The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-03-06
UNITED STATES
 FULFILLS IDEAL.
 OF THE SL0vAKS
America Their Hope and
 Haven, Says Father Ko-
 mara in Armory Address.

which Rev. A. E. kOmara or this city spoke Sunday @. the mass meeting in the Armory, was admirably presented, according to persons familiar with the Slovak people and their aims. Father Komara's address follows:
 To the mass meeting of the united Slovaks, in the name of Slovaks of Bridgeport, Conn, bid you, one and all, a most cordial welcome. I ardent ly hope that what this gathering rep resents. what this mighty. throng stands for. may go down in the his- tory of this, the City of Bridgeport, as a testimonial of the loyalty and de- votion of Slovaks' sons to America.
 For today are gathered here sons and daughters of an oppressed and bleeding Slovak national nation which has for decades endured in pitiful si- lence the wrongs and iHJustices of a tyrannical magyar government.
 As we are gathered here, our hearts and our hopes are centred on Ameri- ca's welfare. That is precisely the purpose of this meeting; to express our loyalty and to show our devotion to this our adopted land, especially in this hour of need. It is true, in-
 
 tiers of old, are only in their infancy. But, fellow citizens, there is one thing. which I, knowing the people, safely can state that in their obedience to the laws, in their respect for lawful authority, and. above all, in their love for this their adopted country they desire to measure up to and even out strip any other people who have all ready outgrown their infancy as low CTS and defenders of America And theretis a natural reason for that. The Slovak ideals are exactly the Ameri- can ideals. They. are the basic under lined principles in the Declaration of ! Independence, namely, that all men are endowed by God himself with cer- tain inalienable rights, such as free dom and pursuit of happiness, and that, no government should be de- structive to these ends But the Slow aks precisely for keeping to t0esa ideals, have been persecuted for years and years, by the. Teutonic- Hungar- ian government. Their schools, built by their own money, have been closed. Their educational institution robbed by the government. The Slovak lam guage of S.000,000 Elovaks in Hun gary is not tolerated to be taught even as a modern auxiliary language. In fact, Slovak students of best morals and talents, are being expelled from school, their only crime is that in their spare moments they were study ing Slovak grammar.
 Just a few months ago the Prime Minister of Hungary made state ment, that if the war lasts longer he hopes there will be no, more Slovaks in certain districts which are richly populated by the S1ovak people. In short, the government in the old homeland of S1ovaks, instead of help ing their ideals, is destroying their very life and their. existence, robbing and thus destroying their happiness.
 There. may be Q few who do not know the historical fact that Slovaks lived in the present Hungary for cen turies before the advent of Hungar- ian-Mongolian tribe, and that 1t Is the Slovaks who gave the first lessons and enriched them with their own vo- cabulary. Now the guest of old Is a deadly tyrant to his s1ovak host.
 Tn view of all that. the American unbiased intelligence can easily grasp that if any, it is preeminently Slov- ak that must realize In all it's fullnes his loyalty so well due to America.
 America which Is tho only spot on Gods own sphere that realizes the ideal of the Slovak people Only here in America the S1ovaks attain the ideal for which they have suffered and 'bled for years in silence and yet did not realize them In their own land. They have cast their lot now in with this land. and this country is tho only country they can love.
 In our schools here we teach the Slovak language as modern or aux Hilary language ,becanse we believe that the moro Languages child knows and begins to learn In the early days the moro successful 1t win be. Al. our children speak English nuently and many graduates of our schools are leading their classes in the high schools and colleges, which shows that we only help to develop the child's faculties and increase his inteIllgence Speaking of the experience of my own school of TOO children, I venture tc say that we are incnlcating into g child a spirit of patriotism and a lovs for the Constitution that must be z credit to the best school And why do we do all that? There comes ( natural law that a fear of punishmen can never accomplish what pure ant true love can do. We do 1t, and W, shall with doubled effort continue t, do 1t because we truly love the land truly free from desoptism and ricl with opportunities that help to fn crease one's happiness by affordin, occasion for self-developmept It i the only land where the ElovAks found their ideals of freedom and pursuit O. happiness realized.
 With their ideals realized beneath the kindly protection of the stars an, stripes, our people have increased an, multiplied until today throughout tn, length and breadth of their fair an, beautiful land, you will find men ant women of S1ovak descent in almos every profession and calling of scciet, men who are not ashamed of thei antecedents, but they are men als4 whose hearts beat warmly with deel gratitude to the benign country. tha extended friendly grasp to a suffer ing nation and made possible the at tainments that are theirs today.
 And now that America herself i passing through her hour of suspens when an awful crisis confronts he, when before her the dark gloom
 chasm of sanguinary war is yawnin
 and when on the loyalty of all he subjects she must rely, shall the grate full Slovals be deaf to a voice of dut
 towards their best mother! Ixnobl would be the conduct of any peopl
 who after prospecting and entoyin