The Czechoslovak Review/Volume 3/Social and Political Reforms

by Charles Pergler

Social and Political Reforms

By CHARLES PERGLER,

 

Commissioner of the Czechoslovak Republic in the United States.

 

Social and political problems faced by the Czechoslovak Republic are not dissimilar to those found in the other new states formed as a result of the defeat of the Central Empires—Poland and Jugoslavia, as well as in united Rumania. In approaching these questions the American public must remember that the situation in Europe differs fundamentally from that prevailing in America. One can defend very plausibly the individualistic school of political economy, and equally so, and even with perhaps more plausibility, what may properly be called the co-operative school of thought. But the most beautiful theories frequently collide with hard facts, and it is hard facts European statesmen must deal with. They must satisfy, first of all, the demand of their peoples for decent livelihood. It is only too obvious that to permit matters to drift as the extreme individualist so frequently demands would be worse than suicidal. When we think of the density of population in western Mid-Europe, and the comparative scarcity of population in the United States, we realize in a moment how fundamentally the situation differs, and how fundamentally different must be the approach to solution of social questions and problems of social reform.

As indicating how thoroughly democratic the new Republic is, permit me to call your attention to the fact that one of the very first acts of the National Assembly was the abolition of all patents of nobility. Thus the new nation, through its duly authorized representatives, with one stroke gave earnest of its intention to do away with everything savoring of mediaevalism.

Of the economic and social problems perhaps the most important one confronting the new state was that of the large landed estates. You will remember that hesitation to deal with this question was perhaps the fundamental reason why the Russian provisional government was wrecked, and why Bolshevism gained the upper hand. Czechoslovak statesmen do not propose to be caught unawares in this fashion. These estates in most cases are held by alien nobility and the late imperial house. More often than not they came into the hands of these various clans during the carpet-bagging period of the Thirty Year War, when Bohemia was plundered right and left by the Hapsburgs and their retainers. On April 16 the National Assembly adopted a law expropriating all large estates exceeding 150 hectares of land under cultivation, or that can be cultivated (a hectare is a measure of area containing ten thousand square meters, or 2.471 acres) and 100 hectares of woodland. Under this law the state will take over 1,300,000 hectares of cultivated land, and 3,000,000 hectares of woodland, which will furnish livelihood to 430,000 families. In the case of estates of the imperial family, estates ilegally acquired, and estates of persons who during the war had been guilty of treason against the Czechoslovak nation, no compensation will be paid. There will be compensation to all those who have not legally forfeited their right to it, or whose possession was not based upon robbery, theft, or fraud.

What about the labor question? Immediately following the abolition of all patents of nobility, and making private citizens of various princes, dukes, and counts, the National Assembly passed a law establishing the eight hour day. According to latest advices, the National Assembly is about to pass legislation aimed at doing away with unemployment, and insofar as this may not be possible, to alleviate the condition of the unemployed. No doubt ultimately this legislation will include some sort of a scheme of insurance against unemployment, against sickness and accident, and similar features of what is known in Europe as social legislation. The establishment of workingmen's chambers is being contemplated. This should not be confused with the Soviet institutions. In Europe chambers of Commerce and similar institutions have a legal status, and, logically, if there can be chambers of commerce, there is no reason why there should not be workingmen’s chambers, which shall be the legally authorized representatives and spokesmen of the workingmen, even as the chambers of commerce speak for the man ufacturer and the merchant. In the meantime, the Government is undertaking emergency public works to reduce the number of unemployed, and it has appropriated millions of crowns for these works, particularly in the city of Prague.

Radical as certain features of this legislation may appear to some Americans, considering European standards and the advanced standing of the labor movement in particular, as well as its tremendous influence, it is simply what the times call for, if violent upheavals are to be avoided. After all, we always must remember that the laws of social development were not suspended on the day we were born, and that history is also a record of transition from one order to another. The problem for the statesman and the sound thinker is to seek an orderly way, one which can be pursued with the minimum of suffering to society as a whole, and to the individuals composing it. The art of real statesmanship may be said to consist in bringing about new social formations without violence, and without bloodshed. This, so far, the Czechoslovak Republic has accomplished. It seems to have taken a leaf out of the book of Anglo-Saxon history, as exemplified both in Great Britain and the United States, and the most marked feature of which is, perhaps, the fact that in most cases fundamental changes in government and society were accomplished peacefully. Certainly the methods adopted by the Czechoslovaks are diametrically opposed to Bolshevism. The latter, if it has come to stand for anything, means revolutionary changes by violence, by civil war. It stands for the dictatorship of the proletariat, and for the soviet system of government. There is not a trace of that in the measures I have enumerated. On the contrary, everything is being done in an orderly and legal way; by the parliamentary methods so well known to western democracies and to the United States.

Czechoslovak statesmen will be careful to prevent anything resembling militarism from striking roots in the Republic. The Czechoslovak army still standing in Siberia is very democratic, as is inevitable from its origin, having been organized voluntarily by the men themselves for the purpose of fighting for the independence of their native land, and against German, Magyar, and Prussian militarism. President Masaryk himself is squarely opposed to militarism which means rule by an army clique, and the subordination of civic ideals to those of the military martinet. In a recent speech in Prague the President declared that the new nation must have a democratic army based upon free and voluntary discipline, and convinced of its mission to defend the country against external enemies. This democratic army will be solely for purposes of defense, and will naturally be governed by the exigencies of the international situation, and whether or not an international organization can be achieved which shall do away entirely with the necessity of any armies except for purely police purposes.

Woman suffrage is already an accomplished fact in the Republic. Even now eight members of the National Assembly are women, among them Dr. Alice Masaryk, daughter of the President, well known in America, and who, during the war, was held by the Austrian authorities in jail for a period of nine months.

Under European constitutional practice the power of the president is usually meagre indeed. It seems likely, however, that the Czechoslovak state will somewhat follow American examples. Thus, in accordance with a recent recommendation of the Constitutional Committee of the National Assembly, the President shall have the right to name and dismiss cabinet ministers, negotiate and ratify international agreements and treaties, shall be present and preside at the meetings of the Council of Ministers, having also the right to make recommendations to the National Assembly in matters of state. This does not mean that parliamentary control shall be done away with, and that the President shall have anything like autocratic powers. But it does mean that he is to possess a larger freedom of movement than usually a European president has.

The new Czechoslovak Republic is the greatest experiment in really liberal and progressive government ever undertaken on the European continent, and it is entitled to the sympathy and aid of the great American democracy.

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