CONSCRIPT CZECHS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 26, 31 July 1939, Page 9

CONSCRIPT CZECHS

"PROTECTORATE ENDED" Simultaneously with a decree concerning Jewish property issued by Baron Constantin yon Neurath, Reich Protector for Bohemia and Moravia, another highly important decree has been issued that declares the former Czecho-Slovak Government's National Defence Act of 1936 valid for the protectorate in favour of Germany until further measures are prepared, reported a Prague message to the "New York Times" recently. This Act gave the Czecho-Slovak Government the right in case of war or a national emergency to conscript the nation's ' labour power, assume direct control of industry, and remove an imposing number of the rights of citizens. The decree, dated June 20, transfers that right to the Protector or his representatives. In short, this means that whenever the Protector decides that a state of emergency exists either in the protec- j torate or in any part of the Reich the ! people of Bohemia and Moravia and their industry and possessions will j pass under his direct' control. Although the Czech Press has not yet commented at any length on either of the two new decrees, the prevailing feeling is that except for formality the protectorate has now ceased to exist. Most people expect an emergency this summer, and it is little satisfaction to them to feel that their guaranteed rights of autonomy hang on that occurrence. They know well enough that at such a period the Germans would not countenance the existence of an armed Czech police force, gendarmerie, or Ministries able to issue orders that might run counter to German desires. The further extension of the functions of the German courts and the possibility of German interference in at least one-third of the protectorate's economic life that are provided in the decree concerning Jewish-owned property have brought home to these realistically-minded people just how much independence their land has. CZECHS LOOK ABROAD. Press comment is mainly concerned with expressing the hope that Czechs will receive their share of the Jewish property. There is a certain satisfaction that the Czech Government has been relieved of the onus of issuing an unpopular measure. The Czechs are still sensitive about the impression their actions make on the democracies. Their greatest fear is that they should be forced to take action that from outside the country might denote a change in their character. Hence their great bitterness over the German attempt to encourage Fascism here. The fact that the Protector himself has taken the responsibility for the Jewish law will, it is hoped, be noted abroad. The Jewish law proposed by the Czechs strove in its very rough draft to avoid a purely racial definition of Jewry. Its own definition was a combination of racialism and nationalism in which Jews who had shown themselves good Czecho-Slovaks received preferential treatment over those who had opted as Germans in past censuses. In Jewish circles here there is a tendency to withhold judgment on the decree. Many of its paragraphs, it is j felt, are intended to counter moves that have been taken since last March by Czechs and Jews to ' prevent "Aryanisation" from turning into the surrender of Czech property into German hands. The decree's real strength will depend on the way it is administered, and it is considered satisfactory that the power lies with the Protector, who is generally deemed a fairer administrator flian the individual departments of his office. __________________________