Evening star., 1935-12-18
BENES IS ELECTED
CZECH PRESIDENT.
Overwhelming Choice of As
sembly Is Disciple of
Or. MasarW.
BY the Associated Press.


PRAHA, December 18. Edouard
Benes was elected second President of
the Republic of Czechoslovakia by the
National Assembly today to succeed
DIR. Thomas G. Masaryk, who resigned
last Saturday at the age of IS.
Benes, protege of the first President
and foreign minister during much of
DR.. Masaryk's 17-year term, received
$40 votes to "a for Prof. Bohumil
Nemec, candidate Of the Czech Agra
rain party. who withdrew yesterday
from the presidential race.
There were 76 blank ballots.
Premier Milan Hodza will submit
the resignation of the cabinet to
Benes this afternoon, but it was ex-
pected Benes would leave the cab
met in office, entrusting Hodza with
the foreign ministry, the position
which the new President has held, for
the present.
Foreign Minister Sought.
The government, observers pre-
dicted, will be reconstructed in Janu-
airy, when a new foreign minister
will be selected. 1t was generally
believed that the former minister to
Berlin and Vienna, ProSta, would fill
the post.
The election Of Benes was opposed
by the German Sudeten party, the
FascistS and the Right radicals, which
cast blank ballots, while the Czech
national party members voted for
Prof. Nemec despite his previous
withdrawal.
Benes is considered in every sense
of the word disciple of Masaryk For
years he has been trained in the scien-
tific school of political thought of the
philosopher-founder of the Czech
state.
Riding on horseback together day
after day into the forests and fields
surrounding Praha. Masaryk and
Benes talked over their hopes and as
pirations, their troubles and their tri-
umphs.
Has Fighting Spirit.
Benes is man who loves aggres-
sive combat. His innate fighting spirit
was greatly developed during his COL
lege days, when he gave quite as free
rein to his passion for foot ball playing
as he did to his thirst for book knowl-
edge.
Even today, Benes seldom misses an
exciting foot ball match. With ad-
vancing years he has ceased playing
himself, but has, instead, taken up
tennis. Whenever possible he drives
in his car for a week end at his
Summer home near Tabor. some two
miles from Praha, where he loves to
stroll about in a landscape rich in
woods and ponds.
Like Masaryk, he Is a voracious
reader. Friends and casual visitors
alike are amazed at the wide range
of his knowledge Of the literature Of
the world. Whether a book be writ
ten in English, German, French, Rus
sian or his native Czech-Benes tries
to keep up with the literary trends.
He by no means limits himself to
historical, politico-scientific and philo-
sophie works, but tries to keep abreast
of the worlds best novels. From his
tutor, Masarky, he learned that one
of the best ways of understanding
foreign nations is to read charac-
teristic novels.
Modest in His Habits.
In his personal life, Eduard Benes Is
modest. Food and drink play a very
subordinate role in his existence-he
Is non-smoker. Attendance at a
good concert or opera and an occa-
sional visit to an art exhibition are
favorite forms of relaxation for him.
Like President Roosevelt, Benes en-
joys contact with newspaper men.
Press conferences with him always last
longer than the allotted time, because
this Czech patriot himself does quite
as much asking as he replies to ques-
tionS.
Benes has been director Of Czecho-
slovakia's foreign policy uninterrupt-
edly since 1918. In a period Of Euro
pean history that was fraught with
gravest possibilities he held steadfastly
to the course of international concilia-
ton and cooperation which he had
set for himself.
Among his proudest diplomatic
achievements are the accord concluded
with the Vatican (Benes himself is a
Roman Catholic), the alliance with
France, complemented by military