Evening star., 1948-03-11
Czech Reds Get
Unanimous Vote
In Parliament
Seizure of Power
Complete; State Rites
Set for Mosoryk
By A. |. Goldberg
Associated Press foreign spondent


slovakia's Communist govern
ment got a unanimous vote of
confidence in Parliament today
as it prepared a state funeral
for Foreign Minister Jan Mas
aryk.
Thus, in two weeks and two days
after the seizure of power, Commu-
mist Premier Klement Gottwald has
tied up parliamentary approval for
the program for which he had bat
tied since last summer.
When Chairman Josef David
called for the confidence vote, all
the 233 Deputies who were present
raised their hands. The Parliament
has a normal membership of 300.
Ahead of the deputies is the adop-
ton of legislation to legalize activi-
ties of the Action Committees which
Gottwald set up as the Czech crisis
developed. The committees took
control of the government for him
and quickly began to guide every
phase of public and private life.
Naturalization Rushed.
Now Gottwald has Parliament
rid of the Deputies he did not like.
President Eduard Benes still is in
Office, although resting at his coun-
try home. The national coalition
of parties is maintained in name,
with the addition of trades union
representatives and it showed today
how it will vote. GottWald's ''popu-
lar peoples democracy is function
ing in full swing along the lines of
others in Communist Europe.
Communist speakers grated today
in favor of the Communist national
action program for naturalization
of industries and businesses employ
ing more than so persons, for re-
stricting land holdings and for pro-
viding lower taxes for workers,
peasants and small shopkeepers.
The speakers included Rudolf
slansky, secretary general of the
Czech Communist Party: Stefan
Bastovansky, secretary general of
the Slovak Communist Party, and
1t. Col. Milan Polak, new head
of the Peoples Unity Party of Slo-
vakia. formerly the Slovak Demo-
cratic Party.
State Funeral Saturday.
Jan Masaryk's state funeral will
be Saturday. He will be buried be-
side his father, founder and first
President of the Czechoslovak Re-
public.
The 61-year-old nonparty For
eign Minister was found dead yester-
day, two weeks after the new cabinet
came to power, in stone courtyard
more than so feet below his bath
room window at the Foreign Office
The government said he jumped
Funeral services will be held in the
pantheon of the Prague Museum in
the capitals central square. Gott-
valid will speak. Burial will be in the
family plot at Lany beside the
grave of Thomas G. Masaryk, who
was President from 1918 to 1885 and
died in 1887. Vlado Clements, Com
munist Undersecretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, will speak there.
Czechslovakia mourned the Min
lister today in shocked melancholy
Half -staffed tricolors and black BAN
ners did not begin to tell the story
of the loss felt by the nations
little people
Loss Is Personal to People.
Czechoslovaks are a hard-headed
soft hearted people, unashamed of
sentimentality The love they law
ished on their world famous son in
his lifetime was matched at his
death by their sorrowing. The tone
of melancholy was set by radio
broadcasts, with continuous refer
ence to his death and with the
somber melodies of Czech funeral
music.
To thousands the loss was per-
sonal, because Mr.. Masaryk num-
bered his personal friends in the
thousands. And to millions the
country's loss was real. because they
shared with him the tradition of the
Masaryk family name and the big
part it played in the birth and build
ing of the republic of the Czechs
and Slovaks during and after the
First World War.
They knew the young Jan who
stood up in the councils of the
world and talked with the mighty
And they knew he came back to
enjoy picnics in the country. to
swim at public barges in the Vltava
River here, to chat and joke with
shopkeepers, walters and workmen
in a familiar way his father, the
old professor, never had.
Il am glad to be home" he said
(See MASARYK, Page A-4D
As1s