Economic Links Between the Polish Ethnic Group in the U. S. and Poland 1918-1939

Tadeusz Radzik

Economic Links Between the Polish

Ethnic Group in the U. S. and Poland

1918-1939

Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sectio F, Historia 50, 273-284

1995

A N N A L E S

Economic Links Between the Polish Ethnic Group in the U. S. m id P o la n d

1 9 1 8 -1 9 3 9

W ięzi e konom iczne m iędzy Polo n ią a m ery k ań sk ą a P olską w latach 1 9 1 8 -1 9 3 9

The mass econom ic emigration o f Poles to the United States took place after 1870 in the third phase o f the American immigration (the so-called great indu­ strial immigration) lasting from the time o f the C ivil War until the outbreak o f World War I.

In the years 1 8 9 5 -1 9 1 3 , over 1.9 m illion persons from the Polish territories settled down in the U. S ., including 9 5 0 ,0 0 0 immigrants from the Polish K ing­ dom (the Russian sector o f partitioned Poland), 9 0 0 ,0 0 0 from G alicia (the A u ­ strian sector) and only 50,000 from the Prussian-ruled sector. A bout 1 ,3 0 0 ,0 0 0 o f them w ere P oles.1

The restrictions o f immigration introduced after World War 1 resulted in s ig ­ nificant lim itation o f the inflow o f Poles to Am erica. A ccording to the official Am erican census, the Polish ethnic group in the United States counted 2 ,4 4 3 ,3 2 9 people in 1920, 3 ,3 4 2 ,1 9 8 in 1930, and 2 ,9 0 5 ,8 5 9 in 1940.2

1 A. Pilch: E m ig ra cja z ziem p o lsk ic h d o S ta n ó w Z je d n o czo n ych A m e ry k i o d lat p ięć d ziesią ty ch

X I X w. d o r. 1918, [w:] P olonia am erykańska. P rzeszłość i w spółczesność, ed. by H ieronim K u ­

biak, E ugene K u sielew icz and T haddeus G rom ada, K raków 1988, s. 42.

2 O n e A m erica, T he H istory, Contributions, and P resen t P ro b lem s o f O u r R a c ia l a n d N a tio n a l M inorities, ed. by F. B row n and J. R oućek, N ew Y ork 1949, s. 657.

It should be em phasized that the figures given by the Am erican sid e w ere not precise, because they counted as m embers o f Polish ethnic group only those im­ migrants w h o w ere born in Poland, and their children, if the latter regarded Polish as their mother tongue. Other people o f Polish descent w ere regarded in the cen ­ sus as native Am ericans. Finally, som e immigrants w h o cam e to the United Sta­ tes before World War I from the regions o f Poland under the Prussian, Russian and Austrian partitions w ere registered as m em bers o f ethnic groups o f those c o ­

untries. ·

The Am erican Polonia tended to concentrate in the northern states o f the U. S ., along the Great Lakes betw een the Atlantic and the M ississipi river for­ m ing tw o major settlem ent areas: the one including north-western states (Illinois, W isconsin, M ichigan, Ohio, and partly Indiana and the other, em bracing the north-eastern part o f the U. S. (the state o f N ew York, N ew Jersey, M assachu­ setts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania).3

The majority o f Polish immigrants settled in big industrial centres, finding em ploym ent in the industries o f Chicago, Detroit, B uffalo, C leveland, N ew York and coal m ines o f Pennsylvania. A ccording to the census o f 1930, as many as 86.4% o f P oles inhabited urban areas: the vast majority o f w hom b ein g peasants in their native land turned into workers. The number o f farmers w as estim ated less than 1 8 ,0 0 0 (1 9 2 0 ). The number o f educated persons in the Polish immigrant group w as very sm all too; in fact it w as m uch low er than in any other ethnic group.4

The main sphere o f the econ om ic activity o f the Polish ethnic group in A m e­ rica w as connected with World War I, w hen the Polonia look it upon itself to or­ ganize aid for the im poverished population o f Poland. Several organizations un­ dertook such activities at the sam e time, the m ost important o f them being: the Polish Central R elief C om m ittee (transformed later into Polish National Depart­ m ent in A m erica), the Am erican-Polish R elief C om m ittee (the so-called Sem - brich Kochańska Com m ittee), the National D efence C om m ittee and the National Am erican Com m ittee o f the Polish V ictim s R elief Fund, founded by Ignace Pa­ derew ski.

The material basis o f all aid for Poland w as to be the so-called ” 10 m illion Fund” instituted on the initative o f Ignace Paderewski by the Parliament (M eeting) o f Polish Immigrants in Detroit, in A ugust 1918. The Polonia leaders believed that the collection o f 10 m illion dollars am ong over 3 m illion im migrants o f Po­

3 A. B rożek: P o lish A m e ric a n s 1 8 5 4 -1 0 3 0 , W arszaw a 1485, s. 34.

lish extraction should not be too difficult a task. The Parliament established a permanent though voluntary task, depending on individual incom e. The taxes w ere c o lle c te d by the c o lle c tio n c o m m itte e s o rg a n iz e d on the b a s is o f the network o f alm ost 8 0 0 parishes.

D espite the countless speeches, the daily ediliorials, support o f the Polish clergy and alm ost all the Polish organizations, not even h a lf o f the goal w as reached (4,954,419 dol). 5 In comparison with the Jewish and Czech ethnic groups, the Polish group w as more thrifty in spending m oney; the Polonia w as m ore eager to take part in spectacular patriotic m anifestations than supporting financially the national cause.

Yet, in the years o f 1918 and 1919, thanks to John Sm ulski, a C hicago ban­ ker and chairman on the Polish National Department in A m erica (the m ost im ­ portant Polish Organization) w ho cam paigned with the Am erican Red Cross and the Am erican R elief Administration, Poland received by A ugust 1919, 254.4 thousand tons o f food and 6 thousand tons o f clothes, worth o f 6 3 ,1 9 1 ,2 1 6 d o l­ lars. Som e help cam e also from the Am erican Red Cross, the Jew ish Joint D istri­ bution Com m ittee and the US Liquidation C om m ission. Behind these underta­ kings, too, stood John Sm ulski, an active negotiator representing, w ith absence o f diplom atic relations, the interests o f Poland. A fter the dissolution o f A R A in July 1919, the American R elief Administration - European C hildren’s Fund w as cre­ ated by Herbert H oover which continued to provide aid for European countries ruined by the war. This action w as also actively supported by the A m erican P olo­ nia (although on a sm aller scale than expected). Poles from A m erica w ere also am ong the personnel o f A R A and A R A -EC F in Poland including several dozens nurses, volunteers from am ong the Polonia.

The im possibility o f creating a Polish section o f the Red Cross - it could ex- sist only in an independent country - led to the idea initiated by Ignace and H ele­ na Paderewski, that a special organization acting as a substitute o f a Red Cross be created in the National Department in America. T his w as form ally established in January 1918 as the Polish W hite Cross. A t the head o f this organization, w h ose main objective w as material aid for the Polish Army in France, stood H elena Pa­ derewski. A ll funds w ere raised am ong the Am erican Polonia. A fter the transfer 5T. Radzik: Społeczn o -eko n o m iczn e a sp ekty stosunku P o lo n ii am ery ka ń skiej d o P o ls k i p o l w o j­

n ie św iatow ej, K raków 1484, s. 2 7 -3 1 ; Z estaw ienie u w a g i c yfr o d R a d y Z a rzą d za ją c ej W ydziału N a ro d o w eg o na Trzeci S ejm w P ittsburghu, Pa., dnia 2 3 lutego roku 1021, C h ica g o 1421, s. 17.

6 R adzik: S p o łeczn o -eko n o m iczn e asp ekty..., s. 1 4-26; H erb ert H o o v er a n d P o la n d . A D o c u m e n ­ ta ry H isto ry o f F riendship, ed. by G eorge J. L erski, S tanford 1477, s. 6 - 7 ; W . R. G rove: W a r 's A f­ term ath. P o lish R e lie f in 1010, N ew Y ork 1440, s. 214.

o f the Polish Army from France to Poland, the Polish W hite Cross countinued to operate extending its charitable help to the civilians. In 1919 at the request o f the Am erican governm ent PW C w as disbanded, and replaced by the R escue Section o f Polish W om en (in fact it w as only a formal change o f the nam e). N one the less, PW C continued its activity in Poland until 1922 under its old name o f the basis o f the funds collected in America. The assistance stopped at the m om ent w hen the Polish National Department and its R escue Section o f Polish W om en ceased to ex ist.7

The charitable aid o f the Am erican Polonia for their old country, both for the organizations and for individual persons, w as important. Concrete requests and needs w ere m et, p o ssib ilities o f receivin g aid from A m erican a g en cies w ere partly resorted too. During eig h t m onths betw een D ecem b er 1918 and A ugust 1919, the Polish N ational Departm ent supported financially over 8 0 charitab­ le organizations and institutions in Poland. The m ost sig n ifica n t su b sid ies w e ­ re sen t to the M ain Protection C ouncil in W arsaw . The resources co llected w ithin the ” 10 m illion Fund” w ere taken advantage o f. In the fall o f 1920, the P olish legation in W ashington clashed w ith the P N D authorities ov er the c o n ­ troversy con cern in g the right to organize material aid for Poland. T he contro­ versy w hich w as w id ely w ritten about in the Polonia press, decreased in effe c t the g en erosity o f the P olish im m igrants.8

O w ing to the activity o f the Polish organizations significant sum s o f m oney w ere obtained from American Central and local institutions and organizations, such as e.g. the R ockefeller Fundation (1 0 0 thousand dollars), the Patriotic Fund in Detroit (5 0 ,0 0 0 ), War Chest in N ew Amsterdam (2 8 ,0 0 0 ) and sent to Poland in real m oney or the good s.4

In spite o f all these efforts, the material support lor the war-ravaged Poland w as rather disappointing, w hich was due both to the political d ivision s within the Polish com m unity in the United States and the contem poraneous collection s for different objects.

A characteristic feature o f the Polish ethnic group in those years w as (contra­ ry to the Jew ish group for instance) its inability to fully exp loit the possib ilities created by the A m erican organizations in obtaining support both for itself and

7J. O rłow ski: H elena P aderew ska. N a p iętn a sto lecie j e j p r a c y n a ro d o w ej i sjx d ec zn e j № 1 4 —

102e), C hicago 1924, s. 9 6 -9 7 ; L. B ójnow ski: Sp ra w o zd a n ie z d zia ła ln o ści P o lskieg o B ia łeg o K rzyża , N ew B ritain, C onn. 1921.

* К . L ubom irski to PN D , 23 m arch 1920, A rchives o f the Polish R om an C ath o lic U nion in A m e­ rica, C hicago, PN D File, 12841; R adzik: S p o łeczn o -eko n o m iczn e a sp e k ty ..., s. 3 3 -3 7 .

for Poland - the result o f the internal transformations the Polonia w as undergo­ ing. Another characteristic feature o f the Polish ethnic group w as that all kinds o f actions com bined with m eetings, celebrations, selection s o f com m ittees (i.e acti­ vities w h ose form created the possibility o f mutual contacts and participation in

the life o f o n e ’s own ethnic group) w ere much more su ccessfu l.

The question arises, in w hat relation the effort o f the Polish com m unity in America w as to its possibilities? It seem s that the Polish immigrants m ade a su f­ ficient but not the best possible effort, considering their p ossib ilities as determ i­ ned by the material position o f the com m unity in the Am erican so ciety , its ow n social structure and the level o f national con sciou sn ess. The internal cam paign, oriented towards its own com m unity and aimed at stim ulating activity and provi­ ding financial aid, proved to be effective and brought concrete results. W hat w as less effective w as the pressure o f the Polish com m unity on the A m erican autho­ rities and society. The latter w as rather beyond the p ossib ilities o f the Polish com m unity. It w as the question o f the position o f the Polish ethnic group in A m e­ rican society.

In should be stated that the activity o f the Polish immigrants in A m erica w as a t t h a t t i m e guided m ostly by the interest o f the Polish nation and the Polish state. This sheds light on the national con sciou sn ess o f the im migrants w ho w ere largely o f plebeian descent. A t the sam e time, all the activities undertaken for the support o f Poland constantly stimulated and enriched the national con sciou sn ess.

In 1919 the Polish governm ent faced by enorm ous econ om ic d ifficu lties af­ ter the regaining independence as w ell as a permanent need for credits and fore­ ign currency decided that the best way to rise the m oney w ould be to sell Polish bonds in the United States. The Polish side in that business w as to be represented by John Sm ulski, chairman o f PND, banker and political friend o f Ignace Padere­ w sk i. Smulski expected that it w ould by possible to sell in A m erica obligations am ounting to the sum o f 100 m illion dollars. The profils and the property o f Po­ lish state were to guarantee the loan. Unfortunately, the Am erican banks did not trust the Polish state as the scale o f the task w ould request. The plan collapsed. In its ch an ged v e r sio n , the plan a n ticip a ted the s a le on b on d s o n ly w ith in the P olon ia circles and only for the sum o f 25 m illion dollars.

However, before Sm ulski finished organizing suitable banking corporation, the Polish Ministry o f Treasury and Warsaw authorities, w hich doubted Sm ul- s k i’s financial abilities had put in charge the realization o f the loan to the A m eri­ can financial corporation The P eo p le’s Industrial Trading Corporation. W hat is more, PIT Corporation received, at the sam e time, a one-year priority in brokera­ ge in any financial transactions betw een Poland and the United States. The latter

could be more profitable for the Corporation than the realization o f the loan. What is w orse, the total sum o f this 6% loan am ounted to 2 5 0 m illion dollars, but the m inim um level o f its realization had not been d efin ed .10

A s a result, the Polish National Department with its chairman, other Polish organizations and the Polish press supported loan cam paign only form ally sh o ­ w in g reluctance towards the idea o f loan, although Polish speakers and clergy promoted the sale o f bonds and like som e Polish organizations offered office space for the sale o f obligations.

Unfortunately, the bond drive w as launched at the very time o f Polish m ilita­ ry defeats on the Eastern front and the threat o f Polish independence. On the bat­ tle front Polish arm ies suffered defeat after defeat, and so in Am erica the bond drive suffered accordingly. Nothing seem ed to help; appeals, attractive posters, newspapers advertisem ents and the enthusiasm o f paid and unpaid speakers - all fell flat.

If one takes into consideration these circum stances, one should not be supri- sed by the negative result o f the campaign; although the bond cam paign never broke dow n com pletely being prevented with great effort from the collap se, the goal w as never reached. A mere 18.5 million dollars w ere collected. In 1937 the Polish authorities arbitrarily changed the date o f paying the loan. This fact had a negative influence on the attitude o f the Polonia towards Poland.11

Betw een 1919 and 1923 about 100,000 Polish immigrants decided to return to Poland. The returnees w ere partly m otivated by patriotism how ever partly by the econ om ic depression which becam e deeper in 1920 and 1921. A s a result, the unem ployed immigrants started to lose their savings. They b elieved that the re­ turn to Poland m ight give them a chance for an econ om ic success. The com pa­ ring o f prices and the cost o f living w as an importand factor lying b eh in d .12 S om e o f the re-emigrants w ere determined to becom e successful businessm en thinking about the p ossibility to make Poland another United States. They returned to Po­ land with the purpose o f contributing their know ledge, their experience, their strength, their w ealth toward the rebuilding o f a pow erful and ec o n o m ica lly stabilized country, anxious to introduce Am erican business m ethods to the Polish countryside and industry and watch prosperity unfold. Unfortunately, very few o f them knew what the real Am erican business m ethods were.

10 Z. Landau: P ierw sza p o lsk a p o życzka em isyjna w S ta n a ch Z jed n o czo n ych , „Z eszy ty N aukow e S G P iS ”, nr 11, W arszaw a 1959, s. 5 9 -6 1 ; S. Iciek, P o la cy w A m e ryc e , P oznań 1921, s. 27.

11 L andau: op. cit., s. 71.

12 A. W alaszek : R eem igracja ze S ta n ó w Z jed n o czo n ych do P o lski p o l w o jn ie św ia to w ej (

70

0

M any P olish re-em igrants w orked under the illu sion that Poland is a new country provided with the w idest and m ost varied field o f opportunity for every business and econ om ic venture. What they found w as that busines opportunities w ere few and limited. Their Am erican experience, practices and m ethods could not find correspondent application. The bureaucracy, corruption o f local authori­ ties and w hat is the m ost important, ignorance o f real econ om ic and social con d i­ tions in Poland made their activities fruitless.

S om e o f the re-emigrants have engaged their m oney in various industrial, transport and trade corporations directed by non-professionals aim ing at quick and high profits and they lost their savings. S om e on them have established sm all business shops, similar to those they had conducted in America, others bought real estates in cities, m ostly apartment houses. Those w ho invested their savin gs in apartment houses could not expect profits because in 1920 the governm ent gave special protection to the lodgers to save them from rem oving. Planning to retire in the old country many Polish re-emigrants put up their savin g into banks. A s a result o f the great inflation they lost alm ost all. S om e o f them bought the farms at the low price from the Germans, m ostly in the w est provinces o f Poland. Many settled dow n on land bought in their native villages, and they w ere d oing rather w e ll. Apart from the last case, it is very remarkable that practically all o f the re-emigrants failed in their undertakings.

It should be noted that the Polish governm ent did alm ost nothing to protect them from exploitation and abuse. On the contrary, it was setting many bureaucratic obstacles in the process o f accom m odation o f the re-emigrants in their new sur­ roundings, i.e. possibility o f buying the land only by Polish citizen s (so m e o f them had the American citizen sh ip ).13 In the result, the essential part o f a sum o f about 30 m illion dollars, w hich re-emigrants contributed to the Polish econ om y, was lost irrevocably for them. By 1922 som e 9,0 0 0 persons am ong the returnees w e re so d isg u ste d that they cro ssed the A tla n tic O cean for the third tim e, thoroughly disappointed with what they had seen in the old country. The stories they brought back with them to Am erica slow ed dow n the scale o f re-em igration. Others looked for protection in the Patronage o f the A llia n ce o f P o les from Am erica in Polish Republic, an organization representing their interests.14

In 1921 the Polish currency began to inflate with its value decreasing rapid-15 A. W alaszek: R eem ig ra n ci ze S ta n ó w Z jednoczonych i K a n a d y w P o lsce (10JO -JQ 23), „P rze­ g ląd P o lonijny” 1480, nr. 1, s. 5 -1 7 .

м Γ). B uczek: Im m ig ra n t P astor. T he L ife o f the R ig h t R e v ere n d M o n sig n o r L u c ya n R ó jn o w s k i o f

the N e w B ritain, C onnecticut, W aterbury 1974, s. 159; S. O sada: J a k się k szta łto w a ła p o lsk a dusza w ychodźstw a w A m e ryc e , Pittsburgh 1930, s. 175.

ly. Many o f the Poles in America unacquainted with m oney business and with changes o f the courses, considered this an opportunity time to invest their dollars in Polish marks. They thought that perphaps overnight the mark w ould rise again in value and they w ould be richer for all the risk they w ere taking. S om e Polish- A m erican w orkers even w en t into debt b uying these w orth less m arks. T hey should be sim ply regarded as the speculators in foreign exchange.

N obody o f course dreamed that the Polish mark w ould ever reach a ratio o f 9 ,3 0 0 ,0 0 0 marks to the dollar as happened by February 1924. In the matter o f this speculation John Sm ulski, president PND and banker, expert on financial m at­ ters, warned that the Polish governm ent w ould not be responsible for lo sses su f­ fered in these currency exchanges.

S om e other Polish Am ericans sent various sum s in Am erican dollars to Po­ land, either to their relatives or w ith the purpose o f buing the property for them selves or for others reasons. In the process o f exchange from dollars into Po­ lish marks, and m ainly, in the process o f slo w expediting the m oney by the banks and delivering them to the receivers, considerable sum s o f m oney w ere lost by the daily d ecline o f the Polish mark. It ofen happened that, after one month, re­ m ittee received only 10% o f sending value.

In accordance with the data compared by the Polish consul M ieczysław S zaw lew sk i the amount sent by Polish Am ericans to Poland w as as fo llo w s.15

Table 1. M oney sent by Polish A m ericans to Poland Years A m o u n t (dollars) 1919 30 m in 1920 60 m in 1921 45 m in 1922 35 m in 1923 20 m in Total 190 m in

The majority o f depositors lost their savings, esp ecially those w ho planned to return to Poland within a year or two and sent their m oney to the private banks. Guarantees were given only to w h ose w ho sent their deposites to the Post O ffice National Savings (Pocztow a Kasa O szczędności) and the Polish National Savings Bank (Polska Krajowa Kasa O szczędności) by the Polish consulates.

15 M. S zaw leski: W ych o d itw o p o lsk ie w Stunacli Z jed n o czo n ych A m e ry k i, L w ów -W arszaw a-K ra- kó w 1424, s. 433; J. A dam ski: S p ra w o zd a n ie i p ro je k t org a n iza cji p rz ek a zó w a m eryka ń skich , W a­ szy n g to n 1420, s. 3 -4 .

But in the ca se, the matter w as com plicated right from the b egin n in g. A t first the Polish governm ent refused its responsibility to m ake g ood ev en the d ep o sits in the national b an k s, the d e p o sits w h ich had b een guaranted o n ly tw o years before. But later, in April 1925, shortly b efore the m eetin g o f P o­ lish N ational C ongress in A m erica, (w hich had on its agenda the q u estion o f the Polonia financial lo sses in Poland) the Polish M inistry o f Treasury agreed to repay dollar for dollar all the deposits made in Polish national b a n k s.16 A s a part o f com prom ise, the paym ents w ere made in Polish g overn m en t bonds b earing five per cen t interests and m aturing w ithin 20 years (it m eans 1945, s ix years after H itler’s conquest and one year after the ch an ge o f the p olitical system in Poland). Thus dashed all hopes o f getting back the investm ent m ade by the P o lish -A m e r ic a n s. T he sa m e happened w ith the b o n d s o f P o lish loan in the U.S.

In should be stated that d eclin e in m oney v alu e w a s universal in Europe, other contries undergoing the sam e process, which w as so painful as in Poland. T his should be looked upon as an aftermath o f the war.

The hopes o f Am erican Polonia linked w ith the b en efits that m ight be d e­ rived from contacts with the reborn Poland, also cam e to nothing in the case o f various com panies and corporations w hich had sprung up in b ig numbers fo llo ­ w in g the end o f the war, w hose aim w as to develop trade links with Poland or to invest in this country. Many o f them w ere organized also w ith the intent and pur­ p o se o f rebuilding Poland econom ically after the war. But m ainly it w as a dream o f easy m oney, o f high dividents, that has been thrust upon the Am erican P o lo ­ nia. In their imagination post war Poland offered great opportunities for the invest­ ment o f the capital. Many corporations put the advertisements into the Polish-Am er- ican press about sellin g stoke and shares. Each business organization or corpora­ tion had the stamp o f patriotism imprinted upon it and often the support o f people popular in the Polonia circles.

The speculators reasoned that Poland w as undergoing a thorough reconstruc­ tion and that prosperity must follow the recovery. One could ex p ect that the b ig ­ gest profits would com e to those w ho entered as the first. The risk w as greater in industries yet to be developed but so was the profit. In such an atmosphere o f hope many business enterprises mushroomed during 1 9 1 9 and 1 9 2 0 .T h e m o st im ­ portant o f them were: The Polish M echanics A ssociation founded in T oledo, Ohio in 1919, Union Liberty Co., Palatine Commercial Corp., ’’N ew Warsaw C o.”,

also navigation corporations, such as the Polish-A m erican N avigation Corpora­ tion, The Polish Navigation Corporation, the United Polish Lines and others.17

The com bined capital o f these corporations w as estim ated at 3 0 m illion

18

dollars. In the records o f the Statistical Bureau affiliated w ith the Polish C onsu­ late o f G en eral in C h ic a g o , S ta n isła w O sad a, w h o w a s e n g a g e d in B u rea u , d isc o v e r e d in 1921 thirty five such corporations show ing a property valuation 4 9 ,9 0 1 ,0 0 0 dol. and numbering 145,111 shareholders.14

A lm ost all o f these corporations w ent bankrupt as a result o f inflation o f the Polish mark, the inexperience and the naivety o f the sponsors, their ignorance or lack o f technical know ledge and lack o f the support from the Polish authorities. S om e o f the com panies were mere sw in d les, but it w as not the com m on events. For the Am erican Poles it w as another bitter experience in their econ om ic rela­ tions w ith Poland.

H ow ever, in the 2 0 ’s the next steps w ere made, both in the U S A and Poland, to lay down a com m on program o f econ om ic cooperation betw een Polonia in the U S A and Poland. The program in question w as to be im plem ented by specialized organizations. Towards the end o f 1918, the Polish National Department created in C hicago an Industrial and Trading O ffice where all the initatives concerning cooperation w ere to be concentrated and w hich at the sam e time w as to fulfil the function o f an information center with reference to above matters. H ow ever, this initiative did not obtain the support o f the Polonia. A greater significance w as at­ tached to the A m erican-Polish Chamber o f C om m erce and Industry in the U .S . - an organization founded in 1920 in N ew York on the initiative o f Polish authori­ ties. The organization dealt with the cooperation with Poland, although the parti­ cipation o f the Polonia in its activities w as very sm all. It w as the Am erican co m ­ panies that dominated.

In 1921, a counterpart o f the A m erican-Polish Chamber o f Industry and C om m erce w as created in Warsaw. The periodicals: "America" and "Poland”, published by the tw o cham bers w ere devoted to the problem s o f eco n o m ic c o ­ operation. In the 1925, on the initiative o f Polish authorities, an E conom ic A sso ­ ciation o f Poles from the Fatherland and Poles from Abroad w as created, the pur­ p ose o f w hich w as to coordinate econ om ic cooperation. H ow ever, as it soon tur­ ned out, it played rather a marginal role in the developm ent o f econ om ic rela­ tions. A t the sam e time another organization the Polish Chamber o f Com m erce

17 K. W aclitl: P olo n ia w A m eryce. D zieje i d orobek, Filadelfia 1444, s. 1 8 8 -1 9 0 . “ S zaw leski: op. cii., p. 440.

founded in 1925 on the initiative o f the Polish consul in C hicago, did not turn out ephemeral and functioned actively for many years.20

An interesting episode in the matter o f econ om ic cooperation betw een A m e­ rican Polonia and Poland were attempts to organize cotton supplies for the textile industry in Poland from the Polish farms in T exas. In the 19th century so m e P o­ lish immigrants settled down in T exas d evelop in g through the years plantations o f cotton. In 1920, the Polish Consul from N ew York, Leon O rłow ski and in 1930 the Polish C onsul from C hicago A leksander S zczep a ń sk i v isited T ex a s, looking for the possibilities o f cotton supplies to Poland. The plan o f sp ecial or­ ganizations in the form o f cooperatives w as being considered, but these projects

2j

have never been realized.

Individual Polonia businessm en could not be object o f e c o n o m ic c o o p e r ­ ation with Poland. In the 3 0 ’s, the Polish authorities consistently attempted to consolidate the Polonia enterpreneurs. It w as connected with the general princi­ ples o f Poland’s p olicy towards the Polonia w hich treated the organizational co n ­ solidation o f the Polonia as the first stage in incorporating the Polonia circles in the world, into the schem e o f work for Poland Endeavours o f Polish consular rep­ resentatives in the U .S. led to the organization o f the National Federation o f Tra­ ding A ssociations in Am erica at the congress in C leveland in April 1936, acting on b eh alf o f 21 Polonia business associations (6 0 0 m em bers) — i. e. 13% o f

Po-20

lish business circles organized in local associations. "

Subordinated to the Polish representatives Federation w as not an authentic body. Until the outbreak o f the war it w as neither a serious partner in econ om ic exchange with Poland, nor a factor which could consolidate the A m erican P olo­ nia.

The balance chart o f mutual relations betw een The Am erican Polonia and Poland in the period 1918-1939 was not favourable for the Polonia. The disappoint­ m ent o f the re-emigrants, losses connected with sending their savin gs to Poland, the failure o f paying the loan back, caused a certain aversion towards Poland and a grow ing indifference to Polish problems. The leaders o f the Am erican Polonia w ere all aware o f this situation already in m id-tw ienties, w hen they coined the slogan: "Polonia for Polonia’s sake” and cam paigned for loosen in g the ties with

20 R adzik: Społeczno-ekonom iczne aspekty..., s. 1 56-166.

21 A . B rożek: P róby organizacji do sta w b a w e łn y do P o lski z fa r m /m lo n ijn y ch w T eksa sie ( 1 0 2 0 -

Ю 3 0 ), „ Z e s z y ty N a u k o w e W y ż s z e j S z k o ły P e d a g o g ic z n e j w O p o lu " , H is to ria 1 4 7 2 , n r 10,

s . 6 5 i n.

a W . G aw roński (consul in C hicago) to Foreign M inistry, 4 Feb. 1437, A rch iv es o f N ew A cts, T h e P olish Em bassy in W ashington, File item 1080.

Poland. In the americanization o f the Polonia, they saw a possibility o f advance­ ment and promotion. In 1934, the dclegats o f the American Polonia refused to joint the World A ssociation s o f Poles o f the Abroad, stressing that they did not com e to W arsaw as Poles from abroad but as Am ericans o f Polish extraction. This met w ith understanding on the part o f Polonia, the Polish press and organizations in A m erica. C onsequently attem pts made by the Polish consular authorities to in­ v o lv e the Polonia in activities supporting a cooperation with Poland had no reali­ stic chance o f success. What is more, the authorities in W arsaw w ere more inte­ rested in the political than econom ic aspects o f cooperation.