860n.01/50: Telegram

The Commissioner at Riga (Young) to the Secretary of State

70. Department’s 59 May 15, 5 p.m. No plebiscite has been held in Vilna district. In January last there were elections to the Vilna assembly. Lithuanians in that district refrained from voting. The so-called Vilna district is now administered openly as an integral part of Poland and it is not believed here that Poland will consent to a reopening of the question. The neutral zone established by control commission of the League of Nations still exists and serves for all present purposes as boundary between the two countries.

[Page 873]

There is a marked and steadily increasing tendency under the surface in Lithuania unofficially to accept the status quo and to concentrate all forces toward procurement recognition de jure and Memel. This tendency is being encouraged by other Baltic States. European recognition de jure of Lithuania will in all probability be accorded in the near future as there is no longer any probability of armed conflict between Poland and Lithuania.

Young