ganization of the present boundaries of Europe. Presumably all Americans will endorse the principles announced by President Wilson in his address to the senate, Jan. 22 , 1917: “Every people should be left free to determine its own policy, its own developments, unhindered, unthreatened, unafraid, the little along with the great and powerful. I am proposing government by the consent of the governed.” The Bohemian Review would like to accomplish this much: to impress upon American public opinion the fact that principles embodied in the history of this republic, if applied to Europe, make necessary the creation of an independent Bohemia. And it welcomes with undisguised pleasure any voice showing that the Review does fulfill its function of informing the American press on this point.
One of Chicago’s daily papers, The Evening Post, printed the following editorial article in its issue of March 20, 1917, entitled “The Voice of Bohemia”:
“The national aspirations of Bohemia have found an appealing voice in the Bohemian Review, a new monthly publication that we welcome because of its informative value and its intelligent discussion of problems in which all the world is interested.”
“The Review is issued from Chicago under the editorial charge of Jaroslav F. Smetanka, whose recognized leadership among Bohemian-Americans qualifies him for this important educational work. Among articles of much interest and value in the current number is one by Thomas G. Masaryk, the Bohemian patriot, on ‘Bohemia and the European Crisis’. Mr. Masaryk gives the historical background for the national aspirations of the Bohemians and presents a case that must win the sympathy of all lovers of freedom.
“In Europe there is no more heroic people and none who have better deserved the liberty they seek. Those of them who have adopted America as their land are among the most loyal of our citizens and display by their response to republican institutions the spirit and capacity of a race inherently qualified for democracy.
“The Review will quicken the interest of Americans in the cause of Bohemia and will cultivate a sentiment that may yet find opportunity to express itself in behalf of Bohemian liberation.”
FIVE THOUSAND FROM ONE MAN.
That American citizens of Czech descent should contribute generously for the liberation of their kinsmen is a matter of course. When an American of the old colonial stock makes a large donation for the same purpose, it is an event deserving of notice.
The largest individual donation made so far to the cause of Bohemia’s independence was made by a stranger in blood to the Czech race. Mr. J. V. Frothingham of New York gave five thousand dollars to the fund employed by Masaryk and his fellow exiles to bring the claims of Bohemia to the attention of the world. It was not Mr. Frothingham’s first philanthropy. Shortly after the war began, he organized and supported at his expense a Red Cross unit composed of Bohemian and Slovak physicians and nurses for service in Serbia, before that unfortunate country was overwhelmed by Germans and Bulgars. A second expedition he sent out was torpedoed in the Adriatic by an Austrian submarine.
The Bohemian race has few active friends among the big men of America. Poles, Serbians, Armenians, even Albanians, find many sympathizers among generous men and women of this country who feel that they are doing something worth while by extending a helping hand to a weak or oppressed people. But if friends of Bohemians are rare, they are so much more valued by the people which they help. The long list of men from America who made the campaign for Bohemia’s independence victorious will be headed by the Anglo-Saxon name of Frothingham.
INFORMATION ABOUT BOHEMIA.
The Bohemian National Alliance will mail upon request without charge the following pamphlets setting forth the aims and aspirations of the Bohemian (Czech) and Slovak peoples:
The Problem of Small Nations in the European Crisis.
The Slavs Among the Nations.
The Czecho-Slovak State.
Those who desire to read a more detailed study of the Bohemian problem are advised to get Thomas Čapek’s book: Bohemia under the Hapsburg Misrule, which will be sent postpaid upon receipt of One Dollar.
The same organization has recently received from England a number of copies of the following pamphlets: Philip Gibbs, The Germans on the Somme, and Britain Transformed. These will be sent free upon request.
Address all communications with reference to the above: Bohemian National Alliance, 3639 West 26th St., Chicago, Ill.
Have you sent in your subscription to the Bohemian Review?
If you have friends that might be interested in the Bohemian Review, please send us their addresses, and we shall mail them sample copies.
Emperor Charles does not feel very secure on his throne. Since he succeeded his granduncle, Charles and various archdukes have sent out one hundred and fifty million crowns into Switzerland and Holland, so that they might have something to fall back on, when the Hapsburg dynasty shall no longer be wanted.
