"Silesia and the Peace Treaty" was the subject of a lecture de livered recently at the Royal Artillery Institution, Woolwich, by Lieutenant-Colonel R. H. Haining.
The Lecturer said that Silesia had belonged to Prussia for 177 years. Though the Silesians were called Poles they were not really Poles and had little to do with Poland. Dealing with the dispute between Poland and Remenr respecting Upper Silesia, Colonel Haraing eaid that last August the League of Nations was called in and appointed a Commission consisting #f Spain, Brazil, Belgium, and China! They bro in ste: tral Teatres to Poland, but the ort giving practically the indus-
whole territory for 15 years was to be under a joint Committee. That condition, he thought, would in the long run be favourable to Germany. It was now hoped that the British troops there would be withdrawn to the Rhine by the middle of next March, but it might be April or May. To an independent Poland a strong industrial area was necessary. The British idea had simply been to keep the peace; few knew the country, and some highly-placed persons actually said they had never heard of Teschen.
As to the 15 years laid down by the League of Nations he suggested' that there were elements which might lead within that period to a war between Poland and Germany. Much depended on whether Russia became strong again, in which case her reabsorption of Poland would only a question of time. Economically Poland was not sound, but there were proposals for improving her transport and enabling her to utilize her own coal, instead of depending on Germany. A majority of the population of. Silesia believed in a junction with
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.