Page:The heart of Europe; an address delivered by Charles Pergler in Washington, December 11, 1916, at a conference of oppressed or dependent nationalities (IA heartofeuropeadd00pergrich).pdf/34

that as a result of the expected German and Austrian victory their domination in Hungary would be perpetuated and their dominion extended. Budapest has been the most faithful ally of Berlin. The Slovaks form a part of the same ethnic group as the Bohemians; they desire to be joined with the Bohemians in one state, and this wish should be gratified not only because it manifests a natural tendency, but also because it is in the interests of Europe to gratify it. As a matter of fact an independent Bohemian-Slovak State will have a population of over twelve million inhabitants, and in territorial extent will be eighth among twenty-two European sovereignties, and it cannot be said that such a state would be small. Moreover, is not the belief in the necessity of large states one of the theories which are destined to be abandoned? Already voices have arisen that certain states have become too large to manage (Lord Bryce, Mr. L. P. Jacks, editor of the Hibbert Journal). Mr. Louis D. Brandeis, now of the United States Supreme Court, has shown that even under modern conditions certain business units can become so large as to be physically incapable of successful administration. May this not be equally true of states, especially polyethnic states? But it may be said that it is hard to reconstruct a state, it is not easy to organize a new state. Yes, there is no easy road to anything worth while. The road of progress has never been free of thorns. It was not easy to organize the United States of America, and the period of experimentation under the Articles of Confederation was full of trials and tribulations. For a long time it was a question whether