Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol3, 1919.djvu/151

 dollars. A still larger river fleet is operating under Czechoslovak flag on the Danube. With the improvement of the food situation the political situation also has lost some of the partisan bitterness, exhibited especially by the socialists toward the agrarians. And the morale of the entire nation was raised by the arrival of the invalided soldiers from Siberia. Three parties of them arrived in Prague from Vladivostok after a long trip around India, and a party of one hundred Czechoslovak invalids is expected to arrive shortly in the United States on the way home.

The red revolution in Budapest found no echo in the Czechoslovak Republic. No one was anxious to follow the example of the Magyars, who are more hated than even the Germans. The radical socialists of course protested against the use of armed Czechoslovak forces to suppress the proletarian revolution, but then Masaryk promptly turned down appeals of Magyar upper classes to interfere in their behalf. There were local collisions between Magyar red guards and Czechoslovak frontier guards, and the situation will continue dangerous, as long as the southern and eastern boundaries of the Czechoslovak Republic are not determined by the peace conference.

While the principle of the separation of church and state is adhered to by all parties, the government is taking care to avoid religious strife. Thus the National Assembly authorized the erection of additional chairs in the Catholic theological faculty at Olomouc and gave it the name of the Cyril-Methodius Theological Faculty. On the other hand the Assembly authorized the opening of a Protestant Jan Hus Theological Faculty in Prague.

What may be termed the south-side Virginia colony of Czechoslovaks is centered around the city of Petersburg in southeast Virginia, chiefly in the county of Prince George. This county, together with the counties of Dinwiddie and Chesterfield, contains the bulk of the Slav farmers in Virginia. The colony was began more than 25 years ago by a few Bohemian and Slovak families from the industrial and mining communities of western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, who were seeking agricultural homes. These early settlers came to Virginia with little money, without friends, but stimulated by the desire to make homes for themselves on the fertile lands of the upper James.

Life, however, was not all roses in Virginia for these first settlers. They were not known in the region, nor were they recognized at their true worth. They did not possess the easy credit they command to day, nor—the even more valuable asset—the confidence of the native residents. They had to struggle against heavy odds. Gradually, by sheer pluck, good behavior, unbounded energy, and by hard work, they have won the recognition of the native Virginians. To-day their colony enjoys the full confidence of the people of southeast Virginia, and in the city of Petersburg and their respective counties they are very highly regarded.

Slavs they are, every one of them: Slavs, however, who are proud of their origin, and who are zealous in their efforts to command the respect of their fellow citizens. Slavs who are loyal, patriotic Americans. They are respectful of the traditions of the Old South, and are eager, active builders of the New South. On all sides they enjoy the confidence and command the respect of the Virginians—they are foster children of the Republic who are growing into the fullness of true citizenship under the care of the old mother State.

In the whole colony which is represented to a certain extent in all of the so-called nine south-side counties, including Amelia, Brunswick, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Nottoway, Prince George, Surrey and Sussex, there are possibly as many as 3,000 Slavs. Slovaks predominate, and, it is interesting to note, they hold a place equally as high as the Bohemians. There are a few Russian Poles here and there particularly in Surrey and Sussex counties, and a few scattering families of Lithuanians and Slovenians. All of these people are engaged in agriculture.