Note 11 — Chapter XII · THE RESURRECTION OF POLAND
Reading edition
In fairness to the Polish Government it must be stated that the Diet, in anticipation of the Ambassadors’ action, passed a law in September, 1922, granting autonomy to Eastern Galicia. According to Count Skrzynski, the Polish Foreign Minister, interviewed in London on April 13, 1923, by a correspondent of the “Christian Science Monitor,” there are to be three local parliaments in Eastern Galicia, with two chambers, one of which must be composed of members of the Ukrainian community. Permanent officials will be appointed by the governor in a way corresponding “with the actual requirements of the two nationalities.” Governmental and judicial affairs are to be conducted in the Polish language, but the county parliaments may determine their own official language. These measures seem to me (I am familiar with local conditions) calculated to prevent the Ukrainians from voicing their national aspirations, and for this reason to be the granting of autonomy in name only. The law contains two good provisions, however, the promise of the establishment and maintenance of a Ukrainian university out of state funds, and the prohibition of colonization in Eastern Galicia.