Page:The Bohemian Review, vol2, 1918.djvu/212

 be carried on with us. In the negotiations we would of course, be only one party, Vienna being the second and the Germans the third. And against the project of the Czech State the first condition to offset it would be the separation from the Czech lands of districts nationally mixed, having German character or merely German varnish. But what Vienna and the Germans consider to be German territory is very plainly shown by Seydler’s and Hussarek’s partition decrees. After we shall have thus permitted the cutting up of Czech lands, it would then be understood as a matter of course that the German minority in Czech territory would have to be safeguarded in all ways and endowed with every thing that they may still lack, under the guarantee of the Cisleithanian Empire. And of course it would be equally well understood that the language of the imperial authorities would be German, that Czech authorities would have to talk German with the empire, and that the speech of the empire could not be a foreign language in Czech territory but that Czech would be foreign in the Cisleithanian-German state. Foreign policies, politics, army, the most profitable taxes and economic interests connected with international economy would necessarily be within the scope of the empire—as to that it would be superfluous even to argue, and after we had conceded these few conditions we would reach our national ideal—the Czech state!

It does not matter, whether Hussarek has plans or not; if he has no such plans he will be ordered to have them when the right moment comes, or if not he, then his successor. The trap has been prepared for some time in Vienna and long ago agents were sent out to lead Czech politics to it. The present leaders of German politics are not opposed to this plan as strenuously as might seem, and their anxiety to get changes done by way of illegal decrees is nothing but an attempt to drive the Czechs to participate in the revision of the constitution unwillingly, when they refuse to do it willingly. They still fear the expression “Czech State” (four lines confiscated).

They will get reconciled with the horrible term and will support the attempt of the Government to give it such contents as the Germans need. The Czech traitors will be approached respectfully and kindly and will be offered a Czech State. And a handful of Czech activists will get busy with hands and feet, and supported by the government will make trmeendoustremendous [sic] noise crying that the time has come when our national aims are within reach. Then the statesmanship of Czech politicians will be on trial, then decisions will be made for centuries as to the fate of the Czech nation. Then all will depend as to whether the nation will answer firmly and unanimously: we speak only with him who will help us to obtain a sovereign Czechoslovak state within its historical boundaries. (One line confiscated). With him who will accept this foundation we are ready to negotiate about everything else, full of eagerness and good will; but with him who wants only to mutilate this program we do not speak, we cannot speak, we must not speak.

Even the word state may be an ambiguous word like the German phrase self-determination of nations. Vienna has already learned to speak of national self-determination, although she takes it for granted that she will determine the fate of Austrian nations for all ages. She will also learn to talk of the Czech and Jugoslav States, although it will never give up the Cisleithanian state. She will come late as always for even now it would have been too late for her to come. Nevertheless it is necessary that the people should be prepared. (The last 12 lines of this article confiscated).

A conference of the Bohemian National Alliance, as well as a joint meeting of the Alliance and the Slovak League, were held in Cleveland on October