D 651 
 .C9 P4 
 1919b 
 Copy 1 
 
 FHE CZECHOSLOVAK STATE 
 
 CHARLES PERGLER 
 

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THE CZECHOSLOVAK STATE 
 
THE 
 CZECHOSLOVAK 
 
 STATE 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES PERGLER 
 
 »« 
 
 Commissioner of the Czechoslovak Republic 
 in the United States 
 
 NEW YORK 
 CZECHOSLOVAK ARTS CLUB 
 
 1919 
 
irintedfrom "Asia," Ar^s^^ \^ 
 
 Repj 
 Journal of the American Asiatic Association^ 
 
 Third Imp?'ession 
 
 n. 
 
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 '.^UM'? -tiM^ 
 
> 
 
 THOMAS G. MASARYK 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE CZECHOSLOVAK REPUBLIC 
 
Copyright Harris &" Ewing 
 
THE CZECHOSLOVAK STATE 
 I 
 
 DURING the first three years of the 
 I World War the heavy hand of Aus- 
 tro-Hungarian despotism, reinforced 
 by the mailed fist of Prussia, permitted nothing 
 in the Czechoslovak lands that even remotely 
 resembled a free expression of opinion. But as 
 soon as the gripof the Central Powers began to 
 weaken, the nation was able again to give ex- 
 pression to its real attitude. It was then that Dr. 
 Jan Herben contributed to the famous Czech 
 daily, the Ndrodni Listy of Prague, an article 
 declaring that international law cannot pre- 
 vent the birth of a new state, and that the time 
 of proclaiming its maturity and capacity to 
 manage its affairs is a nation's own preroga- 
 tive. But, Dr. Herben says, though the claims 
 of a state to existence arise from its very birth, 
 its existence cannot prevent a certain amount 
 of disarrangement in the relations of the pre- 
 existing states. The new state must be inscribed 
 on the international register. International law 
 must decide whether the new state is to 
 gain admission into the society of old states, 
 whether its culture entitles it to become a law- 
 
C 6 ] 
 ful member, and whether economically and 
 otherwise it can command the respeft a sov- 
 ereign state is entitled to. The corporate stock 
 of Norway in 1905 commanded full respeft: 
 in 1913 that of Albania was very low. Inter- 
 national recognition is dependent on a sort of 
 examination. The group of old states makes 
 inquiries as to whether the new-born child has 
 the capacity of becoming a member on equal 
 terms, and especially whether it does not 
 bring with it the germs of future disturbance. 
 What would be the result of such an exami- 
 nation, should the Czechoslovak Republic be 
 subjefted to one.f^ 
 
 Many of the questions asked by Dr. Her- 
 ben have been answered, and they have been 
 answered in the forms prescribed by inter- 
 national law. All the great Allied powers, and 
 the United States, have recognized the right 
 of the Czechoslovak nation to independence 
 and sovereign statehood. There is in existence 
 a recognized Czechoslovak Government. The 
 United States and her associates in the war 
 are committed to the policy of reestablishing 
 the ancient Czech state, adjusted to modern 
 conditions, and in harmony with the princi- 
 ples of nationality. Before so committing them- 
 selves, these governments naturally ascer- 
 
C 7 2 
 tained whether not only as a matter of justice, 
 but also as a matter of pra6lical statesman- 
 ship this step was possible and advisable, and 
 whether the new state is endowed with all 
 the elements that make for permanency and 
 stability. In the very nature of things, the 
 general public cannot always inform itself as 
 rapidly as governments, and so it occasion- 
 ally happens that questions are asked such as: 
 Have the Czechoslovaks the innate ability to 
 build, form, or create a state? Have they the 
 culture that is necessary for an independent 
 nation in the modern world ? Have they the 
 economic resources necessary for independent 
 existence? I shall endeavor to answer briefly 
 some of these and other questions which ne- 
 cessarily are in the minds of many to-day. 
 
II 
 
 Mr. John W. Burgess of Columbia University, 
 in his great work, Political Science and Com- 
 parative Constitutional Law, lays down the 
 proposition that the Teutonic nations are the 
 political nations par excellence, and that the 
 Slavs and Greeks lack in political capacity. 
 The history of Bohemia furnishes a refutation 
 of this assumption. 
 
 As early as the seventh century, when the 
 historical data relative to Bohemia begin, we 
 find evidences of an established Bohemian 
 state. In the eleventh century Bohemia, Mora- 
 via, Silesia, and Poland were united under Bfe- 
 tislav I, King of Bohemia, and, in the words of 
 Count Luetzow, the eminent historian, "The 
 idea of a West Slav Empire seemed on the 
 point of being realized, but the Germans 
 stepped in to prevent theformationof a power- 
 ful Slav State on their borders.'' Otokar II, of 
 the House of Pfemysl, for a time extended 
 Bohemian rule from the Adriatic to the Baltic. 
 Under the '* National King,'' George of Po- 
 debrad, in the fifteenth century, Bohemia was 
 a European power of the first rank. 
 
 All these achievements, attained under sov- 
 ereigns belonging to houses of Czech origin. 
 
C 9 ] 
 certainly show a high degree of political tal- 
 ent. The fa6l that later Bohemia succumbed to 
 overwhelming brute force is not proof of want 
 of political capacity. 
 
 Perhaps the best proof of the political power 
 of the Czechoslovak nation lies in the way 
 its revolution against Austria-Hungary was 
 condu6led and consummated. Like all non- 
 German nations, it was caught unprepared. 
 But without any cue from conventional po- 
 litical leadership, the people to a man adopted 
 an anti-Austrian and anti-German attitude. 
 The Czechoslovak soldier refused to fight, 
 and went over to the Allied armies in order 
 to reenlist with the forces of modern civiliza- 
 tion, and even, as in Russia, to form an army 
 of his own. The Czechoslovak National Coun- 
 cil very promptly became the dire6ling body 
 of these armies, which submitted voluntarily 
 to its authority. Under this voluntary discipline 
 Czechoslovak troops performed exploits, the 
 story of which will go down in history as one 
 of the noblest classics of all ages. Here surely 
 we have conclusive proof of the ability of the 
 Czechoslovak peoples to govern themselves. 
 At this writing reports from Prague show that 
 the transfer of power from Austrian hands to 
 that of the Czech authorities took place quietly 
 
I 10 1 
 
 and without any excesses, so that even the 
 Berliner Tageblatt declares that the Czech re- 
 volution occurred with dignity, and in a man- 
 ner showing the high state of Czech culture. 
 
Ill 
 
 What of the spiritual values created by the 
 Czechs in the past and present, what of Czech 
 culture? It is historically established that while 
 the Czechs were ruled by their own kings, 
 and while they were unmolested in their 
 affairs, the nation prospered and grew intel- 
 leftually in all respefts. Bohemian history is 
 replete with manifestations of idealism. Spir- 
 itual values have never been underestimated 
 by the Czechs. The Hussite war, while it had 
 its social and economic background, was fought 
 for a religious and civic ideal, and for the 
 rights of the Czech language against the ag- 
 gression of the Germans. 
 
 Palacky,the great Bohemian historian, may 
 have been swayed by national pride, but never- 
 theless his contention that the Hussite war is 
 "the first war in the world's history that was 
 fought not for material interest, but for intel- 
 leftual ones, for ideas,'' is not groundless. 
 
 It must always be remembered that theCzech 
 John Hus preceded Luther by a century; that 
 Comenius ( Komensky ) was one of the great- 
 est educators of all ages ; that Peter Chelcicky 
 preceded Tolstoy by four hundred years ; that 
 
the Czech warrior Zizka is regarded as one 
 of the originators of modern strategy. 
 
 In the second half of the nineteenth century, 
 in spite of unexam pled persecution and oppres- 
 sion by the governments of Vienna and Buda- 
 pest, the nation reached a cultural level sur- 
 passing that of any other nationality in Austria- 
 Hungary. In literature and arts it is second 
 to none. In modern times it has produced at 
 least three poets of the first rank, Vrchlicky, 
 Cech, and Machar. Of the musicians and com- 
 posers, one need only to mention Smetana, 
 Dvorak, and Kovafovic. Of the novelists there 
 is a legion, and they have given the world 
 real works of art. In philosophy, the names of 
 Masaryk, Krejci, and Drtina are known to all 
 scholars. 
 
 According to the official statistics of the 
 United States Immigration Bureau, of all the 
 immigrants to the United States the Czechs 
 show one of the lowest percentages of illiter- 
 acy. Thus, of the 8439 Czech arrivals in this 
 country in the year 1912, there were only 75 
 illiterates, about .008875 per cent. Almost all 
 the Czech immigrants are skilled workmen or 
 farmers. Their eagerness for knowledge and 
 education is well known. As an illustration, 
 in the schools of the forty northern and east- 
 
i: 13 -2 
 
 ern counties of Nebraska there are no less 
 than three hundred teachers of Czech parent- 
 age, several of whom are superintendents of 
 schools. In Chicago, their natural ethnic cen- 
 tre in America, there are hundreds of Czech 
 physicians, lawyers, teachers, and architefts. 
 The buildings of the State of Illinois at the 
 Panama Exposition in San Francisco were 
 designed by a Czech architeft. Statistics also 
 show that crimes of the graver sort are prac- 
 tically non-existent among Czechoslovaks. 
 
 The Czechoslovaks have their faults and 
 vices, no doubt, the same as all other national- 
 ities, but political juggling is not one of them. 
 The Czechoslovak Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence of November 15, 1915, declares that 
 " We take the side of the fighting Slav nations 
 and their Allies, without regard to vi6lory or 
 defeat, because right is on their side. The 
 problem which side is right in this fatal war is 
 a question of principles and of political morals, 
 a question which at present no honest and sin- 
 cere statesman, no conscientious and thinking 
 nation, can evade.'' 
 
 This statement, I think, represents the best 
 Czech thought on the subje6l of politics and 
 political morals. To them politics is notagame, 
 but an expression of the nation's hopes and 
 
C 14 3 
 desires. The best proof of this lies in the faft 
 that the manifesto was issued when the Rus- 
 sian army was forced to retreat from the Car- 
 pathians, and when the situation, from the 
 Allies' point of view, was gloomy indeed. 
 
 Freedom regained, liberty achieved, such a 
 nation will add still more to the world's spir- 
 itual treasures. 
 
IV 
 
 But, we are told, the Czechoslovak State will be 
 a small one, and, as a result, its existence pre- 
 carious, assuming that the world will remain 
 in anything like its present condition of inter- 
 national disorganization. 
 
 In the first place, as modern states go, 
 the new state will not be a small one, since 
 it has a population of about twelve millions, 
 and consists of what are commonly called the 
 Bohemian countries, namely, Bohemia, Mo- 
 ravia, and Silesia, to which will be added the 
 Slovak distrifts of North Hungary, from Ung- 
 var, through Kaschau along the ethnographi- 
 cal boundaries down the river Ipoly (Eipel) 
 to the Danube, including Pressburg and the 
 whole Slovak north to the frontier line of 
 Hungary. The Slovaks are the branch of 
 the nation that has suffered under Magyar 
 domination. Time and again they have ac- 
 cepted the programme of Czechoslovak union. 
 The extent of the new state will be about 
 50,000 English square miles: Belgium has 
 1 1 ,373 square miles. It is obvious that the new 
 state can hardly be classed as small. 
 
 Moreover, the belief in the necessity for 
 large states, prevalent in a certain school of 
 
C 16 J 
 economic and political theorists, and largely 
 based upon teachings of Karl Marx, is one of 
 the superstitions that periodically appear, in 
 order to be abandoned upon a sober second 
 thought. The reaftion against it has already 
 set in, as evidenced by an address delivered 
 some time ago by Mr. L. P. Jacks, editor of the 
 Hibbert Journal, before the London Sociologi- 
 cal Society. 
 
 Mr. Jacks thinks that before long w^e shall 
 see the rise of a new criticism of the whole 
 idea of government. What, he asks, are the 
 limits of government.^ Will not the tendency 
 be to eliminate a number of unmanageable 
 propositions from the scope of human design .^^ 
 Mr. Jacks believes that the next great move- 
 ment of political thought will be in the direc- 
 tion of restri6ling rather than expanding, 
 concentrating rather than spreading, the ob- 
 jects of social endeavor. The deeper thought, 
 he says, starts from the human end of the 
 problem; its first principle is that " industrial 
 civilization is made for man, not man for in- 
 dustrial civilization.'' Viscount Bryce thinks 
 that possibly some modern states have be- 
 come too big to manage. Mr. Justice Louis D. 
 Brandeis once showed pretty conclusively 
 that even under modern conditions certain 
 
business concerns can become so large that 
 their successful administration becomes al- 
 most physically impossible. May this not be 
 equally true of states ? 
 
 The theory that small states and nations 
 cannot succeed is not borne out by history. 
 Even prior to the war there were in Europe 
 twenty-seven states, and the great majority 
 of these were small. There were only six of 
 the so-called great powers: Russia, Germany, 
 Austria-Hungary , England, France, and Italy. 
 Portugal, Denmark, Switzerland, Bulgaria, 
 Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Serbia, Greece, 
 Holland, Montenegro, and Turkey all are, or 
 were, smaller than the Czechoslovak Repub- 
 lic. The last named will hold in Europe the 
 eighth place, only England, Germany, Po- 
 land, France, Italy, Spain, and Russia being 
 larger. 
 
In so far as any state is economically and 
 commercially self-sustaining, that of the Cze- 
 choslovaks will be able to stand upon its own 
 feet. Even prior to the war, economically and 
 financially Bohemia was one of the richest of 
 the Austrian ''provinces/' Of the burden of 
 Austrian taxation, 62.7 per cent was borne by 
 the Czech countries, while the rest of Austria 
 carried only 37.3 per cent. And now, freed 
 from oppressive taxation, levied in order to 
 lighten the burden upon purely Austrian dis- 
 tri6ls incapable of maintaining themselves, the 
 Czechs will be even richer. 
 
 The Bohemian lands surpassed what were 
 once the other Austrian lands in the produc- 
 tion of grain. Of the grain lands of the for- 
 mer Austrian Empire, thirty-eight per cent is 
 found in Bohemia. Eighty-three per cent of 
 Austrian coal is mined in the Bohemian lands. 
 Sixty per cent of the Austrian iron is located 
 ■ there. Ninety per cent, if not more, of the beet 
 sugar faftories of Austria are located in the 
 lands of the Bohemian Crown ; the textile in- 
 dustry is of large proportions, and leather, 
 paper, furniture, and eleftro-technical indus- 
 tries are of importance. 
 
C 19 ] 
 
 The Encylopaedia Americana states the in- 
 dustrial resources of Bohemia as follows: 
 
 *'The industry of Bohemia, favored by its 
 central situation, has long rendered it one 
 of the most important governments of the 
 Austrian Empire. Spinning and v^eaving are 
 extensively carried on in the northern and 
 southeastern distrifts; manufa6lures of lace, 
 ribbons, metal and v^ood w^ork, chemical pro- 
 du6ls, and other branches of skilled industry 
 are also largely developed. Pottery, porce- 
 lain, glassw^are, cutting of precious stones, 
 give employment to many hands. The glass- 
 ware of Bohemia alone, which is known all 
 over Europe, employs 50,000 workers. Large 
 quantities of beer (Pilsener) of the kind 
 known as lager are exported. Prague, the 
 capital, is the centre of the manufaftures and 
 of the commerce of the country. The largest 
 towns are Prague, Pilsen,Reichenberg, Bud- 
 weis,Teplitz, Aussig, and Eger. For internal 
 intercourse there are excellent highways, ex- 
 tending to ten thousand miles, and several 
 important lines of railway leading both south- 
 east to Vienna and northwest to Dresden.'' 
 
 Slovakia, forming the northern part of what 
 we used to know as Hungary, has been very 
 much neglefted, its mineral resources still 
 
remaining undeveloped. United to the Czech 
 countries, it will be a source of strength to the 
 Czechoslovak State. In 1913 one-third of all 
 the iron, gold, and silver mined in Hungary 
 w^as mined in Slovakia. 
 
 These figures are sufficient to show that 
 Austria aftually was a parasite living on the 
 wealth of the Czech countries. 
 
VI 
 
 But of what avail, we may be asked, will all 
 these resources prove, since Bohemia has no 
 port, having a seashore only in Shakespeare? 
 
 Switzerland shows how a state can prosper, 
 though land-locked. In any event, with mod- 
 ern means of communication, dire6l access 
 to the sea is not as important as it was in the 
 past. The sea, after all, is a means of commu- 
 nication: whether the means of communica- 
 tion be the ocean or the railroad, the means do 
 not make so much difference. 
 
 The demand for what has been called eco- 
 nomic rights of way for land-locked states is 
 becoming more and more insistent, and there 
 is back of it all the prestige of the United 
 States of America, for in his message of Jan- 
 uary 8, 1917, the President formulated the 
 principle that free access to the sea must be 
 granted to inland countries. 
 
 The idea of a corridor between the South 
 Slav and Czechoslovak states has been advo- 
 cated. Such a corridor would give the latter 
 access to the Serbo-Croatian ports. This is ad- 
 mittedly a difficult question, but it is obvious 
 that for many reasons it would be well so to 
 arrange the boundaries as to make these two 
 
C 22 ] 
 
 Slav commonwealths neighbors. The idea has 
 been attacked as imperialistic and contrary to 
 the principle of nationality. Whatever may 
 be thought of it, it is not contrary to the lat- 
 ter as is contended by some, because the strip 
 in question, consisting of two present Hunga- 
 rian counties, and a part of a third, contains 
 a large number of Slavs. 
 
 In the north the new state will border on 
 a united Poland, with whom relations will cer- 
 tainly be very friendly. This will assure an 
 outlet to the Baltic. 
 
 Another way of gaining access to seaports 
 is by internationalization of such waterways as 
 the Elbe and the Danube. It is probable that 
 internationalization of waterways will be a 
 feature of the coming international readjust- 
 ment, and that a free Danube will conneft the 
 Czechoslovaks with the Jugoslavs and Ruma- 
 nians in the south. 
 
VII 
 
 Lately, both in America and Great Britain, 
 a certain apprehension has been expressed 
 over the possible fate of the German mi- 
 nority in Bohemia. In Central and Eastern 
 Europe hardly any state can be constru6led 
 without national minorities. The rights of 
 these minorities must be safeguarded, of 
 course. But one cannot help remarking that 
 the gentlemen who now feel that the Czech 
 majority might oppress the German minority, 
 seldom, if ever, exhibited the solicitude they 
 now show when it was a question of the Ger- 
 man minority oppressing the Czech majority. 
 The official Austrian statistics showed the 
 following distribution of population according 
 to nationality: 
 
 Slavs : 
 
 Latins, 
 
 Czechoslovaks 
 Jugoslavs 
 Poles 
 Ruthenes 
 
 Italians 
 Rumanians 
 
 Germans : 
 Magyars: 
 Others : 
 
 8.4 million 
 6.8 million 
 5 million 
 4 million 
 
 0.8 million \ 
 3.2 million J 
 
 12 million \ 
 10 million j 
 
 Total 
 
 24.2 million 
 
 million 
 
 22 million 
 
 7l 
 
 million 
 million 
 
[ 24 ] 
 But these official statistics are notoriously 
 false, and grossly exaggerated in favor of the 
 Germans and Magyars. It must be remem- 
 bered that the Austrian census is not based 
 upon nationality, but upon what is called the 
 language of intercourse ( Umgangsprache) , 
 and that, furthermore, in distrifts with large 
 Czech minorities, or even a6lual majorities, 
 economic pressure was brought to bear upon 
 workmen dependent upon German masters 
 of industry to declare their language of inter- 
 course to be German. It has been ascertained 
 by the Czech National Council in Prague that 
 in western and northwestern Bohemia, which 
 the Germans claim to be wholly German ter- 
 ritory, there are 271 ,542 members of various 
 Czech national organizations. Private but ab- 
 solutely reliable statistics indicate that the per- 
 centage of Germans in Bohemia can hardly 
 be more than twenty per cent, as against the 
 thirty-seven percent shown by the official cen- 
 sus. Conditions in Hungary are even worse. 
 There the Magyars officially form fifty-one 
 per cent of the population, but hold four hun- 
 dred and five seats in the Parliament, out of 
 a total of four hundred and thirteen. The fol- 
 lowing table, compiled by authorities on the 
 ethnical situation in Austria-Hungary, affords 
 
C 25 ] 
 a more reliable basis forjudging conditions in 
 Austria-Hungary than the official census. 
 
 Slavs: 
 
 Czechoslovaks 
 
 10 million 
 
 
 
 Jugoslavs 
 Poles 
 
 7.5 million 
 5 million 
 
 - 27 million 
 
 
 Ruthenes 
 
 4.5 million 
 
 
 Latins: 
 
 Italians 
 
 1 million \ .... 
 
 \ 5 million 
 4 million ' 
 
 
 Rumanians 
 
 Germans: 
 Magyars: 
 
 
 10 million ^ 
 
 .... Ms million 
 8 million ^ 
 
 Others : 
 
 
 1 million 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 51 million 
 
 I show these figures merely to indicate that 
 the problem is not as difficult as the Germans 
 endeavor to make it appear. In any event, 
 because the Germans and Magyars oppress 
 the Czechoslovaks, it does not follow that the 
 latter will oppress the former. It is a signifi- 
 cant fa6l that during the whole of the nine- 
 teenth century not a single Czech statesman 
 advocated, even indireftly, the oppression of 
 other peoples. On the contrary, the Czechs 
 always emphasized the fa6l that they would 
 accord their German citizens complete civil 
 rights, which, of course, include cultural 
 rights. The great Czech historian and states- 
 man, Palacky, said that we never had, nor 
 ever shall have, the intention of oppressing 
 
C 26 J 
 other people; that, true to our chara6ler, re- 
 jefting all desire for the revenge of past 
 wrongs, we extend our right hand to all our 
 neighbors who are prepared to recognize the 
 equality of all nations without regard to their 
 size or political power. Havlicek, the Czech 
 leader in 1 848, said that oppression never pro- 
 duces good results, and in time brings ven- 
 geance upon the heads of its own originators. 
 However, it should be pointed out here 
 that the principle of self-determination of na- 
 tions is frequently confused with that of the 
 rights of national minorities. In the Prdvnicke 
 Rozhledy of Prague for May, 1 9 1 8 , the Czech 
 jurist. Dr. J. Kalab, discusses the claim some- 
 times made that the idea of self-determina- 
 tion of nations cannot be realized, because in 
 almost every territory there are found mem- 
 bers of foreign nations. Those who reason in 
 this way, he declares, fail to differentiate be- 
 tween the principle of self-determination of 
 nations and the principle of civic hberty. Both 
 are derived from the principle of people's sov- 
 ereignty. But civic liberty determines the legal 
 status of each individual, whereas the self- 
 determination of nations determines the status 
 of entire nations. The nation as a whole, as 
 a cultural unit, cannot be subordinate to any 
 
C 27 n 
 one else. But that does not mean that every 
 individual whom fate might have blow^n into 
 the midst of another nation is entitled to de- 
 mand the right of self-determination. He, like 
 every one else, is entitled to civic liberty. 
 
 Self-determination of nations is something 
 substantially different from national auton- 
 omy. National autonomy is the right of citi- 
 zens of a certain nationality to have the con- 
 ditions of their cultural development guaran- 
 teed in a state ruled by another culture, or 
 the manner in which the state shall guaran- 
 tee to members of a foreign nationality their 
 civic liberty. Self-determination, on the other 
 hand, constitutes the demand that the nation 
 as a whole shall have the opportunity to make 
 use of all its powers in the service of its na- 
 tional interests so that it may enforce its indi- 
 viduality in all directions, including the life of 
 the state, of course within the limitations set 
 by international law. 
 
 The Czechoslovaks have pledged them- 
 selves to grant the German minority in Bo- 
 hemia full liberty and equal rights. In fa6t, 
 they are in favor of an international law pro- 
 te6ling the rights of national minorities, and 
 it may be one of the fun6lions of the future 
 League of Nations to see to it that national 
 
c 28 :] _ 
 
 minorities are prote6led against attempts at 
 denationalization. 
 
 Czechoslovak minorities outside of the state 
 will also exist, and, judging from pastGerman 
 history, will need this protection. Let it never 
 be forgotten that there is a Czech minority of 
 at least 400,000 in Vienna, and that there will 
 be Czechoslovak minorities elsewhere in lower 
 Austria, as well as in Hungary, even though 
 the latter be reduced as near as possible to its 
 proper ethnical boundaries. 
 
VIII 
 
 While fully conscious that the future Czecho- 
 slovak State will be strong, and not wholly 
 powerless against aggression, yet we under- 
 stand that if the independence of smaller na- 
 tions is to be safeguarded, a new international 
 arrangement must be substituted for the here- 
 tofore prevailing system of shifting alliances. 
 
 During the demonstrations in Prague on 
 May 17, 1918, a resolution was passed at a 
 meeting described by the Czech press as the 
 Congress of Oppressed Nations of Austria- 
 Hungary. Among those who adopted the res- 
 olution were representatives of all Czechoslo- 
 vak and Jugoslav parties, Rumanian and Ital- 
 ian deputies, and Polish representatives. The 
 resolution includes the following paragraph : 
 
 "The representatives of Slav and Latin na- 
 tions who for centuries past have suffered 
 under foreign oppression, assembled in Prague 
 this seventeenth day of May, 1918, united in 
 a common purpose to do everything in their 
 power to assure full liberty and independence 
 to their respective nations after this terrible 
 war. They are agreed that a better future for 
 their nations will be founded and assured by 
 a world democracy, by a real and sovereign 
 
c 30 :] 
 
 national self-goverjiment, and by a universal 
 League of Nations endowed with the necessary 
 authority." 
 
 The jurisdi6lion, authority, and power of a 
 League of Nations will be largely a matter of 
 growth. It is not to be expe6led that the League 
 will immediately possess the authority it ulti- 
 mately should achieve. Until such time all na- 
 tions that have fought together in the present 
 war must hold themselves in readiness to re- 
 sist new schemes of German aggression, for 
 it cannot be expe6led that the German, nur- 
 tured for decades upon schemes of conquest, 
 will immediately abandon ideas which for so 
 long a time have been the motive power of 
 German statesmanship, including the German 
 Social Democracy, led by such men as Schei- 
 demann and Cunow. The latter, in 1914, in 
 an article in the Sozialistiche Monatshefte, en- 
 deavored to prove the proposition that small 
 nations, such as Belgium, have lost their right 
 to exist. 
 
IX 
 
 Of the constitution of the new state perhaps 
 little need be said. The Czechoslovaks are a 
 democratic nation, and the Declaration of In- 
 dependence issued by the Czechoslovak Pro- 
 visional Government on 06lober 19, 1918, 
 succin6lly outlines the future constitution in so 
 far as this can be done prior to the decisions of 
 the Constituent Assembly. It states: 
 
 " The Czechoslovak State shall be a repub- 
 "lic. In constant endeavor for progress it w^ill 
 " guarantee complete freedom of conscience, 
 ''religion and science, literature and art, 
 " speech, the press, and the right of assembly 
 ''and petition. The Church shall be separated 
 "from the State. Our democracy shall rest on 
 "universal suffrage; women shall be placed 
 "on an equal footing with men politically, 
 " socially and culturally. The rights of the mi- 
 "nority shall be safeguarded by proportional 
 "representation; national minorities shall en- 
 "joy equal rights. The government shall be 
 "parliamentary in form and shall recognize 
 "the principles of initiative and referendum. 
 "The standing army will be replaced by mi- 
 "litia. 
 
 " The Czechoslovak Nation will carry out 
 
C 32 ] 
 *' far-reaching social and economic reforms; 
 '*the large estates will be redeemed for home 
 '* colonization, patents of nobility will be abol- 
 ''ished. Our nation will assume its part of the 
 ''Austro-Hungarian pre-war public debt; — 
 '' the debts for this war we leave to those who 
 ''incurred them. - 
 
 "In its foreign policy the Czechoslovak 
 " Nation will accept its full share of respon- 
 "sibility in the reorganization of Eastern 
 "Europe. It accepts fully the democratic and 
 "social principle of nationality and subscribes 
 "to the doftrine that all covenants and trea- 
 "ties shall be entered into openly and frankly 
 " without secret diplomacy. 
 
 "Our constitution shall provide an efficient, 
 "rational, and just government, which will 
 " exclude all special privileges and prohibit 
 "class legislation." 
 
X 
 
 The Czechoslovaks stand before the public 
 opinion of the world with a firm consciousness 
 that their cause is just, and that they have 
 fought for it cleanly and fairly. They proudly 
 maintain that their shield is without a stain. 
 They are simply asking and fighting for 
 what is due them, and for nothing more. They 
 have never been guilty of oppression ; they 
 have never sought what properly belongs to 
 their neighbors. They have proved their case 
 to the very hilt. The white and red flag of the 
 Czechoslovak State has been raised, never to 
 come down again. 
 
 Washington^ D. C. 
 December^ 191 
 
B. B. Updike^ The Merry mount Press ^ Boston 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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