Amerikai Magyar hirlap = American Magyar journal. [volume] (Youngstown, Ohio) 1911-1942, 1921-08-11
oas header Giskfa, distinguished them
selves by wholesale plunder.s


selves by wholesale plunder.e
In later times, when family ties were
established between the Mofavian and
Polish Dukes and the Hungarian reign
ing dynasty-then purely Magyar and
lineal descendants Of the clan Of Arpad,
coAqueror of the 2and--there was no
need Of a protective corridor In these
mountainous and wooded northwest
erly parts, and colonization began.
Germans and later the White-Croatians
ancestors of eur presentday Slovaks
were settled and commissioned to
clear the forests and make the coun-
try more apt for cultivation. This
happened at about the eleventh century,
and this accounts for the nomen-
clature applied to hamlets and town,
most Of them ending in what would
be the equivalent of "eut" (cutting
the forests) in English.
The Ruthenians in the territory now
called Podkarpatska Rusinia by the
Czechs, immigrated in the fifteenth
century. From the neighboring coun-
try, called Red Russia Gin different
sense from our present Red Russia),
the people were granted the privilege
to pasture their cattle on this terrific
ry; but. later, the Hungarian King
came to the conclusion that colonized
country would yield greater revenues,
and the same process ensued that was
previously witnessed in the northwest
ern regions of the country. Thus
neither the Sloyaks nor the Ruthen-
ians, much less the Czechs, were alb
origines in the part of Hungary now
known as Slovakia. The immediate
predecessors of the Slovaks, the Pan
nonian s'lavs, were living further
South under Svatopluk, and gave up
their claims to the land so soon as
Arpad and his Hungarian warriors APP
peared. Indeed, it was a bloodless
conquest, since these Slav soffered no
Resistance, but received the Hungarians
as their superiors, offering them earth,
grass and water as symbols of sub
mission.
This is the plain truth about the ma
tional and political history of the ter
fitory now included in the realm of
the Czechs as Slovakia and Poakar-
patska Rusinia. The Slovaks and
Ruthenians were only immigrants, and
the Czechs were not even that. No
organized State life existed upon these
territories before the Hungarian State
was called into existence and welded
them into the dominion of the Kings
Of Hungary. Nothing was destroyed
or teaken away by the rule OF the Hun
garians, but things were created in
stead. This fact is attested by several
authorities of nonaHungarian origin, ),
including the American, the Rev. B. F.
Tefft, d. D.; Professor N. S. Shaler of
Harvard University, f. D. Millet; the
English authors, Knatchbull Hugges-
ser, a KeHner, w. B. Foster BoriH,
Charles Proxton, etc.
From an ethnographic viewpoint,
likewise, there is no foundation for
,Czechoslovakia. C The Czeehs, Moravians,
Slovaks and Ruthenians are undeniably
closely related, but so are all Slavs.
If these four, brafches of the Slav
family had to be united, the question
can be asked: Why not unite the whole
of Slavdom and make one country OF
the Russians, Poles, Ukrainians, and
the rest of the numberless branches OF
the Slavs? Even if there were an in
disputable ethnographic bond uniting
the Slavs in Chechoslovakia, are ethnlc
considerations supreme, and should
history, past national existence, geo.
graphy, economics, political constella-
tions, recognized as just and desirable
for ten centuries, all defer to one prln-
ciple arbitrarily chosen and defensible
only on very weak ground!
Economic conditions are such in Slo-
vakia that the country is dependent on
Hungary for its livelihood. Slovaks
furnish the timber needed in Hungary,
while in times of harvest multitude
of Sloyaks used to descend to the Hun
garian plains and furnish large quota
Of the necessary hands to reap the
harvest Because of the new align
ment, this is brought to an end; con-
sequently the Slovaks, in large meas
ure, arc deprived of their livelihood
The rivers of Slovakia empty into the
Danube, which offers the natural wa
terway, together with the Tisza, of the
geographical entity known as Hun
gary, rs it was before the war. Through
/ severance of railroad trunk lines tht
whole transportation system of Hun
gary is badly crippled, and Slovakis
| suffers in equal measure. In short
not only Hungary but also Slovakia il
hopeIessly mutilated in an economic
| sense for no reason but to honor thu