My War Memoirs/Chapter 3
III
ORIGIN AND ORGANIZATION OF THE “MAFFIA”
(a) My First Journey to Switzerland
9
A few days later Professor Masaryk left for Italy via Vienna. I continued my journeys to Vienna and Dresden, collecting material, working in the office of Cas, supplying my friends privately with information about events, and obtaining money for further work.
We received scanty news about Professor Masaryk’s stay in Italy. There were only a few messages on postcards sent to members of his family. The Austrian authorities in Rome, however, were following his activities and sent full statements about him. In particular, they had ascertained that he was in touch with the Jugoslavs, and informed Vienna about his seditious activities with Supilo and Trumbić. We received news about this from Machar and Kovanda in Vienna and we were much disturbed by it. At last we shared the view of Dr. Šámal that it would be better for Masaryk not to return. Professor Masaryk left Rome for Switzerland and on January 20, 1915, a student named Lavička, reached Prague with messages and inquiries from him as to whether he should return. I sent Lavička back with the reply that he should not, as Baron Macchio, the Austrian Ambassador in Rome, had been reporting very unfavourably on his movements. I also sent him a message to the effect that in view of the changed situation I proposed coming to Switzerland during the half-yearly university vacation at the beginning of February to make arrangements about further action.
After Lavička had left, I suddenly received a postcard from Machar asking me to come to Vienna at once as he had an important manuscript for Naše Doba. When I saw Machar he gave me the text of a telegram from the Austro-Hungarian Embassy in Rome, signed by Baron Macchio. This telegram contained the following passage: “Dragisir, mentioned in my telegrams, informs me that Professor Masaryk intends to return to Bohemia within the next few days.” The telegram had been sent just before Masaryk’s departure from Rome and we had received it rather late.(6) In conjunction with former reports which had arrived from Vienna we, together with Machar and later also with our friends in Prague, inferred from the telegram that matters were really serious. I therefore immediately acted as had been agreed. I sent a code telegram to Geneva announcing that the situation was very dangerous and that it was impossible for him to return. Fearing, however, that something might happen to the telegram, and being uncertain whether Lavička had already reached Masaryk with our message, I was alarmed at the thought that Professor Masaryk might cross the frontier and be arrested. I therefore decided at the last moment that at all costs I myself would cross the frontier to warn him personally and induce him to remain in Switzerland.
I had a passport dating from August 1914. In the meanwhile, however, passport regulations had become more stringent and my passport was no longer valid because it contained no photograph. Moreover, I had been called up for the second levy and therefore had no military permission for a journey abroad. For these reasons, on the day of my return from Vienna, I obtained an identity book through an old school friend who was at the Vinohrady police headquarters. With this and my old passport I started off for Zurich via Vienna. After a double inspection in Tyrol and numerous difficulties on the frontiers, I reached Buchs just at the time when Professor Masaryk, in accordance with the pre-arranged plan, was to have left Geneva.
10
We met at Zurich at the beginning of 1915 at the Hôtel Victoria. Professor Masaryk had been accompanied there by Vsevolod Svatkovsky, a Russian journalist, who afterwards rendered valuable services to our cause in the Government circles at Petrograd and in diplomatic Russian circles in Western Europe. Before the war he had spent a long time as a journalist in Vienna. He knew Professor Masaryk, Dr. Kramář,[1] and other Czech politicians; he had studied Polish and Jugoslav politics, and he was familiar with affairs in Vienna. During the war he became chief Russian correspondent at Berne, Paris, and Rome, sending his reports direct to Petrograd. He was also in touch with military men. He at once began to co-operate with Professor Masaryk in Switzerland, and he had come to Zurich partly to hear my reports and impressions, partly also to get into closer touch with a number of our people there. He had his agents at Vienna and in Bohemia, and he was anxious, with my help, to improve and extend the organization of these links.
I informed Professor Masaryk of what had happened at Prague and why the situation made it impossible for him to return. It was with reluctance that he abandoned the idea of paying a final visit to Prague. He did not consider that the ground had been adequately prepared for a well-organized co-operation between our people at home and abroad. It accordingly became necessary to draw up a further plan for keeping in touch with Prague.
In the course of his conversation with Svatkovsky and myself Professor Masaryk announced, first of all, that he had decided to remain abroad throughout the war and to begin a resolute struggle against Austria, with a full acceptance of the personal and political consequences to himself which this would involve. What he aimed at was to organize the first modern group of Czech political émigrés who, in concert with the politicians at home, would take open and responsible action against Austria-Hungary. This was what I was to announce to all our friends and to the political circles with whom Professor Masaryk had been dealing before his departure from Prague. I was also to obtain either their tacit or open consent.
Masaryk further indicated to me the somewhat unfavourable impressions he had formed on his last journey to Rome. Austro-Hungarian affairs were imperfectly understood; the Allies took but little interest in our cause, and if we desired to gain something for our nation during the war we ourselves must get to work and draw attention to our claims.
Much would have to be done, however, to make the existence of the political émigrés possible. Above all, we needed money. Professor Masaryk therefore asked me again to arrange financial resources. He mentioned Dr. Scheiner and the Sokol[2] funds, and I once more promised that I myself would also send money. I was particularly to emphasize the fact in Prague that the political émigrés of other nations, notably the Poles, were well off, while ours would be faced with considerable difficulties. Professor Masaryk intended to apply to acquaintances in America, but he insisted that some serious step in this respect must be taken at home, for without money no political action could be carried on abroad.
Another point was the selection of people and methods of work. Masaryk asked me to lay stress upon the need for somebody else among our politicians to leave home, however difficult this might be, in order that our political émigrés could acquire more significance by reason of their numbers. He pointed out how many Jugoslav émigrés there were. In addition we should need political workers and journalists because our colonies abroad did not contain many suitable persons for this purpose, and even those who were available were imperfectly acquainted with our conditions at home.
Finally, he agreed with Svatkovsky to send me with a message to Dr. Kramář. Svatkovsky had previously been indirectly in touch with the entourage of Dr. Kramář, whose political tendencies he had shared at the beginning of the war. It had been his endeavour to bring our affairs into a purely Russian sphere of influence, and he was anxious for Russian troops to reach Prague and attend to our interests there. At the same time, however, he was familiar with the conditions in Petrograd and he regarded them with the more critical eye of a Western European observer. He agreed with many of Masaryk’s criticisms and misgivings, and during this first conversation he quite openly expressed to me his own fears. In particular, even at that time what he demanded from our people, with their Slavonic and Russian sympathies, was to be energetic, hardworking, venturesome, and unselfish, for he did not suppose that the victory of Russia would be an easy and simple matter. Moreover, he was aware of the alarm in Western Europe with regard to the expansion of Russia, and he was therefore cautious about all those political plans in which Russia was involved.
And so I was sent to Dr. Kramář by Professor Masaryk and Svatkovsky in order that I might tell him of their impressions and deliver their messages. Svatkovsky asked me in particular to tell Dr. Kramář from him that something really must be done against Austria, and both expressed the view that it would be best if Dr. Kramář were to leave home and engage upon work abroad.
The last subject of our discussion was the question of how Professor Masaryk was to keep in permanent touch with our people at home. He told me to form a secret committee from among our political workers. In the manner of the Russian revolutionary methods, such a committee would have numerous ramifications at home; it would illicitly keep up communication with abroad and would be permanently in touch with official Czech and Viennese politics. From behind the scenes it would exert an influence on the conduct of policy at home and would keep the organized political émigrés informed about what was happening there. He also mentioned to me that it would be necessary to distribute this organization over the rural districts, to have a secret printing-press, and devoted helpers prepared at once to replace any of the members who might be arrested.
The share which Professor Masaryk entrusted to me was to maintain the connections with abroad and thus to co-ordinate what was being done at home. This would mean being in touch with the members of the Committee, collecting material and dispatching it abroad with the help of couriers. From time to time I should also attempt to make similar journeys myself. Masaryk urged the need of being always prepared for arrest and of having a substitute in case this should happen, because the connection with Prague must never be interrupted. We arranged with Svatkovsky a telegraphic code, a scheme for the sending of couriers, and the type of news, especially that of a military character, in which he was particularly interested. He promised me that at the beginning he would place some of his own couriers at our disposal.
(b) First Meeting of the “Maffia”
11
When this had been accomplished I returned to Prague. At that time the atmosphere in Bohemia was tense. The frontiers were almost entirely closed and the defeats in Serbia and on the Russian front had produced an uneasiness which we all still remember. It was important for me to obtain as much interesting political and military news as possible, and I therefore made notes of what Masaryk and Svatkovsky had told me, especially about conditions in the seats of war and the action of our troops in Russia and France. I also bought a large number of military and political books which it would be possible to use at home for propagandist purposes. On my way back, I hid my written notes under the seat of the railway carriage in which I made the journey direct from Zurich to Vienna, and I put the parcel of books in the lavatory among the belongings of the railway employees. In this way I managed to pass successfully through two inspections. My passport had been taken away from me after an unpleasant scene at the Austrian Consulate in Zurich and had been replaced by a new one which entitled me only to return to Prague and would then be no longer valid.
I reached Prague in the middle of February and at once began to carry out our plans. I first delivered all the messages to Dr. Scheiner and Dr. Šámal, the latter of whom agreed to speak to Dr. Kramář and arrange for me to meet him. This meeting took place shortly after my return at Dr. Šámal’s residence, where from that time onwards all the chief meetings of the “Maffia” were held.
It was my first meeting with Dr. Kramář, and the impression it left upon me was an agreeable one. Dr. Kramář received me in that cordial manner which is typical of him, and when I gave him an account of affairs in Switzerland and had delivered the messages from there he expressed complete agreement with Masaryk’s undertaking.
From a political and military point of view the time was fairly favourable. The course of events on the Serbian and Russian fronts looked black for Vienna and Budapest. In Serbia, after the loss of Belgrade, Austria was unable to take any further action at all, while in Galicia the Russians were approaching Cracow. As Dr. Kramář was absolutely certain of a victory for Russia, Svatkovsky’s recommendation, which I had brought with me, gained me his complete confidence. He agreed with the duties I had undertaken and expressed confidence in the course of action proposed by Dr. Šámal. We were to remain in constant personal touch, and whenever necessary we were to meet at Dr. Šámal’s.
There were a few matters of principle or opinion in which I noticed that Dr. Kramář showed a marked disagreement with Masaryk. He indicated to me his absolute confidence in the part which Russia would play and the success which she would achieve in the struggle for our independence. He also told me what he thought about the political international tendencies of the future independent State, and of the close constitutional and political relationship between our State and Russia. He also said that it would be Russia who would decide the whole matter of the war for us, and that it would therefore be necessary for him to be at Prague and to direct matters in a fitting manner at the moment when the Russians reached us. He therefore hinted at this very first meeting that while it was a good thing for Masaryk to be abroad, his own place was not abroad but at home.
This attitude bewildered me. I began to raise objections, mentioning what Masaryk had told me and what Svatkovsky had confirmed. I pointed out to him the guarded attitude of Paris and London towards Russia, whose expansion was the cause of alarm, and I showed that we must therefore be cautious in our dealings with Western Europe. I repeated Masaryk’s doubts about the relationship of Russia to us and the Jugoslavs, and also Svatkovsky’s criticisms of the unprepared and backward state of affairs in Petrograd. Dr. Kramář disposed of my fears very briefly, expressing the view that when the time came, his personal intervention with Izvolsky on the subject of our cause would put matters right.
I saw that the divergence of views could not be eliminated in the case of Dr. Kramář by any further discussion, and I therefore deferred to his authority. It was enough for me that Dr. Kramář had heard the whole message, had given his consent to our work, had accepted the scheme of organization, had expressed a desire to keep in touch with us, and had agreed that we should hold further meetings as soon as fresh news came from Switzerland, or in case it were necessary to make any important resolutions. He also expressed his agreement with the suggestion that another one of our politicians should proceed abroad. I at once visited Dr. Scheiner and informed him of the main points in my conversation with Dr. Kramář. I also arranged with him and Dr. Šámal the final form which our organization and activities should take.
Dr. Scheiner then recommended me also to Dr. Rašín,[3] with whom I at once had a meeting at the offices of Národní Listy.[4] Through the Sokol organization Dr. Scheiner had arranged copious supply of military news, and he wanted to organize my dealings with Dr. Rašín so that the information which each of us obtained for transmission abroad could be mutually supplemented. We at once got on admirably with Dr. Rašín. He gave me a cordial reception in his editorial office and we had no difficulty in arranging a detailed and systematic collaboration. This work brought out all his courage, energy, and determination, and I have the most pleasant memories of our friendly relations which continued until the time of his imprisonment.
From now onwards began a systematic communication between these various centres for a mutual supply of information, and this led to the first regular meetings of the secret organization known as the “Maffia.”
12
The first meeting of the new organization took place at the beginning of March 1915 at Dr. Šámal’s, those present comprising Dr. Kramář, Dr. Rašín, Dr. Scheiner, and myself. This first meeting was taken up by a recapitulation of the news from Switzerland, by a consideration of ways and means for obtaining and dispatching news, and by a discussion on the military and political situation. I also communicated further news about the situation at home which I had obtained recently from documents at Vienna. We also considered the following three important questions:
(a) Our army in Russia and the lack of prominent people there with adequate authority. Further, Masaryk’s proposal that Dr. Scheiner, as head of the Sokol movement, should escape to Russia for the purpose of directing the organization of our military affairs.
(b) Our political émigrés in general and which one of our politicians should join them. It was clear to all that someone must join Masaryk. At the same time Dr. Scheiner and myself emphasized the financial side of things, and Dr. Scheiner was authorized to find some way of releasing the Sokol funds, which for fear of confiscation had been placed under strict control and could be issued only with the consent of persons whom we could not initiate into our plan.
(c) The extending of our circle of helpers and the admission of more representatives of Czech political parties to our organization, which would thus include all the trustworthy political elements at home and at the same time form a proper link with our revolutionary movement abroad. It was agreed that we must increase our numbers, but that extreme caution must be adopted in our choice of parties and persons. Thus, Dr. Kramář and Dr. Rašín adopted a guarded attitude towards the radical Progressives and the national Socialists, while as regards the Social Democrats there were many differences of opinion. It was, however, agreed—at the very first meeting, if I remember rightly—that we should take the Social Democrats, in the person of Dr. Soukup, into our confidence and invite their co-operation.
We were certain that the radical parties would agree to any revolutionary undertaking, but there remained the Agrarian, the Old Czech, and the Clerical Parties for us to consider. I think that several of those present said that the attitude of the Agrarian Party in general was guarded, the impression prevailing there that Austria-Hungary would win the war and that any revolutionary undertaking would be foolhardy. It was therefore proposed that for the time being we should not invite anybody from the Agrarian Party to collaborate with us direct; but the wish was expressed that Švehla should at least be informed in general terms about what we were undertaking abroad, in order that at any decisive moment the party should not take any action against us. With regard to the Old Czechs, it was decided that for the time being no representative of theirs should be asked to join us, while the Clerical Party were ruled out a priori on account of the markedly pro-Austrian character of their policy. On this we were unanimous.
Dr. Scheiner’s position amongst us was that of a representative of the Sokol movement. My function was that of a link with abroad, and I also acted as a kind of unappointed secretary in whose hands the home and foreign news was concentrated and who, in agreement with Dr. Šámal, was to summon meetings when news was received from abroad or if anything important happened at home. I was also to keep in practical touch with our workers abroad.
During the following week we succeeded directly or indirectly in inducing the Social Democrats and radical Progressives to share our activities. I myself, somewhat contrary to the wishes of Dr. Kramář and Rašín, entered into touch with the leading radicals, such as Dr. Hajn and Viktor Dyk.[5]
(c) Conspiratorial Activity of the “Maffia.” The Financing of our Revolutionary Plans
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The whole organization of the “Maffia” thus began to acquire firmer outlines. As I have said, we used to meet at Dr. Šámal’s whenever I received important news, either home or foreign, or when any request was received from Masaryk. I myself was in touch with Vienna, with various circles in Prague, and with the police.(7) Dr. Scheiner had extensive connections with the Sokols, and with military circles, and so had Dr. Šámal. Dr. Rašín knew a large number of people in politics and business. He used to obtain very good information from official circles, especially in connection with the railways, and sometimes he brought the complete text of secret instructions. From these individual groups in which—as was natural and proper—the members of the political “Maffia” did not generally know who the other collaborators were, the whole of our revolutionary organization in its final form was constituted.
Since my return from Zurich I had been in a state of continual tension. Not wishing to arouse suspicion, I continued my teaching work at the Commercial Academy and my lectures at the University. I paid frequent visits to Dr. Scheiner at his residence, and during the spring of 1915 we used to meet every morning in the Rieger Park, where we went for walks, and on one of these morning strolls we held a complete regular meeting of the “Maffia.” I used to visit Dr. Rašín regularly and often in the office of Národní Listy or at his home, and was in continuous daily touch with Dr. Šámal. I met Dr. Kramář at our meetings, and on two occasions I went to see him at his villa. Sometimes I used to accompany him from the meetings of the “Maffia,” and we then had interesting political discussions which plainly showed me what his political tendencies and aims would be in the future, and how great the divergencies were between his views and those of Professor Masaryk and myself.
After I had collected material every day from various sources I would arrange it at home, and then, with the help of Hájek, Werstadt, and my wife, dispatched it regularly to Switzerland. This was done in various ways, and it was done frequently, sometimes every day. Professor Masaryk began to send couriers to me from Switzerland as early as January 1915. The first of these, as I have already mentioned, was the student Lavička and another was L. V. Fáček, who, for the purposes of his revolutionary activity, assumed the name of Strejček. It was he who supplied me with a cipher code for correspondence and a number of addresses in Switzerland to which letters and couriers could be sent. He also devised a set of fictitious names for those concerned in the conspiracy. Thus Professor Masaryk was called Hradecký; Svatkovsky was Fürst; Dr. Scheiner—Dr. Soukal; Dr. Šámal—Trkal; Dr. Kramář—Holec; Dr. Rašín—Schiel, later Ritter; Hájek—Král. I was known as Spolný, and later, on my numerous journeys, I assumed the names of Bělský, Berger, Novotný, König, and Šícha. It was under the latter name that I managed to escape the frontier, and in Holland I was known as Leblanc.
I used to send news regularly by post to Switzerland to the addresses of our fellow-countrymen who had settled there, most of whom were artisans. Various devices were adopted for this purpose. I prepared postcards in the following way: I would open them out into two halves, each of the same size, and insert the cipher message between them. I then had them joined together by a bookbinder so that no trace of the operation was left and the suspicions of the censor were not aroused. At other times I employed the same device with books, which formed our most frequent means of communication. I inserted long reports into the covers or the backs of books and sometimes I made word for word copies of documents obtained by Machar and Kovanda at Vienna. These reports were sent to Switzerland, and it sometimes happened that details of the proceedings in the Ministerial Council at Vienna appeared four or five days afterwards in the Allied Press. On other occasions items from Vienna were published in La Nation Tchèque and, as we ascertained, they infuriated the Government and police circles at Vienna. For they made it clear how rapid the communication was between Vienna, Prague, and Switzerland, and they accordingly demonstrated the efficiency of our organization.
For a long time, as arranged with Svatkovsky, I had ample opportunities for sending specially worded telegrams. It was not until the declaration of war by Italy that this had to be stopped, because most of these telegrams were sent to Rome. From May 1915 onwards all postal communication became increasingly difficult because persons sending letters abroad had to state their identity at the post office or at least leave an address for the reply. I therefore spent a great deal of time going from one Prague post office to another and giving sham addresses. I was prepared to be arrested in the event of any serious hitch.
This work made it necessary to be always on the alert. It also involved a good deal of travelling and the expenditure of much money. One of the most wearisome things we had to do was to codify or decipher messages. As time went on I obtained helpers for this, particularly Jan Hájek, my wife, and Miss Olič. Now and then I had occasional helpers or others who had joined the movement by chance. Thus, before my departure, I took Werstadt and Dr. Butter into my confidence, and they continued the work after I had left. It was about this time that we attempted to send messages through the advertisement columns of the Prague daily papers, mostly in the Národní Politika and Prager Tagblatt, but this scheme did not prove very successful. In the second phase of our activities it became necessary to limit ourselves to the use of couriers, for by this time our postal communications were likely to be discovered.(8) Moreover, the Austrian Government had taken to holding up letters intentionally for weeks at a time and this rendered information less valuable.
Long and interesting chapters could be devoted to an account of our couriers, but I will limit myself to mentioning a few of the most noteworthy of them. There was, for example, L. V. Fáček, to whom I have already referred. For a long time he travelled regularly between Prague and Switzerland, facing considerable risks. Like the other couriers he carried messages inside books, in the handles of bags and trunks, in pencils and fountain-pens, and also inside keys, which were specially made for this purpose. He brought back messages and, later on, large supplies of La Nation Tchèque and Československa Samostatnost in small trunks with hollow sides and in similar articles. I should here point out that on the other side of the frontier we had a kind of revolutionary workshop with a paid staff who assisted us in a systematic manner. There were some interesting incidents in connection with the courier Beneš, who went under the name of Frič. He was an enthusiastic Czech patriot, seventy years of age, who had served as a volunteer in the Franco-Prussian War. By a misunderstanding he had been sent in the first week of June with a message to Dr. Rašín. This message was hidden in a short English pipe, but Dr. Rašín, not having been informed beforehand that the courier was coming, was alarmed. He thought that it was a trick on the part of the Austrian police and in the presence of the courier he threw the pipe into the fire.(9) Old Beneš, who himself was very much scared, went away without leaving any address and thinking that he had been discovered. With the help of Hájek and Hajšman, however, who obtained the details from Dr. Rašín, he was run to earth in Prague and invited to a meeting. Hajšman discovered him and, in accordance with a pre-arranged plan, brought him to Václav Square, where he handed him over to Hájek. The latter informed him that he was to meet Spolný and took him to Charles Square, round by the New Town prison. These proceedings struck old Beneš as being suspicious. He knew the name of Dr. Beneš, but he did not know that the name which he assumed as a revolutionary was Spolný. He told Hájek that he knew Charles Square and also that there was a prison in the neighbourhood. Then, being suddenly filled with suspicion that he was being taken to prison, he refused to go and meet Spolný. Finally, after an animated scene, Hájek succeeded in inducing Beneš to accompany him. At Žitná Street, Hájek passed old Beneš on to me. He was still full of mistrust and was totally unable to make out what we were up to. We acted in this way because we feared that Beneš might be followed by the police. I told him my name. Old Beneš then perceived that after his queer adventure he had found the man he was searching for and that he could fulfil that patriotic task which Masaryk had entrusted to him. With tears in his eyes he assured me how happy he was to see me and to know that Benešes never betray the nation. And then by word of mouth he told me what little he knew. He also received messages for Dr. Sychrava,[6] which were placed in pencils and between the covers of a book. The message which he had brought with him had been of great importance, for it consisted of a definite draft for a public proclamation of our movement abroad against Austria, but, of course, as I have described above, we did not receive it.
I mention this as typical of the methods we had to employ and the troubles we encountered during our surreptitious activities. Many more such interesting episodes could be described if space permitted.
14
At the meetings of the “Maffia,” which were arranged at regular intervals from February to the end of July 1915—that being a period during which I myself attended them—a number of important questions were discussed in addition to those already mentioned. The most important concerned the supply of money for our movement at home and abroad, the manifesto by which Professor Masaryk was to inaugurate his open action against Austria, and the departure of Dr. Kramář and Dr. Scheiner for the organization of troops.
The negotiations for financial support do not make an edifying story. For various reasons our revolutionary movement had not been able to obtain a timely and adequate supply of money. When Professor Masaryk went away, the money he had with him was, I believe, partly his own and partly some of what I had handed over to him before his departure. Besides that, Dr. Scheiner had contributed a sum of 10,000 crowns towards his journey. The circumstances, however, had compelled him to remain abroad without any considerable preparations, and he was without money for that purpose. He also had constant anxieties about his family which had remained at home. Before Professor Masaryk’s departure, Dr. Scheiner was the only person who showed a genuine interest in, and a proper understanding of, the money problem. Unfortunately, the free use of the Sokol funds had been restricted, and so that source failed us. During my first and second journeys to Switzerland, Professor Masaryk continually laid stress upon this, for it was clear that without money we should accomplish nothing. Professor Masaryk himself hoped to obtain funds from his personal friends in America. He had received some support from Mr. Crane, and then he had written direct from Italy and Switzerland to his friends among the Czechs in America. Moreover, Dr. Scheiner had told him to apply to the banker Štěpina on behalf of the Sokol organization.
At home little could be obtained beyond that already mentioned. Dr. Šámal, with the support of Dr. Scheiner, managed to secure a few more thousand crowns in the spring of 1915, and then a few more thousands shortly before I finally went abroad. In each of his messages Professor Masaryk informed us how the movement would have to develop, how much money he would need, how much he would require for the current and the following year. For example, at the outset he computed that about 10,000 francs annually would be necessary for La Nation Tchèque (it was not nearly enough), and that he would need a few more thousands for the publication of his memorandum for the Allies. Whatever the reasons for these difficulties of ours, I was disappointed and exasperated. In the spring of 1915 I twice sent Professor Masaryk sums of money from my own resources which I had at my disposal and which I was able to spare from my loan. I myself needed funds for my journeys to Vienna and Germany, for the equipment of couriers and for the supply of material. As I have said, the only person who contributed anything substantial towards these requirements was Dr. Šámal.
As a matter of interest I will add in what manner those two money consignments were dispatched to Professor Masaryk in Switzerland in 1915. It was at a time when we had to be extremely careful, as Professor Masaryk’s movements were being watched. In his message Professor Masaryk had again asked for money. As there was nothing else that I could do, I decided to adopt a method which would arouse the least suspicion. And so the first instalment of about 3,000 crowns for the Czechoslovak revolutionary movement was sent through the agency of an Austro-Hungarian Government department—the Austro-Hungarian Post Office Savings Bank. The money reached Professor Masaryk safely, and the receipt of it was acknowledged on an open postcard, which was sent to me.
I have already mentioned that these obstacles irritated me very much and I made no secret of this to a number of my friends. Finally, I decided to collect money for the movement in a somewhat wider circle, including members of the Progressive Party and a number of party colleagues and friends of Masaryk. I very soon dropped this idea, for at the very first attempt I saw how useless it was. I applied to two prominent party men, both of whom were known to be extremely well off. One of them, after a long conversation, slipped 100 crowns into my hand one evening, and the second, a few days later, while we were in a café together, discoursed to me at great length about his upright conscience and his views of these matters, whereupon he gave me nothing. The total amount which I received from Dr. Šámal and Dr. Scheiner for the movement was 11,000 crowns, the greater part of which was obtained, if I am not mistaken, by a collection among a small circle of their friends. During my second visit to Switzerland I related these experiences to Professor Masaryk and those who were working with him. He expressed his disappointment very outspokenly. One meeting of the “Maffia” in March 1915 was taken up with money matters. There was some discussion about certain funds from Russia, of which I had no clear knowledge, and were supposed to have been deposited at the Bohemia Bank in Prague. It was suggested that we might be able to use them. The debate on that occasion was only of a general character and it was proposed that the matter should be looked into. Whether anything was done about it later on, I do not know, but as far as I was concerned this discussion led to no further supply of funds for our movement abroad.
It thus came about that during my second journey to Switzerland Professor Masaryk indicated to me that the only people who could save us were the Czechoslovaks in America. Somebody would have to be sent there to collect money among our friends. I mentioned my brother, Vojta Beneš, and Professor Masaryk agreed, his only stipulation being that the matter should be arranged with the co-operation of Dr. Scheiner, who must provide my brother with credentials. He added that as my brother had already been in America and had a number of friends there, it would be a good thing if he went with an express invitation from Bohemia since this would give him from the very beginning a definite political authority among our fellow-countrymen.
I therefore began to negotiate with Dr. Scheiner about sending my brother to America, partly for the purpose of organizing our colony there for a political campaign, partly for securing regular financial support which would enable us to maintain our revolutionary movement throughout the war. I then reported the matter at a meeting of the “Maffia” and obtained the consent of the members. My brother was already acquainted with America, having done a year’s educational work there before the war. He accordingly talked things over with Deputy Habrman,[7] and after discussing the matter with Dr. Scheiner and Dr. Šámal he informed E. Voska that he was coming.
Various steps were taken to obtain a passport for Vojta Beneš and all his family to go to America. The authorities gave their permission probably in view of the purpose of his journey, for he stated that he intended to investigate the manufacture of artificial limbs for disabled soldiers. He managed to get away from Austria in the middle of July 1915 and safely reached his destination, where he at once began with much success to carry out the duties which had been entrusted to him by the “Maffia” and by Masaryk. With the help of other American friends and fellow-workers, he achieved important results which rendered possible the essential details of our political and diplomatic action in Europe.
Towards the end of 1915 Professor Masaryk received the first funds from the American collections, so that he was able to let me keep about 20,000 francs which I had brought with me when I escaped from home. This enabled me to live from my own resources and remain independent in a financial sense.
It will be seen that my experiences of money matters were not encouraging. I have often asked myself why this was. From the conversations on the financial question which I had with the persons concerned, I drew one conclusion: the determining factor was not so much the financial sacrifice involved but, in the majority of cases, the fear of being discovered by the police. But often this made me think how prone our people were at their meetings to shout: “To the last man and the last farthing,” and when the decisive moment came how difficult it was to discover those who had the courage of their convictions.
- ↑ Dr. Karel Kramář (b. 1860), a prominent Czech politician, who, before the war, represented the Young Czech Party in the Reichsrat at Vienna. During the war he was sentenced to death by Austria, but was afterwards amnestied. He was the first Czechoslovak Prime Minister, and is now the leader of the National Democratic Party.
- ↑ Sokol: The Sokols are an organization which was founded (primarily as a gymnastic society) by Miroslav Tyrš, assisted by Jindřich Fügner, in 1862. Since then it has developed into a national movement, with a membership of over 350,000. The Sokol funds, here referred to, consist of the subscriptions of the members, which are used for the purpose of establishing gymnasiums, libraries, and other centres of physical and intellectual culture.
- ↑ Dr. Alois Rašin (1867–1923) was associated with the Progressive movement, and from 1907 was one of the leading members of the Party of Liberal Thought. During the war he, together with Dr. Kramář, was imprisoned and sentenced to death, but later received an amnesty. He was the first Czechoslovak Minister of Finance, and it was due to his skilful handling of the currency question that the economic position of Czechoslovakia was stabilized at a very early date.
- ↑ Národní Listy, one of the oldest Czech daily papers. It was founded in 1860 and was originally the organ of the Party of Liberal Thought. Since the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic it has been the organ of the National Democrats.
- ↑ Viktor Dyk (b. 1877), a Czech poet and author, who, before the war, was associated with the State Rights Progressive Party. During the war he was imprisoned for his anti-Austrian activities and now represents the National Democrats in the Czechoslovak National Assembly.
- ↑ Dr. L. Sychrava (b. 1886), barrister and journalist. At the beginning of the war he went abroad as the representative of the younger section of the State Rights Progressive Party, and collaborated with Professor Masaryk and Dr. Beneš. He was the first diplomatic representative of the Czechoslovak Government in Paris. After the war he become editor-in-chief of the legionaries’ daily paper, Národní Osvobození (National Liberation).
- ↑ Gustav Habrman (b. 1864), a prominent member of the Social Democratic Party, the Radical wing of which he directed during the war. On two occasions he has occupied Ministerial posts in the Czechoslovak Government.