rian Government to the Ruthenes in Galicia,
but also to the disintegrating effect of universal suffrage upon the Polish
political parties, the growth of democratic tendencies at the expense of
the Austrophil nobility, and the consequent increased influence of the
Poles of Warsaw. Though the Polish parties in Galicia issued declarations
of loyalty to Austria at the beginning of the war, and though their
_franc-tireurs_ are fighting in the Austrian ranks, there is a growing
perception of the fact that the only serious prospect of attaining Polish
Unity lies in a Russian victory. Austria, they argue, might, if successful,
unite the Russian and Austrian sections (at the expense of the former's
economic future!), but never the Prussian; and Prussia, out of loyalty to
her ally, could at best add _Russian_ Poland to her own territory: Russia
alone can hope, in the event of a victory, to unite all three fragments in
a single whole. However profoundly they may differ on points of detail,
all Poles agree that the first essential is the attainment of that unity
without which they may at any moment become, as now, the battleground of
three great Empires, and which provides the key with which they themselves
can unlock the portals of their future destiny. Should their dream be
fulfilled, the valley of the Vistula, restored to geographical unity, may
soon play an important part in the political and economic life of Europe.

Russia, then, is faced by one of the greatest choices in history. An
opportunity will present itself after this war, for solving her own racial
question which has in the past presented scarcely less grave embarrassment
than the parallel problem of Austria-Hungary, and which, if left unsolved,
may at no distant date endanger the unity and welfare of the Empire. The
grant of Polish autonomy, the restoration of the Finnish constitution, the
recognition of the special position of the Ukraine or Ruthene language and
cultural traditions, the relaxation of linguistic restrictions among the
lesser races of the Empire, and the adoption of a humaner attitude towards
the Jews of the Pale--these are steps which follow logically from the
proclamation of the Grand Duke Nicholas, and indeed from the alliance with
the Western Powers. Incidentally much will depend upon the attitude adopted
by the Russian Government towards its new Catholic subjects. Its relations
with the Vatican will require to be placed upon an entirely new footing