[Illustration: _Woodrow Wilson had won an ally._]
It worked both ways. Wilson, too, had won an ally. 1916 was an election year. Paderewski campaigned actively for Wilson's reelection all during the fall. Many Polish voters, following the lead of the Polish clergy, were Republicans. Paderewski convinced them that their country's first real hope in a hundred years depended on a victory for Wilson. In the end he delivered the large Polish vote almost one hundred percent.
On the day before elections, when the campaigner had expected to relax a little, came shattering news from Europe. Germany had issued a proclamation declaring that Poland was a free and independent nation. The freedom and independence, of course, were the affectionate gift of the German government. The story behind the "gift" was actually a simple one. Germany had previously shown no sign of any such good will to the Polish people. Far from it. As soon as the Russians had been driven out, the German and Austrian leaders had gathered over a map of Poland and had once more divided it up, this time in a two-way split--one half for Germany, one half for Austria. Now suddenly they were declaring the country reunited and free! Why?
Paderewski knew why. It was not Polish freedom the German leaders wanted. It was Polish manpower. They were convinced that if they presented Poland with independence, a million Polish volunteers would gratefully flock to enlist in the German army and could be used to fight the Russians in the East. The other reason for the move was a more subtle danger. If the Poles appeared to accept the offer and consented to be taken under the loving wing of Germany, then America and the Allies would lose interest in the cause of Polish freedom. Poland herself would be regarded as a friend of the enemy.
Paderewski saw through the trick easily. "This means only more suffering for my people," he told House. "It means that another army will be raised and that there will be more killing and more devastation!" He realized that everything he had won during the past few years was in danger of being destroyed in one day. Unless he acted quickly. But what could he do? Never before had he felt so cruelly his lack of real authority. If only he were the official spokesman for some truly representative Polish groups, so that when he spoke a firm majority of Poles spoke with him.