George Matulaitis Journal

go in the fall. I too am anxious to have as many educated, good, and decent priests as possible. In Sven ionys they have had some trouble over the Lithuanian preparatory school. 1 The Poles wanted to evict them from the building, but they managed to hold on. However, they have to have class- es from four to nine in the evening. This is very difficult and inconvenient for the children. There is talk that people have been robbed, terrorized, and harassed by the Polish soldiers. 2 The poverty is appalling. Some of the farmers do not have enough seed to sow their fields. The people are noticeably depressed and filled with despair as the situation continues and there is no change. They do not have the heart to work. If you work and toil, they say, it is all for nothing — they come and take everything away. Generally speaking, the people do not want the Poles and are sorry that the Lithuanians have gone. Mr. Jonynas was here in the evening to take some letters to Kaunas. I told him about my conversation with Chardigny and Nase, the representatives of the League of Nations. The League is of the opinion that the confused and complicated problems in this area cannot be solved without Russia. Apparently, they want to wait until Russia recoups and recovers. In the meantime, they are looking for other ways to solve the problems, at least temporarily, so that the local people would calm down somewhat. The treaty concluded by the Poles in Riga, although it was only with the Bolshevik Party and not with Russia as such, will still have to be registered by the League of Nations. According to this treaty it is impossible to take Belorussian lands away from Poland because then, ostensibly, it will be necessary to return them to the Bolsheviks. Some sort of arrangement must be made. The Poles can govern them for a time, except for the territory that will go to the Lithuanians. The question is: how much will go to the Lithuanians? Furthermore, there is the problem of nationalities. Should Polish 315 1 Opened in January 1919 while the Lithuanians were in power here. The school prepared students for high school. The town of Sven ionys, in eastern Lithuania, was predominantly Lithuanian, and the people were very patriotic. 2 ÷ eligowski’s troops occupied the town in October of 1920. They terrorized the people to such an extent that they wrote to Pi = sudski to stop the persecution and also sent a delegation.