To Our British Sympathisers.

Bratska Sloga, Volume I, Issue 4, 26 June 1899, Page 1

To Our British Sympathisers.

We wish to lay before our English readers a few facts relative to the circulation of Bratska Sloga, and on these facts to base an appeal. As most of our readers are aware, this paper was promoted with a certain definite object. The object is expressed in . its title, Bratska Sloga (Brotherhood Union). We aim at removing divisions, healing the wounds left by past disputes, reducing the friction caused by misunderstanding, and introducing a greater mutual tolerance among the Austrians themselves. More than that, we wish to make the Austrians feel that they are part of a layer community; that they are neglecting their own best interests when they refuse to share in the life of the colony, in which they are earning their living; and that nothing would be more profitable for them than to become citizens of one of the freest and most prosperous countries in the world. Now, although the prejudices that hinders our wish arise largely from the ignorance and conservatism of the Austrians, we have to confess that the fault is not entirely on their side.

The treatment that the Austrians have received at the hands of British colonists has been too often of a kind to make them shrink into themselves.

They have been branded as “ aliens ” and “intruders.” They have been made to feel in many cases that they had no right to a share in the resources of this colony, and rightly or wrongly they are convinced that recent restrictive legislation has been directed specially against them. It is not surprising that under these circumstances they do not show themselves anxious to settle' in the country.

Want of sympathy in many cases arises from misunderstanding; we believe that it does in this case. If the English understood the Austrians better, they would treat them with greater consideration.

If the Austrians understood the English better, they would be more willing to join with them in the work of settlement. It is our desire by means of this paper to promote this mutual understanding, and so prepare the way for a brotherly union between the two races in this colony. Three numbers of our paper havealready appeared. We believe that at no very distant date we shall be heartily supported in our undertaking, but for the present we have to fight our way through many obstacles. The chief of these is the hesitation on the part of a great many Austrians to help in our undertaking. We are hardly surprised at this. The policy of our paper is not altogether in accord with the views of many of our countrymen. They anticipated that a paper written in their own interests would bitterly oppose the Government on the ground of its alleged persecution of their community.

They would heartily support any paper in their own language that denounced what they consider the injustice of recent legislation on the gum industry. But this we simply cannot do. It is true that the law, which requires that those who wish to work on the gumfields must have lived three months in the colony, presses hardly upon the Austrians. But this is merely owing to their ignorance of English.

The same inconvenience would be felt by any foreigner, and we fail to see that the spirit of true patriotism requires us

to denounce the Government that has

passed such a law. We have our own convictions on the matter, and it would be shameful dishonesty on our part to hide these for a time in the hope of increasing the circulation of this paper among our countrymen. Prejudice bars our way to a very large extent among the Austrians, and, to remove prejudice, time and patience are needed.

We are confident that our efforts will not in the long run prove fruitless, and in the meantime we ttsk our English sympathisers and readers to remember that such ignorance and prejudice deserve their sympathy rather than their blame.

We wish to make brotherhood between the two races a visible fact. It is a law of true brotherhood that the strong should bear the infirmities of the weak. And so we have no hesitation in appealing to you Englishmen, who are strong, free, and enlightened, to help us in this effort to uplift a race that is so much weaker than yourselves. Their childish prejudices are natural to those who have had no opportunity, such as Englishmen have, of sharing in the layer life of the world, and- we ask you to extend to them the same charity that you extend to the infirmities of your own children. We ask you to help us until we can help ourselves. Will you secure our position for the first few months, until we have had time to win our way among the Austrians. We

expect to receive a very large amount of support from well-wishers in Dalmatia, Croatia, and United States, but naturally it will be some time before we hear of this.

The presence of several English gentlemen at the Bratska Sloga opening celebration was to us a good omen. We hope that omen will speedily receive its fulfilment in an increase of the paper’s circulation among English residents. Mr. Langguth, the Austrian Consul, remarked that he believed the paper was “to have the support of several liberal-minded Britishers,” and we cannot believe that these are few in number.

We are inserting in each issue, much against the wishes of many Austrians, a considerable amount of English matter, partly with the view of gaining a constituency among English readers, and partly to encourage Austrians to read English. We also hope to publish shortly an English Grammar and Vocabulary for the use of Austrians. We trust these facts will still further commend the paper to those who have the interest of both races at heart.

Is our task worth undertaking? We believe that it is, and that it is worthy of a considerable amount of patient effort. We are prepared to give this. We are prepared to spend our last penny in the cause, but it is evident that we cannot carry on the task unaided. We ask our English sympathisers and readers to recommend the paper to their friends, and to rally round us with cordial sympathy in a work that very urgently requires to be done.