New-York tribune., 1922-02-19
LONDON. January

inaeined-so FAR a. they thought of
saeh mssteFs-that tho big and little
csurtriea on the map Of Europe woull
remain there.
10 wes very often said that on tho
dsath o. the ciA Austrian Emperor his
sAu,shackle realm would 30 TO pieces,
but threatened men and countries fire.
goAntiy survive, and it is quite prob
able that il there had been no war the
Hcuec OF Hapsburg would have man
aged TO retain its hold over all its
heterogeneous subjects, for the axiom
listed that IL there was no Austria-
Hungary II would have to be invented.
No doubt "A great many people in Eu-
rops wero longing to shake of their
alien governors, but as thi, seemed
only possible as tho result Of a war the
,srge majority. in their abhorrencs of
'uch cstaclysm, were merely looking
for some minor Improvement. in their
lot. The devoted Frenchmen of Al
ssc-. unwilling that for their sake
Trance should once again sacrifice her
ch.ldren. rero prepared to scquie.ce in
= measure Of autonomy within the
German Empire.
And the Bohenaians. WHO had once
been independent, strove merely to con-
'olidate their rights within the from
tier. Of the Austrian Empire. The two
dominating racer in that empire, the
Gernsns and tho Magyars, considered
tbs Bohenliars and the others ss
second-class citizens. and Prague, the
proud old capital, was endeavorine with
aN hex energiee to reach the same rank
- Vienna and Budapest A number Of
pstriotic citizsns, such ss Professor
Aass1yk'-who divided his activities
between the lecture-room and the House
OF Par!iament~kept alive the memo
Hes OF long ago, when Bohemia was
kingdem outside the sphere Of the
Hapsburge. To maintain this national
spirit vas no easy task, since Vienna
vas the reso1ute enemy OF all such en-
terprisee. But thero was, deep down
in the peoples heart, "a fire which had
never wholly been quenched and which
Aer ssgscious leaders knew we'll how to
cherish. And now they have been
splendidly rewarded, for they have
secn Bohemia shaking of q harsh do
ninion and once again her own mis-
tress--thie time not merely the medi-
eval Kingdom Of Bohemia. composed OF
tn. two provinces Of Bohemia and Mo-
rsvta. but clasping to her side the sis
ter Province Of S!ovakis, whose fate it
had been TO live for thousand years
beneath the Masyars.
Now, for Che first time, the Slays Of
Bohemia. WHO are called Czechs, have
been united to those of Slovakia in
one republic with tho name Of Czecho-
S'oYskia. And the president of the
republic ia Thomas Masaryk, who, as
We shall afterwsrd relate, has done SO
much 70 found the country
New Political Bond
viii Become Solid
1t Is not to be expected that every
subordinate official will in future have
the requisite tact and wisdom. But
one can prophesy with toierable conf
dencs that the newly forged political
Bond between tho Czech and the Slovah
peor3e. will, by the desire Of both par
ties be made quite solid. Those carp
ing c+ttics who insist on counting the
Slevaks as ono Of the hostile minori-
ties in the new state arc deluding
themselves. And the tip:e 10 not far
distent when the German and the
Magyar n,inorities will dwindle, 80 that
the republic will not fall to pieces
through internal dissension. The Ger
Msns Of the north are al industrial
population. They know full well that
1t - to their interest tc remain in the
republic; therefore, if the Gzechs con-
tsnuc to treat them with justice thew
Will ignore the TRADES which arc the
habitusl weapons of most of their own
press and the professional politicians.
The Magvars Of the south already have
become less numerous, FOR il is no
longer fashionable for a Slovak or a
Ruthene TO call himself Magyar.
Ihese kuthenes are very much
neglected people who live in the re-
naotsst province Of the country, that
which is beyond Slovakia and rejects
Ike wedge into Hungary, Rumania
ard Poland. Save for its VINEYARDS
th!s 10 = poor country, and what wealti.
there is has come into the hands of
tho Magyar land owners and the Jews
The submerged Slav majority, which
came originally from Russia over the
neeuntains--so that this region is
known as Carpathian Russis--is now
being taken In hand by its Slav Ains-
men and fellow subjects, the Cxechs
and the S3ovaks. An agreement was
made ~ Pittsburgh during the war
between the exiled leaders of the
C.ccha snd the Russians, that after
the wsr had been won the latter poo-
pie should be included in the new Slav
Republic. And now that sorry period
has come 10 an end, when they were
obliged to remain illitsrate or visit a
Magyar school end gradually become
AaGyarized.
II was romantic that the fate o; :he
Ruthenes should BE- settled far away
N Fittsbuxg, and it ~as romantic that
,ho Czecho.Sloyak army should have