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volutionary assembly, not that they would have contributed a spirit of serious opposition of which, in every parliament, there is a necessity—but also to the disadvantage of German nation, the German political thought is still permeated with the demagogy contrasting the Czech political conception.

Future historians of the revolutionary epoch of Czechoslovakia will certainly seek causes for German nonparticipation and even of other nationalities. Possibly they may explain their exclusion. But the circumstance, that the state creating Czechoslovak nation gained its independence against the will of the Germans and Magyars, may have influenced its leaders to frame its constitution in such form as would satisfy its state governmental ideals. But everything will not be explained thereby. Should they consider the nonparticipation of the Germans as a political blunder, they will certainly say the guilt is attributable to both sides.

After all, we see errors rather than the better side of the great work of the Revolutionary National Assembly during the first two governments of the republic. If there were no legislative activites other than the passing of numerous social bills, the land reform and the constitution of the Czechoslovak Republic, it will suffice that they remain impressed in the cherished memory of the future.

Czechoslovakia has not been spared the housing difficulties which as a result of the war trouble all the European countries and even the United States are experiencing. In addition to the circumstances general to all countries, the Czech territories suffered more owing to the fact that the former Imperial Austrian Government systematicaly discouraged preparations for the coming of peace. It thus came about that on the collapse of the Dual Empire and the formation of the Czechoslovak State absolutely no plans had been made to start building.

In the chaos which prevailed in housing conditions on the establishment of the new State, when thousands of families of State employees from adjacent territories of Austria entered the Republic, together with families of repatriated Czechoslovak citizens, all of whom were seeking homes; when thousands of prisoners of war were returning, the vast majority of whom were also looking for dwellings, the Czechoslovak Government regarded it as an immediate necessity to take steps to extend and develop the protection of tenants and to make provisions that all unused or only partially occupied premises should be made available for dwelling purposes. These provisions were, it is true, not very popular, but the public recognized the relatives in the Czechoslovak Republic for the necessity for them and complied with the general demand for them. These measures have already been replaced by Parliament with regular laws.

To stimulate building activity Parliament has made a grant of 30 million crowns annually as a contribution towards the interest on the mortgages for houses built in the years 1919 and 1920 by municipalities and societies serving public interests. This grant was distributed among municipalities and 121 societies for 4,198 houses and 11, 919 dwellings built at an outlay of over 500 million crowns. For the encouragement of private building, Parliament granted a sum of 252 million Cs. crowns for the completion of houses begun in 1920 and 1921.

Building activities were also considerably aided by the new law for the expropriation of land, the law for the exemption of new houses from house duty, and the legal houses from house duty, and the legal relief from the strict building by-laws.

In spite of this, it cannot be said that the progress in building has been satisfactory because it had been unfavorably affected by the increase in price of building materials and the rise in workmen's wages, which make it impossible to draw up reliable estimates. More recently, too, there had been a very marked scarcity of money for building purposes.

Remittances of Czechoslovaks in America to month of February, 1920, are estimated at more than 100 million crowns.