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Photo and copyright by B. W. Kilburn 



THE SWINE MARKET: WARSAW 



"Russian Poland usually has a winter somewhat similar to that of New England. There 

 is an even cold, with not a great deal of snow, but often with razor-edged winds from the 

 northward. The rivers of this region usually freeze over about the middle of December, 

 and the Vistula is under ice for approximately 80 days during the average winter" (see text, 

 page 91). In the eighteenth century Warsaw, next to Paris, was the most brilliant city 

 in Europe. 



times this became so great that more 

 than one Russian statesman came to ad- 

 vocate turning Russian Poland over to 

 Germany. 



METHODS OE REPRESSION 



For a long time the Poles were for- 

 bidden even to use their native tongue. 

 Even the railway employees could not 

 answer questions asked in Polish. The 

 word "Polish" itself could not be used in 

 the newspapers. For a while no letter 

 could be addressed in Polish. Outside of 

 what is now known as Russian Poland, 

 in the provinces acquired before the final 

 partition, one still encounters notices in 

 and on all public buildings reading: "The 

 speaking of Polish is forbidden." In one 

 of these provinces street-car conductors 

 were fined because they answered ques- 

 tions asked in Polish. 



The national dress was forbidden, even 

 as a carnival costume or in historical 

 dramas in the theater. The coat of arms 

 of Poland had to be erased from every 

 old house and from the frame of every 

 old picture. The singing of the national 

 songs was strictly taboo. 



Yet with all the efforts at repression, 

 and with all the resistance made against 

 that repression, when the present war 

 broke out the Russian Pole seems to have 

 been as loyal to his government as the 

 German Pole was to Germany or the 

 Austrian Pole to Austria. The whole 

 war in the eastern theater has been 

 fought in territory which once belonged 

 to Poland, territory largely peopled by 

 Poles, and yet there is no evidence that 

 any of them have betrayed their respect- 

 ive flags. 



93 



