Iron County register., 1920-07-15

absorb the moribund organism Of Austria Hun
gary; the Czecho-Slovak people was doomed !;
Prague was to be the first in the series of stepping
stones Of Prussian power: Vienna, Budapest, Bel
grade Sofia, Constantinople Bagdad, the Persian
gulf. He recognized that the cause of the Czecho-
Slovak people was the cause of the allies, and,
fleeing from Austria, he proceeded to convince
statesmen and public opinion in the entente
countries.
At the outset the task seemed almost hopeless.
There he was, lone fugitive, under sentence of
death In the land of his fathers, the enemy-Haps-
burg-Hohenzollern autocracy-enthroned the
pinnacle Of military success. Masaryk was un-
daunted.
HE found" says the Bohemian Review,
Czech exiles in Switzerland; he established rela-
tions with emigrants in Paris, London and Russia.
He told them that the hour had come to strike q
blow for free Bohemia His call reached
across the ocean to the Bohemans of America
He lectured in universities, talked to statesmen,
gave interviews to Journalists wrote for the re-
views established a French periodical In the in
terests of his country enlisted gifted writer's and
generous friends of freedom in the cause of
Bohemia"
In 1915 Masaryk founded the Czecho-Slovak
National Council In Paris. This body assumed
the role Of provisional government of country
embedded in the very center Of the power Of the
victorious enemy. Vienna cursed, but did not take
Masaryk too seriously. Step by step the govern
ment without country" advanced it came to
have an exchequer-supported chiefly by assess
ments and voluntary contributions of the Czecho-
Slovak organizations in the United States it main
tanned an army In Siberia, and military units in
France and Italy Vienna still scorned but the
signs Of panic became visible behind the sneer for
meanwhile the passive resistance, the "sent revo-
luton" of the Czecho-Slovak people at home con-
tinued, impeding the war activities of the dual
monarchy at every step.
Allied recognition Of Czecho-Slovakia as q
belligerent power and the Czecho-Slovak National
Council as its de facto government came in the
summer Of 1918, and on October 28 of that year
governmental authority at Prague was taken over
by its local committee Free cho-Slovakia was
a reality.
But 1t is seldom that Masaryk speaks Of him.
self. The one personal passage Of his birthday
address on March Z was that in which he dis
claimed personal merit and good fortune He said
'Many pleasant messages came to me today
bringing out that my life was very fortunate
one. I must confess that the word fortunate
never carried much meaning for me. I never be-
lieved in accident, did not believe in good luck
in the life of individuals and nations. Fortunate
is he who has life rich in contents fortunate Is
he who can at least partly, through honest effort
realize his ideals In this sense am fortunate
but 1t Is not my good fortune alone but Of oil who
with me struggled for the liberty Of the nation
I never talked much Of myself, and even TO-DAY
1t is difficult to say something Of myself I viii
only promise you that the task intrusted to me
by the will Of the people / shall faithfully and
tfrelessly carry out"
And today the Austro-Hungarian empire
Hapsburgs and Hohenzolerns are evil memories
The two emperors, William and Karl, lead 8
parasitic existence in exile; and Masaryk, the
coachman's son, onetime blacksmith's apprentice
Is governing the Czecho-Sloyak republic. probably
strongest and best organized Of central European
countries and quite possibly destined to become
model democracy of the Old World, from tbe
same Hradcany castle where once the Hapsburg.
reigned over third Of EuroDa