The New York herald., 1921-07-10
HAPSBURGS DEAD,
SLOVAKS RECOVER
Little Entente Has Power to
Stop Attempts at Res
tOratiOn.
SEES NO MAGYAR PERILS
DIR. Benes of Czecho-Slovakia
Says Country Is Being
Rehabilitated.
SEES NO MAGYAR PERILS

spondent of the Daily Telegraph. after
interviewing DR.. Benes, the young states
| man who directs the policy Of Czecho-
Slovakia and the coauthor with NJ. Take
,Jonescu of the Little Entente" writes
Count Teleky's perfervid declaration
of loyalty to the Hapsburgs. published In
I the Daily Telegraph, had not escaped
DR.. Benes's notice. 1t had, however.
surprised him not a little. for he told
me that when at Bruck. a few months
back. he was discussing with Count
Teleky the resumption of normal eco
nomic relations between Czecho- -Slovakia
and Hungary, the then Hungarian Pre-
mier showed no inclination to push the
dynastic question to the forefront Ac-
cordingly I asked the Czecho-S -Slovak
Premier to reply to Count Teleky's
'Legitimist" statement
The Hapsburgs Dead.
The reply" he said. lis a very simple
one. The Hapsburgs are dead-dead
and buried. What happened at Easter
was significant and more than merely
symptomatic. 1t was decisive II
showed that were the Hapsburgs to
endeavor to issue from their tombs the
Little Entente had both the power and
the will to compel their swift return to
those tombs; whilst. more generally
the Magyars were able to gauge the
attitude of their neghbors toward such
a contingency. That attitude, it may
be well to emphasize. would be the
same five years hence as it is now. The
question is one not Of persons but of
principles. not of domestic but of Euro
pean politics. The persons indeed are
in this case small enough. insignificant :;
there is nothing to frighten one about
the present Hapsburgs. The danger
they may constitute. qua individuals, is
inhnlteeimal. The menace lies in tn.
cause they embody, the symbol they
personify. That symbol connotes the
Middle Ages. the ancient regime reac-
ton certain conceptions of government.
OF Hungarian territorial integrity. of
private ownership by the crown of en-
tire provinces The restoration Of the
Hapsburgs would mean that Of an in
toieraole system of political and eco
nomic domination. 1t would mean, GER
tainiy IN central Europe. possibly
throughout the European continent. an
other and complete upheaval, yea. social
revolution. And social revolution. NC
VIII admit. has become luxury no
single European State can afford at this
Juncture, nor the European continent
as whole. where if nothing is as vet
oennltely consolidated all things are
closely interdependent."
But what of the Magyar danger?"
inquired; that of Magyar chauvinism.
as apart from the dynastic peril?"
There is. or rather there can be no
Magyar peril provided only the Treaty
or Trianon beapromptly and strictly car
ried into exc {ution. The prompt and
strict execution of all the peace treaties.
That Is what matters. Everything is
tnere-staoility, tranquility and pros
Perity Tor ALL mean. for the van
quished quite as much as for the victors.
If only this idea could be thorougbIv
grasped by both categories. and wei,
rubbed into the minds of the Maevars
and our other enemies that it is in their
own interest to facilitate the execution
or the peace treaties! For such, as I
read 1t, is the outstanding lesson of the
past three years. The worst sufferers
nave been those who have either failed
to apply the treaties, or endeayored TO
Illustrate their application. Call me an
optimist IL you will, but I have a pro-
found belief in the efficacy of such ap
plication as remedy for the existing
chaos, which chaos. as a matter of fact.
you seem to me over here to be in the
habit of portraying in rather gloomier
NsaH "ic really warranted In many
respects"
On Way to Recovery.
But is not Central Europe bankrupt
and disordered?"
That. fear, is one of your gravest
oelusions. on par with the leeend-for
1t Is nothing else-of a Balkanized Eu-
rope. In the west you imagine that the
conditions of central Europe are terrible
conditions. They may have been two
years ago. They are no longer So We
are well on the way to recovery. and
even, given only the maintenance of the
Anglo-French Entente-without this
there would assuredly be no hone for
Europe-to consolidation. Take Czecho-
Slovakia, for example. Our railways
are running better than before the war
our paper circulation has already been
appreciably reduced We have even
made an attempt, not altogether success.
full. I will admit. but a serious attempt
none the less, 70 balance our budget
Our heads Of cattle are more numerous
than In 1914 We are suffering from an
Industrial crisis, but who is not? The
volume of our foreign trade is not all IL
might be. but the abnormal money ex-
changes explain that, while the fact tina;
Germany's ways and means of COM
munication have not vet been fully re-
stored accounts for the restriction of
traffic between our markets and the
western world. We are. in fact. op-
timists in Czecho-Slovakia. which, after
all. is but natural. since the war TO us
has meant the greatest OF all victories.
the regaining of our national indepen-
dence. We could not be other than
optimistic"
The Austrians. however, are not op-
timists Does not their plight Justify
the direst pessimism?
You cannot expect the vanquished 10
be optimists. Have you ever pondered
this psychological consideration? They
would in any circumstances have been
found to complain of their post war
situation, like the Magyars. Only. as
they want something Of you. they dare
not complain of you. the great Powers,
the real authors OF the treaty. They
complain of us for whose benefit they
have been deprived OF what was never
theirs. In order TO escape from any
predicament there must be the will to
escape. That will is lacking in our
late enemies. because II does not suit
their game to prove, by a rapid process
of reconstruction and consolidation.
that the settlement imposed upon them
Is a workable one. They want to prove
that II is unavoidable In order, by hook
or by crook. TO show a case for re-
vision and sabotage the treaty. We
want to confirm. they want TO destroy
the peace. 1t is they who seek to