Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-25
Curious Case of Partisanship.

The intensity Of the partisanship was
| illustrated in curious way in Prague
| not long ago. A contract for furnish
ing sewer pipes was given to an Aus
trian firm which happened to be not
| only the lowest but the only bidder
and the fact was duly announced in the
newspapers Public indignation was
| Immediately aroused and found express
sion IN the newspapers and in the ap-
pointment Of delegations of Czechs who
called at the city hall and at the resi-
oences OF the burgomaster and members
OF the common council to protest and
insist that the contract should be
gwen 10 some Bohemian firm But no
Bohem1an firm could be found willing
to take it. An Investigation showed
that no Czech was engaged in the
manufacture of sewer pipe, but the
patr,ots were not willing even then
that the contract should be given to an
Austrian and insisted that the city gov
eminent send to England or Belgium
Tor the pipe or else abandon the sew
| ers.
This intensity of racial hatred. as
you can ,imagone, easily develops into
violence among the students, hence il
| is necessary to have double faculties
different hours for lectures and even
dlnerent stairways for the Austrians
should be caught on the Czech stair
way there is no telling what would be-
come of him. The provocation is almost
always on the Czech side. The Aus
trans, being In small minority. take
precious good care of themselves. and
always avoid collisions when they are
outnumbered. Only the other day a
Czech claimed a book which an Ans
trlan student was reading in the uni
versity library. The Austrian gave If
up meek1y when he saw he was out
numbered. but that night the Czech
student who had demanded the book
was badly beaten by strangers in the
street: mere was no evidence that the
austrian student was responsible for
the assault. but he will be punished
for 1t, just the same
me same Jealousy appears in all the
Austrian provinces of the Austro-Hun
gary empire. Only the other day there
was a riot between the Austrian and
Polish students at the University Of
Lemburg. in the northeastern corner of
the empire, near the Russian boundary.
IN which three students were killed
and several were badly wounded. The
trouble grew out Of private dispute
between two students. one an Austria n
and the other a Pole. Sympathizinr
comrades We're soon involved. and the
| dispute developed into q racial battle
| in which three thousand students were
engaged. using clubs and stones. and in
| several cases revolverc.
No Longer a Novelty.
The University of Prague has been
conducted on the double barrel plan
for SO long that the ARRANGEMENT is no
longer a novelty. 1t is practically two
universities under one rector and a
single board of regents. There are two
registrars. a double faculty, two com
mencement days. a single catalogue
and only one kind of diplomas and de-
grees. which are, as elsewhere. written
in Latin.
| The university was founded in 134S
by Charles l, King of Bohemia. i'm imi :
tation of the University of Paris. and
all writer's agree that this foundation
was the most important event in the
history Of Prague, because it resulted
in so much of Importance to the entire
world. The students were divided int n
| nations" according to the place from
| which they came, and within sixty
Years after. in the first decade of the
| fifteenth century, when John Hus was
lord rector. they numbered more than
twenty thousand. 4 writer of that
date says: There is nothing equal to Il
in all Germany, and students came from
all parts-frOm England. France, Lom-
hardy. Poland and all the surrounding
countries, sons of mobiles and princes
and prelates of the church from all
parts of the worl'.
| When the theological war broke out
and an attempt was made to limit the
| privilege; of foreign students several