The Czechoslovak Review/Volume 4/Number 9/Teschen question out of the way

TESCHEN QUESTION OUT OF THE WAY.

The controversy over Teschen has apparently been settled by awarding the town of Teschen to the Poles and the coal fields to the Czechs. This solution of the problem does away with the plebiscite which had been planned for this district and promises to put an end to the almost continuous strife with which the country has been torn for the last year.

The ancient duchy of Teschen, the territory in dispute, lies on the border between Poland and Czechoslovakia, and its capital, Teschen, a town of about 23,000 inhabitants, is not more than fifty miles from the old Polish capital of Cracow. The coveted treasure is the coal fields, with a resource of about 6,000,000,000 tons, in the southern part of the duchy. The question of a plebiscite is widely different here from what it is in Schleswig or Silesia. The duchy did not belong to the German Empire but for the last six centuries has been an integral part of Bohemia. The Czechoslovaks of Teschen thus believe that in being forced to take part in a plebiscite their right to what is incontestably their own is brought into question.

The contention of the Poles was that the population of Teschen was largely Polish and that the Czechoslovaks did not actually need the Teschen coal fields. The Czechoslovaks, however, say that a plebiscite would show 260,000 votes in their favor as against 180,000 in favor of the Poles. They hold also that the resources of the Polish coal fields are greater than their own and that the Tesschen fields are necessary to their industrial development.

The Ambassadors’ Council gave to Poland the town of Teschen, in which there is a larger proportion of Polish inhabitants than in the rural district. It considered that the plea of the Czechs for more fuel was well founded and awarded the coal fields to Czechoslovakia. The territory was practically divided into two almost equal parts by making the railroad through the capital the boundary be tween the two States.

Poland and Czechoslovakia, it is said, will offer no objections to this decision of the Council. Ambassador Wallace has agreed to the finding, and it is believed that he will receive an authorization from Washington to sign the decision. The United States was called into consultation upon the Teschen questtion, but as it took no decided stand in the matter it is considered by the Council that it will not oppose the settlement which has been reached. Europe unquestionably stands ready to accept the agreement. It will save the expense and trouble of a plebiscite and will prepare the way for the final settlement of the whole Silesian question.

—Sun N. Y. Herald.