on these arrangements to Masaryk, who was making all preparations in London, and we reached an agreement by telegram with Masaryk and our unions in America and Russia concerning the signature of the manifesto. Finally, I went into the whole matter with Professor Denis on October 9, 1915. The reason for this was that Professor Denis considered the wording of the manifesto, as agreed upon in Prague, to be unsuitable for the French public. It was, he said, too dry and historical in tone, and he suggested changes. With Masaryk’s consent he then revised our wording for the French public.
It was then for the first time that the problem of organizing our movement abroad became an urgent one. What had to be considered was the relationship of Masaryk and those of us who had arrived from Prague, towards our colonists abroad. Another important point was the extent to which our colonists were to take part in our work. As early as March 1915 Masaryk had drawn up a scheme for the activity of the colonists, which he had submitted to them. In it he had indicated what their status and duties should be in the work of liberation. The question was a delicate one in its personal aspect, chiefly because of the status, the interests, and the aims of some of the leading personalities among the colonists. It was clear that for managing our national and political movement we needed a firmly established central organization which would be permanently representative of our movement, and by its composition would form a serious body worthy of the confidence of our own people and especially of Allied political circles.
In September 1915 these matters were not sufficiently advanced for the purposes of a definite organization. A kind of ad hoc political body was therefore set up, and it exhibited all the marks of a provisional arrangement. At that time our colonists had no definite organization either in Paris or London, America or Russia. Altogether, from a political point of view, we saw how unprepared our colonists were; and so we created spontaneously a “Czechoslovak Foreign Committee,” whose function was chiefly to provide signatures for our manifesto, and thus to exhibit unity among all who were concerned in our struggle for liberation and who at that time were able to speak freely. There were various difficulties and disputes with regard to the persons who were to sign the manifesto on behalf of the colonies and the regional associations, but an agreement was finally reached. The definite organization was postponed until
F
