it was at once proved to have been an invention. It is a pity that American journalists in Europe on the few occasions when they mention the Czechoslovaks take both their facts, and the lesson taught by the facts, from German enemies of the Czech nation. While some pilfering goes on in Bohemia as everywhere else in Europe and even in America, there is better order and greater safety of life and property in the Czechoslovak Republic than anywhere in Europe west of the Rhine. The best proof of it lies in the fact that the Czechoslovak authorities last March called in all the money and stamped it in the course of ten days with out any material loss or disturbance, while recently in Germany finance minister Erzberger had to abandon his plans to carry out the same reform, because he deemed it too dangerous to transport billions of marks over German railroads and because he could not trust the state employees who would handle the money.
The Germans of Vienna have not changed, in spite of the fact that they are reduced almost to destitution and have to sell the emperor’s tapestries to buy food. The treaty imposed upon Austria and signed with great cheerfulness by chancellor Renner provides for the protection of national minorities and among other things guarantees to the Czech minority in Vienna the right to have their children educated in Czech schools, supported by public funds. But when Czech spokesmen in Vienna appealed to the Austrian authorities for schools, they were turned down, and private schools opened by them were damaged by mob violence. Even in the Czechoslovak Republic in certain districts in northern Bohemia, the opening of Czech schools occasioned scenes of violence by the local German majorities; they take it as a grievous wrong and a violation of all their rights that enough schools should be taken away from them to provide instruction in their own language for Czech children which under the old regime had to attend German schools. The Czechoslovak government is ready to give the Germans even more than the peace conference insisted upon; but the Germans are indignant, whenever any of their unfair privileges are taken away from them.
The agitation of Slovak extremists is not meeting with success. In Slovakia the sentiment has come out unmistakably against them ,and whatever lurking sympathies they might have got were lost by their intrigues with the Poles. Dr. Beneš answered an interpellation in the National Assembly on this subject by stating some interesting facts: Two priests, Andrew Hlinka and Francis Jedlicka, crossed the Slovak boundary secretly into Poland, came to Warsaw, were welcomed by Polish officials, negotiated for support of their separatist movement, received Polish credentials on which they came to Rome by way of the Balkans, and in Rome received from Polish diplomatic representatives Polish passports to enable them to get to Paris. There they tried to reach Allied representatives with their story of complaints against the Czechs, but without any success. Dr. Beneš took up the matter with Mr. Paderewski who expressed his regrets at the unwarranted action of the Polish officials in granting Polish passports to Czechoslovak citizens and promised to have the officials severely punished. According to Beneš there is not the slightest possibility that the agitation of these malcontents will have any effect. Since this explanation was given in the National Assembly, a cable dispatch stated that Hlinka who had returned to Czechoslovakia was arrested on the charge of high treason.
The question of religion has something to do with this episode. When the Slovaks were liberated and united with the Czechs a year ago, a large proportion of the important governmental posts were entrusted to Protestants, although Protestants number only about one fourth of the Slovak people. The reason was that the Lutheran Church among the Slovaks was less completely Magyarized than the Catholic Church. Minister of Public Health, Vávro Šrobár, who is also minister with special powers for Slovakia, belongs to the Protestant camp and so do many of his chief assistants, although several Catholic dignitaries serve the government as district chiefs and sit in the National Assembly. Among Czech minor officials who displaced to a large extent Magyar functionaries in Slovakia there were a few men hostile to the Catholic Church, and their lack of tact stirred up the animosity of the people and the priests.
The cabinet itself is aware of the delicate nature of the religious question and refrains from radical steps that would disturb good relations between church and state.
