Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol3, 1919.djvu/268

 ing part in the world war; in his talk with the Czechoslovak diplomatic representative he expressed his admiration in very strong words. Congressman Sabath then addressed the men in Bohemian. On this occasion, too, the president received a delegation of the American Czechoslovak Board, consisting of Albert Mamatey and J. J . Zmrhal, who presented to him a memorandum asking his good offices in the matter of speedy return of all the Czechoslovak soldiers from Siberia home. The president expressed his warm sympathy for the men who have been away from home so many years and assured the delegation of his good will.

The following day a celebration was held at Camp Meiggs, where the men were quartered. They were addressed by Mr. Pergler and Joseph Tvrzicky; the Slovak League of America on behalf of the Czechoslovaks in America presented the boys with $25,000, so that each man could get himself a civilian suit, before he sailed. The entire contingent sailed from Newport News, by the steamer Susquehanna on July 20. Upon their return home they will be discharged.

The third transport of Czechoslovak soldiers from Siberia, probably the last one to pass through the United States, arrived in San Diego on Sunday morning, July 20. On the ship Archer which sailed from Vladivostok on June 29 were 1890 soldiers, sixteen officers and eleven Red Cross workers; the commander of this contigent was Captain Theodore Novak. Czechoslovaks from San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Imperial Valley, together with practically the entire population of San Diego, welcomed the wounded and invalided men at the pier with a shower of flowers. It is said that every child in San Diego can say “Na zdar”. The men were put up again at Camp Kearny and entertained by their California countrymen; Miss Madeline Veverka, assistant superintendent of schools of the city of Los Angeles, addressed the men on be half of their American friends.

After a rest of one week the transport left Camp Kearny on Monday, July 28, in four special trains, and passing through St. Louis the boys from Siberia were taken without any stops to Newport News, where they embarked on August 5.

The first Czechoslovak cabinet, representing a coalition of all the parties, has passed into history. On July 8 President Masaryk appointed a new ministry, composed as follows: Vlastimil Tusar, premier; Dr. Edward Beneš, foreign affairs; Antonín Švehla, interior; Karel Prášek, agriculture; František Staněk, posts and telegraphs; Dr. Cyril Horáček, finance; Gustav Haberman, education; Dr. Leo Winter, social welfare; Antonín Hampl, public works; Václav Klofáč, national defense; Jiří Stříbrný, railroads; Dr. Gustav Heidler, commerce; Dr. František Veselý, justice; Dr. Vávro Šrobár, public health; Edward Houdek, food supply.

A lengthy crisis preceded the constitution of the new cabinet. It had its beginning in May, when the national democratic party instructed its representatives in the cabinet, Rašín and Stránský, to resign. Masaryk refused to accept their resignations, as both men, and Rašín in particular, were doing work of great importance in their respective departments. The party, however, did not abandon its attitude of opposition to the entire cabinet, and party feelings ran very high just before the municipal elections which were held on June 15 and were the first expression of the popular sentiment since the revolution. Two weeks before the elections came Bela Kuhn’s barbarous inroad into Slovakia; the Czechoslovak forces were caught unprepared and had to fall back, so that for a time the Magyars re-occupied one-third of Slovakia. There were many reasons why this unfortunate situation came to be, but the national democrats placed the responsibility on minister of national defense Klofáč, a member of the Czechoslovak socialist party, and on the entire social democratic party, because at the time of the Bolshevik revolution in Budapest it had declared itself firmly opposed to the march of the Czechoslovak forces on Budapest and to any interference in Hungarian internal affairs. The socialist parties were greatly embittered at this charge of the national democrats, looking upon it as an unfair means of raising popular opinion against the socialists at a time, when everybody in Bohemia