The Czechoslovak Review/Volume 2/Loyalty of Bohemians to America

LOYALTY OF BOHEMIANS TO AMERICA.

A few months ago we noted here a statement by Attorney-General Gregory that of all the diverse elements of the American population the Bohemians have made the best showing in the matter of volunteering for the army. The following quotation from a recent editorial in the Cedar Rapids Republican bears on the same point:

“It is somewhat significant that of the three men who were the first victims of German bullets or shells in France two are of Bohemian origin, Shultz and Vomachka. It shows how numerously and how willingly the young men of that blood have enlisted in the great war in which they must feel a dual interest, first as American citizens and second as descendants of a race that in Europe has been so long ground down under the iron heel of the Hapsburgs.”

Another proof of the devotion to American cause of men of Bohemian blood may be seen in the great work done by the Bohemian Branch of the Foreign Language Division of the Liberty Loan Campaign Committee. This committee, composed of Chicago business men of Bohemian birth or parentage, has been held up as an example to similar committees all over the United States, for in the first two campaigns it has reached every one of the thousand and more Bohemian lodges, building and loan associations, clubs and other organizations in Chicago. For the third campaign the work has been placed on an even more extensive basis, and through the cordial co-operation of the Bohemian National Alliance and its branches the Chicago Committee is extending its campaign to every city and hamlet where there may be as many as a dozen Bohemian families. We shall be proud to cite in the next issue of this periodical the total amount of subscriptions made to the third Liberty Loan through this committee. Of course, it should be noted that loyalty alone, unsupported by other qualities, would not suffice. Here, as in other instances, the Bohemians have demonstrated their great organizing talent and ability to co-operate, as well as the high quality of leadership which they possess. The Liberty Loan work is in charge of Anton J. Čermák as chairman of the committee and Joseph J. Salát as secretary.

To this ambitious program of collecting millions for the prosecution of the war should be added the following honorable mention from the Shreveport (La.) Times:

“The Kolin public school, a one-room school taught at the Bohemian colony, five miles north of Alexandria, has been awarded the fifty dollar cash prize, offered through the state board of education to the school selling thrift stamps and war savings stamps in the largest amount and to the largest number of pupils.”

Whether it be in Chicago, with its 150,000 people of Bohemian blood, or the most remote little settlement of Bohemian farmers on the sandy pine clearings of Louisiana, everywhere you will find the same spirit: The war is a righteous war, and peace must be won by victory.

 

---