Both sides of the vital Polish issue currently holding the spotlight at the San Francisco Conference were defended last night at a forum in the Astronomical Observatory Library here. The discussion was one in a series of semi-weekly forums on international relations sponsored by the Observatory.

Defending the Warsaw Provisional Government, Dr. Ignacy Zlatowski, of Ohio State University asserted that "Poland must cooperate first with the Slav countries and then with the European, because the enemy can come only from the West." Lashing at anti-Russian sentiment, particularly evident in the press, Dr. Zlatowski claimed "Democracy means the same everywhere and where you have the power in the hands of the people, that is democracy."

Commenting on the Polish Government in exile, he stressed the fact that the London Government represents Poland only up to 1939 while the Warsaw Provisional organization (Lublin) has its hand on the pulse of the Poland that exists today.

London Argument

In direct contrast to Dr. Zlatowski, the second speaker, Professor Thaddeus Rasziuski, formerly of the University of Cracow, attacked the Warsaw Provisional Government as "a government organized in Moscow, by Moscow, and composed of a communistic element which did nothing to help defend Poland." After questioning the legality of the Lublin Government, Professor Rasziuski lauded the heroic efforts of Polish troops throughout the war, claiming that until these armies return to their homes and until Poland is "opened up to friendly nations and foreign press for unbiased study"-the real will of the Polish people cannot be expressed. "Poland today is quarantined, like a colony of lepers," he added.

Both speakers admitted that Poland must live in close friendship with Russia, with Professor Rasziuski adding that "this does not mean submission and does not exclude freedom."

Typical of the diversion of opinion which characterized the forum was the discussion of the Polish underground, which Professor Rasziuski denied was split into two factions, as Dr. Zlatowski claimed.