Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-05-29

| PRAGUE, Czechoslovakia. - Czecho-
/ slovakia has been lucky in having not
only Dr. Masaryk as President since the
| foundation of the state, but also DR..
| Eduard Benes as foreign minister unln-
terruptedly since 1918.
Benes is shrewd, aggressive, peppery
born negotiator and extremely hard
working For Is years. with hardly
break, he has worked IS hours day.
| This is partly because he is probably
the most accessible statesman in Eu-
rope; he sees almost everybody.
Like Masaryk he comes of humble
origin-his father was peasant. Like
Masaryk, he struggled hard for educa-
| ton. then became a teacher Like Ma
saryk, he lived an extremely romantic
but hard boiled life as a political con-
spirator in the days when the two Gre
ated Czechoslovak independence. He
was one of Masaryk's early pupils.
His Cooked Hat Is Famous.
He is short, slight. sharp eyed, sharp
nosed. He dresses with great informal
| ity and wears a flat-brimmed hat
| cooked high on his head that is as IA
nous at international conferences as
Brands voice or Lord Cecils SLOUGH.
He speaks English very well.
You enter the history bounded walls
of the Prague castle, pass from court
, to court, salute uniformed SentrieS and
| liveried dragonmen, reach the bright,
sunny room from which BeneS directs
Czechoslovakian foreign affairs. This
man. you reflect, Is not yet SO. He is
not only No. 2 man in CzechoSlovakia,
he is one of the first half-doZen most
eminent personages in the political life
of Europe He helped create the League
Of Nations; now he helps run it. He
bosses the Little Entente and tries to
father the agrarian conferences through
out Eastern Europe. He broke the Aus
tro- German customs union. He is one
of the greatest living authorities on
problems such as security and disarma
ment. And you reflect that only Is
years ago he was busy as bee forging
passports, crawling across frontiers, in
momentary danger Of being shot as a
spy (which he was), organizing sur
reptitious revolution.
Assumed Many Names.
It gives one a queer oblique glimpse
through the years to reflect that DR..
Eduard Benes has been. at various
times, "Spolny," Betsy" Berger, ="
"Novotny,' KONG" and "Siche"-
these being names Che had to change
them often) that he assumed in rev.
OlutlOIldIy QdyS. HAL n OOZeIl IlIIleS
Benes was arrested as a spy, even in
England and France, the countries
which were his allies. And he was
signing passports of the nation he
helped to create within six weeks, on
one occasion, of his arrest for travel
ing himself with a forged passport.
The bedrock basis of the policy
Benes has built for Czechoslovakia Is
alliance with France.
Thus. like his fellow foreign min
listers in the little entente, he puts Sc
lcurity above disarmament
Benes has been great asset to
Czechoslovakia in that his tenure in
the foreign Office has been unlnter-
rupted: although a politician, distinctly
a party man. he stands, like Masaryk,
more or less above partisan quarrels; by
the steady continuity of his policy he
has given prestige and stability to the
country.
Active on International Basis.
But he has also been very active On
an international basis. "An interna-
tional busybody," his enemies have
called him. Forever negotiating, COL
laborating, consolidating, he fits from
Prague to Geneva, from Paris to Buch-
Arrest. He has a profound range of
knowledge of the problems of other
countries. He contributed a great deal
to the organization Of the Leagues Dis
armament Conference and only narrow
ly missed being its president.
Dr. Benes Is almost certain to reach