Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-22

COIlIlONcISy' Az oCCIIio, HOWCNVi, OAAaN AiA
this part of Europe even grammar is
closely allied with politics, which Is
attested by the fact that the Czech
scholars who applied their brains to the
problem concluded that the Slovak Ian
guage is Czech, and the Slovak scholars
discovered that the Slovak language is
Slovsk.
The matter has now been taken up
by the Czechs and the Hungarians as a
| political foot BALL Prague maintains
that the Slovaks not only understand
but love Czech, while Budapest argues
that the Slovaks not only do not I'M
derstand Czech but hate it. A neutral
foreigner would suggest that, now that
the experts have failed to settle the
dispute, a literate average Slovak
should be given Czech text and be
made to read it to an investigating
commission.
Unfortunately, the problem is not
quite so easy of solution, as history has
complicated it, Under the Hungarian
regime it was a common saying that
AT tot mem ember." which means that
the Slovak Is not human. This abom-
Unable view was enforced by with
holding from the Slovaks the most ele-
mentary human rights such as school
| ing in their own language. Many
young men, as a gesture of protest, at
tended the Czech University at Prague
The result is that there has been no
chance given for a literary Slovak Ian
guage to evolve.
LinguaI Chaos Result.
Czech had made some little Roadway
as the literary language when the Bible
was translated into Czech and found its
way into Slovakia. Until the middle of
the last century whatever native litera-
ture there might have been in Slovakia
was in SZech and in its SlovakiZed
variant. With the awakening of the
national consciousness Of the Slovaks
they made feeble attempts to replace
Czech with their own dialects. In the
resulting chaos all shades OF the two
languages were used in the pulpit and
in the printing press, and today scholars
and laymen alike arc specializing:
What is the language of Slovakia?
If the Slovaks joined the CzechS of
their own free accord and If the Czechs
lived up to all their obligations toward
their new countrymen the charges
leveled against them would seem IN
justified But did the Slovaks join of
their own free will and did the CzechS
fulfill their pledges?
In the case of CZechoslovakia, Rous-
seau's theory that the state apwes its
existence to social contract has
proved to be literally true. The con-
tract was sighed in 1918 by Thomas G.
Masaryk. on the one hand, representing
the Czechs, and by the representatives
of the Slovak League, on the other, and
! it is known as the Pittsburgh Con-
vention. This document is the birth
certificate of the Czechoslovak state.
Charge Promises Broken.
It is now asserted by those Slovaks
who want autonomy and by the Hun
garians that Slovakia was stampeded
into accepting the Pittsburgh Conven-
ton by the so-called "classists," young
men who received their education in
Prague, and by a group Of pro-Czech
politicians. They also contend that the
letter and spirit of the convention have
not beer carried out. In this connec-
ton the disgruntled Slovaks have found
opportunity to air their grievances.
Most of the Slovaks say that the
CZechS have not given their country
the administration, their own Diet
and their own law courts provided for
in the Pittsburgh agreement. The
! CDechs say that every promise has been
fulfilled. Dispassionate neutral opinion
leans more toward the Slovak auton-
omists. Slovakia, outside observers
| tons from Prague and by the Czechs.
| The so-called Slovak Diet in Bratislava
is a shadow parliament, maintained at
much expense to keep up the semblance
| of power Slovakia can WELD in her own
right. The Pittsburgh Convention pro-
vided for the exclusive use of the
Slovakian language in schools. in the
administration and before the law. In
reality, both Czech and Slovakian are
official languages, with the result that
the former will gradually displace the
latter.
Populist Party Active.
OF the 16 political parties which gov
ern Czechoslovakia, several are in oppo-
Sition to the present regime and favor
complete autonomy for Slovakia. The
best known and most aggressive politi-
cal group is the Slovak Populist party,
which is under the leadership Of Father
Hlinka. At present the party is in I'M
qualified opposition to the centralizing
tendencies of Prague. Father Hlinka
the Magyar rule rs rabid Slovak, and
he has been molested under the existing
regime for the same reason. Another
group Of opposition is the Christian
Social Hungarian party, under the lead
erShip Of Herr SZuelle. That both par
ties have taken firm root among the
Roman Catholic population is signih-
cant of religious conditions in Czecho-
slovakia.
The irredentist activities OF the Hun
garian minority in Slovakia has brought
TO head the dispute which is venting
its fury in the trade war. 1t is 9
strange irony of fate that the Hun
garians should repeat the same charges
against the CzechS which the Czech.
heaped upon them before the war. Tbs
Magyars complain that they are no
given representation in the government
that their rights TO the use OF their Ian
guage are flouted and that the lane
reform was undertaken in Czechoslo
vakia TO the detriment of the Hungarian
land owners, as a measure of politica
vengeance. They complain of discrimi
nation in cultural matters, such as tina
their actors are withheld the permission
TO appear on the stage on the f1imSies
Of preteXtS. that Hungarian newspaper
and many Hungarian books are barred
, Flood Of Propaganda.
|. Czechoslovakia is flooded with Hun
gartan propaganda, which Is workinl
with the most up-to-date methods
Radio Budapest" has regular propa
ganda hours on the air. which "Radit
Prague" seeks to neutralize by puttini
on the air Czech propaganda during tn
same hours and by using a more power
full transmitting station so as TO drown
out the voice of Budapest.
The most violent fury Of the Hun
. garians is directed not so much agains
: the treatment accorded TO the minoritie
in Slovakia, which. they must admit
was much worse during their regime
but to the incorporation OF those terri
/, tories into the Czech republic whicl
: not even the boldeSt stretching OF tn
5 Imagination can be seen as inhabite
by Sloyaks or CzechS. These section.
: as matter OF fact. are inhabited b
l compact masses OF Magyars whose an
cestors have lived for hundreds of year
: at the foot of the Carpathian Noun