POLAND: My Friends. . . .

Latest of European statesmen to ape President Roosevelt’s microphone manner is Premier Leon Kozlowski of Poland. His “Moi przyjaciele. . . .”is now almost as familiar and effective as the U. S. President’s “My friends. . . .” Last week he cuddled up to his microphone and told the Polish people about their budget and their armaments.

Like President Roosevelt, Premier Kozlowski is running his Government on an unbalanced budget. Persuasively he explained the advantages of doing so. There is no other way, he said, for Poland to be safe. Wedged between armed Russia and rearming Germany, Poland must maintain her Might. To do this her War Ministry must spend next year 761,000,000 zlotys or nearly one-third of Poland’s total Government expenditures. To balance the budget will be impossible, Premier Kozlowski concluded, after predicting a modest deficit of 200,000,000 zlotys.

Just before the Sejm, Poland’s despised parliament (often called “a prostitute” by profane, eccentric War Minister Josef Pilsudski), assembled last week the Government published three decree laws to strengthen still further Poland’s defenses. All citizens of both sexes from 17 to 60 are made liable to “auxiliary military service,” may be conscripted by a single Cabinet order, even in peace time. In case of war, the Government may conscript all property and, by implication, money. In peace time, under a subsection of this second decree, the State may order factories adapted for quick conversion to war use. The third decree law permits the Government to clap into jail for five years any Pole who supplies information to a foreign government which could be used against Poland in case of war. Since the decree is so drawn that it can be made to cover even ordinary economic news printed in a daily paper, Polish publishers were incensed last week.

Of the three drastic decree laws just-folksy Broadcaster Kozlowski said not a word to “Moi przyjaciele.”