Pola

Of industries depending on agriculture, the sugar industry is the most important, Poland coming after Germany, France and Czechoslovakia as a sugar-producing country. Whereas agricul ture was formerly encouraged in Poznan, it suffered from gov ernmental opposition and neglect in Russian Poland and in Galicia. Further, the war ruined the industry, which, in 1924, had reached only 26% of its early production. There were 76 sugar factories in 1924, producing 438,070 tons. The production increased to 502,380 tons in 1927 and was estimated at 515,000 tons in 1928. In 1927 205,000 tons were exported. Distilling is an impor tant industry, since Poland has the second largest potato crop in Europe, but brewing has suffered much from the war. The wood and paper industries are also important. Other notable industries are the chemical industries, cement, glass, salt and tanning. The last named has its centre in Warsaw ; the salt mines are chiefly near Cracow. The present productive power of Polish industries seems small compared to that of 1913 ; compared with that of x921 it seems enormous.

Communications.

The greatest hindrance to the industrial development and trade of Poland is the backward state of her communications. This is due to pre-war neglect in her Russian provinces, to the predominance of strategic ideas over economic in the construction of her railways under Russia, Germany and Austria, to the destruction of railways, bridges and rolling stock during the wars, and to the difficulty of amalgamating three sepa rate railway systems with differences of technique and administra tion. In 1927 there were 10,631 m. of railways owned and ad ministered by the State. The years 1926-27 witnessed great improvements in rolling stock, speed of trains and internal and international connections. In 1927 the net revenue amounted to L4,5oo,000 sterling and 8o m. of new line were opened. The lack of roads and the absence of any regulation of the great water ways make the whole problem of communications a difficult one. Schemes for constructing 25,00o m. of roads by the co operation of the Government and local authorities, for a con siderable railway expansion, part of which has been accomplished, and for the construction of some important new canals, will be essential not only to meet the imperative demand for the trans port of coal, oil and timber, but to meet the future prospect of a revival of the great transit trade to Russia, at present almost non-existent. Only political conditions in Russia have delayed the development of Warsaw into one of the greatest transit centres of Europe. The problem of an outlet on the sea is also an urgent one. Danzig has not proved capable of dealing with the whole sea traffic of Poland. After experimenting at Tczew, the Polish Government is constructing a great Polish port at Gdynia (q.v.), which will co-operate with, but not displace the older city. Construction progressed so well that the tonnage handled in the port increased from 414,000 tons in 1926 to 896,00o tons in 1927.

The greatest technical problem was the adaptation to the new directions of trade. From being strategic lines and channels of exploitation leading to Leningrad, Vienna and the German centres, the systems had now to provide abundant communication with Danzig and (later) Upper Silesia. Equally serious were the diffi culties of administration—first in replacing the German employees in the former German areas, and then the more enduring difficulty of training a personnel. But by the end of 1923 the technical condition of the railways was in a satisfactory condition, the im provement being largely due to the advice of American engineers.

The long and numerous waterways are the natural means of transport for much of Polish traffic, but repairs to the banks, dredging and other work is sorely needed. Capital and organiza tion have been lacking, however, and little has been done.

Labour and Social Questions.

Social questions in Poland cannot be measured by the standards applied in countries farther west. The differences in the standards of life and in the habits of the people (e.g., in the part played by religion) make statis tics peculiarly hard to interpret. This is notably the case for figures of industrial unemployment. Most of the 30% of the population who are not employed in or about agriculture still retain family connections with the land and are accustomed to return there in any time of stress. In consequence there is an unusual "elasticity of supply" in Polish industrial labour. Since the war this situation is seriously complicated by the great in crease of the population. Poland is now deprived of her two great clebouches—the United States, which absorbed Loo,000 workers yearly; and German agriculture, which took as many as I ,000,000 persons in the season. The population has been increased by expulsion from Russia, whilst the rate of annual growth is perhaps the highest in Europe.

Under Socialist influence, room has been found for much un skilled labour in the railways and other Government services, which is alleged to hamper the efficiency of these young adminis trations and increase the deficit in the State budget. Trade union policy has maintained the large number of public holidays, ex tended the practice of the eight-hour day, and increased the number of men on the pay-roll of industry. The ability of Polish industry to compete with foreign, and especially German, industry has been very much restricted, and Polish finances have suffered. Other factors depress the standard of comfort, notably the housing shortage, which with Poland's expanding population is perhaps more intense than anywhere in Europe. The repair of about 6o% of the war damage has done something to relieve the agricultural areas (until 1921 hundreds of thousands of people lived in holes in the ground), but in the towns no family may by law retain for its own use more rooms than its own number plus one.