The undersigned, in the name of 2,000 men, sons of Poland, who have been revived in America from their subjected lives abroad, solemnly as a body protest against the unheard of and unjust treatment of our people by the Tsar of Russia. We ask all the Polish groups, societies, clubs, brotherhoods, and other organizations existing in Chicago to choose two delegates at a special meeting, or a regular session, to represent said groups, societies, clubs, brotherhoods or any organization worthy of being called Polish, as representatives of the Polish people.

You are aware, fellow citizens, that on New Year's day we opened the initial meeting, which was enthusiastically attended by our people, to voice our opinions with our whole hearts upon the critical situation of Poland and the position of our brothers.

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This throng of people that gathered at the Polish Hall, Bradley near Division Streets, has also asked the undersigned committe to add to its number the assistance of two delegates from each of the many Polish groups in Chicago and its environs.

The aim and purpose of this joint committee is to be the formation of a sincere and solemn protest against the Muscovite violences; against those that have now become possessed with the insane and barbaric desire to force our people abroad into oblivion, like the man-eating tiger that preys upon the sleeping villages of the natives in uncivilized countries.

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Our people have been preyed upon for many decades. As each score passed, their sacrifices became greater, their persecutions even greater.

This protest therefore must be made first of all on a grand scale. A calling to God and his holy disciples for assistance. Secondly, it should also be made extensively an appeal to all parts of the world, to all peoples.

And our protest is going to be loud and constant until this mad and immoral treatment of our people is stopped, until the 19th century is going to wipe off the scars of this barbaric treatment of people desiring liberty.

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Brother Citizens! in the name of millions of our martyrs in Europe, and in the name of the spilling of innocent blood for this everlasting struggle for freedom, we are going to make our protests. We are going to ask and call upon millions and millions of people who know how to take pity even on the unfortunate plight of a little insect. But above all we must call upon own brothers for assistance. We must awaken them from their slumber and have them heed the earnest callings of our brothers for help!

Let them open their kind ears and listen to the pains undergone by our oppressed people, let them open their understanding eyes and view the agonies of the dying martyrs who have been knouted by the Tsar as criminals of old.

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Let them know that these are Polish people! Polish people of the Christian faith! A people that you all know are innocent. Let them view this picture well of the once great Poland.

O brothers and fellow citizens, to who else are we going to make out calls for help if not you? Whose hearts can quickly and more readily grasp and understand the predicament of our Polish people? To whose eyes will these words bring tears?

O Polish people, you have the right and a duty to perform in this free land, under the flag for which your brothers gave up their lives fighting to attain. You should be the first ones to heed the calls from the 6sufferers of agonies and wounds that have been imposed by the Tsar. You should be the first to see the punishment undergone by those for their faithfulness to Polish tradition. You, as Polish people, should be the first ones to read about these atrocities and have a thorough knowledge of the conditions!

You should be the first ones to understand all this and have a foreboding of the wrath of God awaiting those that least desire Him - those unshackled traitors of faith and of our people, those ruthless bumbailiffs of the tyrant.

Brothers and fellow citizens! Do not pass judgment and say that we should make these protests without the help of God, without asking for assistance, for our purpose will not meet with success. But know and 7understand that this protest should be made to the One whose Holy and Most Holy Justice rests heavily upon us, that above all the pleading to others for mercy, we must first make a plea from the depths of our hearts to the Supreme Throne of Justice, to the measureless Throne of Mercy, where stands the sovereign mediatrix of our people, the Queen of the Polish Crown!

Who wants to be so bold as to think that God will not hear our prayers and answer the call of millions of people before His Throne? Fellow citizens, for a long time the Queen of the Polish Crown has been demanding and striving to get this help for us. She has been trying to join our pleas with those of our poor people in Europe and present them to the Holy Ghost.

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At the present time while a dark cloud of God's wrath is hanging over Europe and the infernal disturbances bring dangerous clouds of war and murder, who will outweigh the balance of victory on the scale of Holy Justice? Will the tears and prayers in the name of Christ, joined with the blood of the innocent that have mercilessly been murdered for their religious belief and patriotism to Poland? Fortunate Poland, if she will understand her needs, duty, and the necessity for this calling, for this appeal to the Throne of Justice and the Throne of God!

Polish people, permit yourselves to be awakened from the lethargy of doubtfulness, recall to yourselves the faith and confidence of your grandparents, and quickly and intelligently realize the importance of this awakening, and remember that this great, deep, and common calling of these hearts and souls of united agony will melt the Sword of Justice.

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But this will come only through a uniform union. As the walls of Jericho were crushed by the blare of the horns of the Israelites, so will the iron shackles of oppression of our people be crumbled. Perhaps some will think and say that if we are to call to God why waste time calling to the people for aid?

Will we turn to the people who wish to hear nothing also but flattery, and the droning of drunken music or mad blasphemy, and to the people who only wish to hear the tinkling of gold and see the abundance of luxury on masquerades, and mockery of the virtues of the home and public?

O fellowmen, we will not turn to these for help, we will not turn our voices of protest to them. God has as many of his followers on earth 10as in heaven, and the Spirit of God says, "A great deal can be done by a righteous person with righteous people, for the prayers of the righteous have unlimited favor with me."

Our protest will be the sound of the horn of one of the Archangels awakening the dreamers to the truth which is being concealed with great difficulty by the Tsar. The sound of our calling will awaken millions of our brothers and fill them with the graciousness of truth and the joy of freedom!

The laments of our protest will awaken our brothers and this calling will be taken up by them, for there are millions of them who still think and feel the spirit of Polish freedom. They have the same hearts as these common people, they know and feel and suffer with those that are suffering, and in view of this destruction, this 11suffering of our brothers and sisters, they will raise their voices with ours !!!

Thinking otherwise would be the insulting of the One who created them, who is looking after them on this earth, or a sign of a premature ending of this world and the approach of judgment day.

Let us with confidence, dear brothers, join together in helping this cause.....let us all go forward with confidence!

P. S. Time, place, and arrangements of the next meeting will be announced soon.

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The Committee:

Anthony Rudnicki,

Francis Zagrzebski,

Jacob Tomaszewski,

Joseph Klatecki,

John Gniot,

Albert Tomasik,

John Ozekala,

A. Lampkowski,

Jacob Obert,

S. Zahajkiewicz,

Frances Wicklinski,

Jacob Mucha,

Valentine Pyterek.

Father Vincent Barzynski,

Chairman of the Committee.

Thomas Krolik,

Secretary.