Allies in general, he desires a Russian triumph over Germany
not for his own sake, but as a preliminary to a reconstruction
of the Polish Nation out of the lands wrested from Poland by
Russia, Germany, and Austria.

In spite of its vagueness, the Grand Duke Nicholas's proclamation
justifies the most sanguine hopes. This has been recognized not only by
all the Poles whom it has reached, those of Russian Poland, and the
three million Polish refugees who live in America, but moreover, all the
Allies have interpreted it as a genuine promise that Poland would be
territorially and politically reconstructed.

What would it be right to include in a reconstructed Poland, if the
great principle of nationality is to be respected?

First, such a Poland would naturally include all of the Russian Poland
of today--by that I mean all the districts where Poles are in a large
majority. This forms a preliminary nucleus of 12,000,000 inhabitants,
among whom are about 2,000,000 Jews. This great proportion of Jews is
accounted for by the fact that Poland is in the zone where Jews are
allowed to live in Russia.

Our new Poland would not comprise the ancient Lithuania--the districts
of Wilno, Kovno, and Grodno--although Lithuania formerly was part of
Poland and still has about one million Polish inhabitants who form the
aristocracy and bourgeoisie. Lithuania, which is really the region of
the Niemen, is peopled by Letts, who have their own language, resembling
neither Polish nor Russian, and they likewise hope to obtain some day a
measure of autonomy in the Russian Empire, with the right to use their
language in schools, churches, and civil proceedings. One thing is