Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol3, 1919.djvu/416

separation which to them seems to be a great blow to the interests of the church. This attitude was expressed in an open letter addressed to President Masaryk by Cardinal Leo Skrbensky, archbishop of Olomouc. Masaryk in his reply, as in his speech to the National Assembly, emphasizes his interest in religion, but insists on separation as both inevitable and desirable. He says: “Your memorandum lays stress on the need of harmonious co-operation of church and state. With that I fully agree, but in my opinion this harmonious co-operation will be best reached by complete separation of church and state, where as Your Eminence does not wish to break the ties that bind the two. If you argue that success of the state demands close connection with the church, let me point to the fall of the Central Powers and particularly Austria-Hungary. It is Austria-Hungary which must be to us a warning against the danger of uniting church and state. Austria-Hungary and its dynasty abused the church for political ends and the result was political and moral decay. This experience with Austria and knowledge of modern democratic states which carried out the separation of church and state induce me to consider this reform necessary in the interest not merely of the state, but also of religion and morality.”

One of the novel features of the independence day celebration was the Marathon race, arranged by the Czech Sokol Union. From seven different corners of the Republic runners started at various hours so timed as to arrive at the Prague Castle with a message for the president before he sat down to the diplomatic luncheon. There were relays of runners every 200 meters and remarkable records were secured. The first message to reach the Castle was from Dombrova in Teschen, a distance of 433 kilometers (about 270 miles); the run was made in 18 hours and 28 minutes. The second message was from Bratislava, a distance of 278 miles, time 20 hours, 49 minutes; total number of Sokols who relayed this message was 2235. The third to arrive was the message from Nová Kdýně, distance 100 miles, time 7:21, fourth from Šumburk, 76 miles, time 5.23, fifth from Broumov, 126 miles, 10.45, sixth from Krumlov, 122 miles, 9.57, seventh from Ústí (Aussig), 83 miles, time 2.47. The entire distance covered was 1693 km. (1057 miles), total time 79 hours and 30 minutes; the number of runners participating was 8590. It should be remembered that it rained the whole day and that some of the runners had to cross mountain ranges covered with deep snow. On the whole it is a very creditable record which proves at least one thing—namely that the Sokols have a wealth of promising athletic material. They are getting ready for the Olympic games and expect to make at least as good a showing, as they made in the Interallied games, when they won the soccer football championship.

The peace treaties were ratified by the National Assembly on November 7. There were altogether six treaties and subsidiary documents which were voted on. The first was the treaty with Germany, the same Versailles treaty which was recently turned down by the United States Senate; then there was the treaty with Austria, next the special treaty providing for the protection of racial and religious minorities, executed between the United States, England, France, Italy and Japan on the one side and the Czechoslovak Republic on the other. The fourth diplomatic act to the ratified was the decision of the Supreme Council of the peace conference, dated June 12, establishing Czechoslovak boundaries as against Hungary; the fifth was another decision, dated August 7, establishing the boundaries as against Roumania, and the lost document approved by the National Assembly was the agreement to pay to the principal Allied and Associated Powers the sum of 750 million francs in gold, not as a war indemnity, but as a contribution to their war expenses or as price paid by the Czechoslovaks for their liberation by the Allies. The treaties had been considered at great length in the Committee on Foreign Affairs, where Dr. Beneš explained them in detail. Thus in the National Assembly itself which has before it many economic and financial problems only one day was given to the consideration of all these treaties. One speaker for each political party declared the attitude of his party toward the work of the Czechoslovak peace delegation, and while all regretted that certain claims, territorial and economic, had been turned down, all announced on behalf of their parties that they would vote favorably