ch. ii FROM THE TREATY TO CONFERENCE OF LONDON 9

areas, the principal Allies, with the exception ofFrance , were of opinion that, apart from the south-eastern districts of Pless and Eybnik which, althoughthey contain undeveloped coalfields of great import-ance, are at present agricultural in character, nearlythe whole of the province should be assigned toGermany. Owing to the inability of France toaccept this solution, the whole problem was referredto the League of Nations for final arbitration. Thisbody bisected the industrial area in the interests ofracial or nationalistic justice ; and introduced at thesame time, in the endeavour to avoid the consequencesof this bisection, complicated economic provisions ofdoubtful efficiency in the interests of material pros-perity. They Umited these provisions to fifteen years,trusting perhaps that something will have occurredto revise their decision before the end of that time.Broadly speaking, the frontier has been drawn,entirely irrespective of economic considerations, soas to include as large as possible a proportion ofGerman voters on one side of it and Polish voters onthe other (although to achieve this result it has beenthought necessary to assign two almost purely Ger-man towns, Kattowitz and Konigshutte, to Poland ).From this limited point of view the work may havebeen done fairly. But the Treaty had directed thateconomic and geographical considerations should betaken into account also.

I do not intend to examine in detail the wisdom