Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol3, 1919.djvu/194

 and confiscated. This was something that the Budapest government could not do, until they got the new money, and so deadlock resulted. Bela Kuhn tried to get his money by a direct deal with the workers of the Vienna bank presses by promising to supply them with food, while engaged on this order for him. Among other things they were to get seven oxen a week from Hungary. But Chancellor Renner had sufficient authority to stop this deal.

It may be imagined that the Czechoslovak financial officers feel nervous, as long as their currency consists of the old Austrian crowns with merely a distinguishing stamp, easily imitated. Rašín announces that entirely new money is now being printed and will be in circulation on June 15.

Great attention is devoted to export; syndicates have been organized by the government to buy raw materials for the factories of the members and to launch a selling campaign abroad for their finished products. The great problem of Czechoslovak industry, at present, in addition to that of raw material, is one of markets. States to the east and south of the republic will gladly take all the manufactured goods that the Czechs have for sale, but the currency of these countries is so depreciated that it will buy little of food and materials in the western states. A syndicate of Prague banks is now negotiating for a large loan from American banks to finance the purchase of cotton. The loan will be guaranteed by the Czechoslovak government and its proceeds will be turned over to the Cotton Spinners Association for distribution to members.

There is great improvement in the production of coal, as coal miners were the first to receive a large share of the American food. It is stated that if there were enough railroad cars, the supply of coal would be equal to the normal.

But the main improvement in the situation is due to the ever increasing quantities of food rushed to the Czechoslovak Republic both from the south and from the north. During February and March the only port through which supplies came to Bohemia was Trieste. After General Pellé came to Prague as representative of Marshal Foch and as chief of the Czechoslovak general staff, he made representations to his superior and to the Allied armistice commission with a view to increasing the import of eatables into Czechoslovakia. It was due to General Pellé that Germany had to undertake, in connection with the partial lifting of the blockade, to transport food to Bohemia by the Elbe and to assign sufficient boats to this work to take care of 1200 tons a day. Czech representatives are now stationed at Hamburg to supervise the loading of 30 river boats; these boats proceed up the Elbe and are unloaded in Ústí, Roudnice, Mělník and Prague. One of the first shipments reaching Bohemia by this new route consisted of 100 tons of cocoa, and 200 tons of condensed milk, a gift of the American Red Cross to the suffering children.

From late reports it appears that in spite of the opening of the Elbe far more food still reaches Prague over the railroad from Trieste than by boat from Hamburg. On April 1 there were loaded in Hamburg 1000 tons of wheat flour; on April 6 three ships arrived in Hamburg with 12,000 tons of flour for the Czechoslovak Republic, and on April 15 three more ships. Up to April 16 the imports of American white flour amounted to 344,571 quintals, of which amount 334,613 came from Trieste and 9968 from Hamburg. On April 21 the total was 401,602, and on May 1 461,594 quintals.

The fact that people had more to eat tended to modify partisan bitterness. Even though municipal elections were coming near, there was not so much extremist talk, as during the hard months of February and March. The first of May passed without any disturbances. The day had been declared national holiday, as Labor Day is in the United States, and all parties and all classes participated in the celebrations. At the congress of the social democratic party, held in Prague on April 26 and 27, devotion to the republic and to the president was voiced unanimously, and while the party in the interest of internal harmony did not take any action to suppress bolshevist tendencies in some of its local organizations, it was plain that an overwhelming majority were opposed to anything savoring of violence and relied on parliamentary methods. Municipal elections which are due June 15 will constitute the first test of strength between the various parties. But whatever the result, the coalition government will continue in power, until there are elections to the constituent assembly and a government is formed out of the majority parties.