Page:Sarolea - Great Russia.djvu/163

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RESURRECTION OF POLAND
147

place of Polish patriots from the three Empires. But to the student of politics, Austrian Poland appeals much less than Prussian or Russian Poland, except in so far as it shows the political capacity of the people. After being the most disloyal, Galicia has become one of the most loyal provinces of the Austrian Empire. The influence of the Austrian Poles in politics is shown not on the side of anarchy, but on the side of conciliation and moderation. The result of such Polish autonomy as has been granted to Galicia is the best answer to those that maintain that the Poles are incapable of self-government.


VI

If Austrian Poland is the least important, Russian Poland is the most important of the three branches of the Polish family. It is also the most homogeneous. There are some two hundred thousand Germans, three hundred and fifty thousand Russian soldiers and officials, and three million Jews, who are the proletariate of Israel. But the bulk of a population of over twelve millions are Poles, and their numbers are rapidly increasing with the industrial expansion and the prosperity of the country, for,