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smali nations in thc world of to-morrow. It is a test case of rclations betwedn the Slav pcoplcs. If wc fail to reach a just and lasting settlement of thc Polish oueśtion, the outlook for a du^!rable world pcacc will indccd be dark.

If wc fail wc shall know that thc world has rclapscd into thc old diplomacy of power politics. Rut I do not belicvc that failurc is inevitable. British policy should bc to aim at a settlement acceptablc to Poland which would givc thc Soviet Union thc guarantces she desires; the Polish Govcrament urc bcing cstremely helpful, and thc aim is not impossible of achievemcnt.

The fronticr ąuestion is not thc most imponant, as thc Poles will themsclvcs admir. The Polish frontiers havc changcd many times in the past; and wc have learncd that historicalargu-ments can bc produced to justify almost any frontier. The essential point is that wherevcr Poland’s eastern fronticr.may bc drawft, Poland must bc a gcnuinely independent country with a government imd institutions of her own choosing. British policy should takc the linę of urging the Sovict Union to bc as generous as possible to Poland, and should try to convince the Soviet Union that Poland has a genuinc' desirc to make her conrribution to world order in thc futurę.

Wc should urge that beyond thc maintenancc of good relatións thcrcis nothing which Poland can givc thc Soviet Union! There. is nothing the Soviet Union can desirc in the way of territory dr population, for the Soviet Union csrends ovcr a sisth of the carth’s surface and includcs 180 millions of inhabitants. She has a superabundance of raw materials, whereas Poland is poor in raw materials. If it is an assurance of security that Russia wants, history tcaches us that no security can come from the search for strategie frontiers. Security can bc adcquatcly guaranteed only by a new type, of world order. There are no inviolablc strategie frontiers.

If the Polish frontiers arc changed as a rcsult of action by the Great Powers, then those Greai Powcrs have a morał obligation to_gyafantcc thc independent lifc of the Poland wJiich results. We are thus back whcrc we śtarted for thc Treaty of Vicnna included guarantces for Poland, but this rime they must be morc practical in their naturc.

The restoration of Poland was an aim of thc last war. If wc should fail to sec a gcnuinely independent Poland cmerging from this, it will be an intemational shame for generations to come.