The Guardian AND EVENING STAR, With which is incorporated “ The West Coast Times.” THURSDAY. APRIL 28th, 1921

Hokitika Guardian, 28 April 1921, Page 2

The Guardian AND EVENING STAR, With which is incorporated “ The West Coast Times.” THURSDAY. APRIL 28th, 1921

THE CZECHOSLOVAK REPUBLIC. Fbo.m the Consulate-General of the Czceho-Slovak Republic, the press has received a number of publications, dealing with the history, institutions, and resources of a State of which the average person knows far less than he should. Of the three larger “new republics” recognised hv the 1 reaty oi Versailles, Poland and Jugo-Slavia have been much in the public eye on account of the Bolshevik menace to the one, and the Adriatic aspirations of the other. But because the ( eho-Slovak Republic has pursued the men tenor of her way. !■it )H 'illy a-Miming the mm

lespniisihilities iiiheienl to >ml-got ei nment. and lending a ready oar to the advice of the Supreme Council slu- has been less in the limelight, and it must be confessed that to many of us she

is scarcely more than a mine. r l o say that the Allies ‘‘created" this State, is inaccurate. They merely presided at its rebirth. The Czeeho-Slovak Republic consists .of Bohemia, .Moravia, and part of Silesia, and in its former organisation as the Kingdom of Bohemia had a history and proud traditions of its own which its people have cherished throughout the dark days of Haj sburg dominion. Centuries ol ' persecution and oppression were unable to break the ' spirit of the race; the (ire of national sentiment burned with a steady glow that became a blaze when the Great War brought the prospect of emancipation. Czech battalions were massacred because ” they refused to tight against the Allies. Czechs aided Kerensky in the great offensive in which bravely, blit hopelessly he sought to rally Russia to the Allied cause. Czechs in Siberia performed heroic services in resisting the -Bolshevik advance and it was in appreciation of their efforts that the Allies headed by Britain, officially a.nd unreservedly recognised Czecho-Slovakia as an Allied lielligerent nation, months before hostilities censed. Czecho-Slovakia niters upon this new phase in its history under favourable auspices. Tn it are many elements which make for prosperity and stability. With 15 million inhabitants it ranks in population tenth among European nations; in density of copulation seventh. Its natural resources are great. At present it. is primarily an agricultural community, hut it lias a number of important industries which are being developed, although at oresent hampered by lack of raw materials. It possesses valuable deposits of eoa 1 and lignite, and though it Inis no seaboard the Elbe and tile Yitavia are navigable for river steamers of fair tonnage l ight up to Prague; also a proj >et is on loot to construct a canal, which will connect Czecho-Slovakia with the Dimuiie and the Black Sen. The republic cherishes no hostile designs upon anyone. hut, with Bolshevik Russia on one frontier and Germany and a Poland which has more than once displayed •• ‘rritorinl ambition, on another, she lannot yet afford to neglect her defences. I niversa 1 service is the rule, and there is a standing army of 150.000 men. Her eon stitution is a highly democratic instrument. and provides for th° representation of minorities. As in neny Contin- » ental countries, there is a multiplicity of political parties, hut the Government j commands the support of almost all of them—ft happy state of affsv.rs which is i the best augury for the future of the Republic, which stands as a bulwark against Bolshevik aggression.