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Hon. William Stone,

Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs,

Washington, D. C.

Sir:

Now that the Senate of the United States is about to take up the question of peace terms, I believe it to be not only a privilege, but my duty as well to present to you, and through you to the honorable members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, the position of the Czechoslovaks in the present struggle, and as regards the Austro-Hungarian problem:

1. In 1526 the Czech (Bohemian) nation of its own volition elected the Hapsburgs to the throne of Bohemia, and had nothing in common with the other Hapsburg lands except the dynasty, and the Hapsburgs at that time, by solemn oaths and pledges, bound themselves to maintain and protect the independence of the Czech state.

2. The Czechs never ceased to fight for independence, and never waived, directly or indirectly, their right to such happiness, as is evidenced by the President, who in his work on The State declares, “That no lapse of time, no defeat of