CZECHS AND SLOVAKS

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 March 1939, Page 7

CZECHS AND SLOVAKS

. NEW PREMIER APPOINTED HOPE FOR COMPROMISE (BY CABLE —PMJBB ABBN --COPYRIGHT.] PRAGUE. March 12. Dr. Emil Hacha (President of Czechoslovakia) has appointed a Slovak Cabinet under the Premiership of M. Karol Sidor (Deputy-Premier of Czechoslovakia and leader of the Hlinka Guards). A Slovak delegation went from Bratislava to Prague to discuss a new Cabinet. M. Sidor had earlier declared that the crisis between the Czechs and the Slovaks would be settled in 24 hours, on a basis of autonomy for the Slovaks. Dr. Tiso ami the Slovak parliamentary executive had submitted a list of a Slovak Cabinet to Dr. Hacha. M-. Sidor appealed to the Hlinka Guards to accord him their loyalty. M. Sidor, who was arrested on his arrival in Bratislava, was later released. He announced that lie was acting in the formation of a new Government, making possible a compromise.

The Bratislava radio station announced on Saturday the overthrow of the first provisional Government under M. Sivak, after an existence of 12 hours, and also the retreat of Czech troops and gendarmes. It accused the Czechs of attempting to install an unconstitutional military dictatorship. Czech troops were reported to bp concentrating in East Moravia, near the Slovak border. A later message from Bratislava stated that the city ■was quiet this morning, and life was proceeding normally.

Hlinka.. Guards seized a small ammuntion depot. Martial law is being enforced in two communes. Herr Kundt has issued a statement that Germany’s advice to Prague is to step carefully. Ten thousand persons gathered in Bratislava to celebrate the anniversary of the Austrian anschluss with Germany. M. Karmasin, leader of the German minority, declared his solidarity with the Slovaks. The city is restless. Shots were fired and Jewish shops were raided. M. Sivak. who was first offered the Premiership, telegraphed from Rome, refusing it. and demanding the withdrawal of Czech troops from Bohemia and Moravia. The Slovak extremists and the Germans stated that they regarded Dr. Tiso as the only possible Premier. German sources report that Czech soldiers occupied the Nazi headquarters at Kaesmark. M. Maestny, Czechoslovak Minister in Berlin, protested to Germany against the tone of the broadcast by M. Durcanski, a member of the dismissed Cabinet, who has abandoned his intention of going to Berlin.

A message from Vienna says that a radio broadcast abused the Czechoslovak Government, and demanded the release of the Slovak separatist leaders, M. Tucha and M. Mach.

BLOODSHED REPORTED. [independent cable service.] (Received March 13, 8 a.m.) BERLIN, March 12. The German Official News Agency at Prague says that five Slovaks were killed and 14 were seriously injured, during the disturbances. German newspapers report incidents of bloodshed throughout Slovakia. The Berlin Bourse has weakened, duo to the complete lack of buying. Motorists were delayed near Dresden by the passage of 5000 Hitler Guards, going south-east. They were informed that the men were merely engaged in normal night-training. APPEAL TO SLOVAKS. (Recd. March 13, 1 p.m.) VIENNA, March 12. M. Durcanski, in a broadcast, again appealed to the Slovaks to resist the Prague Government. He prophesied that the decisive hour was approaching.

BRITISH PRESS COMMENT RUGBY. March 11. The situation in Czechoslovakia is being closely watched in London. “The Times” says: “The firm manner in which the President of Czechoslovakia (Dr. Emil Hacha) dealt with the separatist movements seems significantly to show that he is master in his own house, and capable of dealing with disaffection without any need of foreign assistance in his task.” The “Daily Telegraph” says: “For the onlooker it is not easy to understand what Slovakia can possibly hope to gain by separatism. Whatever grievances she may have had under the pre-munich regime must have been removed, it would have been thought, by the grant of complete autonomy that she now enjoys. “As a small country with 2,000.000

inhabitants she can have no prospect of standing alone. Complete independence would expose her to exploitation, if not absorption, by one or other of her powerful neighbours, from whom she could expect none of the benevolence meted out to her by her Czech elder brother. The Czechs have given unmistakeable proof of their determination to keep order in the house left them by Munich.”

GERMAN ATTITUDE. BERLIN. March 11. There is no official comment on the Slovak trouble, but the German Press is openly sympathetic to the Slovaks. It declares that Prague has learned nothing and is resorting to terroristic methods, as it did in Sudetenland. It is confirmed in semi-official quarters that Dr. Tiso's Government protested to Germany. M. Durcanski arrived in Berlin with the German minority leader, Herr Kamarsin. M. Durcanski, in a broadcast from Vienna, declared that he was the only legal spokesman for the Slovak nation. He called on the Slovaks to resist the terrorist Czech usurpers and assured his followers that Germany was supporting them. INDEPENDENCE PLAN DROPPED. PRAGUE. March 12. It is reliably stated that a plan to declare an independent Slovak State existed, but it was dropped when Ger-

many approved the now Government and Cabinet, in which M. Sokol is Minister of the Interior, and M. Sival is Minister of Education. ROUMANIAN POLICY. [INDEPENDENT CABLE SERVICE.] BUCHAREST. March 12. Roumania is closely observing events in Czechoslovakia. Despite strong sympathies for the Slovaks, Roumania does not want an independent. Slovakia, which would be a source of unrest.