CZECH MINISTERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23718, 26 July 1940, Page 8

CZECH MINISTERS

LONDON GOVERNMENT BRITISH RECOGNITION LAND AND AIR FORCES By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright , (Received July 25, 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, July 24 Portfolios in the Czecho-Slovak Provisional Government include:— Prime Minister, Dr. J. Sramek, former leader of the Catholic People's P„arty and member of the Cabinet for 16 years; Ministe?b<lv"? War, Major-General Ingr, a member of the Czecho-Slovak National Committee; and Minister for Foreign Affairs, 'M. Jan Masaryk, Minister to Britain from 1925 to 1939. Tho British decision to recognise tho Czecho-Slovak Provisional Government established in London was discussed by the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr. R. A. Butler, in a broadcast, says a British official wireless message. This Government, he said, was presided over by Dr. E. Benes, former President of Czecho-Slovakia, and was composed of distinguished men who had held high office in the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Work lor Freedom Some of them had been members of the present German puppet administration, but preferred to give up office and risk their lives to join their compatriots abroad and so work for the restoration of Czecho-Slovakian liberties. After tracing the efforts of Czechoslovak leaders to prepare for the restoration of the freedom of their country, Mr. Butler paid a high tribute to the Czecho-Slovakian forces from France, which, he said, once again refused to accept defeat, but hfid fought their way to the Mediterranean and come to Britain after a risky journey by sea. These trained men, together with Czech pilots from the Czecho-Slovak sections of, the French Air Force, were now ready to carry on tho struggle side by side with their British comrades. The Czech pilots had already carried the war in the air back to Germany. "We trust that before long they will pay not flying visits to Germany, but will take up their permanent residence again in their own freed country," Mr. Butler added. Outlook After War Speaking of conditions inside Czechoslovakia, Mr. Butler praised the bravery of students in the ill-fated demonstration last November, and said that qualities of obstinacy and cool courage were still being displayed in resisting the German masters. "Every day, in spite of the elaborate and brutal machinery of German oppression," he continued, "these countless, and often unrecorded acts of resistance to the will of the German taskmaster continue." Although there were many problems, and it was impossible to say what might be the political boundaries of Central Europe after the war, none would question the right of the Czecho-Slovakian people to a free and independent existence. They had provided an attractive, lively model of what democratic government could do for its people. They would again be a source of inspiration to all who favoured government by the people, for the people. PLEDGES TO NAZIS NOT BINDING ON CZECHS BROADCAST BY DR. BENES (Received July 25, 5.30 p.m.) British Wireless, LONDON, July 24 In a Czech broadcast address from London on Wednesday night, Dr. Benes told Czecho-Slovaks ' that they were bound by none of the pledges which they' had been compelled to give to the "You are not subject to any Fuehrer or Protector," said Dr. Benes. "You are not subject to any legal system decreed by the Nazis. You are not bound by any promises, pledges or oaths which have been forced upon you. We are dealing with a great struggle, at the end of which we shall have a new world, a new Europe' and our new republic. For this- new world we are fighting." . ■The first great step toward that victory, said Dr. Benes, was the recogni- j tion of his Government on British terri-1 tory and the existence of the Czech Army, which was preparing in England to carry on the fight.