The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-02-20

flourishing Bohemian textile indus
try People IN this country do not
understand that nearly all the cotton
mills OF Austria were located In Bo
hernia. that in these Bohemian mills
there were over 100000 epindles,
and that Bohemian cotton goods al
n mas' ,, n,eno gsl,. E s5
don't .,sct .thsrs ~.sss-ke.1 -.,1 Increase.
and that Bohemia will be still
greater consumer OF American cot
ton.
Machinery Ia perhaps second In i'm
portanee. While Bohemia, Moravia-
and ailesta have important machine
shops, and while steel mills in Bo-
hemian and Silesian coal centers pro-
duced rails. structural steel. etc. for
export, much American machinery
was bought by Bohemia before the
war. such an agricultural machinery
and especially gasoline motors and
tractors, sewing machines. type
writer's. adding machines, cash regis /
tiers. shoemaking machinery. printing
machines. hardware. steam radiators.
Tools OF American manufacture enjoy
the highest reputation, and have been
generally on sale In Prague. Ameri- !
can machinery was used IN many !
manufacturing establishments. and
the Czecho-Slovak Republic Is a prom |
Using field for the American ma ;
chinery operator sales depot
should be organized In Prague where
the machinery may be inspected. seen
lin operation. and repaired. There Is !
sure to be also a great market in
bohemia for American automobiles. |
especially the cheaper makes. There
mas always been great demand for
various American novelties, such as
safety raxors, fountain pens. and pho |
tographic apparatus, stationery, car
bon paper, office furniture. etc. Amer |
ffcan canned fruits and vegeta bIes were |
known In Prague very favorably, and |
large market may be gained for them
Formerly most OF these goods were
sold In Bohemia through commission
houses in Vienna. Hamburg. and Ber-
lin. To-day, the American exporter
should realize that Prague will be the
principal city in Central Europe and
should be the sales depot of his wares
both for the Czecho- Slovak Republic
and the new countries TO the south
and east OF 1t. He should also re-
member that labels on his goods
should not be in German. but In Eng
lish and Czech.
| Taking our departure from tho pre-
war figures, we my say that the ter
{
lovak Republic, bought before the war
Slovak Republic bought before the
war about $4,000, 600 worth of Amer
lean goods AS the prices OF these gods
have more than doubled. we would
600, but both the present needs OF the
CzechO Slovak lands and then increas-
ed consuming capacity in the future
make of them a still moro promising
field for the American manufacturer
~ a n Sot
more than 10000. 900 worth of Amer
lean products in year. why should
not Czecho -Slovakia, which has twice
the population of Belgium. with good
viii on both sides and the desire for
! close business relations increase its
national consumption OF the products
! OF the United States. until American
exports reach the great sum OF one
hundred million dollars?
| The figures relating TO industry and
the facts as to the Industrial produc-
tons OF the new Republic have more
than a purely economic interest be
cause they show that not only In the
realm of cultural and spiritual values
the small nations and states have
something to contribute, but because
they are also capable of adding 10 the
wealth of the world In material needs |
/ And il may be successfully maintain
smaller state natural resources can
be perhaps better developed and more
| intensively cultivated than II admin
| istered from afar in a large empire. /
In discussing the question OF econ
omic resources, we are inevitably led
to the question of what value this
lean be without access to the sea. The
answer is fairly simple. Switzerland.
far inferior industrially and in agri-
so tat
how a state can prosper, through
land locked In any event, with
modern means of communication, di-
rect access to the sea la not as i'm or
tant as II was In the past. The sea,
after all, is a means of communiCa-
/ ton: whether the means OF commun-
ication be the ocean or the railroad,
the means do not make so much diff
! ference.
Toynbee calls economic rights OF way
for land-locked states Is becoming in
creasingly influential, and there Is
back OF 1t all the prestige of the
| United States of America, for In his
message Of January s, 1917, the pres.
ident formulated the principle that
free access to the sea must oe grant
ed to inland states
| Another way of gaining access to
/
such waterways as the Elbe and the
Danube. 1t admits OF little doubt
that INSTRUMENTATION of such
waterways is an inevitable feature OF
! the coming International readiust-
ment, and so free Danube will CON
meet the C1echo -Slovaks with their
friends the Jugoslavs and Rumanians
| In the SOUTH
| What OF the spiritual values Great
ed by the CZechs in the past and pres
ent. what OF Czech culture? II is
generally conceded that while the
ICzechs were ruled by their own kings.
and while they were unmolested In
their affairs. the nation prospered
and grew intellectually In all respects
Throughout Bohemian history wa find
evidences of idealism. Spiritual values
have never been underestimate by
the Czechs The Huesite wars. while
they had their. social and economic
| background. after all were fought FOR
a religious and civic ideal. and for
! the rights Or the Czech language
against the aggression OF the Germans.
Paiacky may have been somewhat
carried away by national pride when
he said so, but nevertheless his con-
tention that tho HUSTLE war is "the