El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-06-19

against the Hungarian treaty. like
I the Austrian, because it creates eco
[ nomic chaos and insures a prOlonga-
I ton Of the state Of misery which now
/ prevails in middle Europe, because it
Z multiplies artificial frontiers, which
I have become like rocks in a river, the
Z barriers to the stream Of commerce
] necessary 10 the people on its shores
I But il the economic aspects are I'M
I mistakable, the ethonographic and
! political are not less clear.
The old Hungary consisted Of q CEN
I tral core OF Magyars, some 100000
/ at the most, occupying the great and
/ fertile plains OF the Danube and the
l Thesis and extending westward TO
! the Drave and eastward 10 the foot
/ hills Of the Carpathians. Around
/ this central core were some millions
/ Of subject peoples, Slovaks TO the
| north toward Bohemia, Serbs to the
/ south and west as far as the Adriatic,
Rumanians in the east and southeast
Scattered among these tribes were a
certain number Of Magyars, most nu-
merous in Pennsylvania, but they
we're but island in an alien sea since
the total population OF Hungary
: passed Z1,QOO,OO0r while the Magyars
did not much exceed 5000, 0Do. despite
carefully doctored statistics.
From the Magyar point Of view.
hungary was geographical unit
territorial entity Those races in
n
were alians. They had no rights save
those conferred upon them by the
Magyars. The single condition on
which they could exist in Hungary
was that they should consent to be-
come Magyarized. But the difficulty
here lay in the fact that some of the
tribes had occupied the lands before
the Hungarians had come, while,
without exception, Sloyak. Rumanian
and Serb constituted the majority,
the overwhelming majority in many
regions.
Tyranny Brought Ruin
The real cause Of Magyar ruin was
ments- Particularly. the Rumanians
were abused for decades, treated
quite as brutally as the Inhabitants
OF Alsace-Lorraine- Even worse was
Croatia and Slavonia- Treason trials,
political prosecutions were the order
OF the day The result was Inevitable, /
on every frontier Of Hungary the sub
1ects OF the Hungarian state looked |
to neighboring state for release, |
for Liberation.
It was to abolish this peril. coming |
primarily from the Slavs, that Austria /
and Hungary risked war. back in /
1914, following the assassination OF 4
the archduke; IL was Hungarian
craftsmanship even more than Aus
TRAN, which urged the attack upon 1
Servia, for Hungary was more imme-
d1arely threatened In Magyar minds 1
the war that was to come, a purely
local war with the southern Slavs,
would abolish danger at the Danube
for half century at least.
The assassination Of the archduks
excited little regret in Budapest. for
Francis Ferdinand had advocated q
policy Of federation. had urged that
the various subject tribes be recog-
nized- This would have meant moth
Ing short OF the partition OF Hun
gary the partition which now is ac-
complished. bat a peaceful partition,
which would have preserved the dual /
monarchy intact and replacing the
dual system with threefold or even
-lTe1old system, giving the southern
Slavs, the Czechs and Slovaks and
even the Rumanians q measure Of
Can Never Regain Loss.
Against this every Hungarian set
his face When the war cama the |
question Of placating Rumania was
soon raised. Count Czernin has re-
counted in his memoirs how steadily
All Magyar statesmen refused any
to the Rumanians. Tran
sylvania ceded at the right moment
might have brought Rumania in on
the Austro German side and her aid
might have been decisive But for
I1szas Andrassy, Karolyi, Apponyi. !
Hungary was ~ons and indivisfble" in
he old formula OF the French revolu-
ion, and so opportunity passed
one may believe that the future
VIII repair the economic heresies Of
ne Hungarian as well as the Aus
-rian treaties and that some sort OF
customs union, or economic assocfa-
ion presently VIII be established in
central Europe on the ruins OF the
10 Hapsburg monarchy. It Is even
possible that the Hungarlans pres
sntly may regain certain regions from
he Slovaks and the Croatians. But
hat Hungary viii ever recoup its
sreater losses seems unlikely. Both I
lumauta and Czecho-Slovakia seem
'ound 70 remain stronger in all Mill
AIRY ana material ways and the new
iervias alone a dangerous rival, even ]
I Croatian and Slovenian elements
ecede.
In reality what has happened has
zen the liquidation Of the Magyar
state, a process by which millions OF
men and women, held in a tyranny
made odious by Magyar stupidity. I
ave escaped at last and reclaimed
lnion with their brethren across ar
1Ilclal frontiers. artificial so far as
thonographic conditions were con-
erned- In this there Is a clear gain
or justice, whatever the confusion In
ne economic conditions.-Copyrigh
~ Dy Mcclure Newspaper Syndi-