[41] It must not be overlooked, however, that, amongst the
other concessions relating to Silesia accorded in the Allies' Final
Note, there has been included Article 90, by which "Poland undertakes to
permit for a period of fifteen years the exportation to Germany of the
products of the mines in any part of Upper Silesia transferred to Poland
in accordance with the present Treaty. Such products shall be free from
all export duties or other charges or restrictions on exportation.
Poland agrees to take such steps as may be necessary to secure that any
such products shall be available for sale to purchasers in Germany on
terms as favorable as are applicable to like products sold under similar
conditions to purchasers in Poland or in any other country." This does
not apparently amount to a right of preemption, and it is not easy to
estimate its effective practical consequences. It is evident, however,
that in so far as the mines are maintained at their former efficiency,
and in so far as Germany is in a position to purchase substantially her
former supplies from that source, the loss is limited to the effect on
her balance of trade, and is without the more serious repercussions on
her economic life which are contemplated in the text. Here is an
opportunity for the Allies to render more tolerable the actual operation
of the settlement. The Germans, it should be added, have pointed out
that the same economic argument which adds the Saar fields to France
allots Upper Silesia to Germany. For whereas the Silesian mines are
essential to the economic life of Germany, Poland does not need them. Of
Poland's pre-war annual demand of 10,500,000 tons, 6,800,000 tons were
supplied by the indisputably Polish districts adjacent to Upper Silesia.
1,500,000 tons from Upper Silesia (out of a total Upper Silesian output
of 43,500,000 tons), and the balance from what is now Czecho-Slovakia.
Even without any supply from Upper Silesia and Czecho-Slovakia, Poland
could probably meet her requirements by the fuller exploitation of her
own coalfields which are not yet scientifically developed, or from the