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If you have any requests or questions regarding the use of the transcript or supporting documents, please contact us: Langsdale Library Special Collections Department 1420 Maryland Avenue Baltimore, MD 21201-5779 http://archives.ubalt.edu The emblem: The right side states: For Our and Your Freedom The left side states: Freedom, Equality, Independence The middle bottom part states: God Save Poland Polish in Exile! Such Was Our Fate! The column to the right of the newspaper’s emblem includes following information: „Polonia“ Political, Scientific and Social Weekly in the United States of North America is issued every Thursday of the week Subscription costs: In the United States - $2,00In other countries - $3,00 Letters regarding administrative matters and subscription payments should be sent to: G.W. Welzant, 601 S. Bond St., Baltimore, Md. Letters to the editor should be sent to the following address: Dr. Juljan Czupka 605 S. Bond St., Baltimore, Md. Weekly Calendar: (In Poland, there is a tradition of celebrating a name day where a particular day of the year is associated with one’s given name, and a below calendar lists the names that will be celebrated in the following week.) Sunday: Genowefa, Izaak; Monday: Tytus, Izabela, Eliasz; Tuesday: Telesf., Sewer, Edward; Wednesday: the Holiday of Epiphany; Thursday: Walenty, Lucjan, Anastazy; Friday: Seweryn, Fortunat; Saturday: Marcjanna, Julia, Lazarusz Year 1 Baltimore, Md. Thursday the 31st of December. Nr. 1 Word from the Editorial Office. Fellow Countrymen! Beginning the publishing of the new Polish newspaper in such a large size from the start, as you can see before you – we examined very well the difficulties with which we will be faced that in near future may prevent spreading of our newspaper – but despite all of this we had the courage to start our publication regardless the considerable financial cost and enormousness of the intellectual work. Today, due to the considerable competition from numerous Polish publications and a large percentage of Polish readers, which exists among the Polish people, there is a need for a certain dose of courage for risking considerable capital, where we cannot be certain whether it will be returned or bring any fruits at all. Outside the financial side of our enterprise, publishing this paper alone is connected with various unpleasant situations, which can be felt especially here in America, such as many misunderstandings partly with some of the readers and partly with atrocious attacks against us from some editors of other newspapers who consider this writing as sort of factory of pudretów [the face-powder], guano or other not very scented products. The first evil we will be trying to repeal by raising the education among our readers, who need it - either through publishing proper articles aiming at spreading universal information in the language which is accessible to everyone – we won’t forget to treat a part of our newspaper with the style and quality that will meet the demands of the inteligent part of our society. This way we will be trying to create from our newspaper the body that will be interesting to the poor as well as the rich, educated and not [educated], men and women. „Polonia“ will be far from promoting discord or disagreements among various classes of our society, of course acting according to the principle: „United we stand, divided we fall“ – our task will be - resolving differences, reconciling conflicting sides - in general finding a sort of modus vivendi between our living elements that stay in everlasting strife, which is encouraged by some Polish newspapers which abuse their position for this purpose. We will be keeping away from engaging into illicit harassments and incitements, and instead we will be fighting off any signs of such behavior without engagement into private polemics and simply scorning the well-known method of maligning, spitting and gaining from our people, which are so easy to beguile, trust at the expense of humiliating the opponent on patient paper with the pen moistened in the inkwell that is full of the venomous content. In the content of our newspaper we will place introductory articles concerning current events from our taken parts of Poland or the matters regarding our society in exile in America, into which we will include issues relating to: our associations, education, promotion of our language and preservation of its clarity, writing movement, our relations with other nationalities, our position on the American politics, movement of our people and growth of our settlement etc. As we highlighted our goals, we kindly ask all our fellow countrymen for sending to us all sorts of suggestions and advices from every corner of this country so that we can include all possible sources of information, which otherwise would not be available to us. Next, we will include political, social, and family information from every part of Poland based on the sources that will directly derive from the Polish newspapers in Europe; and in order to realize the above goal we have taken appropriate steps toward acquiring the first-rate newspapers from the old country. Also, we will also give information according to the earlier highlighted direction about the Polish relations in America, and it will be the first-hand information if it will reach us either through the help of other Polish newspapers, or daily American newspapers, or also the information kindly acquired from the correspondence of our countrymen. We will use the information from the correspondence with our readers either indirectly by using only certain elements there included, or directly by publishing a complete and original letters of our readers, provided that they have interesting and useful content or style that is suitable for our newspaper. According to the old custom, in the comic section of the paper, which will be resurrected by "The Little Corner of Mr. Osa," we will be trying to fight mistakes and defects of our society with the help of the satire and joke and the single characters through the use of the poems or prose as well as such comical characters like “Kuma Wojciechowa,“ „Krzykajło,“ and similar comical characters - we will be mixing up occasional articles with the humorous form - and also we will be placing in our newspaper the articles treating more serious matters as well as the cheerful ones, affecting the heart as well as the mind – emotion as well as the humor – and it will be guiding and entertaining - enlightening and cheering; and we will be to you Our Beloved Countrymen both a teacher and a friend. Also, we will include in this section of the newspaper a variety of riddles, charades, and puzzles for solving of which we will occasionally be giving an award in order stimulate intensity of the thinking our readers and further develop their thinking technique. Part of our newspaper will include section dedicated to novels and romances so that our readers could get acquainted with most precious samples of literary pieces of our writers – and at the same time will be promoting the notions of inquiry into the characters of the people and nations – and through the historic novels we will promote the notion of our history. Also, we will include in our newspaper the newest and most balanced information about important political and social affairs from around the world, which is absolutely necessary for anyone who happens to leave during this century. Moreover, we will keep our readers from Baltimore up to date about the newest market prices and will include the list of Polish letters that are overdue at the post office and could not be delivered due to the lack of the correct address of the addressee. Finally, we won’t forget to include brief biographic information of our famous men, who whether directly or indirectly have worked for the good of our nation. Thus, we will have the opportunity to express our recognition for their achievements, and at the same time, give opportunity to all classes of our nation to know them better. Having tried to incorporate a variety of information into our newspaper, we are convinced that we will fulfill all requirements of our male and comely female readers. (for who we will prepare more than one surprise); we think, that after closer acquaintance, we will be able to gain mutual support. We are far from having the desire of getting financial gains from publishing our newspaper – we will be very happy when we will be able to create the newspaper that is healthy, genuine, not infected by the gangrene of the self-interest and digging in someone’s heels. We hope that we will receive support of our fellow countrymen, and our work at the newspaper would provide us with the financial support that suits the dignity of the honestly workingman. We will support everything what is ours and Polish with the warm feeling of our patriotism - with all our power we will be driving back our enemies who aspire to deprive our people of their national identity and our family soil, which reminds us of our history, our fathers – our precious golden crib, where our mothers swung us their dziatki [babies] to dreams with Polish lullabies instilling in our hearts love for our homeland and Faith of our Fathers.