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remained in the hands of a Coalition Cabinet, or (as at the latter date) of a Cabinet composed of permanent officials supported by a coalition of parties.

 

Social Legislation.—The democratic sentiment of the Czechoslovak nation, and its maturity in social matters, resulted in the adoption of a social policy which, while proceeding without undue haste, was characterized by a comparatively rapid course of reform. Social legislation first took the form of accident and sickness insurance. In respect of the former an increase of 30% in the payments to the insured as compared with July I 1917 was made, while at the same time better terms were given in the insurance of miners and of railwaymen; insurance against sickness was completed by extending it to agricultural and domestic workers as well as to the families of the insured. In addition to this, in the course of fixing the premiums to be paid, the amount of State support was several times increased. Sickness insurance was made to include maternity insurance. Old-age and invalidity pensions were not universal; they were made to apply, outside civil servants, to clerks and private officials only.

Pensions were also secured to the widows and orphans of the assured. A universal scheme of old-age and invalidity insurance was before Parliament in 1921. Pensions for war invalids had been granted by special enactments. Insurance against unemployment was originally introduced as an emergency measure, but the economic conditions following the war necessitated the maintenance and extension of this form of insurance, which for normal times has been given legal sanction according to the Ghent system, by State contributions to the payments made by the trade unions.

The most notable accomplishment of the youngrepublic in the field of social-political reform has been the enactment of Dec. 19 1918 establishing an 8-hour day for industrial and agricultural workers (with some specific exceptions). Prohibitions in respect of night work, the work of women (especially mothers) and young persons have been dealt with in the sense of the resolutions adopted at international conferences.

Wages have also been the subject of legislation; special commissions have been empowered to regulate the wages in the so-called "home" industries (sweating), and an arbitration board has been appointed to fix the salaries of clerks in the metal industry, thus minimizing the danger of conflicts in respect of wages having to be settled by means of strikes.

By a far-reaching policy an attempt has been made towards solving the housing problem. A special enactment protects tenants against arbitrary treatment at the hands of landlords in respect of notice to quit and raising of rents. Numerous enactments have also been passed for the encouragement of building operations. The State grants generous support to local authorities and to cooperative societies. These grants amounted in 1919 and 1920 to more than 625,000,000 crowns.

A vast measure of freedom, compared with their position under the Austrian regime, has been granted to women both politically and socially. Politically women are now the equals of men, and there is nothing legally to prevent a woman occupying any position in the various professions or in the administration of the State. In the two Houses of Parliament they were represented in 1921 by 16 members. Nationalization of the coal-mines and the great industrial concerns was one of the main items on the programme of the Socialist parties. In practice moderate discussion was still proceeding in 1921 with the view of giving a more democratic character to factories and other undertakings and assuring a closer cooperation of the workers in the management. In regard to the mines specialists were in conference as to the part to be taken by the State and by public bodies in ownership and management. A first step towards democratizing industrial undertakings was taken by an enactment touching mining councils. By this enactment it is made possible, where more than 20 workers are employed, for an elected council to cooperate in securing the welfare of the workers, to see to the due execution of contracts and agreements, to settle disputes, and to take part in the management of philanthropic institutions.

Another enactment assures to miners a 10% share of the net profits, this sum to be employed for educative, philanthropic, or other purposes of utility for the benefit of the miners.

On the principle of the mining councils, factory or industrial councils were projected for all industrial undertakings.

The idea underlying these councils was to create, as it were, a certain constitution for factories by which the workman who had hitherto been a mere machine should become a creative factor, closely identified with the organization of the undertaking, conscious of responsibility, and thus making of democracy the same reality in economic life as it had already become in political life.

Land Reform.—Long before the political revolution of 1918 the Czechoslovaks had been convinced of the necessity for a far-reaching measure of land reform, both from a social and economic point of view as well as from national considerations. Vast entailed estates were the property of a small group of landlords (in Bohemia 37·7%, in Moravia 34·4%, in Silesia 39·9% of all land belonged to owners representing 0·1 % of the population), while great masses of the people did not own a single acre of their native land. The great majority of the landlords were nobles of foreign origin who acquired

their estates at the hands of the Habsburg conqueror from 1621 onwards, when, after the battle of the White Mountain, the lands of the Czech nobles and yeomen were confiscated, the owners being executed or, as adherents of the Moravian Brotherhood and other Protestant churches, preferring to pass into exile rather than surrender their faith. The demand for the nationalization of the great landed estates was thus not only supported as a social and economic necessity in order to provide the landless population, notably the legionaries, with land, but was, deep in the minds of the people, regarded as a legal rectification of the wrongs suffered through the confiscations which followed the defeat of the White Mountain.

The Act by which the great estates were sequestered was unanimously passed by the National Assembly on April 16 1919. It gives the State the right to "take" (seize) and distribute estates in so far as they exceed 150 hectares (370 ac.) of arable land or 250 hectares (617 ac.) of land of any kind. Estates belonging to the house of Habsburg-Lorraine, property illegally acquired, as well as the property of persons who during the war were guilty of gross offences against the Czechoslovak nation are taken for a compensation paid to the Reparation Commission at Vienna. In all other cases the State gives to the owner a proportionate compensation based on the average prices in the years 1913–7. For the purchase and distribution of the land a "State Land Office" has been set up. A share in the distribution may be claimed on the one hand by private persons to the amount of 15 hectares (37 ac.) the amount suitable for cultivation by one family; on the other hand by agricultural, housing and cooperative societies. The lands taken over by the State may, of course, be used for other purposes of public utility and remain the property of the State. Even persons without means may obtain land, an enactment enabling them to purchase on credit to the extent of nine-tenths of the value of the land acquired. Special protection is given to small holders. This Land Act was to be carried out in a series of successive periods, during the first of which only estates over 5,000 hectares (12,350 ac.) would be affected.

The Army.—The military forces of the republic were organized, immediately on the attainment of independence, on a democratic basis. The army was formed of the legionaries who had fought in Russia, France and Italy on the side of the Allies, and of those Czechoslovak troops who, on the collapse of Austria-Hungary, streamed back from the various fronts. Recruits now serve for two years, and the strength of the army is fixed at 150,000. This force, which is in essence a militia, is designed to be something different from a mere fighting machine. During their term of service the men are given not only military training but also educational advantages, as well as the opportunity of learning some handicraft. Well-organized continuation schools and systematic courses of lectures aim at providing the young soldier with a complete adult education. The Sokol societies, in collaboration with the army gymnastic clubs and with the Y.M.C.A., devote themselves systematically to the physical and moral welfare of the troops.

Education.—In Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia the standard of education elementary higher and technical is excellent, and there are practically no illiterates a state of affairs attributable to the interest which the Czech nation (imbued with the traditions of Comenius) had ever taken in education. In Slovakia the situation is different. The Slovaks under the Hungarian regime were kept in a backward state—they did not possess a single Slovak school—while still worse conditions prevailed in Russinia, some 75% of the population being unable to read or write. The Czechoslovak Government, between 1918 and 1921, set up some 2,000 additional elementary and some 40 higher schools in Slovakia and Russinia (including 80 new German schools), so that a vast improvement in the educational status of those countries is only a matter of time.

In the entire republic there are four universities, three Czech and Slovak—the Charles University of Prague, the Masaryk University of Brno and the Comenius University of Bratislava—and one German (at Prague). The Masaryk and Comenius Universities are new foundations since 1918. There are four polytechnics enjoying university rank at Prague and Brno, two of them being Czech and two German. At Příbram in Bohemia there is a high school of mines, while two other high schools have been founded at Brno, one for veterinary science and the other for agriculture.

A high standard of physical training is set by the popular gymnastic organizations, known as "Sokols." In addition to the original Sokol Society (founded in 1862) there are the special organizations of the Labour (Socialist) and the Catholic Gymnastic Unions (under Sokol influence). The great Sokol union has a membership of over 300,000 in all, and the programme includes not only physical but also moral and disciplinary training, aiming at the production of citizens of character and patriotism. The Sokol organization and the Sokol spirit were one of the mainsprings of the movement resulting, in the years 1914 to 1918, in the formation of the Czechoslovak legions on the various European battle-fronts. The "Scout" movement, too, both for boys and girls, has since 1918 developed with much success, especially in collaboration with the other original Czech gymnastic and sport corporations.

Religion.—The religious history of the lands which now compose the Czechoslovak Republic has a special interest for the English-speaking world owing to the fact that the work of John Hus, the