The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1920-08-07

absorb the morFbund organism of Austria Hun
gary; the Czecho-S lovak people doomed;
Prague to be the first iE 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-
Sloyak people was the cause of the allies. and.
fleeing from Austria he proceeded to convince
statesmen end 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 Hohenzoern autocracy-enthroned Oh The
pinnacle Of military success. Masaryk
daunted. -...@ i. : . ..---~4...
- HE found" says the Bohemian Review,
Czech exiles In Switzerland; he established rela-
tons with emigrants in Paris, London and Russia.
He told them that the hour had come to strike
blow for free Bohemia . His call reached
across the ocean to the Bohemians Of America
He lectured in universities, talked to statesmen,
gave interviews to journalists. wrote for the re-
views, established French periodical in the IN
terests of his country, enlisted gifted writer's and
generous friends of freedom in the Of
Bohemia"
In 1915 Masaryk founded the Czecho-S lovak
National Council In Paris This body assumed
the role Of provisional government Of a 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 a country advanced; 1t 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 sheer, for
meanwhile the passive resistance the "silent revo
luton" of the Czecho-Sfovak people at home con
tinued, impeding the war activities of the dual
monarchy at every step.
Allied recognition of Czecho Sovakia as a
belligerent power and the Czecho-Slovak National
Council its de facto government came in The
summer Of 1918, and on October % of that year
governmental authority at Prague was taken over
by It's local committee. Free Czecho- Sovaka was
a reality.
But it is seldom that Masaryk speaks of him
self The one personal passage of his birthday
address on March that in which he dis
claimed personal merit and good fortune. He said :
MANY pleasant messages came to me today,
bringing out that life a very fortunate
one. / must confess that the word fortunate
never carried much meaning for me- | never be-
Iieved 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 all who
with me struggled for the liberty of the nation.
I never talked much of myself, and even today
it Is difficult to say something of myself. I will
only promise you that the task intrusted to me
by the will of the people l shall faithfully and
tirelessly carry out
And today the Austro-T1ungarian empire,
Hapsburgs and Hohenzollerns are evil memories.
The two emperors, William and Karl, lead a
parasitic existence in exile; and Masaryk the
coachman's son, onetme blacksmith's apprentice
is governing the hoSoyak republic. probably
! strongest and best organized of central European
countries and quite possibly destined to become
model democracy of the Old World, from the
same Hradcany castle where once the Hapsburgs
reigned over third of Europe