New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-05-23

is Thomas Masaryk, first President
of Czecho- Slovakia.
Were these propositions put to a
referendum in the Czecho-Slovak re-
public, with all inhabitants voting,
the outcome probably would be ten
million votes against one, the dis
senting voice coming from Masaryk
himself. And this is probably the
only issue on which he would have
the majority of his countrymen SOL
idly against him.
No Limit on Masaryk
What the Czecho- Slovak nation
thinks of its leader is expressed in a
unique provision of its new constitu-
ton, just promulgated. Accord
iAgfy. the President of the republic
Is elected for a term Of seven years,
hut no one may be chosen for third
term - no one except President
Masaryk. This is taken to be equiv
alent to life appointment, a dis
tinction proving not only popular
appreciation of Masaryk's deserts
but also unbounded confidence in his
character and his loyalty to the
democratic ideal,
On March 7 Masaryk's SEVENTEEN
birthday was celebrated as a ma
tional holiday by the entire Czecho-
Slovak nation. In Hradcany Castle,
the ancient palace sof Roman en-
perors and Bohemian kings, now the
Presidential residence, foregathered
the representative of foreign pow.
ers, members of the National AS
sembly and the Cabinet, delegates of
the churches and other notables.
The president of the Assembly,
Tomasek, addressed Masaryk as fol-
lows:
Leader of our national revolu.
ton, creator of our independence.
teacher of our nation, guide in new
roads, our golden, good, beloved lit
tie father, may you be well and
strong for many years, for many
decades, to the wellbeing and sue
cess of the nation and the republic"
No Flowery Language
Masaryk's answer was symbolic
of the man. Here was he, feted as
perhaps no man before in the capt.
tai of the matter-of fact, unconditional
Czechs-one of the most notable and
romantic figures of the greatest war
IN history, regarded by many as one
of the greatest statesmen of our
day, arriving at the climax of a
career nothing short of miraculous,
career that made him, the son of
poor Slovak coachman in an OBJ
scure Moravian town, the DESTROYER
CT one of the mightiest empires and
the ruler of nation resurrected
from among the dead. Would it
not have been natural and pardon
able should he have chosen to in
duEge in an emotional retrospect. in
an 'outpouring of personal senti
mcnt?
Almost anybody in his place would
have done so, but not Masaryk. His
address was not even political
speech, but an essay in ethics, the
disinterested inquiry of scholar
INTO the springs and purposes of
the human action.
The ideals of humanity and de-
mocracy | always considered Sub
specie decentralization the stand
point of eternity" he said. And
this sentence might be the summary
of the political creed of a statesman
who is a philosopher above everv-
thing else. Those who know Masarvk
know that of all the titles be-
slowed upon him by the address of
PRESIDENT Tomasek of the Assembly
he prizes highest that of teacher Of
the nation. For Masaryk. the
philosopher, is also an educator.
and IN this, again, he is a symbol of
the Czech renaissance, which, thoueh
IN manner largely economic and in
dustrial and in visible result chiefly
political, is essentially an educa-
tlonal revival-perhaps the greatest
organized educational effort ever
undertaken deliberately by a whole
people.
A Moral Ideal
"The program of humanity is a
moral ideal-to be truly man -