Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol4, 1920.pdf/96

how all these international commissions insist on our coal for Austria; it sometimes seems, as if they were Austries allies, instead of ours. Are we to give in all the time?

The last great trouble, responsible for coal shortage, is bad communication. That is not caused wholly by lessened efficiency of the railroad employees or by the crying need of more rolling stock. Much can be done to remedy this evil. First of all, the railroads themselves must get enough coal; it will not do to have in division points just enough coal on hand to last 24 hours. And the coal used in locomotives must be of good quality; at present Czechoslovak state railroads get the kind that even Austria refuses.

The monthly output of our carshops is about eight or nine hundred cars. That is not enough; to get back to our quota before the war we would need at that rate six years. For the present our attention must center on rapid turn-over of the existing rolling stock. Give the engines good coal; instead of making up trains with a car apiece for each city, run straight coal trains for the larger towns at regular intervals and thus avoid unnecessary switching. All state officials must have a regard in the performance of their duties to the needs of railroad traffic.

If we sum up all these causes of the coal crisis, we reach the conclusion that we need first of all to increase the efficiency of the miners, next break the passive resistance of the operators either by instant nationalization, or by strict supervision and orders to invest the needed capital with a state guarantee; to reduce our export of coal, to give the railroads plenty of good coal and make better use of what cars we have.

It is difficult to convey the feeling of gladness which fills the heart of a Russian who understands and appreciates the sacredness and the significance of the unity of all Slav peoples, upon visiting this land and this people, from the womb of which have sprung giants without fear and reproach, fighters who have shed their own blood for the freedom and welfare of their own and our own people.

I see in Bohemia the nearest approach to that order, to that mode of living, of which I have always dreamt for our Russian people. I have observed here conditions which make it possible for the people to steer their forces towards the perfection of the principle of popular rule, towards further successes of moral and spiritual culture and of development of industry and the higher arts. Democratic in spirit, like all Slav countries, Bohemia is considerably ahead of all of them in the wise progress of her productivity, and is sharply distinguished by her perfect organization, her ability to apply properly the energies of the nation, and its artistic tastes. Everything in Bohemia sems so orderly, so stable and so beautiful.

Bohemia after five years of war on all European fronts, looted clean by the Austrians and the Germans, still preserves the appearance of a well-managed and arable land. Every bit of land is cultivated and under seed; the forests—young and old—are in splendid condition; fruit trees, in miles of rows, cover the entire country; there is only a scarcity of creamery products, as during the War the Germans stole all the milch cows and cattle from the country.

The roads are in excellent condition everywhere. Artificial ponds abound, as there are few rivers and springs. The national economy is in good order, and the astute President and valiant citizen of the Czechoslovak Republic, Thomas Masaryk, is, with a firm hand, directing the complex ship of State on the road to progress chosen by the conscience and wisdom of the people themselves, and is wisely avoiding submarine rocks and shoals. The past of this President, his ceaseless fight for the common weal of the entire Slav race, his honorable and consistent stand towards the Entente ,his faithful endeavors to obtain satisfaction for the multitude of wants of his people who fought literally on all the anti-German fronts,—all these achievements have earned for this tried leader, the pride and love of all the Slavs, the warm and undying admiration of the population of this new Republic. Such a harmony as prevails at present in Bohemia cannot be observed in any other country. The disturbing efforts, from the Right and Left, are so feeble and fruitless here that they disappear as smoke once they come in contact with the conscious discipline of the population. The people here are cultured enough to know that care and vigilance are required for the transition from one order to another.

Of course, there are in Bohemia parties and groups, and a varied press, but the general interests and traditions transcend individual impulses. These are all the positive features of the life of the Czechoslovak Republic. Nevertheless, they are conscious of the fact that over-excessive care will often impede the wider swing and initiative of personal action. The Czechoslovak are a people closely bound together by national interests, and they display so much solidarity in their discussions and decisions relating to fundamental principles of the State, that all the other Slavs of the Balkans, as well as the Ruthenians of Galicia, regard Czechoslovakia as a real force upon which they can lean with confidence.