Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol4, 1920.pdf/363

The birth of a new republic is a milestone in history and involves problems in government and industry which require, in their solution, a high quality of statesmanship. To establish successfully a new republic in Central Europe means the surmounting of difficulties which most of us in America do not appreciate and only half understand.

Central Europe has long been the stronghold of autocratic monarchical governments and the people in the territory which now constitutes Czechoslovakia were among the chief sufferers. They are an unusually well educated and cultured people, statistics show only one half of one percent illiteracy, their industries are highly developed and their country is one of the garden spots of the world. In spite of these qualifications, however, they have had little real voice in the management of their government or industries. The Czechs and Slovaks were compelled to submit to the dictates of the government at Vienna and Budapest in which they had slight representation, but very little influence, their industries were controlled by and exploited for the benefit of German and Austrian capitalists and their international banking was monopolized by the international banking houses of Berlin or Vienna.

This situation could have only one result when the Czechs and Slovaks obtained the independence for which they had been hoping and struggling for centuries. Experienced governmental administrators, industrial executives and international bankers cannot be developed over night and the roots of a system which has fastened itself upon a country for generations cannot be up-rooted at will. The people who today make up Czechoslovakia have a common national aspiration but they are not yet homogeneous and it is naturally difficult at times to reconcile varying interests. Further, there is continual opposition, sometimes carefully concealed, from those who were formerly in authority and from those elements in the community who under the new order of things have been deprived of the special social, economic and political privilege which they formerly enjoyed.

In spite of these handicaps, however, I have absolute confidence that Czechoslovakia has an unusually bright future. In President Masaryk she has one of the greatest statesmen of the world. The country is extremely fortunate in having in its service one who combines in such a high degree the qualities of intellect, force, sympathy, understanding, leadership and diplomacy. He has gathered about him a Cabinet of capable, earnest men, which ranks with the Cabinets of any of the older nations. These leaders are going ahead confidently, tackling and settling the many problems as they arise; are dealing fairly with every element in the community, and their success has been the marvel of both Europe and America. This admiration and recognition from the outside world is increasing their self-confidence and bringing out latent powers in the people which had never before had an opportunity to assert themselves. The progress already made has regenerated the people and raised not only themselves, but their Czechoslovak kin in America, in the estimation of people of other nationalities.

It would be idle, however, to claim that their problems are already solved. The task of reconstruction can only be completely accomplished after years of effort. Just a few references will indicate how far reaching and important these problems are. In pre-war days the country’s industrial production was dependent on German and Austrian agencies for world distribution; the Prague banks were provincial in character and not organized to do an international business while the railways were subsidiaries and branches of the German and Austrian trunk lines. To reorganize and reconstruct these fundamentals of industrial prosperity requires not only men