Again Flouted

Danzig, famed Free City, is supposed to be "autonomous" under the "protection" of the League of Nations. About the time Japan began flouting the League (TIME, Feb. 8) Poland moved quietly to get a man of her choice, Dr. Casimir Pappee, appointed High Commissioner of Danzig. Last week he took office, startled the Free City by this abrupt, Japanesque pronouncement:

"Danzig's union with Poland is not temporary and it cannot be given up by one party. Danzig can only exist and grow as a Polish port. The Free City was created to serve that purpose and must be governed so as to fulfill the obligations imposed upon it by the Treaty of Versailles.

"Polish-Danzig relations are far from satisfactory. They present a picture of a chaotic maze of complaint, dispute and litigation that obscures the true meanings of these relations."

A few years ago Poles were so afraid of . losing access to the sea through Danzig that they rushed to the nearby fishing village of Gdynia on Polish soil and started building a 100% Polish port. From a population of 300 Gdynia has increased to 30,000 and from the new city great docks stretch their fingers out into the Baltic. Obviously Poles poured millions of zlotys into building Gdynia because they believed Danzig to be autonomous, a Free City under the protection of the League.

Two Polish warships lay last week in Danzig harbor. Safe in the shadow of their guns the new High Commissioner proclaimed the Free City indissolubly Polish. Danzigers are mostly Germans, and everyone knows what Germans think of Poles.

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