^'s papers. They show nof only the importance attached to Lithuanian affairs by the .American press, but they show also something of the development of events in the Baltic countries during the past months — a panoramic view of the courageous struggles of the Lithuanian people to raise up a new Lithuania out of the ashes of the old. P. MOLIS. Lithuania, Our Country! Lietuva, Tevyne Mustj. ! T ITHUANIA, our country, Land of might you'll ever be; Through the ages, your fond sons Have gathered strength from thee. Lithuania, your children Paths of Righteousness shall tread; For their native land they'll labor — Earth's aspiring aims they've bred! Fount of Light, may your bright sun. Pierce all that's in darkened sheen Show us Truth's noble way. And we'll follow in your gleam! In our hearts, Lithuania, Love for you will dwell fore'er; Spirit of the World is soaring — Caught in your exalted glare! Copyright 1919 by Thomas Shamis Permi6sion of The Lithuanian Booster, New York City. January, 1920 A GREAT LITTLE NATION Xcw York Herald, April 18, 1919. This is the day of the little nation and of self-determination. There was never a more self-determined nation than Lithuania, and she is not so little, either. A country with an area of nearly 50,000 square miles and with a population of over six millions — a million more than either Ireland or Australia — has claims which cannot be disregarded. And every day they become more audible and more insistent. Left largely to her own resources, Lithuania is bravely fighting not merely for her own rights and liberties but for those of civilization, for she is opposing herself to Bolshevism after having fought resolutely and successfully against Prussianism. Surely such a nation deserves the sympathy and support of other democratic countries in her efforts for autonomy and claims to recognition by the L^nited States as well as all the other members of the League of Nations. The Lithuanians, whose country has on its borders East Prussia, Poland and Russia, are neither Slavs nor Teutons. They are a separate race, with a noble history which has been largely a long struggle against oppression and dbliteration by invading Poles, Teu- tons and Russians. But they have never lost their ethnographic identity as a branch of the Indo-European family, with a rich and cojiious language based on Sanskrit — to which, it may be said, Lithu- anian is the modern key — as well as folk tales and songs and noble traditions, if not a literature; for the attempted suppression of the Lithuanian language by Teuton and Slav oppressors prevented its use in the printed page for a long period. In the new republican administration there is perfect religious liberty. The country has been invaded and ravaged first by the Ger- mans and then by the Russians, but the people have bravely with- stood attacks from every quarter and to-day stand dauntless in the struggle against the malign forces let loose by Lenine. The news has recently arrived that Vilna, the ancient capital, has been freed from Bolshevist domination and that the Russian hordes are receding before Lithuanian forces. A telegram from Kovno, another important Lithuanian city, states that the whole district of Ponovesch and Vilkcmer is now cleared of Bolshevist troops, while a soviet regi- ment retreating from Vilna was entirely destroyed. It is added that S the Lithuanians, having captured many prisoners and much booty, are continuing the pursuit of the retreating Bolshevist. This is news of importance to the civilized world and will arouse fresh sympathy and admiration for a brave and noble nation which is every day additionally proving its right to be included among the free and independent states of Europe. It is good news to learn that Britain has already extended help in munitions of war and other necessaries and has recognized the national independence of the new Lithuanian Republic. The War Trade Board has also lifted its ban on trade with that country, which is significant. Doubt- less Congress will take an early opportunity of signifying its desire that Lithuania be recognized as an independent state by the nation whose executive head has been the chief protagonist of the small nations. LITHUANIAN REPUBLIC NOW HAS PRESIDENT Evening M(fil, New York. City, April 10, 1919. A dispatch to the Lithuanian National Council from its Berne office controverts reports published in yesterday's newspapers under Copenhagen date that the president of the Lettish republic was inaugurated at Kovno. The cable states that the president of the Lithuanian republic was inaugurated at Kovno, provisional capital of Lithuania, since Vilna is in the hands of the enemy Bolshevik forces. It adds that Anthony Smetona was elected president of Lithuania by the Taryba, or national parliament, and took his oath of office before that body April 4. Smetona is a Lithuanian lawyer who has been actively con- nected with that country's fight for independence since he entered public life twenty years ago. He was born at Shauliai, Lithuania, the son of an organist. Tie was educated at the gymnasium of Libau and the University of Moscow. In 1918, when Lithuania declared its independence, he was the man principally responsible for the forma- tion of the national convention (jut of which grew the national parliament, or Taryba. RENT QUESTION IS AS ANCIENT AS MAN Lithuania, Oldest Republic in Europe, Has Solved Land Problem , , Sun. Kexv York City, May 1919. ■ Next to the ownership of women and herds of cattle, land- holding is probably the oldest form of private property in the world. From the outset, it was bound to be one of the most important forms 6 of private property, for no matter how plentiful land might be, it was nevertheless always at the basis of human life. Nomadic tribes needed grazing land for their her,Many others, espRcially those of mixed descent, are bilingual. The Jews, for example, speak both Lithuanian and Yid- dish. The Peace Conference ^e.^ms disppsed, tp accept the ethnolog- ical, criteripn) prpppSjed, by,,, the , Lithwanians., without, of course, accepting their overambitious claims. Racial figures are available from Russian, German,, and Lithuanian official sources. The British, French, and ,Am,erican ej^p^rts have, also their estimates. The dis- crepancies are often fantastic ; at present all such figures are mere guess-work. If the only .^ttfrej foundation for national life is the will of the people, it would appear advisable that the boundaries should be fixed by means of a plebiscite conducted under the direction of an Allied commission on a basis of small territorial units, say the German "Kreise" of the former Russian circles. Each district would decide by popular vote whether it wished to form a part of the Lithuanian republic or cast its lot with its alternatives neighbor, Russian, Lettish, Polish, or German. It is obvious that much more is involved than Lithuania. In recent month much blood has been shed between the Poles and the Ukrainians over eastern Galicia. The former claim the territory on historical grounds, the latter on preponderances of population. The Ukrainians have offered tp settle the dispute by plebiscite, but Premier Padarewski refuses;; he even declines to agree to an arm- istice until Poland has conquered m.ore territory. Certainly all such matters will have to be adjusted by the Peace Conference if success is to come to the Allied plan of building across Europe a bulwark of firmly established states against Bolshevism and governamental chaos. 10 NEW NATION IS ASKING RIGHTS Lithuania Would Be Recognized by America as a Free Country SELF-DETERMINATION IS AIM OF REPUBLIC National Council in United States Plans Campaign to Present Cause. Free Press. Detroit. Mich., April HO, 1919. New York, April 19. — It is amiounced by the Lithuanian national council in America that a petition to the president of the United States and to the secretary of state is to be made by Amer- icans for the recognition of the Lithuania as an independent state. Millions of copies are being circulated through the entire United States by the branches of the Lithuanian National Council, which has over 800,000 members here. Want Self-Determination The petition bases the claim of the Lithuanians for self-deter- mination and independence on their distinct ethnic entity, and on their present attempt to combat Russian domination. England has promised aid and recognition to the new Baltic republic, and Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland have accepted its diplomatic representatives. Immediate steps will be taken by the provisional government and its affiliations in the United States to acquaint the American people with the aspirations, the situation and the needs of the new nation of 6,000,000 people. It stands today as the bulwark against Russian bolshevism, with its soldiers actually at the present time co- belligerents — although unrecognized — of the American and Allied forces against the bolshevist armies. To Present Truth To this end, the Lithuanian national council in America is inaugurating a great campaign, with the purpose of bringing to the people of America and of the world, the truth about Lithuania's cause, and the right of her people to the same autonomy in their own affairs as is being granted to the oppressed groups of central and eastern Europe. The Lithuanians in their struggle for recognition here, after centuries of opression by Prussians and by Russians, have laid aside all their differences, political and otherwise, as well as all questions of territory and boundary. They seek only the same privilege, and the recognition, to govern themselves, that has been accorded to other racial and territorial groups in Europe today. To this end, U they are maintaining their eastern boundaries by a battle-line against the bolsheviki forces. Lithuania at present includes approximately 33,430 square^ miles of territory and a population estimated at 6,000,000 people, governed by a provisional, republican form of government, dating from an independence declared from Germany and Russia on Decem- ber 11, 1917. The new government administrates the army, the schools, the communications system and all the other functions of government. Its head is President A. Smetona, its prime minister A. Valdemar, who is at present seeking recognition for his people at the peace conference at Paris. Lithuania is distictly an agricultural country with great un- developed natural resources, bounded on the north by Courland and the River Dvina as far as Druja, thence a line drawn slightly south- westerly passes through Novogrodek and as far as Slonim, thence west by northwest, passing south of Grodno, including part of East Prussia, on up to the Baltic, ending at Konigsberg. LITHUANIA'S CLAIM Boston, Mass., Herald, April 11, 1919. The obeservence of Saturday as independence day by the Lith- uanians in the United States will be essentially a declaration against the incorporation of their country with Poland. Of this we shall hear at their meetings that day on Boston Common and the following day in Faneuil Hall. They seem to fear that the Polish delegates at Paris may obtain from the peace conference a decision that would interfere with independence which Lithuania claims. Such a decision is not likely. Lithuania proclaimed herself a republic long ago, and her representatives have beeen heard in support of her recovery of national freedom. The policy of the conference council favors the erection of a strong Poland, and this involves the reunion of the Polish-peopled portions of the country that were seized by Russia, Germany and Austria in their successive partitions of the once power- ful kingdom. But to include the provinces of which the former grand duchy of Lithuania was composed, with inhabitants opposed to that inclusion, would not give Poland strength. It would cause internal weakness. History may say that Lithuania was a part of Poland, or even that for a considerable time they were politically identical, but their union was effected by a method to which democratic nations in these days will not give the slightest weight. The marriage of a prince and a princess cannot now be regarded as having made two peoples one. In the 14th century Olgerd, prince of Lithuania, ex- tended his dominion into southern Russia, and his son, Jagello, married the heiress of tiie king of Poland and founded the dynasty of the Jagellons. This was the lirst link-of connection between the two states. The last link was welded in 1569 by their complete political unity. They were Poland, with one government for the united peo- ples, and for a century more this Poland prospered under the Jagellon line, which then became extinct. Both the Poles and the Lithuanians respects that line of repu- table sovereigns, and they have no quarrel about the past. But the present has called each of them up to the stage of republican self- government. Each answers the call and wishes to work out its own separate destiny. Why not? We believe that one as well as the other is entirely competent. It is but right that they should have their opportunity on the parallel paths of progress which they have chosen. Independence is priceless. And it is infinitely better for these sister republics that each should be free to act for itself than that the peoples should 1 e linked together without their mutual desire and consent. LITHUANIA AND FREEDOM Like Ireland and Poland, it never ceased to be a nation; by right of race, language, literature and desire it seeks independence The ColumMad, 1919. The story of Poland is one of heart-rending suffering, and Poland and Ireland have been very reasonably called the Rachel and the Niobe of nations. In both cases the attempt was made to suppress the nationality and the religion of freedom-loving peoples. It is use- less to repeat the tale of the horrors in Ireland before Daniel O'Connell and the famine of '44 forced commiseration from a world which politically and socially was still bound to the spiked chariot wheels of the nefarious Congress of Vienna. Poland, after the criminal parti- tion in which even the virtuous Maria Theresa, mother of Marie .\ntoinetlc, took part, suffered no less intensely than Ireland, and with less hope of redress, for, after all, there was an enlightened opinion in England to which Ireland could appeal — a slow-growing opinion, it is true, but, nevertheless, an opinion that made for right- eousness. No Country Suffered More This war has taught us one thing, which wc should not attempt to minimize or to evade; we must face it; and that is, that 13 today the impetus of nationality is stronger in its motive power than the belief in Christianity. The most ardent enemies of the freedom of Ireland have always been the Tory Catholics ; and Catholic Austria has never torn loose from the ideas that forced the dismemberment and the oppression of Poland. The popes of the Middle Ages hoped and worked for an entirely different condition of affairs, and Dante looked forward to the suppression of~mere local patriotism in favor of the universal reign of Christ, represented by the Catholic Church, guiding a temporal government. ii [ ..ri-. If Poland suffered, she cannot be said to be free from the stain of having forced her rule on another nation in the interest of her national aspirations. This is an interesting fact, too, that the Rus- sians, whom the Poles hated even more bitterly than the Germans, united with Poland in trying to stamp out the national aspirations of the unfortunate Lithuanians All this simply shows that until the coming of the new epoch of promise "of that divine eyent to which the whole Creation tends," national aspirations were seldom checked by ethical ideas or by the necessity of applying Christian principles to political conditions. It is quite true that Lithuania owed the bless- ings of Christianity to its enforced union with Poland, in 1386, when the Lithuanian Prince Jagla married the Polish Princess Yadviga. Lithuania was one of the last European nations to accept Christianity ; but this was very largely due to the attempt of the Gothic Teutonic orders to force the Christian religion on the Lithuanians from political motives. Religion was used as a tool for conquest; and the soldiers of the Cross unhappily, working in the interest of their nationalities, slew and burned and pillaged in the name of that Christ whose teach- ings they misapplied. The Poles still call Lithuania a Polish province, forgetting that quasi-union in 1385 was as unrighteous as that union between Great Britain and Ireland which Lord Castlereagh brought about by the outrageous corruption in the eighteenth century. No country has suffered more during the war than Lithuania ; she was between the devil and the deep sea ; the German and Russian armies advanced and retreated in the wretched government of Suwalki nine times. The Poles, the Slesvigers and Belgians have suffered horribly, as we all know, but the Lithuanians, forced, like the Poles, to fight for Germany, or, on the other hand, choosing to be part of the Russian forces rather than not assist the Allies, deserve the deep- est commiseration from all lovers of freedom. The heart-rending appeal made by the Lithuanians to the Holy Father was a mild state- ment of conditions which could not be exaggerated. There is a tendency in this country to confound the Lithuanians with the Letts. It is necessary to mark a distinction between these two peoples. The Letts are related to the Lithuanians, they live in 14 the governments of Courland, Livonia and Vitebsk ; the Bourussi, who lived on the River Vistula, to the west of Lithuania, have become Prussianized. The Lithuanians and Letts are neither of Slavic nor Teutonic extractions. Their language has more in common with the Sanscrit ; and in race the Lithuanians and the Letts have more Latin than Germanic characteristics. As ever>- Spaniard likes to be called Castilian, the Lithuanians and the Letts are not averse to being considered as having much in common with the old Persian and the Greeks. Lithuania, like Ireland and Poland, never ceased to be a nation, though its position as a State was abolished over and over again. A glance at the map will show vcn,' clearly how closely related in terri- torial position the Letts and the Lithuanians arc, and how hemmed in between their three ancient enemies — Poland. Russia and Germany. .\ glance at the map will show that to cut off Lithuania from the River Niemen would be to strangle her; American opinion, so potent now, must not permit this outrage. Deeply Attached to Church As far down as the tenth centuiy the Lithuanian .nation was living on the Baltic Sea; its population extended from Riga and the Gulf of Finland to Konigsberg: into the sixteenth century its posses- sion were dotted with the White Russians, — mostly of Lithuanian stock, — and the Little Russians. The Russians were of the Orthodox Faith and so permeated with those national ideas which the Orthodox Russian clergy propagated that they ceased to have any interest in the national aspirations of Lithuania. The majoritj^ of the Lith- uanians today — nearly eighty per cent, are Catholics — are deeply attached to the Church, in spite of the fact of the strong resentment among them for many years owing to the natural desire of the Polish clergA* to substitute what they regarded as a higher civilization for that of the Lithuanians. Their neighbors, the Letts, are mostly Lutherans. The Catholic minority live mostly in Courland and occupy about 4.600 square miles. They speak a slightly different language from the Lutherans, and seem more sj'mpathetic with the Lithuanian aspirations and ideals than their Protestant kinsmen. In that reconstruction which ought to take place, after the signing of the Treaty of Peace, it is hoped that the Catholic Letts may be incorporated with Lithuanians in a new, free State. I am afraid I should only bore my readers by going into the cosmogony and the details of the geographical situation of Lithuania, though it is impossible to understand their difficulties without refer- ence to a map. I should like to warn the reader, however, against mixing up the Borussians, or old Prussians, with the modern Prus- 15 sians, who simply adopted the name of Borussian branch of the Lithuanians. The great light until the downfall of the Lithuanian State was that of the language. On the preservation of the language of the people depend its indentity and its freedom and its culture ; no nation can be great without a distinctive literature. After its union with Lithuania, Poland, for a time, became a great world power. The forced union of Poland with Lithuania, a nation several times larger than Poland, was for a time aggrandized; but it ended in anarchy because of the lierce dissension between the recalcitrant Lith- uanians and the conquering Poles ; the Lithuanian-Polish kingdom, at one time the largest territorial in Europe, grew weaker and weaker. The Orthodox White Russians were at war with the Catholics ; the Lithuanians and the Letts did not hesitate to combine even with Sweden, the great Lutheran power, against Poland ; and at the end of the eighteenth century Lithuania, as a State, ceased to exist. Per- haps here I cannot do better than quote from Jusaitis' "History of the Lithuanian Nation" a very remarkable paragraph : State is Home of Nation "The state is not the nation. The state is only an institution of a nation ; that institution without which the nation can live long, even growing larger and stronger, as did the nomadic Israelites before the occupation of Canaan. A nation can be defined as a com- posite entity with customs, language, and a conscious spirit by which it conceives of itself as having a being distinct from that of any other similar group of humanity. * * * A state is, as we said, a national institution without which civilized nation cannot easily exist. A state is like the home of a nation, a guarantee of her self-independence ; \yithout it a nation, although it exists, is oppressed by others, robbed and often destroyed ; and serving a stranger, frequently forced to de- fend its very existence, it finds it difficult to achieve anything for the benefit of humanity. The life of a nation manifests itself in its traditions, which again are preserved in the national language and reveal themselves in its literature. Given a language and a literature, no nation can be considered to be dead or non-existent, for she her-' self is conscious of her existence. But if it is not also a state, another nation which compelled it to belong to it can oppress it, but cannot say that it as a nation does not exist." This express exactly the position of the nations of Europe which were dominated but not conquered. A wrong impression has been given that Lithuania is desirous of forcibly annexing to her territory that of her relatives, the Letts. It is difficult to understand how this impression got abroad, as never by word or act have representative Lithuanians expressed a desire for more territory. It would please 16 them, no doubt, .md strengthen tlieii' position if the Letts occupying the torritorj- known as "I.ietgahis" would join them, but this would be entirely a matter foi- determination on the part of the Catholic Letts. Whether such an amalganialion will ever take place will de- pend, not on the desire of the Lithuanians for this union, but on the disposition of the Letts, cither Catholic or Protestant. Lithuanian Literature Another misapprehension which exists, and which seems to be spread abroad in order to foster dissensions, is that the Catholic Lithuanians are less attached to the Catholic Church than the Poles, and that they look on that Church with suspicion as the main source of Polish propaganda in the past. This is not true. The existence of Lutheran and Calvinistic denominations in Lithuania, as well as the existence of the Orthodox Greek opinion, is due, not to dislike of the Catholic Church, but to other causes. German influence would be naturally Lutheran. Some of the most important books in Lith- uania came from the Protestant press in Keidany, where the famous Lithuanian prayer book, dedicated to Duke Janusz Radziwill, was published. Early in the eighteenth century the disciples of John Knox at Keidan}- published in Konigsberg the New Testament in the Lith- uanian language. In 1747 the Lithuanian dictionary appeared, and it was natural enough that Lithuanians, eagerly treasuring every good example of their language, should have been swayed by books of this kind influenced by Calvinism or Lutheranism. The Prussian Lith- uanian clergy were very active, and the German Government printed for distribution Martin Luther's Small Catechism. After a time the capital of Lithuania, Vilna. became less Germanized and the publica- tion of Protestant books, admirable from the grammatical point of view, became less frequent ; but Lithuania never lost the sense of a national literary life. Among important works was the great poem of Kr. Donelaitis, entitled Metu Laikai, "The Seasons of the Year." In 1864 Russia attempted to suppress the very source^ of Lithuanian nationality, the language. Poland had attempted to ab- sorb the nation, but even the Polanized Lithuanians never lost interest in their language or gave up their political consciousness ; Russia was determined to destroy all the things of the spirit that fed the soul of the nation. It was a crime to use or to keep any book written or printed in the language of the country. The Lithuanians who had been apparently forced to read no type, except Russian, managed to have books and newspapers printed in Latin symbols in Germany. Statistics show that ninety-five per cent, of the younger gene- ration can read and write the language of the forefathers. With all the affection and sympathy and compassion that we Americans have 17 for down-trodden Poland, those of us who have studied the relations of Poland and Lithuania must come to the conclusion that, if the Lithuanians are to be free, mentally, sociallj' and territorially, they must be independent both linguistically and sociologically of both the Poles and the White Russians. Notwithstanding modern ideas of toleration which the Catholic Lithuanians have learned to understand, notwithstanding, too, the new-born tolerance of the Protestant Lithuanians, there must always be taken into account religious differences interwoven so long with political hatred. Bigotry is not confined to Ulster. This cleavage is not due altogether to religious differences, but to traditional racial hatreds and the lack of toleration, somewhat mitigated by the war, which the Russian Orthodox Church has invariably shown. This instance is not due to the teaching of the religion, but to the fierce, almost Mohammedan, belief that the domination of Russian racial orthodoxy is a duty imposed on almost every devout adherent of that church which finds itself, since the murder of the Czar, practically without a head, and henceforth may be less bent on political power. Some time the Lithuanians may forget the past grievances which they have reasonably cherished against the Poles ; the latter are yet regarded in Lithuania as the descendants of the Cromwellians in Ulster are looked on by the "meer" Irish. Lithuania has nothing to gain commercially from Poland ; neither of these countries is in- dustrial ; they are both agricultural. A union between the three Scandinavian nations — ^Denmark, Sweden and Norway — would be reasonable, despite the old grudges, remnants of past history, which these three countries held against one another until recently, because the industrialism of Sweden, the agriculturalism of Denmark, and the fishing and ship-building interests of Norway make them fit economically into one another's interests. This is not so of Poland and Lithuania. If the Letts, or a part of the Letts, did not care to unite with the Lithuanians, this might be a source of weakness ; but a political or a commercial union with Poland could only destroy the national asjairations of Lithuania ; and, consequently, cause the Poles useless irritation without any corresponding advantages. Speak- ing of the possible voluntary union of the Letts and the Lithuanians in "The History of the Lithuanian Nation" (page 89). Mr. Jusaitis. who. by the way, is Master of Laws at the University of Friborg, Switzerland says : "Our languages even now are so closely akin to each other that they differ no more than various German dialects of the south and north. The only difference is that history has united the German dialects of north and south, and divided Lithuanian and Lettish. True, history has made us different nations; we could not be fully 18 united, for then each one would wish to have the upper hand, and we should mutually injure ourselves. But we enuld live together in two Slates, united on equal terms, each one attending to its internal iffairs, and in external affairs both acting together, each exerting on the other a useful national inlluence. In our economic affairs we would agree. We occupy contiguous territory, the Letts holding the seacoast. In a union witli the Letts we would reap the benefit of the sea trade, and their seaports would have a largei' hinterland. If both nations were independent of foreigners and united more closely, mutual cultural influence would purify and strengthen any Lithuanian- Lettish spirit and also the language of both. The national traditions forgotten by the one or the other would revive by mutual intluence. W'c are the only two sisters-nations in the world, and neither one is populous." In Europe, we who were nearer to the countries that wotdd be affected by the policy of self-determinism, were sometimes alarmed by the bitterness and hatred which the smaller States — especially the Balkans — manifested toward one another. This seemed to be, after the downfall of Germany had made freedom possible, a grave obstacle in the way of a just reconstruction. We sometimes felt that a certain number of the representatives of the Lithuanians, and of the Letts, of the Ukrainians, and the White Russians, disagreeing as they did among themselves, were too bitter in their attacks on Poland. This always led at least to verbal reprisals, and when any self-styled advocate of Lithuanian freedom proposes to unite all these peoples in a war-like group against Poland, he aims a direct blow at that world-sympathy which is beginning to turn ardently in favor of the independence of one of the bravest and most consistently na- tional countries of the world. The assertion that because Lithuania ceased to be a State she should be returned to Poland is as foolish as that other assertion made in one or two American newspapers that Norway, having separated from Sweden by national desire, should be returned to Denmark. That Norwegians use the Danish language — or an approximately Danish language — is no argument at all. It is not only language that makes a nation one; and the idea of returning any country to another country, on historical grounds, is as corrupt as most of the methods that obtained in the criminal Congress of Vienna. The specious argument advanced by Russia at various times that to permit the freedom of one nation that has lost its statehood is to give inde- ])endence to all kinds of small, and even infinitesimal groups, has Itecn advanced against allowing Lithuania to be independent. The lirst necessity for the independence of a nation is that people should desire that independence. Historical precedents have nothing whatever U to do with it ; and the .mere fact that a country is united in the use of one language is not enoiigh. To make an absurd comparison, if this were true New Mexico might claim national right simply because, through the indifference or ignorance of the proper authorities, Span- ish has been permitted to remain her dominant language. The Will to be Free While language is a vital factor in national life, it is riot the one factor. There must be much more — there must be a national consciousness expressed by the will of the majority. If the Poles who governed Lithuania had adopted the Lithuanian language, but main- tained Polish ideas of domination — had, in fact, merely adopted a new language to aid in conquest — there would not have been a valid reason for declaring Lithuania Polish. It was easier for Russia to forbid the use of the native language in Lithuania, in 1864, than to force its subjects to learn Lithuanian. The Poles have a right to independence, not merely because of the possession of a common tongue, but rather because Polish nationality, Polish literature, the Polish temperament, is nothing un- der heaven but Polish ! A Pole must be a Pole or die — be at least in spirit, a martyr. The same thing may be said of Denmark, of Ireland, of Holland, of our own country. The Irish who desire Home Rule, or self-determinism, are not — those who speak English — the less entitled to their freedom that those who speak Gaelic. As the Danes and the Dutch, who speak the tongue of small nations, the Irish, if strictly Gaelic-speaking, would be obliged to learn English, in order to progress economically. The Danes and the Dutch are bi-lingual or cri-lingual for the reason that the big nations will not take the trouble to learn their tongues. But the Lithuanians do not demand that the Letts, if they choose voluntarily to unit with the probable new State of Lithuania, shall modify their dialect; a new impetus to literature would soon weld the two speeches — not so far apart — into one. To develop herself, Lithuania must be independent. There are writers who object to the union of Lettland and Lithuania be- cause, as I said, of the religious differences between the majority of Letts and the majority of the Lithuanians; but there is no greater solvent of religious intolerance than a union of economic interests. Lithuania and Lettland, once united and independent of alien con- trol, would form a magnificent agricultural State, with free communi- cations by great rivers and the sea to the outside world, in the midst of Europe, peaceful and progressive. To tie Lithuania and Lettland to either Russia or Poland 20 would bind tlicMi, like Andromeda, to a rock of tortuic and discord. Such a bondage is unthinkable in our modern times! Maurice F. I':gan. YOUR NAMES ASKED FOR LITHUANIAN FREEDOM Petition Circulating for Brave Nation that has Fought the Bolsheviki New Haven, Conn. Union. April 16, 1919. This is an eventful week in the lives of Lithuanians living in New Haven. Struggling for the freedom of their native land to which her well wishers have given the name of "The Baltic Republic," a petition is being circulated to which the names of 25,000 residents of the city have already been appended. During the week the com- mittees will call at factories, offices and private residences in the hope that the people will respond still further to the call for sign- atures. The time for obtaining names is now limited for it will 'expire Sunday, the petition having to be in the hands of the Lithu- anian council in Washington by Monday next. The petition is addressed to the President and to the secretary of state and asks for the recognition of Lithuania as an independent state. Millions of copies are being circulated through the entire United State by the branches of the Lithuanian national council, which has over 800,000 members here. The petition bases the claim of the Lithuanians for self-determination and independence on their distinct ethnic entity, and on their present attempt to combat Rus- sian domination. England has promised aid and recognition to the new Baltic Republic, and Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland have accepted its diplomatic representatives. It stands today as the bulwark against Russian Bolshevism, with its soldiers actually at the present time co-belligerents — although unrecognized — of the American and allied forces against the Bolshevist armies. Lithuania at present includes approximately 33,430 square miles of territory and a population estimated at 6,000,000 people, governed by a provisional, republican form of government, dating from an independence declared from Germany and Russia on Dec. 11, 1917. The new government administrates the army, the schools, the communications of government Its head is President A. Sme- tona, its prime minister A. Valdcmar, who is at present seeking recognition for his people at the peace conference at Paris. During the war, Lithuania served as a battlefield for Russians and Germans. The Lithuanians in the Russian army were variously 21 estimated 400,000 to 500,000 men. The majority of these were either killed or wounded in the Gaiician campaigns, at which time, to, the country was overrun and partly devastated. A central committee established in Berne administered the affairs of the country during this time. When the Brest-Litovsk treaty was signed the Lithuanian provisional government returned to Vilna, the capital, and protested against the terms of the treaty whereby Germany had gained a free hand in dealing with Lithuania. From that time, too, their light with the Bolshevists date, a fight which they have continued actively every since. HOPES OF FREEDOM BY LITHUANIANS Christian Scienoe Monitor, May 5, 1919. LONDON, England. — Dr. John Sziupas, who came to London recently to await the arrival of other delegates from Lithuania, made the following statement regarding his mission : "I am here to urge the right of Lithuania to self-determination, a right that is to be given to all enslaved and annexed countries by the Peace Conference now sitting in Paris. My colleagues have already made representations there and are to join me here soon, when we hope to interest the English in our country. We have been agitating and working for the independence of our country for many years. It has been urged that we should be too small a country to stand our ground if separated from Poland and Russia. Yet there are nearly 6,000,000 people of Lithuanian birth, with an area of 47,000 spare miles, and on these facts alone we can base a more reasonable claim to independence than Bulgaria, Serbia, Denmark, and other small states. "Lithuania Minor has borne the German yoke since 1422, and Lithuania Major was annexed by Russia in 1795. Both these coun- tries have lost all claim to Lithuania by reason of their inhuman treatment. Learning has been suppressed because no Lithuanian was allowed to hold office in his own country. This drove the intelli- gent men and women to seek occupation in other lands, and in Russia alone we have targe numbers of Lithuanians at the heads of universities and other public institutions. "This is not by any means Lithuania's first attempt to gain her freedom. In 1830, 1863, and 1905 there were 'rebellions' which were subdued by the military forces of Tzardom. "During the war Lithuania has suffered severely. Seven times have alien troops crossed and recrossed the land, laying it waste, while the inhabitants have been deported. At a congress at Kiev, in 1917, the envoys of 11 races passed resolutions to the effect that the wounds of Lithuania could only be healed by recognition of Lithuania's rights as a nation and the recognition of its right to separate itself from Russia and Prussia. "The Lithuanians are first-class fighters," Dr. Szlupas added, "and if given independence would prevent the march of Germany eastward and the encroachment of Bolshevist Russia westward." BOLSHEVIK! ARE DEFEATED AGAIN BY LITHUANIANS Advance Made Along a 260 Mile Line; Join Poles Chicago. 111. Tribune, Map 6, 19l'J. BERNE, May 4. — (French Wireless Service.) Lithuanian troops are advancing along a front of 2(iO miles from Courland to the region of Grodno and are approaching Vilna, according to a report received by the Lithuanian press bureau from Kovno. Lithuanian advance guards have occupied Seikai and Vievial, twenty-four miles from Vilna, and the bridgehead of Cieskis, on the river Vilia. Protest by Lithuanians New York, May 5. — The following cablegram was received today by the Lithuanian peace delegation in Paris : "The Poles attempted to capture Vilna but failed and the city is still held by the bolsheviki The Poles have taken Grodno. The Lithuanian government protested to the peace conference against the Polish invasion. The council of the five great powers, as a consequence, has directed the Poles and Lithuanians to cease hosti- lities, declaring that military occupation would not decide territorial questions. A Baltic states commission was created by the peace conference which will investigate and settle all Lithuanian questions." LITHUANIAN INDEPENDENCE I'rovidcnce R. I. Tribune, April 25, 1919. American Lithuanians are as keenly interested in the Paris peace conference as are many other nationalities represented in the LTnited States who are looking to that conference to give back to the pc(j|)le the freedom and independence unjustly taken from them in the ])ast by the use of remorseless and tryannous might. The Lithuanians in America have shown themselves a sturdy and intelligent race, industrious and ever ready to light hard for 23 what they conceive to be their rights. The peace conference must reckon with the claim of such a people or else there will be trouble in maintaining any new territorial lines that do not make such an allowance. All over the world this is the day of the little nation and of self-determination. There was never a more self-determined nation than Lithuania, and she is not so little, either. A country with an area of nearly 50.000 square miles and with a population of over six millions — a million more than either Ireland or Australia — has claims which cannot be disregarded. And every day they become more audible and more insistent. Left largely to her own resources, Lithuania is bravely fighting not merely for her own rights and liberties but for those of civilization, for she is opposing herself to Bolshevism after having fought resolutely and successfully against Prussianism. Surely such a nation deserves the sympathy and sup- port of other democratic countries in her efforts for autonomy and claims to recognition by the United States as well as all the other members of the league of nations. The Lithuanians, whose country has on its borders East Prussia, Poland and Russia, are neither Slavs nor Teutons. They are a separate race with a noble history, which has been largely a long struggle against oppression and obliteration by invading Poles, Teu- tons and Russians. But they have never lost their ethnographic identity as a branch of the Indo-European family, with a rich and copious language based on Sanskrit, to which, it may be said, Lith- uanian is the modern key; as well as folk tales and songs and noble traditions, if not a literature — for the attempted suppression of the Lithuanian language by Teuton and Slav oppressors prevented its use in the printed page for a long period. In the new republican administration there is perfect religious liberty. LITHUANIANS ASK ALLIES FOR RECOGNITION Milwaukee, Wis. Jonriial. May 10. Idl'.i. Paris — An appeal for recognition of the Lithuanian govern- ment by the United States and her allies, and for arms, ammunition and supplies for Lithuanian troops to complete the work of clearing the Bolsheviki out of Lithuania, is contained in a letter addressed to Secretary of State Lansing by the Lithuanian commission to the peace conference. The question of what the Lithuanian boundaries shall be can be settled at a later date, the commissioners state : all that Lithuania asks for now is recognition of her independence. "To delay recognition until the political status of Russia is 24 solved and a comnit>n policy determined upon by the conference, would support the reign of anarchy and disorder in Lithuania," says the letter. "So long as the present political- and economic conditions arc permitted to exist in Lithuania, Germany will continue to benefit by those conditions, and the Russian Bolshcviki will continue to be encouraged. "The Germans still occupy the western part of Lithuania. They export therefrom, food and various other agricultural products. The Germans invariably set their own prices, for which they usually pay in Ober Ost German money. Sometimes they pay nothing, promising to export goods from Germany to balance the import. "It is also impossible to keep the Russian ruble from circulating in Lithuania. "\\'ith recognition of our national state by the peace confer- ence we would control our fiduciary affairs and discredit this ficti- tious German and Russian paper currency and refuse to legalize its use, and effectively cripple German and Bolshevik propaganda which is conducted solely by means of this spurious specie." LITHUANIA ASKS AID IN KOSCIUSZKO'S NAME New York Herald, May 11, 1919. Kosciuszko was the first Lithuanian to conic to America and advertise his country. He did it in an extremelj^ practical fashion, by rolling up his sleeves and helping the American colonists in their plucky and historic scrap with George III. He was interested in the war for the independence of America because he had learned in his own country what misery and hardship an oppressed nation can suffer. Lithuania had long been the battle ground of nations, and under Germany, Poland and finally Russia had suffered intole- rably. Kosciuszko, then, was a logical defender of the rights of small and weak peoples, and this championship of the American cause was the first tie that bound the interests of Americans and Lithuanians. Since his day, however, immigration from TJthuania into America has been steady and consistent, and the tie has ever been growing stronger. Now Lithuania asks for help of the same America that Kosciuszko aided 1777; she wants to be a free and independent nation, to take up her national life where she left off so many yean, ago. and to establish herself once more as a national entity in recon- structed Europe. LITHUANIA ASKS CONFERENCE TO SETTLE DISPUTE Also Asks Arms, Munitions and Supplies for Her Troops Would Whip Bolshevists ■rjiiTrufi' Believes They Canno^ Survive Signal Defeat in Battle Albany. N. Y. Argus. May 11. 1919. Paris, May 10. — An appeal for recognition of, the Lithuanian government by the United States and. her i^llies, /and ^io^, arms, am- munition and supplies for Lithuanian troops to complete the work of clearing the Bolsheviki out of Lithuania, is contained in a letter addressed to Secretary of State Lansing by the Lithuanian commis- sion to the peace conference. The question of what the Lithuanian boundaries shall be can be settled at a later date, the commissioners state; all that Lithuania asks for now is recognition of -her inde- pendence by the great powers. "To delay the question of recognition until the political status of Russia is solved and a common policy determined upon by the peace conference," says the letter, "would support the reign of anarchy and disorder in Lithuania, and it will interfere with and discourage the organization of order." "There are various small nationalities who have separated themselves from what .was formerly the Russian empire and who have by their strength and power shown to the world that they deserve to be independent. To delay the recognition of their inde- pendence and not to give them the assistance they need which is asked for by them, especially when this help will assist the Allies to establish order in Europe, would be a grave error. Moreover, rh" development and organization of these new states will be the foundation upon which the Russian problem can be solved, The next step in the life of these small states w'ill undoubtedly be the formation of alliances of one form ;0r another, which they will have a perfect right to do, acting in accordance with the rules that will govern the league of nations. "So long as the present ])olitical and economical conditions are permitted to exist in Lithuania, Germany will continue to beneiit by those conditions, and the Russian Bolsheviki will continue to be encouraged in their ambition. ■,^,,',.i: vbi. ciH "The Germans still occupy the western. ,parlt,, of, Lithuania. They export therefrom lumber, food and various other agricultural products. The Germans invariably set their own prices, for which they usually pay in Ober Ost German money. Sometimes they pay nothing, promising to export goods from Germany to balance the import. 2S Unable to Press Her Victories "Since it is impossible to keep track of these transactions, Lithuania not having been recognized by the United States or the Entente as an independent state, and tKjt having any control what- soever over its borders, Germany takes complete advantage of this situation. "For the same reason it is impossible to keep the Russian ruble from circulating in Lithuania. It would be of great political advant- age, nt>t only to Lithuania, but to other interested powers as well, if the Russian ruble could be stopped or withdrawn from circulation, because this means, by which the Bolsheviki are enabled to support their prc>paganda in Lithuania, could be effectively eliminated. "With recognition of our national state by the peace confer- ence we could control our fiduciary affairs and discredit this fictitious German and Russian paper currency and refuse to legalize its use, and effectively cripple Geryian and Bolshevik propaganda, which is conducted solely by means of this spurious specie. "Lithuania believes that the Bolsheviki serious defeats but because of lack of war supplies Lithuania has been unable to press her victories to a final conclusion which could possibly result in the total route of the Bolsheviki. "We expressly desire to emphasize that order prevails in that part of Lithuania which Lithuanians have freed from the Bolsheviki. We specifically ask of the United States and their Allies, now, arms, ammunition and supplies for Lithuanian troops to complete the work so well begun of clearing the nest of Bolsheviki in Lithuania. We do not stipulate the aid of Allied troops, though we should be glad to have such aid. W^e ask only to have our own troops equipped for this task and thus help serve the ."Mlics' cause. Can the Allies fail to recognize the independence of Lithuania and lend support, by this means securing to themselves so great and desirable service and avoiding the necessity of sending into Russia an Allied army?" FOLK SONGS OF LITHUANIANS They Express in Poetry and Music the Simple Life of the People of That Country Evening Olobe, Xeiv York City, May S. 1919. America, the only nation which has no folksong, has once more brought to the attention of the world a new musical library, has found in the intensely national folksong of Lithuania something of rare interest and charm. The political oppression which Lithuania J7 has suffered and the isolation of its people have made a deep impress on its music. Lithuania is now asking for complete independence. The Lithuanian folksong resembles the Italian folksong in that it express in poetry and music the simple life of the people. But here the likeness ends. The "Dainos" of Lithuania are symbolical poems, in which the moon, the sun, the planets, and the stars are given the quality of mortal beings, swayed by mortal passions. The whole mythological scheme of the universe is set forth in this folklore of Lithuania. Melodically the songs are most interesting and reflect the isolated character of the people in their color. The old "Burtinikas" (poets) were too diffident to speak about men and women, and they used only symbolic terms. Thus, the moon is the male, the sun his bride, and the stars are their daughters, and so on. In the same language the planets are the sons and the earth is the mother of them all. This poetry pervades the national life, songs, and proverbs entering into the business life of the Litiiuanian and into the simple betrothal of the young people. The Lithuanian guitar, or "kankles," is generally carved or painted with the "stemma" of the house, and provides accompaniment for the folk-songs. The ordinary notation of music is well understood by most of the modern Lithuanians, but a good deal of language and music is taught orally by the old people. In the manner of the old Greek rhapsodies the poet recites or sings a verse which the audience immediately repeats after him. Recitals of Lithuanian music are to be given in New York and other large American cities. LITHUANIA GIVEN MEMEL. BALTIC PORT, BY TREATY TERMS New Republic Made an Important Baltic Power, Is Seeking Recognition (By the Associated Press.) Eagle, Brooklyn. N. Y., May 11, 1919. Paris. May 10. — The Lithuanian delegation to the Peace Con- ference has asked President Wilson for a hearing concerning the status of the new republic and its desire for recognition. Dr. Ytchas, Lithuanian Minister of Finance and head of the delegation, told the correspondent today that the peace treaty pre- sented to Germany had the effect of giving to Lithuania the great Baltic port of Memel, thus making the republic one of the important Baltic powers. 28 / The old East Prussian boundary started above Mcmel, includ- ing the city within Prussia, whereas the peace treaty starts the boundary below Memel, thus excluding the city from Prussia and including it in Lithuania. While gratified at the result, the delegation holds that the treaty is unwarranted in internationalizing the Nicmen River, which is wholly within Lithuania. LOGICAL RESULTS OF BOLSHEVISM Kew York Herald, May 10, 1919. Vilna is in extreme destitution and hunger after four months of occupancy by the Bolsheviki, from wlmni the Poles have rescued it but who are again attacking in force from a front only five miles away. Our Warsaw correspondent, ^Ir. Cameron RLickenzie, has just made a perilous trip to the ancient home of the Jagiello dynasty, under which Poland and Lithuania were united for two hundred years. In his special cable despatch published yesterday he describes the city as poisoned and diseased, stricken by the blight of Bolshevism. Since January 5, when the Germans evacuated the city and turned it over to the Bolsheviki, Vilna has been systematically de- prived of food, her industries have been ruined and her population of 150,000 persons is idle and starving. When the Bolsheviki were lorced to evacuate the place they made a house to house search and took away from poor and rich alike every particle of food. Previously they had seized and sent back to Russia all the stock of the smaller tradesmen and had declared all the important business enterprise the property of the community. Starv-ation and idleness are the logical results of Bolshevism, entirely apart from the rule of rapine and murder. For when one is not assured of receiving the fruits of his labor he will not work, and when he receives from the state only a pittance doled out to the working men all individual enterprise is crushed and a blow dealt to efficiency that inevitably tends to the decay of trade in general and to the improvement of the individual. First comes decline in production, then stagnation of business, want and finally starvation. All the efforts of the Bolshevist commissaries cannot annul the effects of what Lloyd George recently called the "relentless pressure of economic facts." Vilna in all the eight hundred years of its history never suffered as she is suffering today. Rome was cruel and barbarous and assassi- nations were frequent under the rule of the despotic Caesars, but Rome knew better than to kill the incentive to production, so she prospered in spite of her crimes. But the Bolsheviki have effected 2» in a few months greater destruction than the despotism of Rome accomplished in centuries. THE FURTHEST OUTPOST By Elias Tobenkin Special Correspondent of The Tribune Tribune, New York City, May 13, 1919. Kovno (By mail). — The special commission of the American Relief Administration which came here to investigate the food situation in Lithuania concluded its work with a visit to the Lith- uanian-Bolshevist front, twenty-two miles east of Kovno. The com- mission consists of Major Ross and Captain Hollister, U. S. A., and a Red Cross representative, and was sent out from Warsaw by Colonel Grove, the head of the Poland Relief Mission. The Tribune correspondent accompanied the mission. After half an hour's ride the party found itself in a village containing ISO houses, and was received by the Lithuanian com- manding officer, who was formerly a captain in the Russian army. The commander explained good-naturedly that the land the American commission was standing on was "the furthest outpost of civilization" and that across a few kilometres was No Man's Land, where the Bolshevists are in control. He also explained that the section of front under his control was the most important, as the Bolsheviks are anxious to enter Kovno, where a direct railroad line runs into East Prussia, and the Russian Bolshevists are anxious to connect it with the Konigsberg Spartacists. The Bolshevists likewise expect help from the Spartacists, who are believed to be thick in the German army occupying Kovno and Lithuania. The Bolshevist front is primitive and violates every tradition of the war front. They have no barbed wire entanglements and no trenches. Two-thirds of the soldiers have uniforms, and only a few have had more than two month's military training. The only thing that marks these peasant boys in home spun as soldiers is their military hats with a yellow band, which every one of them wears to justify his carrying a gun. The commander then explained that warfare with the Bolshevists was largely of a guerilla nature and in that special section was largely defensive on the part of the Lith- uanians. He said that the Lithuanian army was only two months old, that its numbers all told are not over ten thousand men, and it is handicapped by the lack of ammunition and clothing. Neverthe- less, he felt confident of victory over the Bolsheviki because of the zeal with which the peasant boys were fighting, and they had the 30 whole-hearted support of the Lithuanian nation, which it gives its army. The commander then said : Fighting Hungry Wolves "Lithuania is lighting the Bolshcviki army in the same manner in which it would hght a Hock of hungry wolves or a forest fne. The peasant boys hght for their existence and the survival of their homes and possessions, which they have saved up in the course of generations, and even centuries. Not even 10 per cent, of the Bolshevist troops who are fighting us have any conception of the idealism which men of type of Lenine see in Bolshevism. To the Soviet army hereabouts Bolshevism as a practical proposition means plunder and robber}^. When the Soviet troops occupy a Lithuanian village they strip the population by taking the bread, produce, cattle, clothing, wagons and implements and sending them back to the devasted interior of Russia. We have hundreds of instances where the Bolshevist troops, on occupying Lithuanian territory, left but a single shirt to each person and requisitioned the rest. Our war here against Bolshevism is simply a struggle for survival — hence the desperate bravery with which our boys fight despite the cold and handicaps "The peasant population of Lithuania has made this fight against Soviet Russia a famil)' affair. Daily from ten to fifteen peasants drive up in their carts to visit their soldier boys and to bring them food, shirts or freshly knitted woolen gloves and socks." He then stated that, bad as was the condition of the Lithuanian troops, the Bolshevist troops were even in a worse plight, and that recently several companies of starved Bolshevist soldiers surrendered, and when questioned most of them wept bitterly and said that they entered the Bolshevist army because it was a last refuge from starva- tion and death. As soldiers they could at least make provision for themselves by robbing and pillaging. LITHUANIA WANTS FULL INDEPENDENCE Does not Wish to Form Part of Other Nations FOUGHT BOLSHEVIKI HARD United With Poland and Ukraine Would Bar Advance of Red Terror. (By Thomas B. Preston.) A'eics, Charleston. 8. 0., May i, 1919. When the disposition of the provinces that have separated from Russia comes to be considered, whether before or after the 31 signing of the treaty of peace, Lithuania will demand early con- sideration. Like her northern neighbor, Esthonia, Lithuania has been carrying on a difficult warfare against the Bolsheviki on her eastern border, after having driven them back from the coast of the Baltic sea to Mitau and the Dvina river. Treacherous German troops not long ago attempted a diversion in their rear by seizing the port of Libau, but British warships were on the watch and landed men and the situation was restored. Lithuania; has aspirations for complete independence. She does not want to form part of Germany, Russia or Poland. She had a racial affinity with the Borussi in East Prussia, who were practically exterminated by the Teutonic knights and from whom the Prussians stole their very name. The Lithuanians still call East Prussia "Lith- uania Minor." Regarding Russia, for centuries their cruel oppressor, they have no feeling of kinship and have no racial affinity. Neither do they wish to join Poland now, although when they did voluntarily unite with Poland both nationalities reached their highest prosperity, justifying the saying that "union makes strength," the motto that two different races in Western Europe, the Finnish and the Walloons, adopted when they established the Government of Belgium. Prey of Foreign Landlords Religious differences as well as racial probably play a part in this political antagonism between the Letts, Lithuanians and Poles, for many of the former are Lutherans and the latter largely Catholic. The land question has something to do with it also, for there were large estates held by Poles in the interior, while nearer the coast German barons owned practically all the country and eagerly welcomed the Kaiser's armies when they invaded Russia. The Lithuanians, who are an agricultural people, until recent years were not allowed exclusive possession of the land on which they lived. No one could call his farm his own. Both the Lithuanians and the kindred Letts were serfs to foreign nobles, who charged them so much for living in the land where they were born that all the proceeds of their labor beyond a miserable subsistence went to support in luxury those who did nothing but simply owned the soil. Even the Russians saw that such a system of tenant farming — which is increasing rapidly, by the way, in this country — was economically injurious to the State, and tried to prevent the land owners from evicting their tenants and raising their rents. Finally, in 1861 the Emperor Alexander II is- sued his emancipation decree abolishing serfdom. Peasants were freed from enforced labor and given a share of their former holdings ; the State recompensed the landlords and 32 the tenant farmers had to redeem the amount in partial paynu-nls extended over a period of years. But, as in Germany, the share awarded to tiie peasants was so small that the landlords were not greatly disturbed in their predominance and made a good income from their estates by the help of agricultural laborers. Unjust distribution of land, like that in France before the revolution of 1789, was the cause of much of the Bolshevism in Russia today. Russia Punished Poles After the insurrection in Poland, in 1863, the Russian Gov- ernment, to punish the Poles, gave to the Lithuanian peasants the land of the Polish proprietors on much easier terms even than those by which landlords in Russia were expropriated. The allotments were however, distributed imequallj', also the redemption taxes, so that some peasants actually lost land their ancestors had acquired. The Letts fared even worse, for the insignificant minority of German landlords — less than 5 per cent. — were allowed the monopoly of the sale of whiskey and beer to further debauch and impoverish the population. Barrier Against Bolsheviki While the Bolsheviki are now being weakened in the west it is time to establish a strong barrier against their threatened advance into Central Europe. Three countries cover the wide gate to the west between the Baltic and the Black sea — Lithuania, Poland and the Ukraine. (Copyright, 1919, by New York Herald Company.) WILSON ASKED TO SAVE LITHUANIA'S FREEDOM. Russia and Poland Charged With Plotting to Take Control of the Country. Tribune, Xvw York City, June t.'>, I'JUK PARIS, June 14 (By The Associated Press). — The Lithu- anian delegation in Paris has written a letter to President Wilson asking that he give it a hearing on the intrigues of Poland and Russia against Lithuania. The letter asserts that Lithuania does not wish to be rein- corporated in Russia and does not desire to re-establish the obsolete union with Poland. It continues: "While the regenerate world aspires to freedom, Poland and 33 Russia are seeking to take possession of Lithuania under the guise of defending her against the Bolsheviki and Germans." The letter adds that the hearing will assist America in securing the triumph of right in Eastern Europe. POURING MUSIC OVER A CANVAS A Critic Writes an Appreciation of the Lithuanian Painter M. K. Tschourlionis, Who Essays Marriage of Two Arts Evening Sun, New York City, May 8, 1919. That popular style of criticism which expresses music in terms of art, art in terms of literature or literature again in terms of music, is the present day's most pathetic fallacy. For it all resolves itself into words expressed in words and then more words. It now remains for a well known Lithuanian painter truly to picture music ; to pour upon glowing canvases the sensous and rhapsodic moods of music. The experiment is not new ; neither is it converse. The entente between tempo and tempera, pitch and paint has always been industriously cordial. Watts made a "Hope" (forlon) which hangs over every second London heart and which translates just about such musical sentiments as emanated from that piano teacher to royalty. Sir Paolo Tosti. And, on the other hand, it is only recently that two separate musical compositions have been introduced into New York, one of them by the Russian Rachmaninoff, which seek to do with the orchestra what the brush has done with that familiar favorite with mysoginists, "The Isle of the Dead." Or remember back to the stir created when a musical society in Washington played .Scriabin in a darkened room, with a melting succession of weirdly colored lights playing upon a screen before the auditors. Eyes and ears feasted, glutted, drugged at the same instant. It was a recogni- tion, anyhow, of that rich relationship between the optical and aural senses. But it was not art. Visualizes Musical Impressions The Lithuanian painter, M. K. Tschourlionis (or Curlionis, as it is in his own picturesque language) succeeds where other have failed. He succeeds in conveying the nebulousiiess unlimited in music, the mindful ecstasy of its imaginings ; yet he has made art of it, noble, prepossessed art, sternly beautiful. Kinetic art, of course, and madly swift to convey titanic impressions ; but such is the mod- ern school, and Paris knows Tschourlionis as one of the foremost moderns. Enormous imagery, employing whole worlds and heavens of 34 a scope to lircak the jrlassy bounds of even Dante's conception of the universe, and piled with thousands of picturesque and tellinp de- tails — these arc his means, but only the means, to the end that a mood of conscious vastness and cieativeness shall consume him who sees as surely as it docs him who lays his ear to listen to the winds of a world struggling for freedom from the shell of some famous symphony. There are some "Preludes" of his, for example, which were away from all that legcndry and earthly depiction that characterize his now famous trypitch of "Pasaka." They are typical of him, none the less, and of his Herculean throes to break beyond the limits of formal design and to transcend all human idea. One of these has a looming black peak for its foreground, bright stairs going crazily up across the back. A Sphinx, behind patches of white cloud, broods upon the summit of the mount, dark but gleaming eagle's wings erect upon her back. Verdure, strange, fantastic, climbs the black rock to meet her. Yet Another "Prelude" Another "Prelude" is but a glorious huddling of minarets and towers, myriad in number, in variety. Those that are in sunlight shine as Camolot might have shone, those that are in darkness dip to a gloom hellish bej'ond description. The proportions of the piece are stupendous — an effect of distances intensified by the dwindling mists. These are his steadfast trick, these mists. But what sinuous, clambering mists the}' are ! Even when the sunlight cleavers them they will writhe into new shapes, new phantoms, take on new and softer colors. And in one musical series which Tschourlionis has made — the picturization of a whole sonata, entitled "The Chaos" — they are the integral force of the entire work. In this "Chaos" sonata, recently reproduced for the profit of Lithuanian prisoners (a fit reminder of what this small people suffer- ed in the lock of larger nations) the subjects are outrightly labelled in the nomencalture of music. "Allegro" says one of them, "Andante" another. Here perhaps are the two most daring examples of Tschour- lionis's adventure. The brilliant colors alas! it is impossible to reproduce. They run such a riot as the Grand Canyon runs at dawn, and to miss them is to miss most of the glow of their inspiration. The "Allegro," for example, swings an endless system of planets through jagged layers of flushed clouds, metal rimmed, trans- parents to disclose the golden pricking of stars without number. Over it all the sun is an orb of Mystic Dove in barely human form ; infinity stares through every crevice. 35 An Appreciation of "Andante" The "Andante" again employs the same cosmic figurings but in a deeper set of tones, less mad in their scattering. A huge world is tumbling here churning soberly down a limitless alley of serpetine winds. A thick, dark snake of night lies in a lazy diagonal across it, with longitudinal rods of light dividing it all with the precision of day upon day. And across the face of everything, mists afire, mists in mourning, mists and ever more mists. On a level rigorously even runs a straight blue bar through the upper portion of each number of this pictured "sonata." It is narrow, inconspicuous, so crusted with stars as to be almost lost in the larger swirl of things. Yet it is precisely the same in each of of them. Obviously it is the central idea of the whole work; it be- longs there as genuinely as every great musical composition, no mat- ter how often divided into movements must have its central and continuous purpose. It is but a further proof of the artists sincerity in grasping at the innermost of music and fusing it into permanence. He has done it, this Lithuanian. He has coupled with a paint brush two great vehicles of genius. He has succeeded where others, hemmed by art older formalism, failed or despaired. He is not the only Lithuanian, to be sure, who has come into good repute in arts and letters during the past decade, for, just prior to the upheaving arrival of the war, that doughty little people had undergone a great intellectual renaissance. Now, doubtless, it will be resumed, especi- ally should Lithuania's dream of centuries come true and she be granted a national entity. Among other good things it will mean a national school of art. And what a school it will be, with such as Tschourlionis at its head ! What if it forges even newer paths of liaison between art and music. Then words will be unnecessary — and especially such words as these ! Gilbert W. Gabriel WANT POLAND TOLD TO WITHDRAW FORCE Mass Meeting Here Denounces the Invasion of Lithuania and the Ukraine DEPLORES ATTACKS ON JEWS Bolshevism was denounced and a plea made for the recognition of Esthonia, Lithuania, the Ukraine, and Lettland at a mass meeting 36 in Carnegie Hail yesterday afternoon. Tlu' liall was packed. There was just t>ne discordant note, and tliat was when a speaker now ami tlien mentioned Poland. Every mention of the Poles was the.fiignul for' a storm of hisses,, for, in the opinio.n of the Letts, Lithuanians, Esthonians and Ukrainians, the Poles have imperialistic ambitions and seek not only to incorporate in the new Polish Republic lands that are strictly Polish, but also territories that have a|ways been inhabited by people of Lithuanian and Ukrainian blood. Mark Eisner presided at the meeting and there were speeches by representatives of the four nationalities under whose auspices the gathering had assembled. Several resolutions were adopted, one of them referring to the invasion of Lithuania and Ukraine by the Poles, which was denounced as an aggression, and ias; "a violation of the war aims declared by President Wilson and the allied Govern- ments," and as an indefensible interference with the rights of the people concerned to determine their own future. A message, it was announced, would be immediat-elj' sent by cable to Versailles calling upon the allied Peace Commissioners 'to compel Poland to withdraw her forces from Lithuania and the Ukr- aine, and that all assistance be denied Poland in the event of that nation's failure to withdraw as ordered. The boundary disiputes, it will be further suggested, should be settled by an American or inter- allied commission. ;/. I. ti1i:::'uy:r. "In order" the resolution concluded, " to enable 'Lithuania, the Ukraine, Lettland, and Esthonia to rebuild their countries, to resist foreign invasions, including that of,;Bolshevism, andj to take their places as independent European States, we hereby request the Government of the United States and the Governments of the allied nations to recognize the complete independence ofi the Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Lettish, and Esthonian Rcpublics.i andi.tp .rjanderjithem moral and material assistance." r- ;•. •• '/ ■ m Denounces Attacks on Jews This resolution, denouncing the treatment of Jews in parts, ipf I^astern Europe, was also unanimously adopted : I We, American friends of the freedom of Liihuania, and Ukraine, and American citizens of Lithuanian and Ukrainian descent, in meeting assembled at Carnegie Hall in NeW; :Yiorki ; City, hereby unanimously resolves: - .li : That we disavow emphatically all sympathy or support for, the massacre and pillage of Jews; that we do not believe ^suqhi crud,ties have the support of any of the inhabitants of Lithuania or Ukraine, but that, on the contrary, it is the firm intention of the Lithuanian and Ukrainian republics to grajit Jews equal rights Qn4; Protections 87 with all other citizens; and wo respectfully petition the United States Government to take all necessary steps to prevent the con- tinuance or recurrence of such horrors wherever they occur. LITHUANIA'S POSITION. On Peace Treaty Given in Note to President Clemenceau of Peace Conference. Ansonia, Conn., Sentinel, June 9, 1919. The Lithuanian national council in New York has received the following cable from its Paris representative, giving an official summary of Lithuania's position on the peace treaty. "The Lithuanian delegation to the peace conference has ad- dressed a note to M. Clemenceau, president of the conference, as follows : "We have the honor to beg you to submit for consideration of the conference, the Lithuanian viewpoint on questions which in the preliminary peace with Germany concern Lithuania directly or indirectly. Sure of the final victory of right and justice for which the entente powers were fighting, the Lithuanian people display invincible tenacity in resisting the German plan which purposed annexation and enslavement for Lithuania. When the allied govern- ments adhered to the 14 points of President Wilson, and his subse- quent utterances as a basis for future peace, the Lithuanians experi- enced great relief, feeling that their rights were eternally assured. Unfortunately, the preliminaries of peace concerning Lithuania seem not to answer these principles and hopes entirely ! "The note then examines three points of complaint — allott- ment by the conference to eastern Prussia of that portion of Lithu- ania west of the Niemen, the internationalization of the Niemen- Grodno mouth, and the conditions of the existing German military occupati(m of Lithuania. The note, supporting the first complaint, quotes the third and fourth Wilson principles uttered February 11, 1918, concerning the integrity of peoples and specifies that the right to a plebiscite allowed the Danes of Sleswig, and the Poles of Prussia, is denied Lithuanians. "On the left bank of the Niemen, we believe," says the note, "that the sole and simplest means of sparing the Lithuanian popula- tion of the territory in question unmerited humiliation, and of main- taining the principles proclaimed so solemnly, would be to recognize at least in principle, and even before the signature of peace with Germany, the independence of Lithuania. "Regarding the second complaint, the note declares that ncj 38 question nf tlu' iiUi-rnalioiKilizalinii oi tin- Xicnu'ii existed wliile I'riissia iiclil it, and while Russia possessed a legal government. In eontiast, the X'istiiia, traversing i)artly Cierman territoiy, is placed wholly uiiiler the Poles, and the Khiiu' is imt disposi'd of without consulting Holland. "Regarding the Liernian army in Lithuania, the note warns the conlerence that if in its present opinion a certain measure of co-operation by German troops is indispensible to repulsing the holsheviki, it would be useful to state precisely what the task of those troops should be. "The provisional government oi Lithuania," thef document concludes, "after an experience so dearly paid for, is of the opinion that it would be preferable to evacuate them completely." "Because of the facts stated above the Lithuanian delegation solicits the members of the peace conference to recognize the prin- ciple of independence for Lithuania, and to refuse the articles of the l)reliminary treaty relative to eastern Prussia, to the Nieman and lo Cierman occupation of Lithuania." THE JEWS OF LITHUANIA By Konrad Bercovici As early as 1380, when the Jews were burned on the auto-da-fe in Spain and tortured to death in Germany, Vytautas, king of Lith- uania, understood their value and attracted a considerable number of Jews to his country by ordering them religiuos freedom and security. He enacted laws punishing with death whomsoever attacked a Jew, injured or murdered him. Such magnanimity in those early days, when the rest of the world offered but little security and still less redress to the Jews, was not disregarded. Today Lithuania is seeking recognition from the world and the Jews are an intregal part of her. The percentage of Jews in Kovno is today 35 per cent., in Vilna 41 per cent, and Suvalka 54 per cent. The Jews constitute 17 per cent, of the total population in Lithuania. It was through them that the Lithuanians transacted their business and they are to be found in every activity. In the timber and poultry trade they have been active for hundreds of years. In Vilna and Kovno are sonic of the most celebrated Tal- niudical schools around which the Yiddish poets have woven a thousand legends. The fact is that nowhere did Jews enjoy as much religicnis freedom as in Lithuania. The J ithuanian Jews are renowned as good Hebrews scholars and consider themselves superior because they studied in "Jeshibas" 80 ofi.old traditions. Of all the Progroms the Jews have suffered not oijp CQuldiibe traced 'to Lithuanian origin. Lithuania was a haven of spcujrity.- 1 It was, in Lithuania that Yiddish became a language in \Y}iifth,f [the .people, expressed themselves and it was there that it was first turned into literary value. As a matter of fact, fully two-thirds of,;tlie Yiddish literature, most of the publishing houses and most of .thj^fjYjiddish writers were born in Lithuania. Compared to Lith- uanian Jews, the Jews of all other nations are Hamorazim ignorants, ai)d the Litvakcs, as the Lithuania Jews call themselves, are inordi- nately proud of their birthplace. ,i,.,ri :;There were , and there are many Jews active in the fight for l^itJj,u3.nian, independence. The Jews of Lithuania have always appre- ciated the libep^iL^irit nf the Lithuanians and they always maintained tlji^^l^hey. were Lithuanians and not Russian Jews. ,(,;,,, X^e Yiddish papers of this country publish daily letters that r^^h,,J;lvej[ii^, ^roni;! the. ;,\ya,rring countries. The tales of murder and pe:j"secution that are novv taking place in "Independent Poland" under the eyes of the musicianly president, ^re so horrifying one shudders and clenches his fists reading the first words. These were progroms and inceptions of progroms almost everywhere. Men, women and children are murdered. ',d«>ily-; But we have not yet heard that the Jews in Lithuania suffered with other causes than were ordinary with the r.est of the Lithuanian population in this cruel war. The J^Ws''li\^irig-i'ri the' big' cities of Lithuania were so well organized th'^4iiH'ri£j't''nee3Jhalf. of the rdifef that we' have ' se'rit to other titieS. isdrni^it -the 'third Conference' of nationalists which Was held in LatisiSriii'e 'i'n June, 1916, the Lithuanian delegate proposed and carried thTdug'h 'reSblutioflrS giiai-ahteeirig 'tO'''isach individual his language, hrS'Teligferi and' politicaL and ' civil equality. Fi-'ee association and ti^aditicms wtere recognized as "rights." griiibgshiefre'-ai'e'-iiidications that the new Lithuanian republic will cdrttiriite' in the go6d traditions of their great King Vytautas, and that Vilna, Kovno, Grodno, and Suvalki will remain the great Tal- nliidi'es({'te'A'ter.<5 of Ith^ world. rri'ifli ji ...i.i.,iJ.; LITHUANIANS IN FOLK MUSIC EMPLOY MYTHOLOGICAL SCHEME. Sun,, Moon and Stars, for Purpose of Song, Are Given Quality of I'Hjfft 1, ¥^'-*^^ Beings — Poetry Pervades National Life. Gazette-Times. Pittsburg. Pa., May 19, 1919. ^ii-.Io.'^i\meriea''hiife once more brought to the attention of the world a rtfe'^f-iftlksical 'libi'ary. '.'It' has found in the intensely national folk 40 songs of l.itluiaiiia. Sdiiu-tliiiiji i.i' rare ilitCrtst 'Mi^ rhiirtVi'. "''Tli'c political oppression which l.itlniania has suflercd ami the isolation of '.its people have made a deep inl press' oh'' WsmlifeJt. Lithudhii ' is now asking for complete independence. ' " ■'■" ' " '"'■ The Lithuanian folk-sung resemblei''tliie Italian fol^-song 'm that it expresses in poetry and music the simple life of' ttie'fltople. But here the likeness ends. The "Dainos" of Lithuama are 'syfri- bolical poems in which the moon, the sun, the planets and the stir's are given the quality of mortal beings, fe\^'aytd by tHortal" )f)ci's'sVin$. The whole mythological scheme of the universe is "Scli"forth in this folk-lore of Lithuania. Melodically the songs arc most interesting and reflect the isolated character of the peo^ple in their color. The old "burtinikas". (poets), were tOO,d^f6dent|to,|Spe?^< about men and women, and they used only symbolic terms. "J^JiiiSjj.liJ^e mo(m is the male, the sun his bride, and the stars arc their (d^iugliXt,ej'S, and so on. tn the same language the, planets ^re^j|he,,Pj9_rig|jaij]d,,tJ)ie earth is the mother of them all. , i ,.. ,, •/Uni;.' -il; This poetry pervades the national iii.e,: ^(jiipgs , aiTfJ-i p^OiVprl^ entering into the business life of the Lithuanian' and, jint;«?iithfi;si!iT;>ple betrothal of the young people. The Lithuanian guitar or "kaiikles" is generally carved or painted with the "stijmma" of the; house and provides accompaniment for the folk-^pngs.,,7"he.prdin3ry. notation of music is well understood by most of the modern Lithuanians, but a good deal of language and music is taught orally by the people. In the manner of the old Greek rhapsodies the poet .recites or sings a verse which the audience immediately repeats after him. NEW TRADE MARKET FOR AMERICANS IS OPEN IN LITHUANIA. Huge Quantities of Agricultural Implements, Steel, Coal and Machinery Are Needed; Cash Is Ready. Tribune, New York City, June 9, 1919. A new trade market, ready for business,, ,amj,.?^ble [to pay, awaits the exporters of the United States. ..!, :,„ .. ,,i > ,jr.)^. Lithuania, that little Baltic republic of 7,000,000 inhabitants whose blockade has just been lifted by the American War Trade Board, looks to this country for immediate shipments of raw mate- vials, machinery, seed — dozens of products with which her people may begin the work of rebuilding their country, ravaged by four 41 years of war, and preceding that, a century of Russian exploitation. An agricultural country, Lithuania needs farm implements and machinery. About 33,000 square miles of rich arable land now awaits American agricultural machinery to replace the old-fashioned peasant devices with which Lithuania has had to content herself for so long. Lithuania tried American machinery before the war just enough to know that she liked it and could afford to use it. She now wants to carry that experiment farther and develop her land according to American methods and with American machinery. For her fresh start in farming Lithuania also needs seed wheat and tares. Coal, Iron and Steel Needed. For manufacture, in which the Lithuanians expect to engage immediately, they ask America to send coal, iron, steel, cotton, machinery, chemicals, grain elevators, refrigeration plants, railway materials and supplies. There is plenty of labor in Lithuania, and the country is rich in clay, chalk, quartz, etc., for ceramic manu- facture ; raises abundant crops of flax and wool and is expert in live stock production. Machinery to manufacture pottery, woolen goods, including finished garments, and leather, are therefore in demand for immediate use. Cotton, both raw and manufactured, is wanted in exchange of flax and wool. Transportation facilities in Lithuania are extremely inadequate for the country's needs. What progress the little state had made in that direction before the war was completely stopped when hostilities broke out, and during the four years railway lines were demolished, vehicle roads were ruined, cars and their supplies were destroyed. Railroads Lack Equipment. New materials, cars, rolling stock must be imported to rebuild the railways and highways of the country. Coal and iron are not to be found at all in Lithuania, and America will find a market there for these materials. Steel rails, simple iron parts for wagons, coal in large quantities, all will play a large part in rebuilding Lithuania's transportation system. Lithuania not only needs all these imports and asks the United States to send them, but she has her purse open, ready to pay the bills. For although old Russia made every attempt to crush Lithu- ania's economic and financial organization, the little ccountry went busily on, and created 184 cooperative business organizations, all separate, lively entities, and having a combined capital of 9.000,000 roubles. These organizations are the backbone of Lithuanian busi- 42 ncss to-day, and insuro a rnllu-r stable reconstruction plan for Lithuania. . American exports can be sent to Lithuania by way of the ports of Memel, Konigsberg and Libau, on the Baltic Sea, which are > asiiy accessible. — Cleveland Plain Dealer. LITHUANIANS ACCUSE POLES. Petition Washington to Stop Alleged Outrages Upon Nationals. Times, New York City, June 8, 1919. WASHINGTON, June 7.— The Lithuanian National Council presented a petition to the State Department today protesting against alleged barbarities on the part of Poland and asking the United States to give Lithuanians protection. "Lithuania," says the petition, "is being invaded with im- perialistic designs by the troops of her neighbor Poland. The in- vasion is characterized by most inhuman outrages. Executions, pillaging, destruction of property, and even massacres of populace en masse are perpetrated. "In one city, Vilna, about two thousand persons were put to death ; ten thousand others were made homeless or deported ; scores of prominent people, including wives of two members of the Cabinet, were carried away and are held as hostages; public buildings and residences of prominent Lithuanians were destroyed or sacked. "Jewish population of Lithuania has been wantonly massacred and in many instances put to such inhuman tortures and indignities in order to drive them from place to place, until for lack of the barest life necessities they fell easy victims to death. "The Polish Government is now massing its troops on the northern frontiers for a greater and stronger operation against Lithuania. To meet this new danger, Lithuanians are forced to withdraw their troops from the sorely pressed front against the Boisheviki. There is, therefore, a great danger of the entire Lithu- anian line collapsing against the Boisheviki." The petition goes on to urge, on behalf of the Executive Com- mittee of the Lithuanian National Council in America, that the Unitcil States Government direct Poland to stop her invasion of Lithuania. It also recommends the recognition of the present Government of Lithuania as tending to "eliminate most of the present diflRculties of the Polish aggressions." 43 AWFUL CRUELTIES INFLICTED BY POLES ON JEWS IN VILNA. 1,500 Killed, 2,000 to 5,000 Deported, Is Charge Made to Lithuanian Commission in Paris. Brooklyn Eagle, June 9, 1919. Paris, Friday, June . 6^^£vidence of , cruelties, practiced upon the Jews in Vilna by Polisn troops as seen by witnesses has been collected by-'Dr..RachniilevitZ and .Sent to the Premier of, Lithuania and transmitted by him to the Lithuanian Commission to the Peace Conference. ii:iii, 'J The' document says that the same day the Poles 'occupied the V41nab railway station; they began pillaging the houses of Jews under tHe'l!iine^ext' that they were searching for arms and Bolsheviki. ■ Street fighting broke out, the document says, on the afternoon ofiiApril 22,' after the city had been entirely cleared of Bolsheviki. A-fconsiderable number of Jews were killed or thrown into prison. Pedestriaivs^'in theMStreets were robbed, of their clothing, particularly shoes. Prominent residents of the town were arrested land tortured and held for ransom. Some were killed. i^ ■ i' , i : f.tuo'Ji ' i;-j)io<: 1,500 Killed in Vilna Alone. ■^"^""Ij^^pSfe'speak of 1,500 persons having been killed in Vilna al'(iPig,^fiii'(j"i't' is estimated that from 2,000 to 5,000 were deported from VlIi?i^to'Li(S'£''!R'arisoifis'6'f 1,500'to' 15,000 rubles were demanded of Jews"who Were thought to have inoney. Those deported were subjected to the most cruel treatment, according to the report, being clubbed With rifle butts and entirely deprived of food during their journey. .liUvA': iJ r^.uo Hot rj'.U ^■v\Ur.i■:l:^,■> '•-• 'Othei- reports iW'the'^doeument say 'that the' J'ewisK population wte^'fe^tjijeiited'to' indescribable cruelty. The Polish authorities pro- hibited' anyone' from selling bread-to the Jews. It was also impossible for' thern,' it is said, to bring in food from neighboring localities because the Poles forbit the Jews to cross the bridges leading out of the city. " ' Betv(?een April 19 and May 4, the document says'thje Jews in Viln4l"sufifered damage estimated at 6,000,000 rubles." ' ' '''''"'^TVebddies'bf'fiYfy-f6'ai-lJieVvs'W!ei:'6 found in the streets between April' 19 and April 22. The majority of those killed, it is asserted, wfere biiried on the spot where they fell so it is impossible to arrive at the exact number of victims. 44 WAR OPENS OPPORTUNITY FOR LITHUANIA. Spokane (Wash.) Review, June 9, 1919. The war has given Lithuania' her chance to return to her national entity. In 1917 she declared her independence of Germany and Russia, and has since been governed by a provisional republican form of government, which has its representative at the peace con- ference seeking recognition of it. The Lithuanians claim self-determination and independence on the basis of ethnic unity, which is indisputable. They are a people 6,000,000 strong, neither Slav nor Teuton, but a distinct stem of the Indo-European family with a language which maintains its original form, akin to ancient Sanskrit. Once Lithuania was all of White liussia and Ukrainia, but having been partitioned by Prussia and tiussia in the eighteenth century its history ever since has been that .if an oppressed people. In the war Lithuania was a battle field for Russians and uermans, and was, of course, overrun and partly devastated. Its affairs were administered by a committee established in Berne, which committee was able to return to Vilna only after the Brest-Litovsk treaty, and onl}- then to protest against the terms whereby Germany had gained a free hand in dealing with their affairs. That meant opposition to the bolsheviki, active opposition which has gone on to the present time, the bolsheviki having seized about one-third of their territory, all rich agricultural country, with great natural re- sources. ^^'hen leather was scarce in the war the farmer came at once back to his old way of making sandals of wooden soles with little straps of leather over the soles. They made them only at home, but Lithuanian refugees all over Russia began at once to make them for themselves as well as for the Russian soldiery and people. Petroleum was not be had, nor were candles. They returned to the use of sheep's lard. But lard, too, came under the German requisition of fats, so down from the attic came the quaint old taper holders, and they made again the tall pine wood tapers as they had been taught by their grandparents. During the German occupation the grain supply was confis- cated, and even the windmills were taken over. Then it was that tha Lithuanian brought back his grinding millstones and began to make flour by hand, thus providing all the food he needed. Farm implements the village smithies could replace with hand- made ones. Small tools, such as rakes and threshing device, they had long known how to make from wood, and the farmers were supplied with excellent tools of real craftmanship. 46 As recently as SO years ago the Lithuanian farmer was able to make everything he needed in the way of cloth, linen, leather, cloth and skin shoes, and on his land he grew what was necessary for the nourishment of his body when well and the cure of it when ill. All this developed from the ancient arts and crafts which have been shown by recent excavations in Lithuania to have reached a high degree of accomplishment by the race as far back as 700 to 1000 years B. C. The farmers in this splendid isolation had even devised a kind of soap for personal use, and medicinal baths with herbs and roots thrown in were much in vogue. Medicine was all home-made, and that witches' brew that has been vindicated since scientists have discovered that the new force, Vitaline, exists largely in snakes, eels and some of the cabbage forms of plants, was a favorite potion with the Lithuanian. One of the most charming of their old customs was the use of the resinous pine taper, which served curiously not only for light, but for a time-piece. The rule-of-thumb measure by which these tall tapers were cut provided the Lithuanian maiden with a fairly accurate measure of time. They would generally burn 15 minutes apiece, with so little variation that, taken as an average, four long tapers would have expired and the little spinner or weaver would know that she had worked an hour and would leave her loom and reset four other pine tapers in a special frame to mark the passage of a further hour. For clothing the Lithuanian farmer still insists on linen and wool of the purest. White linen in summer is everybody's Sunday best, and in winter the hand woven wool is reenforced outdoors by sheepskin coats closely resembling the aviator's coats. Stockings are still of hand knitted wool. Naturally in a country where these simple and natural in- dustries prevailed for so manj' centuries song and legend grew up around the daily task. Songs of harvest time, of growing grain, spinning songs, festival and wedding songs have survived the self- consciousness of the modern folk music craze, and are still part of the pleasure of life to them. LITHUANIANS SUBMIT PROOF OF TREACHERY. News-Tribune, Duluth, Minn., June 8, 1919. NEW YORK, June 7.— The Lithuanian delegation in Paris has submitted to the peace conference proof of German treachery in surrendering Lithuanian territory to the Bolsheviki and the Poles, according to a statement of the Lithuanian national council, issued M here tonight in comment on Marshal Foch's recent demand upun German headquarters at Spa that the Teuton forces be withdrawn .from Lithuania. FINDS BEAUTY tn SONGS OF OLD BALTIC RACE. Sentimentality of Germans Mingles With Characteristic Melancholy of Russians in Ancient Airs of Lithuanian Folk, Declares Writer. By Charles Henry Meltzer. Musical America, June 7. 1919. If the folk-songs of a race are the expression of its heart and soul, then Litlnianians are the simplest of all peoples. The lilts and rhythms which distinguish most of their dainos, astonish one by their naivete. And this despite the fact that the Borussian wing of the old Lithuanian tribes were somewhat affected by their contact with the more sophisticated Germans; while those who were nearer the Poles and Russians were unmistakably much influenced by Slavonic thought. In many of the dainos the opposed qualities of the Slavs and Germans mingle. The sentimentality of the more Western race is tinged with the melancholy so characteristic of the Russians. Rut, in a majority of the Lithuanian folk-songs which have been hantVoops to prevent encroachment of Polish impefialista^. " ' ' Complain of Hostile Policy. . I.v:;jlr /rj btii; ,-v;i ;■ "There i^ aj.,,c;learly hostile policy," continues the dispatch, "charapteri^ed, by. t^^' jntroductiqn of machinery exclusively Polish, and accompanied by acts of pillage, persecutions and even exterm- ination in mass of Lithuanian citizens. On account of this hostile action of the Poles, Lithuania-n-^ troops are obliged to direct their entire effort toward the southern front to defend their country against attack by Polish ariiiieS^; -whose irruption tended to enlarge the field (if invasion. .MOI28aaO.L '>y\ '>"H ■■''n-^h''ifiqf>i . LITHUANIAN INDEPENDENCE. Cleveland, 0., Plain Dealer, June Ji, 1919. .j<.j'I^„i;i,eitl^?i^P,tlip,G^qr^a?i i^or-jtl^GftAiistrian treaty is there any suggestion pi Lithuanian independence,, , ..The Lithuanian people in the, .LT.nited, States, .feel ,, that; a, gj:eat jnj;iS(t|cje is being perpetrated. They,^ljegp,,tbat^)the doctrisipiof ,s,elf-4fitej-miriation is ignored in this inS]tanpe, and, that, t^l,e Litljuanjai^s, .a pj^ople manifestlj- distinct from 6S any of their neighbors, are being parceled out after the ma!rinfer of' the old-time peace congresses. - The Lithuanians demand a plebiscite to decide the future of the Lithuanian lands. There is justfCeiii this demand. If, as is claimed, the Lithuanian masses possess a vigorous national con- sci.iusness and are keenly desirous of independent national existence there is no vklld'i'eason for ignoring them. The question can readily be settled Tjy' a plebi'sciteimder international control. THE POLITICAL iPARTIES OF LITHUANIA. By C. J. Gedwil'I,!Ct'S,^¥. Kankakee, III., Jtepubncan, June 4, 1919. .. ,, In the course of the great international drama which culmi- nated in an Allied victory in November, many characters have been brought upon the world stage with those talents, traits, and ante- cedents most of the world is unfamiliar and with whose ideals and aspirations, stifled as they had been by centuries of despotism, the world was practically ignorant. Isolated as she had been by distance, by policy and by intense application to domestic affairs, America in particular had grown out of touch with, if not utterly confused by the mazes of European politics and the clash of national interests in the. Eastern Hemisphere did not interest her. But the ingenuity of autonomy forced out the pillars which formerly had supported its imperialism, whilst the battering guns of democracy were leveling thrones in the dust, the interest of humanity in those small nations on which autocracy has for so long battened was aroused in America, and with the clearing away of the smoke and wreckage of empire it becomes appropriate to present to the public the claims of one of the smaller nations — Lithuania of today. ;• ; There is very little difference of opinion among the Lithuanian people themselves concerning the form of government under which they are desirous to live. Lithuania at present is a republic of six million inhabitants, under a provisional government, maintaining its battle lines against Russian aggression of Bolshevists, and geograph- ically larger than Switzerland and Denmark combined. Area of square miles approximately 47,000, asks for its recognition as a free ii.ition on the basis of the declared war aims of the Allies and of th^ United States. Lithuania represents a distinct ethnic group which, despite its subjugation by Germans and Russians, has never re- nounced' its claims to independence. Its inhabitants are a stem of the Indo-European people, neither Slavs nor Teutons; industrious, S8 liberty-loving and democratic, with a literature and language of their own resembling the ancient Sanskrit. No one treasures American Freedom more highly than the Lithuanians. Four parties were born with the cultural and national awakening of the country. Their political tenets, passing from radical left to the conservative right, are as follows : The Social Democrats appeared before the restoration of Lithuanian print and press in 1904 and the rank and file of this party are composed chiefly of city workingmen. Its membership is naturally small on account of the meagre industrial development of the country. It has never succeeded in electing any of its candidates to the Duma. The People's Socialist Party bears a close resemblance to the Social Revolutionists' Party of Russia led by Kerensky and, probably to the Populist Party of the United States. One of its fundamental principles stands for the ownership of lands, but demands the distri- bution of government lands and large estates among those who have little or no property. The majority of its candidates were elected to the Duma. The Democratic Party is composed mostly of the intellectual elements. The war has caused them to split into two factions. The right wing is known as the "Progressivists" (with the weekly "Voice of the Lithuanians" as its organ), while the left is called "Concordists for the Democratic Freedom of Lithuania." The latter publish their organ entitled "Santara" or Concord. This division was particularly marked among the Lithuanian residents of Russia. These two parties may be said to form the central political group and are responsible for the most of the positive and constructive work which has been performed since the Lithuanian Awakening. The Christian Democrats are perhaps the strongest in point of organization and number. They control the masses of the people chiefly through the clergy who are close to them and who have great influence. Their democratic tenets have Christian ideals. The Lithu- anian religious hierarchy, which until recently, was controlled by the Poles, now has passed entirely into Lithuanian hands, excepting possibly in the diocese of Vilnius. In this locality, up to the begin- ning of the war, an intense struggle was waged against the agents of the Polish National Democrats and their instruments of Polish Imperialism. The work of this party had an important bearing on the reawakening of Lithuania. Following the Russian Revolution which took place, November 28, 1905, another party was born. It was known as the Lithuanian National Catholic Union and it is but little diflferent from the Christian Democrats. Its politics were also based on religion. We shall see later that all the parties of the Young Lithuanian move- M ment acknowldge the principles of democracy. Every one of them demands an independent Lithuania with a republican form of govern- ment based on equal, secret, universal and direct ballot. Only the .very extreme left among the People's Socialists and Social Democrats of the Bolshevist type favor such srelf-determination, which might possibly force Lithuania back into Russia on a federative basis. We find a similar alignment of these parties in America, pos- sibly with this diiiference : that instead of the Populists and Social Democrats there is a Socialist Party, and instead of two moderate parties such as in Russia, there is in America a middle party, the so-called National Democrats, with which the right wing of the Populists affiliates itself, and the third, the Christian Democratic Party, which sometimes goes under the name of the Catholic Party. Foreign-born Americans of Lithuanian extraction in the United States number over one million. They have left the land of their fathers, a land where they had been oppressed and constrained in every phase of the national and individual existence by a foreign despot — Russia and Germany ; they have found a welcome haven in America. Here they reap the benefits of freedom, education and culture freely and unhindered, for which favors they are profoundly grateful to our Government and to the people of the United States. Lithuania has already received promises of British recognition and support. She is now making her appeal to the people of the United States for support and recognition. ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION. Three Centuries of Lithuanian Robbery Show Practical Subjugation. Tribune. Providence, R. I., June 1, 1919. That economic domination and political exploitation go hand in hand, is shown eloquently by Lithuania, the oldest European republic. Russia and Germany, East and West, through three cen- turies of oppression, have robbed Lithuania of not only its lands, but also of its right to labor. Russian generals took possession of the land, and rented it to tenants who exploited the peasants and allowed the property to deteriorate. Banks bought Lithuanian land, and colonized it with Russian peasants. Lithuanian peasants were not allowed to buy land, and were forced to emigrate. Russia subsidized imports into Lithuania, and taxed exhorbi- tantly agricultural exports from Lithuania. Germany placed a high protective tariff on all Lithuanian farm products, and Russia placed a prohibitive tax on German machinery 66 imported into Lithuania. Lithuania therefore had tie hind. They could not export their products, and they could not import machinery to facilitate their farm labor. They were crushed, impoverished, and they fled in thousands to America. With a history of black misery to spur them, Lithuanians now are making every effort to have their newly won independence acknowledged at the peace table. LITHUANIANS CHARGE POLES WITH BRUTALITY. A'rg'uspAlhany, N. Y., June 1, 1919. New York, May 31. — The Lithuanian National Council has just received the following cable from its Paris representative: "Advices received from Paris state that the Bolsheviki assem- bled a large force against Vilna and bombarded the railway station and city. The Polish troops brutally treat Non-Polish population of Vilna, especially the Lithuanian intellectuals. They pillage money and jewelry in streets. Persons without Polish passports are held up, especially Lithuanians, their pockets are emptied and money stolen. The newspaper Nepriklausoninji Lietuva, published in Vilna, names prominent persons on whom levies were made, also. Lithu- anian Policlinic. At Grodno the Poles mistreated a Lithuanian officer, leaving him half dead. "In districts occupied by Poles the population was forced to speak Polish. Lithuanian authorities at Kovno, according to wishes of Allies, proposed to Poles joint action against Bolsheviki. Poland refused. Polish forces occupying Vilna perpetrate massacre of Jewish population. 1,200 dead and wounded up to May 5th reported by the Jewish committee constituted to inquire into casualties. Material damage done by Poles figured at 60 million francs. "Polish authorities make leading Jews sign declaration that Jewish population was not disturbed after occupation of Vilna by Poles. Many prominent Jews refused signature. ■ "Poles decided annex not only occupied Lithuanian territory but all Lithuania. Lithuanian government decides to resist with all its force. Bolsheviki menace serious." "FETE OF POVERTY." Statu. Salem, Ore., June 25, 1919. Writing from Vienna, an American newspaper correspondent narrates the epic of the hundred days of the Bolshevik occupation of the ancient Lithuanian city of Vilna. At the beginning of the 66 war this city had a population of 200,000 and its cathedrals and museums were the repositories of the choicest religious relics and art treasures in Western Russia. By the' 'end of the Bolshevik dominion the population had dwindled to less than 50,000, the cathedrals had been desecrated and the relics carried away ; even the windows and doors of the museums had been stolen and every movable thing of value had disappeared. The correspondent brought with him from Vilna attested photographs of horfbrs too gruesome for publication. The fiendish ingenuity of the American Indians for torture appears humane com- pared to the Bolshevik outrages. If a group of the intellectual Bolshe- vists in this country could have passed that period of 100 days in Vilna it is possible that their social ideas might have undergone a salutary metamorphosis. One of the first acts of the Bolsheviki when they took posses- sion of the city was to declare a "Fete of Poverty." On a given day every member of the proletariat was authorized to sally forth and take what he desired from the person or household of another wealthier than himself. It was during this mad day of plunder that the churches were first rifled ; doors of private residences were smashed and the contents of the houses was fought over by the vicious elements of the population with all the fury of wolves. Many of the raiders returned to their homes to find that their property had been pillaged during their absence, for those who possessed little became the prey of those who possessed nothing. The Red Guard encouraged every movement toward violence. Fires raged throughout the night and those who had fled from their homes were caught in a blinding snowstorm. The day after the fete dawned on hundreds of frozen corpses and a scene of desolation with few parallels in history. This "Fete of Poverty" is but one of the beneficient institu- tions of soviet government in Russia. LITHUANIA. Christian Science Monthly, Boston, Mass., June 26, 1919. The geography of Europe will have to be unlearned and re- learned now that the articles of peace are to be signed. How many people have known what Lithuania is, where it is, who the Lithu- anians are, and what their history has been? Not many, and yet Lithuania has had a dramatic, if a rather unchronicled, record. Lithuania is the northermost barrier between Russia and Germany, a strategic position, which, if she is independent, shuts 57 the gate between East Prussia and Russia, and if she is overwhehned, opens the gate. Lithuania is north of Poland, with a seacoast line of 100 miles on the Baltic Sea. Lithuania's people are neither Teutonic nor Slavic, but a separate branch of the Indo-European race, with a language closely resembling the ancient Sanscrit. In appearance, Lithuanians are large and povve.ful, with fair hair and blue eyes. They are an in- dustrious, tenacious people, with a high appreciation of culture, a rare capacity for work, both manual and mental. LITHUANIA UNDER THE HUN. By A. Voldemar, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Head of the Lithuanian Delegation to the Peace Conference. New York Times, June 29, 1919. Almost from the beginning of the world war America was filled with stories of German misbehavior in conquered regions. It heard with credulity, changing to horror, the story of Belgium. By degrees it learned of the hideous slavery of little Luxemburg, a country to which Germany pointed proudly as the happy thing Belgium would have been had not King Albert's Government tried to block the passage of German troops. Of what was going on to the east of the Central Empires less was known — thick night lighted momentarily by sinister flashes. The story of Lithuania during those dreadful years is only finding publicity now, although Lithuania occupied from the military point of view a most exposed position as the territory of the then Russian Empire lying in im- mediate contact with East Prussia on the Baltic coast. Germany did not here begin with a campaign of "frightfulness" as she had in Belgium. When her troops had overrun Lithuania she chose to adopt other tactics. First she tried conciliation, as she did wherever she hoped that a disaffected people under the Russian, yoke might be wheedled into alliance with the Central Powers and opposition to Russia and the Entente Allies. Germany began by planning a representative body ostensibly elected by the people of f ithuania, but so constituted that it should act under German influ- ence and provide a soothing medium through which the German Government could win to itself any unfriendly elements in the newly ronijuered region. The German belief was that selected Lithuanians would fall easy victim; to wily German statecraft and somehow or another un- 58 consciously establish themselves as a screen for the nefarious work which the Germans were mapping out. Needle"ss to say, the twenty men chosen, representing all parties and classes, were political leaders in the provinces, and other men in popular esteem who had dared to .stay on after the German occupation. They were not summoned by the committee to create any instrument useful to the German author- ities, but to take into their own hands the destinies of the country and to find independent representatives for the country. Their meetings were held from the 1st to the 4th of August, 1917. After reviewing the entire situation, the twenty decided to demand from the Government of occupation the right to hold an election throughout Lithuania for the purpose of choosing other representatives to the Conference of Lithuania — representatives who alone could act in accordance with the will of the people and organize a' provisional Government on their own responsibility. The Germans withheld" their consent, but agreed that villages and cities should select men for the Conference of Vilna. Under this plan 264 repre- sentatives to the conference were elected from 33 counties. The conference was held from the 18th to the 23rd of Sep- tember, 1917, and there was present not one representative who had not the full confidence of the Lithuanian people. The representatives proceeded to hold, on their return to their constituencies, a kind of plebiscite. Each representative visited allotted villages, parishes, and cities, arranged informal meetings, and so made public the action of the conference. At these meetings the resolutions of the confer- ence were approved. This victory for the Lithuanians in their program of national consolidation aroused the fear of the Germans, who saw their plan of conciliation and absorption placed in jeopardy. The Lithuanian Council was at once isolated by the enemy authorities in the capital city of Vilna. Its members were forced to remain in that city, and every attempt at communication between the council and the people at large was blocked. The only weapons of defense left to that body were protests and memorandums. But the revolution in Germany following the definite defeat of the German armies brought about an amelioration of the situation in Lithuania. The council proceeded to create a national cabinet, which immediately set to work with a twofold purpose — first, to organize the country and further consolidate it; secondly, to take forcible measures against the Germans. The entire country approved these steps. At the same time the council invited the Jews and the White Russians to participate in its labors. This invitation was accepted. 59 Three Jewish delegates were elected by the representatives of the national religious and economic committees of the Lithuanian towns, committees chosen by universal suffrage. The White Russians sent six representatives elected at the White Russian Conference at Vilna, ■composed from every part of Lithuania. In this manner the council consolidated all parties in the country, with the exception of a few of the large landed proprietors of Polish origin and connections, whose sympathies inclined them toward Poland. Just when all was at last going so favorably for Lithuania a terrible menace loomed to the eastward — Russian Bolshevism. It was to meet this menace and to prepare for war against it that a preliminary assembly was called together in January, 1919, to hear the reports of the activities of the Lithuanian Council and to outline a program for carrying on its work. Since by that time the Bolsheviki had already occupied a part of Lithuainia, the Government was removed to Kovno. From all the unoccupied parts of Lithuania representatives elected at a general election held in all parishes, villages, towns and cities came to Kovno. About 200 representatives participated in the sessions held from January 17 to 23, 1919. This assembly heard the reports from the council and the Cabinet, approved the same, expressed confidence in both bodies, and re-elected all the members. Here rests the story of the German plot against Lithuania and the courageous and successful resistance of the Lithuanian people until the Peace Conference adds the next chapter by recognizing the integrity of Lithuania and constituting it an independent State. ANCIENT REPUBLIC MOTHERS' NEW IDEA. Commercial Tribune. Cincinnati, 0., June 29, 1919. Lithuania, the living sister of the Greeks, has in her veins the same blood that gave to the world the works of the greatest Grecian sculptors. Her works have been buried in obscurity just as Greek sculpture was buried in the earth. Greek art was uncovered. Lithu- anian sculpture has been discovered. This sister race of the Hellenes, whose democracy is older than the Greeks, preserved not only her ancient flair for the plastic art. It has kept alive through centuries of oppressiim the same in- eradicable aspiration for political freedom. And it is this national hope and love of the soil of their mothei- land that has made modern Lithuanian sculpture what it is. The French have called Lithuanian sculpture the threshold of art. Their own artists are going to Lithuania for inspiration. For 60 while other nations and schools may have technique and methods and ideas, the French have been quick to recognize the supreme idea of all. And that idea is a subject 'so powerful that it leads to expression in art. Art too often seeks an idea to express. Rimsa, perhaps the greatest of Lithuanian sculptors, gave \o the world "The Lithuanian School," a group which symbolizes the .grand subject and cause of Lithuanian art. The old woman sitting by her spinninf wheel, and teaching a child to spin, is a national symbol. It is the symbol and portrait of a secretly preserved nationalism. For the suppressed language of the Lithuanians was preserved only in secret after the fashion of the old woman at the spinning wheel. LITHUANIA LOOKS TO U. S. FOR BULK OF IMPORTS. Ready To Pay For Goods Badly Needed — Wants Machinery, Chem- icals and Factory Equipment For Projected Clay and Other In- dustries — Must Rebuild Railways and Highv/ays Destroyed by the War. New York Commercial, New York City, June 30, 1919. The attention of American exporters has just been turned to a new held by the action of the War Trade Board in lifting the em- bargo on exportation to Lithuania, that small state on the Baltic Sea whose claim for independence is being presented to the world, says the Bureau of Information of the Lithuanian National Council in New York. "The embargo has been lifted to a practical end, for Lithuania HOC only needs the products of the United States," says the state- ment, "but she is also ready to pay for them. "Already her co-operative societies, of which she has 184, are preparing to meet the bills of extensive importation and her trade societies and credit associations are busy perfecting plans for a lively interchange with the United States, both on a cash and on a trade basis. "Lithuania looks to America for the bulk of her needed com- modities, not only because America has the things she wants and can sell them to her at a price she can pay, but also because there is a sympathy of ideas between the two countries that makes the little Baltic republic look toward the United States with confident eyes. This confidence begins in the Lithuanians' hope that America will help them to their political independence and extends to a faith in America's business world, which the Lithuanians expect will fur- 61 nish them imniodiatcly with the raw materials, machinery, seed, etc., they need so urgently to rebuild their war racked country. For the manufacture of her clay, quartz and chalk into pottery, Lithuania needs the proper machinery and chemicals. She has no potteries now to speak of, but is extremely anxious to build them. "To manufacture clothing, piece goods, beddings, etc., from her abundance of flax and wool, Lithuania asks American producers to send her machineiy and factory equipment. She grows more flax and wool than she needs, and oft'ers them in exchange for cotton, of which she has none. "To transport all these things to her own people and to develop the country in general, Lithuania must rebuild her railroads and liighways, practically all of which were destroyed during the war. American steel rails, rolling stock, cars, parts and supplies are needed. FAMINE KILLS MANY ON FARMS IN LITHUANIA. By ISAAC DON LEVINE. (Special Correspondence of The Bufifalo Commercial and Chicago Daily News.) Buffalo, N. Y., Commercial, June 20, 1919. STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 2. — Lithuania is facing famine in its most horrible form. The death percentage is enormous. Food conditions in A'ilna, the capital of the country, are catastrophic. Unemployment is widespread. These statements were made by Dimanstein, the peoples' commissioner of labor of the Lithuanian republic. At the same time the Poles are continuing their advance into Lithuania and White Russia, in spite of the appeals of the government of these two lands for a peaceful solution of all boundary questions. POLISH-LITHUANIAN RELATIONS. Ncivs. Rome. Idaho. June 18, 1910. Polish- Lithuanion relations have reached the point where military retaliation on the part of Lithuania is expected daily. The Polish Diet professed a desire to renew fraternal relations with Lithuania, declaring that country would have autonomy under Polish control. Protest has been filed with the Peace Conference against the Polish invasion of Lithuania, declaring that friendship is impossible 62 until the Polish army leaves the governments of Vilna and Grodno. The allies have been requested to sharpen restrictions on General Mailer's troops and to prevent encroachments by the Polish im- perialists against Lithuanian freedom. - Cecil Harmsworth, under-secretary of state for foreign aiifairs, was questioned in the British parliament as to the allied policy with regard to Lithuania. He answered in the negative the question : "Did the allies sanction Polish occupation of the Lithuanian capital of Vilna?" The Lithuanians claim that the invasion of their territory by the Poles has diverted the attention of their army from the Bolshe- vist, so that the menace of the latter has become more serious than ever. Clearly the situation is one the allies must meet quickly if it is to be relieved. The Bolsheviki offer the greatest menace to the allies and their cause. If they can settle the differences between the Lithuanians and the Poles and devote their entire attention to the Bolshe\'iki, there will be general approval. LITHUANIAN PREMIER SEEKS POLISH TREATY. Evening Journal, New York City, June -^8, 1910. Premier Slezevicius of Lithuania has directed the Lithuanian delegation at the Peace Conference to ask that the Entente Govern- ments induce Poland to make a treaty with Lithuania setting a boundary between their armies. A cable message to this effect has been received by the Lithu- anian National Council from its Paris representative. The Poles have continued their advance into Lithuania and occupied the districts of Kaiserderys and Alyta, where there are no Bolshevists, the Premier asserted. MOST OF LITHUANIA IS CLEARED OF BOLSHEVIKI. Gen. Zukauskas Now Driving on Reds Near Dvink and Czarasoy. Tribune, New York City. June 27, 1919. PARIS, June 25. — General Zukauskas, with a Lithuanian army of 25,000, has expelled the bolshevik forces from the greater part of Lithuania, and now is commencing an offensive against the Bolsheviki near Dvinsk and Czarasoy, according to a dispatch re- ceived from Captain Howell Forman of the American Baltic relief administration headquarters, dated Kovno, Lithuania, June 24. by Herbert Hoover, chairman of the inter-allied relief commission, today. 63 This movement is a continuation of the combined Lettish, Esthonian and Lithuanian movement which resulted in the expuL sion of the Bolsheviki from Riga in May. MILLION AMERICANS OF LITHUANIAN EXTRACTION SPEAK FOR INDEPENDENCE. Montgomery, Ala., Times, Juiu 2k, 1919. Five thousand Lithuanians, who represent one miUion Amer- ricans of Lithuanian extraction and six million Lithuanians in their Baltic home-land have crystallized the national aspirations of their oppressed nation in a set of resolutions which they presenter at a gathering in Carnegie Hall. These resolutions are addressed to the American public and governing body. 'We, Ameiican friends of the freedom of Lithuania, and Amer- ican citizens of Lithuanian descent, in meeting assembled at Carnegie Hall in New York City, hereby unanimously resolve: "First, that the republic now established in Lithuania has been set up in full agreement with the Allied principle of the self-determ- ination of small nations, and is a free and spontaneous expression of the will of the Lithuanian people with regard to territory whose ethnic, geographic and linguistic individuality has been established beyond all doubt and whose exclusive control, possession and ad- ministration is the sacred right of the Lithuanians. "Second, that the invasion of this country by foreign armies is a violation of the declared war aims of the Allied Governments which liberal opinion the world over condemns as indefensible inter- ference with the right of Lithuania to self-determination. "Third, that in order to enable Lithuanians to rebuild their country, to resist the attacks of Bolshevism, and to take their place as a prosperous, independent European State, and in accordance with the war aims of the Allied Governments, we hereby request the Government of the United States and the Governments of the Allied Nations to recognize the complete independence of the Lithuanian Republic." MOBILIZATION IN LITHUANIA. Rev. John T. Jakaitis Receives Telegram Sent To New York From Paris. Worcester, Mass., Gazette, June 2i, 1919. Rev. John J. Jakaitis, pastor of St. Casimir's church, today received the following, which is. a copy of a telegram just sent to 64 the Lithuanian National Council, New York, by its Paris representa- tives : "President Smetona has today called a mobilization of all men between the ages of 19 and 24, it is officially announced from Kovno, and has named General Zukauskas commander in chief of the Lithuanian army. The latter is one of the most remarkable men in Europe; a graduate of the War Academy at Petrograd he distinguished himself in the Russo-Japanese war. During the World War he began as a captain and was wounded four times while in active service on the German front. He has commanded a division of the Lithuanian army, has been held prisoner by the Bolsheviks, and was minister of war in the first Lithuanian Cabinet. With General Zukauskas at the head of its army, the Lithuanian govern- ment is confident of being able successfully to combat the Bolshevist invasion and the other dangers which threaten Lithuanian inde- pendence. "The Lithuanian-American committee for the revictualing of Lithuanian women and children was today founded at Kovno, and has already begun to function. The Americans are going through- out Lithuania and are being received everywhere with the greatest enthusiasm by the Lithuanian population, which sees America as its liberator from German and Bolshevist oppression, and its savior from famine. Several hundred children organized a great demonstration of gratitude before the quarters of the American delegation and expressed their attachment and love for their Amer- ican rescuers." The Lithuanian National Council has also forwarded copies of the telegrams received from Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Presi- dent Nicholas Murray Butler of Columbia University, President Jacob Gould Schurman of Cornell University and Senator Arthur Capper of Kansas, all favoring independence of Lithuania. ASKS FOR LITHUANIA FULL INDEPENDENCE. America's Representatives Called Upon for Protection Against Aspiring Neighbors. Attitude of Poles Feared. Speaker at Meeting Here Doubtful of Paderewski's Good Intentions. League of Nations Approved. Times, New YorJc City, June 23, 1919. Immediate recognition of the Lithuanian Republic and the cessation of the invasion of Lithuanian territoiy were the demands peace delegation by a meeting held yesterday afternoon at the Vanderbilt Theatre under the auspices of the Lithuanian National made upon the Government of the United States and the American Council. F. B. Mastauskas, President of the Council and counselor to the Lithuanian peace mission in Paris, sharply criticised the utterances of Premier Paderewski of Poland, and declared there was no intention on the part of the Premier to approve the inde- pendence of Lithuania, a country which was in a strategical position that was coveted by various nations, especially Poland. Mark Eisner, former Revenue Collector, who presided, said that peace could not be maintained if strong nations were permitted to overcome weaker ones, and that Lithuania was a small nation which should be permitted to exist independent of any other. He further said that the League of Nations must be supported if this principle were to remain valid after the signing of the Peace Treaty. The Rev. Dr. J. Zilius addressed his audience in Lithuanian, and between the speeches the parish choir of the Church of the Annunciation sang Lithuanian folk songs. At the close of the meeting the following resolutions were adopted unanimously by those present who were said to represent 300,000 members of Lithuanian societies in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. "Whereas, We, the American citizens of Lithuanian origin, having loyally supported the Government of the United States in the prosecution of war against autocracy and militarism, feel that the lasting settlement of the war depends upon the sound solution of the Baltic problem and the claim of the Lithuanian people ; there- fore be it "Resolved, That we hereby respectfully petition his Excel- lency, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, Depart- ment of State, United States Senate, the House of Representatives, and American peace delegation for immediate recognition of the independence of the Lithuanian Republic and its present Government as de facto Government of the independent Lithuanian Republic ; and also be it "Resolved, That we protest against invasion of the Lithuanian territory, especially the city of Vilna, the capital of Lithuania, by Poles, Bolsheviki or any other foreign aggressors ; and be it further "Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to President Wilson, to the Senators and Representatives of our States, to the American peace delegation, and to the Department of State." In opening his address Mr. Mastauskas emphasized the fact that most of those present were native Lithuanians who had come to America and had become Americans because they appreciated the privilege of living in a land of liberty such as they had not enjoyed 66 before the war. "Every Lithuanian," he continued, "would rather die tightitij^ than give up the independence that has now come. Poland would like to take us under its wings, but the Lithuanian delegates to • the Peace Conference said that they took the position that they would be willing to have representatives of the League control any part of their territory which might be the subject of dispute until such time as a plebiscite might be held. The Poles would not listen to that. We read today, however, that Paderewski says : "The Foles do not deny the right of the Lithuanians to independence." But we know that he says that merely for public consumption at a time when it is too late. He follows it uj) by declaring that autonomy should be established by the immediate holding of a plebiscite, when he knows that if it were held immediately, while the territory is occupied by Polish and allied soldiers, the people would have to vote just as their masters dictated." Mr. Eisner impressed upon his audience his conviction that they were meeting as fellow Americans who wanted the same prin- ciples of liberty which they enjoyed applied to the people across the seas. "We want to help any people, anywhere," he declared, "that is trying to set up as an independent and free nation like our own." PROCLAIM THEIR LOYALTY TO U. S. Lithuanians of Boston Score Bolsheviki. Boston Herald, Junr ID, 1019. Resolutions voicing allegiance and loyalty to the United States and denouncing any form of government inconsistent with law and order were unanimously adopted at a meeting of Greater Boston Lithuanians in Faneuil Hall last night, following a vigorous attack upon bolshevism. The resolutions set forth that the Lithuanians were desirous of publicly proclaiming their confidence in the United States govern- ment and enlisting the aid of the nation in establishing a free and iiidependent government in Lithuania and in opposing any propa- ganda or aggression inconsistent therewith. The audience rose and cheered when F. J. Bagocius, a lieu- tenant in the United States army during the war, announced that a public hearing would be held at the State House Monday on a resolution favoring Lithuanian independence. Lieutenant Bagocius spoke both in English and in Lithuanian, and declared that the rule 67 of Lenine and Trotzky in Russia was merely the imposition of a new form of autocracy. Secretary of State Albert P. Langtry declared that every Bolshevist should be deported. He said that in the city of Boston thousands of bolshevists were regularly holding meetings and car- rying on their insidious propaganda, threatening the nation and its officials. He appealed to the Lithuanians to stand true to the institutions of America, their adopted home. Other speakers included Bernard J. Rothwell of the bureau of immigration, who told of the formation of an advisory board to help the foreign population on any questions relating to their in- terests ; George F. Flynn and John J. Roman, a former lieutenant in the army. Dr. Paul J Jakmauh of South Boston presided. LENINE HAS FAILED TO GAIN SUPPORT OF LITTLE PEOPLES. Finns, Poles and Others in the Russian Empire Oppose Reds* Rule. END THIS YEAR PREDICTED. Anarchy and Famine Make Nation-Wide Organization Impossible. By Herbert Adams Gibbons. Philadelphia, Pa., Press, June 16, 1919. PARIS, May 15.— In my letter of yesterday, I set forth two causes for expecting a collapse of the Bolshevist movement in the near future in Russia. Anarchy and famine can confidently be ex- pected to work against Lenine and his associates much more power- fully than any army we could put into Russia. But there are other signs of the times to encourage us in the belief that Bolshevism is rapidly falling in Russia, and that its threat of contaminating the rest of Europe need not be considered seriously. It is significant that Lenine, while proclaiming the intention and the certainty of founding an international State on Bolshevist principles, has not been able to win over to his cause a single non- Russian element of the old empire. Finns, Esthonians, Lettons, Lithuanians and Poles have successfully opposed Bolshevism and prevented its spread in their territories by arms. Races of the Caucasus — Georgians, Armenians and Tartars — and the Cossacks of Kuban have not become impregnated with Bolshevism. The Cossacks of Kuban have put up a gallant fight against the Bolshe- vists. 68 ARTISTRY IN THK SIMPLEST FABRICS. Lithuanian "Love Bonds" Are Beautifully Woven in Soft Tones. Springfield, Mass., Republican, June 15, 1919. "When a Lithuanian woman weaves an inharmonious color scheme, you must know that she has studied art and become arti- ficial." This is the common contemptuous critique of Lithuanian women to whom every color is an emotion, and every design a mood. Lithuania shows its spiritual aloofness and clear personality unmis- takably in its hand-woven scarfs and the meiles rysiai, or "love- bonds'' that encircle a Lithuanian gii^l's waist. Lithuanians never have been given over to garish colors, to brilliant and boisterous hues. Neither have they the Italian tempera- ment that goes with such colorings. They have not the Slav tempera- ment and they have resisted the Slav influence strongly and com- pletely in their textile art. Soft reds, violets, olive greens are most used in their color combinations. When they are in a happy mood, the colors sound a brighter note. When they are somber, and more oppressed than ordinarily, colors are grayed and move in slower design. It is the peasant women, quite untutored in art, who work the greatest miracles of beauty. Textiles which are made from thread spun and dyed by themselves, are woven with care and inspiration on their hand looms. Originality is prized highly, and conventional designs are never used save as a point of departure. Formerly only geometric designs were used, as intricate as the thought and in- spiration of the moment could make them. But of late, leaves, flowers, birds and the omnipresent "Christmas tree" have found their way into the textiles. Lithuanian girls are taught almost in babyhood to weave these articles. Their tiny fingers are taught to copy patterns their mothers made, to make the beautiful mosaic-like girdles, the linen tablecloths, the towels of satiny linen that last through years of use, and the exquisite tapestries that they never use but "keep in the families" for heirlooms. REDS IN FLIGHT BEFORE ONRUSH OF LITHUANIANS. Many Towns Are Captured in Successful Advance Along the Entire Front; Pursuit Sharply Pushed. FEASANTS RISE IN REVOLT. Tribune, New York City, June 13, 1919. COPENHAGEN, June 12. — A Lithuanian official communi- cation received here says: 69 "As a result of a vigorous attack by the Lithuanians all along the front numerous points have been captured from the Bolsheviki, including Subiathkai, Rokischkas, Kriaunds, Abelai and Kutninkai. The Bolsheviki were dispersed and energetically pursued. They are novir evacuating Dvinsk and retreating on Smolensk." LITHUANIA ACCUSES POLES OF BRUTALITY. Asks Peace Conference to Start Inquiry. Sun, New York City, June 12, 1919. PARIS, June 5. — In a memorandum addressed to the Peace Conference the Lithuanian delegation has requested the Supreme Council to appoint an interallied commission of inquiry to investigate alleged pogroms by Poles in parts of Lithuania occupied by Polish forces and other illegal acts alleged to have been committed by the Polish army of occupation. If the charges are verified the Supreme Council is requested to order the Polish troops withdrawn from the occupied parts of IJthuania. If the withdrawal were ordered, it was set forth, the Lithuanian government would undertake to defend Lithuania against the Bolsheviki if war supplies were furnished to the Lithuanians. "According to official information," the memorandum states, "Polish armies in occupied parts of Lithuania have created conditions extremely hard and humiliating for the population. They have in- dulged in pillaging, seized securities and valuables, robbed museums, organized wholesale requisitions, arrested employees of the Lithu- anian Government, imposed the use of the Polish language, and finally, have committed wholesale pogroms against the Jewish population, whose dead and injured already count up an imposing number." The memorandum declares that the Polish Government and its troops, in their "invasion" of Lithuanian territory, were and are far more interested in paving the way for the incorporation of purely Lithuanian territory with Poland than in fighting the Bolsheviki. It says the presence of the army is merely an encouragement to Bolshevism, since the Polish policy is directed to the protection of the rich Polish landholders against the poor masses. FREE LITHUANIA. Grand Rapids, Mich.. News, June 10, 1919. Seldom in all the history of Europe has racial self-assertion been so strong as it is at the present. It has taken the world war, 70 with its consequent promise of freedom to all people, to bring out to the full those racial traits that have persisted throughout the centuries despite oppression and in the face of attempts often to annihilate whole peoples. In the olden days, in the United States, we used to regard Poland and Lithuania almost as one. There was then not apparently the sharp division between the two races that there is now, for both were being oppressed by a stronger nation and both were drawn together in a measure against the common enemy. But now the hopeless division is asserting itself. All the world is realizing the difference between Pole and Lithuanian, and everyone knows there never can be a union of those two peoples, so different in charac- teristics, in history, in ideals. What pains America is that the two races, dwelling side by side, and each after centuries appearing about to achieve its ambition to be free and independent, cannot get along together, being mutually helpful instead of antagonistic, both striving for the common end, which is liberty, the breaking of the shackles that so long have held them bound to a foreign race. One would have to delve deeply into history to be able to understand the situation along the Baltic. y\n attempt to state the case here can only be made. But in that region dwell the Lithu- anians, the Letts, the Eshonians and, further south, the Ukranians. All four have been fighting the bolsheviki, but each claims that Poland, at opportune moments, has attacked them. The Poles have conquered Lida, Pintsch and the Lithuanian capital. Vilna. They have invaded all of so-called White Russia, taking an area of some 73,000 square miles, with a population of some 8,600,000. Lithuania is a country with a population of 9,600,000, although that includes many not of Lithuanian blood, and an area of 78,500 square miles, according to the greatest claims of her sympathizers. On Jan. 25, 1918, the White Russians, together with the Lithuanians, decided to form a single nation, which would stretch practically from the Baltic to the Black sea. Lithuania has made other attempts to become independent. At the time of the upheaval in Russia, during the Russo-Japanese war in 1905, Lithuanians, irrespective of political affiliations, hclil a convention in their capital, Vilna, over 2,000 delegates participat- ing. They unanimously asserted their right of self-government, expressing a strong desire to form one political body with their half-brothers, the Letts. Again in October, 1917, a convention was held in Vilna, with 9.50 delegates from all parts of Lithuania. In January, 1918, repre- sentative Lithuanians assembled in the same city and proclaimed 71 independent Lithuania. Anothen convention of Lithuanian com- munities in the United States, England and Argentina, held in the same month in Stockholm, Sweden, approved the act. On March 13 and 14, 1918, American Lithuanians held a convention in New York City, giving their unanimous approval to the proclaiming of inde- pendent Lithuania. On April 4, 1919, Lithuania was proclaimed a republic and A. Smetona elected president. Unanimous resolutions were passed protesting against any- Polish aspirations or claims to Lithuania and demanding that the Lithuanian part of East Prussia, with the old Lithuanian City of Karaliauchus (Koenigsburg) should be taken away from Germany and included in the Lithuanian republic. Today the Lithuanians, Letts and Esthonians are protesting against the Poles, who are in- vading their territory. Historically, Lithuania is one of the most interesting countries in Europe. The Lithuanian people are fair, light-haired, blue-eyed, tall and strong. They are in no way related to the Teuton or the Slav. About 2000 B. C. their ancestors crossed from Asia to Europe and settled along the Black sea near the mouth of the Danube. Gradually they were pushed by other races until they came to the Baltic, and there finally settled. They lived in clans until the thirteenth century, when on .".ccount of national danger they banded themselves together. They chose Ringaudas for the first grand duke of Lithuania and soon they had collected an army. They defeated the (jcrmans and stopped the advance of the Mongolians. The White Russians are mostly of Lithuanian stock, although greatly Rus- sianized through the centuries. To show the desperate attempts of Russia to destroy the racial consciousness of this people, it is recorded that they were forbidden by Russian ukase in 1864 to use the Lithuanian language, and the possession of any books, even books of prayer, printed in their tongue, was considered a political crime. All Lithuanian schools, of course, were closed. As a result of this ukase the people were unable to publish any books of their own, so they imported them from Germany, where newspapers printed in their language also were issued. Li 1904 the Russian ukase was revoked and the use of Latin type re-established. Today it is claimed that 92 per cent of young Lithuanians can read and write. Lithuania is largely agricultural. There are only a few fac- tories in the country. But the country is capable of wonderful development. The Russians would not foster anything. For in- stance, there are salt springs of highly medicinal value at Grodno, or Gardinas, but the corrupt politicians at Fetrograd would never allow anything to be done with those springs. 72 There is something highly sentimental in the appeal of the Lithuanians for self-preservation and self-assertion. They are the direct descndants of the early Aryans, and so far as we know, the purest of those descendants. Their language today bears striking resemblances to the Sanscrit. W'riting of the Lithuanian language in his "Modern Philology," Benjamin W. Dwight says: "This is a language of great value to the philologist. It is the most antique in its form of all living languages, and most akin in its substance and spirit to the primeval Sanscrit. It is also at the same time so much like the Latin and the Greek as to occupy to the ear of the etymologist, in the midtitude of words not otherwise understood, the place of an interpreter." The Lithuanians lia\ e earned the right to independence in the great war. They have fought in the ranks of most of the allied armies. Of the 750,000 Lithuanians in the United States. ;'. fpir proportion have borne arms for Uncle Sam. Most of these Lithu- anians have come to the L'nited States after 1905, when the Russian government began to persecute them for their attempts to gain independence. During the war their home land suffered not for its faults, bi:t mostly because it lay between two belligerents, Russia proper and Germany. In the avalanche of news from France and Belgium, we heard little of the sufiferings of Lithuania, which were terrible. The voice of America ought to be raised in the interest of this ancient race, long oppressed, but now seeeking independence. Throughout its history this people has preserved its primitive virtues. In the new era it ought of right to be set free and left to work out its own destinies, and every right-thinking nation must come to its rescue and demand its release from thralldom. The United States, especially, cannot do otherwise than plead the cause of Lithuania, which looks to us above all nations to come til its aid in what we hope will be its last gallant struggle for independence. GIVE PROOFS OF HUN TREACHERY. Greeneville, Tenn., Sun, June 10, 1919. NEW YORK, June 7. — The Lithuanian delegation in Paris has submitted to the peace conference proof of German treachery in surrendering Lithuanian territory to the bolsheviki and the Poles, according to a statement of the Lithuanian national council issued here last nigbt in comment on Marshal Foch's recent demand upon 73 German headquarters at Spa that the Teuton forces be withdrawn from Lithuania. Lithuanian territory regained from the bolsheviki, the state- ment said, was given over to the Russian soviet regime by the Germans in December last, a month after the signing of the armistice. Until then, it was said, the Lithuanian army, without external aid, had successfully defended the country, and could con- tinue to do so if the Germans and Poles were withdrawn. Crimes of the Germans in Lithuania, the statement asserted, included arrests and shooting of natives and requisitions upon their property, sale of contraband, including sugar, salt, arms and am- munition, to the bolsheviki and freeing of bolsheviki agents arrested by the Lithuanians. Near Zyzmariai, a letter from Premier Slezevicius of Lithu- ania said, the Teutons attempted to surrender a Lithuanian battalion to the bolsheviki for 9,000,000 marks, and at Alyta they gave over forty machine guns to the soviet troops. When the Poles were operating against the Grodno district, the statement charged, the Germans surrendered the city of Grodno to them for 3,000,000 marks, and when Vilna was evacuated by the bolsheviki the Teutons turned that city over to the Poles, preventing the Lithuanians from pressing their advantage against the retreating Russians. The Lithuanians' representations, according to the statement, are under consideration by the peace conference. LITHUANIANS SEEK INQUIRY BY ALLIES. Polish Invaders Accused of Brutality and of Territorial Cupidity. Tribune. Ni'w York City. June }. Ulltl. PARIS, June 3. — In a memorandum addressed to the peace conference, the Lithuanian delegation has requested the Supreme Council to appoint an inter-Allied commission of inquiry to investi- gate alleged pogroms by Poles in parts of Lithuania occupied by Polish forces, and other brutal and illegal acts alleged to have been committed by the Polish Army of Occupation. If the charges are verified, the Supreme Council is requested to order the Polish troops withdrawn from the occupied parts of Lithuania. If the withdrawal should be ordered, it was set forth, the Lithuanian government would undertake to defend Lithuania against the Bolsheviki if the Lithuanians were furnished with war supplies. 74 "According to official information," the memorandum states, "Polish armies in occupied parts of Lithuania have created condi- tions extremely hard and humiliating for the population. They have indulged in pillaging, seized securities and valuables, robbed museums, organized wholesale requisitions, arrested employes of the Lithuanian government, imposed the use of the Polish language, and, finally, have committed wholesale pogroms against the Jewish population, whose dead and injured already count up an imposing number." The memorandum declares the Polish government and its troops in their "invasion" tif Lithuanian territory, were and arc far more interested in paving the way for incorporation of purely Lithu- anian territory with Poland than in fighting the Bolsheviki. It says the presence of the army is merely an encouragement to Bolshevism, since the Polish policy is directed to the protection of the rich Polish landholders against the poor masses. LITHUANIANS MAKE APPEALS. 10,000 Wyoming Valley Residents Address Resolutions to President Wilson. URGE SELF-DETERMINATION. Denounce What they Term Polish Aggression — Hold Outing at Valley View. The Record, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., July a, 1919. That Lithuania shall be granted self-determination was the sentiment expressed by all of the speakers addressing over 10,000 persons of Lithuanian birth or descent gathered together from Luzerne and adjoining counties at the field day held yesterday at Valley View Park. This sentiment was also contained in a set of resolutions unanimously adopted and which provide for the sending of petitions to President Wilson and Congress asking for the recog- nition of the independence of Lithuania, and to President Wilson and the American peace delegation asking that the principles of self- determination be applied to Prussian Lithuania, and that the Niemen River be given entirely to the Lithuanian republic. Copies of a resolution denouncing Polish aggression, occupa- tion and i)illaging of Lithuanian territory and the terrorizing of the population will be forwarded to President Wilson, the Secretary of State, the .American peace delegation and to members of the Senate and House of Representatives. 76 The resolutions were presented by Attorney M. M. Slikas of Philadelphia, who presided. Hon. Peter A. O'Boyle explained the theory of self-determination, voicing his belief that the right should be given to smaller nations to decide for themselves and that these should be restored to their original conditions, particularly as to territorial restoration. Leonard Simutis, a member of the executive committee of the Lithuanian National Council, outlined the activities of that body and what has been accomplished in this country. The news that Mark Eisner, who was scheduled to deliver the address of the afternoon, was unable to be present was received with regret. The winner of the Marathon in the morning from this city to the park was John Gunderman of Plymouth, who received a silver cup. William Rice, who was among the first to finish, received a special cup for being the first Lithuanian to breast the tape. The spiritedly contested base ball game between the Kingston Knights of Lithuania and the Pittston Lithuanians was won by the former. Service Flag Unfurled. During the open air mass which was celebrated by Rev. Ben- jamin Paukstis during the morning in honor of Lithuanian soldiers and sailors who died while in active duty, a large service flag was unfurled, side by side with the Stars and Stripes. The sermon at the mass was preached by Rev. Alexander Saulinskas. The honor roll bears the following names : Kingston — Frank Zmuidinas, Joseph Valincius, Dominick Kalitavicius, Vincent Biskis, Vincent Maiziesius, Martin Sesonis, Frank Degutis, John Sumbris, Anthony Damanskas; Pittston — Joseph Jakulinas, Constant Kasezitius, Joseph Leskauskas, Michael Novickas, Michael Lukasz, Peter Petronis, John Pranuska- vicius ; Scranton — John Martinkus, Dominick Kasparavicius, Bernard Grigalunas, Casimir Garlius, Joseph Brazaitis, Chris Gerve, John Vesockis, Bronis Supinis, Alexander Tunila, Peter Taleisa, Peter Matulevicius, Stanis Ausena, George Plaucka, John Jarasunas, Vincent Viesa, Anthony Stepanavicius, D. Ganciauckas ; Wilkes- Barre — Joseph Smaidziunas, Silvester Ambrasas, Joseph Leskauskas. Several of the bigger athletic events of the morning were cancelled. Boxes of candy were awarded to the winners of the girls' race, while the boys received Boy Scout shoes. Cigar were presented 76 to the wining team in the tug-of-war. Silk umbrellas were awarded as prizes to the winners of the big girl's race. The boxing exhibition between Jack Bennett and Peter Dougherty was also cancelled because Bennett had injured his finger. The bout between Frankie Venchal and Bradley Walsh resulted in a draw. The pavilion was jammed all hours of the afternoon and evening by hundreds of couples dancing to the strains of Pokorny's eight-piece orchestra. When the news was announced in the late afternoon that the Dempsey-Willard fight had been postponed for an hour great sighing issued forth from a multitude of husky male throats. The net proceeds of the day will be turned over to the Lithu- anian national fund to be used to further Lithuania's struggle for independence and world wide recognition. LITHUANIA'S CLAIM TO INDEPENDENCE. Crises in Their History Are Said to Have Always Brought Out Lithuanians' Fine Qualities, Turning Disaster Into Success. Christian Science Monitor, Boston, Mass., July 8, 1919. A previous article on the above subject appeared in The Christian Science Monitor on July 7. PARIS, France — It is worthy of note, all through the pagan period in Lithuanian history, that whenever any peril faced the Lithu- anians, the crisis always served to bring out their splendid qualities, whereby disaster was turned into success. Here are the causes and effects, summed up : Oleg began the conquest of Lithuania, and in a short time the Lithuanians ruled the entire western and southern Russia. The Tartars, under Chinghish Khan Timuchin demanded tribute from the Lithuanians, and the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vitenis destroyed the Tartar hordes, compelling Chinghish Khan to retreat to Asia. In later times the Tartars voluntarily submitted themselves to the protection of Lithuania. The Livonian Knights began the con- quest of Lithuania, and, in 1586, they also voluntarily came under Lithuanian rule. The Teutonic Crusaders, with reenforcements drawn from the entire Christian world, invaded Lithuania, and in 200 years found themselves utterly destroyed by the Lithuanians and their allies. The Poles pressed their way into Lithuania, but, defeated by force or arms, submitted, in 1386, to Lithuanian rule. Beginning of Decline. It was the introduction of Christianity into Lithuania that marked the beginning of Lithuania's decline. The fault was not with the religion itself, but the way it was applied. The ancient Lithuanian religion, based on the laws of nature, was understood by all the people. Christianity did not penetrate Lithuanian thought, but was imposed on the people. Outwardly Lithuanians were Christians, but in the heart they remained always the same wor- shippers of fire and other elements. But the most destructive feature of the Christian mission in Lithuania was the influence of the foreign clergy, which condemned all things Lithuanian — language, customs, culture, traditions. No sooner was Christianity introduced into Lithuania than the ancient Lithuanian democracy perished. In 1413 a joint diet of Poles and Lithuanians was held, and on that occasion the first-class distinc- tion was injected into the Lithuanian Nation. The Poles bestowed titles of nobility on all prominent Lithuanians, and thus began the assimilation of Lithuanians and their course of life by Poland. In 1521 serfdom was introduced, making the masses serfs or slaves of the few masters, the nobles. This was a very real disaster to Lithu- ania, the home of a very genuine early democracy. The whole tragic story of decline culminated in 1569 when, in the treaty of Lublin, Lithuania surrendered all its independence, losing to Poland such provinces as Volhynia, Kief, and Podolia. But even these territorial losses were insignificant in comparison with the loss of sovereignty. Loss of Sovereignty. With Sigismund Augustus, the last Lithuanian King of Poland, in 1572, there passed away the glory of Jagellonian Poland. The im- mediate consequence was the formation of the Cossacks from the oppressed White Russians and Ruthenians, who under the rule of democratic Lithuania, had enjoyed liberty and freedom. In the seventeenth century, a Cossack uprising under Bohdan Chmielnicki, covered the country with fire and sword, and almost simultaneously the Lithuanians, under Prince Janush Radzivill, allied with the Swedes, rose in revolt. Both these events are described by Henry Sienkiewicz in his novels, "With Fire and Sword," and "The Deluge." There was not a decade of tranquillity in the entire period of Polish rule. Internal disorder assumed such proportions that foreign powers found it easy to invite themselves to take a hand, and in 1772 the first partition of Poland took place, by which Lithuania passed 78 umler the rule of Russia and Prussia. In 1863 the Lithuanian and Polish nobility prepared an elaborate revolt against Russia, when the wily Czar, Alexander II, nipped it in the bud before hostilities could begin by abolishing serfdom. 'Fhe insurrection totally failed in 1864, and the Russian Empire became absolute master. The first act of the Russian Ciovcrnment, after the collapse of the insurrection of 1864, was to blot out the name of Lithuania from the maps of Europe. The second was to stamp out the Lithuanian language, and to crush the Lithuanian national spirit, as far as they could. The struggle served to stimulate Lithuanian ambitions and aspiratiims, which developed to such an extent that in 1904 Russia found her ])urpose defeated, and was compelled to restore the Lithu- anian language and many economic and social rights of the people. In 1905, when the Imperial Duma was created, Lithuanians regained their place among the living nationalities of the world, and they were represented as a distinct national unit in that assembly. A struggle for Lithuanian autonomy, as the first step to absolute independence, was on a good way to success, when the war broke' out in 1914. Free Lithuania. After all the trials of war, Lithuania, which seemed to have perished, has risen again in its ancient spirit of democracy, and at present is a de facto republican State, absolutely independent of any power. Seldom in all the history of Europe has racial self-assertion been so strong as it is at the present. It has taken the world war, with its consequent promise of freedom to all people, to bring out to the full those racial traits that have persisted throughout the centuries, despite oppression and in the face of attempts often to annihilate whole peoples. In pre-war days, in the United States, Poland and Lithuania were regarded almost as one. There was then apparently not the sharp division between the two races that there is now, for both were being oppressed by a stronger nation and both were drawn to- gether in a measure against the common enemy. But now the hope- less division is asserting itself. All the world is realizing the differ- ence between Pole and Lithuanian, and every one knows there never can be a union of those two peoples, so diflferent in characteristics, in history, in ideals. The two races, dwelling side by side, and each after centuries appearing about to achieve its ambition to be free and independent, cannot get along together, or be mutually helpful instead of antagonistic, while they are striving for the common end, which is liberty, the breaking of the shackles that so long have held them bound to a foreign race. 79 Situation on the Baltic. One would have to delve deeply into history to be able to understand the situation along the Baltic. An attempt to state the case here can only be made. But in that region dwell the Lithuanians, the Letts, the Esthonians and, further south, the Ukrainians. All four have been fighting the Bolsheviki, but each claims that Poland, :'.t opportune moments has attacked them. The Poles have con- quered Lida, Pinsk, and the Lithuanian capital, Vilna. They tried to invade all of so-called White Russia, an area of some 73,000 square miles, with a population of some 8,000,000. Lithuania is a country with a population of 9,600,000 and an area of 98,500 square miles, according to the greatest claims of her sympathizers. On January 25, 1918, the White Russians, together with the Lithuanians, decided to form a single nation, asking the Letts and Ukrainians to join them, making all together a large Nation that would stretch from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Lithuania has made other attempts to become independent At the time of the upheaval in Russia, during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Lithuanians, irrespective of political affiliations, held a convention in their capital, Vilna, over 2000 delegates participating. They unanimously asserted their right of self-government, expressing a strong desire to form one political body with their half-brothers, the Letts. Again in October, 1917, a convention was held in Vilna, with 950 delegates from all parts of Lithuania. In January, 1918, repre- sentative Lithuanians assembled in the same city and proclaimed independent Lithuania. Another convention of Lithuanian com- munities in the United States, England, and Argentina, held in the same month in Stockholm, Sweden, approved the act. On March 13 and 14, 1918, American Lithuanians held a convention in New York City, giving their unanimous approval to the proclaiming of inde- pendent Lithuania. On April 4, 1919, Lithuania was proclaimed a republic, and A. Smetona elected president. Todajr the Lithuanians, Letts, Esthonians, and Ukrainians are protesting against the Poles, who are invading their territory. LITHUANIAN SOLDIERS TO GET LAND AWARDS. The Evening Sentinel,' Milwaukee, Wis., July 12, 1919. PARIS — The Lithuanian council of ministers on Friday de- cided to distribute land among Lithuanian soldiers. Each soldier is to receive between twent}- and fifty acres or land as his own private property. 80 If public lands do not suffice to go around, landowners with more than 1,250 acres will be compelled to cede to the state from 10 to 30 per cent of their holdings. This will go into a rural land pool and be distributed among the troops. According to statistics half of the land in Lithuania now be- longs to the peasants, the average holdings being from 52 to 140 acres. Reports reaching here from White Russia and Lithuania state that two brigades of bolshevist troops have been dispersed. PARIS WARNS POLES TO GET OUT OF LITHUANIA. Warning to Poland. Tribune, Chicago. III. July 12. 19V.}. Premier Clcmenceau participated in the "little five" meeting long enough to read a telegram from Warsaw stating" the Polish army had begun an offensive against the Lithuanians and had ad- vanced several miles inside the prescribed Lithuanian-Polish bound- ary. The "little five" instructed Marshal Foch to telegraph Premier Paderewski and Gen. Pilsudski immediately to cease offensive war- fare and retire to the Polish frontier, under pain of disciplinary measures from the peace conference. ORGANIST'S SON HEADS REPUBLIC. Anthony Smetona Is First President of Lithuania. Traveler, Boston, Mass., July 12, 1919. A cable to the Lithuanian National Council at Washington an- nounces that the first President of the Lithuanian republic has been inaugurated at Kaunas, the provisional capital of Lithuania. Anthony Smetona was elected April 4 as the First President by the Taryba or national council. Anthony Smetona was born 48 years ago in Lithuania, the son of a village organist. He was educated at the schools of Libau and at the University of Moscow. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, but did not practise law. For a time he was editor of the daily newspaper Viltis, that sprang into existence in 1915 after the edict against the use of the Lithuanian language was removed by Russia. Ever since he entered public life 20 years ago, Mr. Smetona has been an ardent worker for Lithuanian independence. He re- 81 mained in Lithuania during the German occupation directing the work of relief of the war sufferers and protesting against German oppression. He is idolized by the members of all parties and is partial to none. All parties are reported as supporting his government en- thusiastically and under his able direction the government is laying the foundations for a stable form of government for the republic of Lithuania. POPE ENDSORES LITHUANIANS' STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. Last Gap in Europe's Wall Closed Against Bolsheviki. Herald, Grand Rapids, Mich., July 13, 1919. NEW YORK, July 12. — The army of Bolsheviki which recently invaded Lithuania en route to Europe, numbering thousands, fully equipped and possessing machine guns and other artillery, has been conclusively defeated by a much inferior force of Lithuanians and driven far to the east. These Lithuanians are a part of the army recently organized by the new Lithuanian government, and their victory has cleared their country of Bolshevik forces. According to a cablegram that the Lithuanian national council has received from its Paris representative, President Smetona, the elected head of the provisional government of Lithuania, announces that as a legislative, judicial and administrative establishment his ancient Baltic country is now completely organized for the business of government. All Territory Organized. President Smetona's announcement declares that all territory under the Lithuanian government is now completely organized. It continues: "The administration of justice and enforcement of the law is fully provided for in the organization of the courts from justices of the peace to the supreme tribunal, all of which are now functioning. The country's courts fully provide public prosecutors and their staffs; jail and jailers are equipped under control of the ministry of justice. Besides this, the local police, gendarmes and militia garrison are organized and wholly adequate to maintain order as enforced by court." This creation of organized government, the organization of a large army, which is now well under way, and the defeat of the Bolshevists thus are of vital importance to the world since they con- 82 stitute the closing of the last gap through which the armed forces of Russian Bolshevism might find their way into Europe. The importance of Lithuania as a barrier and the justice of that nation's claim for independence are attested by the indorsement of Pope Benedict, who has definitely declared the Holy See to be in favor of a free and independent Lithuania. In a papal communica- tion through Secretary Cardinal Gaspari of the Vatican to Foreign Minister Voldemar of the Lithuanian cabinet, who is in Paris, the Pope welcomed the prospect of receiving this new nation into the family of free Catholic states and pledged all assistance to the realization of the just and legitimate aspirations of Lithuania. The communication from the Pope was in response to an a])peal from the Lithuanian foreign minister delivered to the head of the Catholic church by Count Alfred Tv-''?-kiewics, envoy extra- ordinary to the Vatican from Lithuania, in private audience. Foreign Minister Voldemar's letter to Pope Benedict was as follows: Letter to Pope. "The world commotion through which we have passed will have among t)ther effects, we hope, liberation for oppressed peoples. The Lithuanian nation, divided between Russia and Prussia, is labor- ing to the extent of its power to realize this benefit. The strength of its former masters have crumbled, it has resumed liberty and constituted itself a new and independent state. "We joyfully call your attention to the fact that a Catholic people resumes the rights belonging to it and consequently a new member enters the family of free Catholic nations. "In the hope of consolidating in liberty our country, we in the name of the Government of Lithuania at the feet of the apostolic seat of the supreme and infallible judge of the rights of men on earth, place our humble supplication that it be recognized an inde- pendent Lithuanian republic." The Papal reply was received by the Lithuanian officials with great joy. It said: "The sentiments of deference toward the supreme ecclesiastical authority expressed by your excellence in the name of the Lithu- anian government in your note of May 23 last, have been particularly agreeable to the Holy Father, who knows well and appreciates greatly the noble qualities and virtues of the Lithuanian population; ex- hibited not onlv through the political im])ortance they had in the past but again, and above all, through the firmness and constancy thev have displaye■;- its part, remembering always the prolific results produced even in civilian affairs by the happy understanding of two powers, will alv»'ays preserve toward the Holy See its traditional sentiments of filial ve'c-ation. The Holy See accords with all its heart to you and to all its Catholic sons of Lithuania Apostolic Benediction." (Signed) CARDINAL GASFAn. BRIGADE OF OUR MEN JOIN ARMY OF LITHUANIA. American. New York City, September 3, 1919. Paris, Sept. 2. — An American brigade for service in the Lithu- anian army has been formed, the work being a complete success. 89 I'his announcement is made by the military mission of the Lithuanian delegation to the Peace Conference. Enough demobilized American officers to form the staff have applied for commissions. Many discharged enlisted men have entered the ranks, it is said. The Lithuanian Government is reported to be negotiating with a prominent American insurance company to insure the men along the lines followed by the American Army's War Insurance Bureau. WORLD MENACE SEEN IN POLAND. Lithuanian Premier Says New Empire Will Be Breeder of Militarism. By ISAAC DON LEVINE. Nfivs. Detroit, Mich., August 23, 1919. Kovnu, Aug. 20. — (Via Copenhagen, Aug. 22.) — "Poland is becoming a second Austria-Hungary and a constant menace to the peace of the world," declared the Lithuanian premier and foreign minister, M. Slezevicius, today. "We fully support an ethnographic Poland, but when the Poles occupy Grodno, which is White Russian; Viliia, which is Lithuanian; Minsk, which is exclusively White Rus- sian; Lemberg, which is Ruthenian, and seek to occupy Vitebsk, which is Lettish, and also parts of the Ukraine, without mentioning German and Czech territory, they create a new Balkans. "The Polish Empire of 40,000,000 population will never be strong when it contains 18,000,000 Poles, with the rest Lithuanians, White Russians, Letts, Ukrainians, Czechs, Germans and Jews. "Breeder of Militarism." "Such a Poland will be an eternal breeding ground for Euro- pean militarism. France desires that Lithuania shall be incorporated with Poland, but we refuse to become part of a state doomed to collapse sooner or later. 'The Poles, wherever they come, institute persecutions. In Vilna, which from the Thirteenth Century has been the cultural ana economic capital of Lithuania, the Poles have arrested our public men, disrupted our high schools and philantropic institutions, closed the libraries, removed valuable property and pillaged the country by using the same system as that of the Germans when they occupied this region. ■'Again and again, the Poles crossed the demarkation line 90 (li;i\vii by the Peace Conference un I.illuiaiiiaii territory, grabbing new slices of our country. "Are Devouring Us." " 1 he Poles, who are armed with French weapons and have tlic nii.ral backing of France, are slowly devouring us. They have just advanced another 30 miles over the demarkation line without a pre- text as there are no Bolshiviki in the Suwalki province. "\\ e are at the mercy of our enemies and are receiving no helj) from the Allies even against the German occupation of half of ou' country. The people are suffering because the Germans arc demanding that they leave. The Germans would depart, if ordered to do so by the Allies, but no such order has yet been given and no intimation that the Allies want the Germans to get out. "We are thus left alone to struggle with the Germans and Bolsheviki. Our only hope is in the United States which can appreci- ate our longing for freedom." LITHUANIANS COMPLAIN OF POLANDERS. Assort That Paderewski's People Have Gone Over Line Established By Allies. Scrautonian. Scranton, Pa., August 3. 1019. \ew York, .Aug. 2. — A cable received today by the Lithuanian national council from its representative in Paris states that Mr. Sleze- vicius, prime minister of Lithuania, has sent the following dispatch from Kovno to the allies supreme council in Paris: "The Lithuanian government has just learned that the parlia- ment in Warsaw, pursuant to proposition by a parliamentary group, has urged the commander-in-chief of the Polish army not to respect the temporary line of demarcation drawn between Lithuania and Poland by the council of four, and has commanded the Polish army to remain in all jjlaces already occupied, basing their determination on facts which are jnire invention, such as that the troops of the Lithuanian side of the demarcation line are composed of Germans as well as Lithuanians. That is a lie, as the allied military missions to Kovno can prove. Likewise, the cthnogra])hical data of the resolu- tion is entirely lacking in truth." The Paris cable states, as a matter of fact, the Germans have already evacuated Kovno and all of Eastern Lithuania, and that before leaving Kovno they burned their barracks and forcibly seized and sent to Germany twenty carloads of provisions, supplies and 91 cattle, including four cars of American flour and two of condensed milk. Dispajches received by the Lithuanian national council from Lithuania and Paris during the past several weeks indicate that Poland is carrying on a systematic campaign for the subjugation and annexation of Lithuania, despite the expressed commands of the allied powers, to whom Poland is looking for recognition. Realizing the justice of the Lithuanian people's claims for recognition as an independent nation, and in response to appeals by the Lithuanian government for protection against the further in- vasion of Lithuania proper by Polish troops, the allied council drew a line of demarcation between Lithuania and Poland and forbade the Poles to pass it, pending the formal consideration of the entire question by the council of the league of nations. According to the dispatches received from abroad the Poles have repeatedly crossed the line and occupied several important cities and towns in Lithuania, including the capital, Vilna, and now, in open defiance, refuse to withdraw. LITHUANIANS WALK, PROVE PATRIOTISM. Must Speak Polish to Buy Railroad Tickets; Prefer to Travel Alone. Journal, Lansing, Mich.. August 15, 1919. Walking fifteen or twenty miles to market instead of buying a railroad ticket is not considered so much of an economy as a proof of patriotism in Lithuania. "Our people, whose sons are shedding blood at the front for Lithuania's freedom, walk miles to Kovno on errands because they cannot buy a railroad ticket," says an editorial in Lietuva, a Lithu- anian newspaper, copies of which have just been received at the New York headquarters of the Lithuanian National Council, 6 West 48th Street. Polish military authorities, where they have obtained control of Lithuanian railroads, have issued an order requiring all persons to speak Polish in securing railroad tickets and in all other inter- course with the authorities. Many Lithuanians speak nothing but their native language. Others in this land noted for the linguistic accomplishments of its population in acquiring the language of Polish, Russian, and German oppressors during the past centuries, make proof of their patriotism by refusing to use the Polish language. They prefer to walk instead. Lithuanians have carefully cultivated and preserved their 92 national entity, aspirations, .md language through thousands ot years. 'Ihey will not forget that once l.ithuania was the most powerful and hijfhiy cultured state in Europe. They resent efforts to submerge •their language and their nationality in the new Poland. Neither Slavic nor Teuton in origin and speaking a distinctly different language more rich in tone and more ancient in history than even Sanscrit, Lithuanians want to govern themselves and speak their own language. The}' have proclaimed their independence and elected officials under a republican form of government. Now they are seeking recognition as an independent state — a state which will be greater in area than Denmark and Switzerland or Belgium and Hol- land combined and with a population greater than Denmark, Norway or Switzerland. LITHUANIA'S STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM. By M. K. WTSEHART. Leslie's Weekly, New York City, June 21, 1919. A small nationality that wants only what belongs to it histor- ically, politically and ethnographically, one that gains credit by the honest modesty of its territorial claims and by its aspiration for a truly democratic development and useful nationalism — such is Lithuania. Lithuania has not yet been recognized as this article is written, and this brings up the question whether modesty in diplomacy pays. Whether it pays or not, it makes Lithuania, its government and its future, one of the most interesting problems in the readjustment of Europe. Here is a people whose diplomacy is an expression of them- selves — modest, confident that right can prevail without a brass band. There is no denying that some small nationalities have been developed and have occupied great prominence in the peace negotia- tions, because they are in a position to serve the objects of a greater nationality. To some of us observers in Paris, it has been painful to see how some of the small nationalities were willing to violate the very principle by which they claim existence — to see Poland, Rumania, Jugoslavia willing to violate the principle of nationality and to speculate in the soil and population of their neighbors. It means trouble in the end. It means that every new nationality will be weakened in proportion to the extent that it gains sway over peoples and territory not rightfully belonging to it. One of the problems arising from the ambitions of the new nationalities concerns the extent to which Poland is willing to speculate in Lithuanian soil. But Lithuania? Where is it? The other day a dispatch came from Paris, referring to Lithuania as one of the Balkan States. Here in America there was a real little tragedy or comedy among the Lithuanians and Letts over the ignorance displayed as to their iden- tity. When the President of Lithuania was inaugurated in the capital of his country, a dispatch carried the information that he was being inaugurated as the President of Lettland ; and the same dispatch carried the news that the President of Lettland was being inaugurated as the President of Lithuania ! That was not so bad as it might have been, for the two countries are adjacent and their peoples are friendly. Yet in the Lettish and Lithuanian colonies in America the error was sad enough to cause real tribulation. In view of this confusion, I asked one of the members of the Lithuanian National Council, to discuss not only the aims of the Lithuanian Government, but also the true territorial allocation of this country. One of the most interesting developments of the interview was the fact that Lithuania's diplomacy, which in the end will gain recognition and prestige for the Baltic States, is exactly in accord with the pleasant temperament and democratic ideals of the nation. "Lithuania," he said, "has been too modest to ask for all her original territory, for Lithuania once included Ukrainia, White Russia stretching far out toward Moscow, and Lettland. These countries might well have claimed that they would have been the best barrier against Bolshevism because they are agricultural and democratic, whereas Poland is ruled by the gentry and has many large estates. Once Bolshevism strikes Poland the country will be racked to pieces. Instead of demanding all the great territory that was once under its sway, Lithuania has asked only the territory belonging to it histor- ocally, politically and ethnographically, territory to which no other country has an}' claim whatever. "Lithuania has been a co-belligerent of the Allies against the Bolsheviki, and believes that she should get greater and prompt recog- nition on account of this fact.. Our representatives feel that the United States has been too reluctant to define its position with regard to Lithuania. We feel that we should have been recognized, for when we have been once recognized, we will be in a position to make the necessary loans, to buy t|ie needed materials and to stabilize the life of the country. "Meanwhile the Polish chauvinists have wanted to occupy the State of Grodno, which contains some of the most valuable timber land in Europe, and which clearly belongs to Lithuania. Poland has also claimed the capital of Lithuania, Vilna, because there are many 94 PdIcs there; and not only the capital and ttic State of Vilna, but the State of Suvalki, which is inhabited entirely by Lithuanian-speaking I)eople, except in the southern part. If Poland's unjustified claims were granted, Lithuania would have left only the State of Kovno, a. very small territory in comjiarison with what Lithuania rightly claims. None of this territory claimed by Poland ever belonged to her, and never before the war did she set up any claim to it. "The Lithuanians have been fighting the Bolshcviki with all their resources. W hile the Lithuanians were thus fighting, the Poles announced that they were willing to fight the Bolshcviki, though no one else wanted to. At that time the Lithuanians suspected that the object of the Poles was to occupy Lithuanian territory. Ultimately when Lithuania protested against Polish occupation of Grodno, the Peace Conference said in reply that such military occupation should not mean ])ermanent occupation ; that the question concerning this territory should be taken up by the Peace Conference or the League of Nations at the proper time; and we rejoice to see that the Peace Conference has required Germany to cede the section north of Niemen with part of Memel to the Associated Powers themselves. There is no question but that Poland seeks to exert sovereignty ovei^ territory that is strictly Lithuanian, though Poland's claims would not be in- sisted upon to the same extent if Lithuania were willing to enter into a personal union by which Poland should represent both Lithuania and Poland diplomatically, somewhat after the manner Austria repre- sented Hungary. "When our claims were presented to the Peace Conference, our representatives were told that the Conference had com]>lete sympathy with the small nationalities. We ask recognition at once. W'e expect it. We deserve it, not only because Lithuania has persisted as a national entity in spite of hardship and oppression, but also because our intentions are those making for peace, order, economic develop- ment and national usefulness. "The desire and agitation for complete independence for Lithu- ania has existed among the educated people since early in the 19th century. It arose among the common people in the latter part of the same century, and the agitation became powerful in 1885. Even though the use of the Lithuanian language had been prohibited, news- papers were printed in other countries and were circulated extensively in Lithuania. This national sentiment was spread not only through the newspapers, but also by Lithuanians returning from the United States. It went so far that in 1905, during the Russian revolution, a convention was held, at which all factions were represented. This was called the Congress for Lithuanian National Independence. The 96 agitation made great headway duriny tho Japanese war, but after th'^ war Russia succeeded in subduing Lithuania. "/\s soon as the war of 1914 broke out, Lithuania formulated her demands — that the Lithuanian part of East Prussia should be returned to Lithuania, and also that what formerly were the Russian provinces of Kovno, Vilna, Grodno, Suvalki, should be returned to Lithuania, and that Lithuania should be given full independence. "The Lithuanian Government has a clear case to present to the League of Nations — that the province of Kovno is absolutely Lithuanian, ethnologically anl linguistically ; that the greater part of Suvalki is similar to Kovno; that in half of the province of Vilna Lithuanian is spoken; that originally all of these provinces were Lithuanian. Part of Grodno is entirely inhabited by Lithuanian- speaking people and the rest by White Russians (Getvingi), and old Lithuanian race. The native population of East Prussia has always been Lithuanian. "The demand for independence has now reached every village and hamlet throughout Lithuania. Several conventions have been held abroad since 1915, when the country was taken by the Germans. These conventions were held in Switzerland, Russia and the United States, and all demanded independence. In Lithuania today, all the political organizations that formerly operated secretly are working openly. The demand for independence and recognition of Lithuanian nationality is manifested at all concerts, at church services, at all popiilar gatherings. "The Lithuanians, as a people, are in many ways similar to the Scandinavians, they are not excitable. They are meticulously honest, hospitable, religious. In the past they have not been commercially inclined, and have preferred such pursuit as law, medicine, engineering, schcolteaching. "The country is largely agricultural. Owing to this fact many of the country's older customs have been preserved. At Easter there is always a full week's ceremony. Burial, christening and wedding ceremonies are always observed with the old national customs. "We now find that Lithuania has perhaps relied too much on the triumph of right and justice without advertising and propaganda. The Lithuanians thought that what belonged to them so plainly would be accorded them, and that the Peace Conference, at the earliest date possible, would open the way for their beginning a stable national hie. Since it became apparent that the world didn't understand their cause, thcv have held conventions in New York, Fitt.5burgh and Philadelphia 96 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 000 192 795 4