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1 PO JM 1590-1589 via Coml

Sheet 2.

Stockholm, May 10,1916.

The President:

chartered rights. During the war the Russian armies have devastated our homesteads, plundering and destroying them by fire. Many of us were imprisoned on baseless suspicion like enemies, no trial being granted them; and many have been driven to misery. We Letts have for long time largely contributed to the Russian official world. Our fully developed educational system has been destroyed. A spirit of hostility and hatred towards other nationalities was artificially spread amongst our people; depravity was inevitable, in spite of the fact that we formed Lettish legions for the defense of Russia to-day a great part of the Lettish populations have been driven away from their farms to perish wretchedly in the interior parts of the country. We Lithunians have been deprived of our national independence; our Lithunian statues have been disregarded in spite of all promises; our Catholic churches vere forcibly handed over to the Orthedox clergy and the estates belonging to the church were confiscated. Every effort to spread education and enlightement has been prohibited; and the Lithunian language was to be exterminated. Every one in possession of a Lithunian prayerbook was imprisoned or sent to Siberia. A great part of the land was confiscated and given to Russian favorites or turned into crownlands. The Russian army has driven away, by force, a large portion of our population and devastated a country which was once a prosperous one. We Poles had to endure for centuries a physical and moral martyrdom; to violate our constitution and to destroy our political and national life have been the only aim of the Russian "sister" nation. The Goverment has not

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