Poland and Danzig The Polish people, relations between their own
country and Germany having been sharply clarified by Herr Hitler's denunciation of the Polish-German Pact concluded in January, 1934, for a period of ten years, are expressing them- selves with vigour on the contested question of Danzig and the Corridor. Certain newspapers, in talking of the establish- ment of a Polish protectorate over Danzig, are unnecessarily provocative. The Polish Government has made no such claim, and the papers might with advantage have awaited Colonel Beck's declaration of policy in the Seym. What is known of the interchanges between Warsaw and Berlin prior to Herr Hitler's speech indicates that Poland is perfectly ready, as she should be, for reasonable discussions about Danzig, but quite rightly not ready for a moment to talk in an atmosphere of menace. The offer of a 25-years' non- aggression pact is mere insolent cynicism at the very moment when an existing pact is being denounced unilaterally when it has run half its course. No settlement is possible for Poland which would give Germany the opportunity of forti- fying Danzig, for a fortified Danzig would completely dominate Poland's only other port, Gdynia. Danzig, (which became German when it was seized in the criminal partition of Poland in 1791), lying as it does at the mouth of the Vistula, is an essential outlet for Polish trade, which is amply sufficient to keep both Danzig and Gdynia busy. Any settlement must take full account of that. Till it is reached Danzig will remain the chief danger-point in Europe. Mean- while the growing cordiality between Poland and Lithuania after nearly twenty years of embitterment is valuable.
