NEW CZECH REGIME

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26708, 1 March 1948, Page 7

NEW CZECH REGIME

DEMOCRATIC MEANS

DEFEAT OF REACTION COMMUNIST PREMIER’S CLAIM N.Z.P.A.—Copyright Rec. 9 p.m. LONDON, Feb. 28. All agents of home and foreign reaction must be expelled without pardon,” said M. Klement Gottwald, the Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia, to the Peasants’ Union Congress, according to the British United Press Prague correspondent. M. Gottwald said: “ On Thursday vve closed one and began another period in the republic’s life. The defeat of reaction has concluded.” M. Gott- . wald said the Government crisis was overcome by “purely democratic, constitutional and parliamentary means. We shall go on in a parliamentary democratic way.” • He called for the immediate redistribution of all land over 50 hectares (123 acres). “We want the constitution to provide that land can be owned only by those who work on it, so that all talk of collective farms may be denied. We support the nationalisation of all big business, control of all imports and exports through the Ministry of Foreign Trade, the nationalisation of all factories with more than 50 employees and assuring private ownership of factories with under 50 employees. “It is necessary to purge existing political parties and other organisations of illegal agents of reaction,” he said. Capitalists, land lords, and foreign reactionaries prepared a plot long ago. They wanted to reinstate the old feudalism. The people, the republic and truth won.” It is estimated that 120,000 were attending the Congress. Chants of “ Long live President Benes,” punctuated the opening speeches. Three-Power Protest Rejected

M. Gottwald rejected the joint British, American! and French protests. He said: “We can, with self-respect, reject such ill-founded proclamations from abroad, which are a danger to our liberty and Parliamentary methods. They should not give us lectures on democracy constitutionalism—Those who bear responsibility for Munich, those who made pacts about our skins with Hitler’s Germany, those who quite undemocratically and illegally destroyed treaties of friendship

and alliance which they made with us. On the contrary we can proudly say we have proved again before the world our nation’s deep, sincere democracy, and our loyalty to the principles of peace and well-being.”

“A State whose police _ protects the people against capitalistic and subversive elements, and whose police does not hesitate to use its weapons to protect the State, is a democracy of the people,” said M. Gottwald at a parade of Czech police in the old Town Hall Square, according to Reuter’s Prague correspondent. The police later in heavily-armed detachments, paraded through the streets lined by cheering crowds. Five thousand factory militia in civilian clothes, and with brand new rifles, marched behind the police. YouEi Organisations Disbanded

The Central Action Committee in Prague ordered the disbandment of all party youth organisations. The Union of Czech Youth will now embrace all youth organisations, including the Boy Scouts and students, and will publish all youth periodicals. Sokol, the National Sports Association, which played a leading part in Czech national life, will be the only gymnastic body allowed. , . _ .. , The military prosecutor of Bratislava charged Captain Kuklis, chief of police in Bratislava, with treason, says Reuter’s Prague correspondent. Kuklis, whose immunity as a Slovak Democrat deputy had been suspended, surrendered himself. His arrest followed a search of the Democratic Party’s central secretariat in Bratislava. Dr Husak, Communist chairman ox the Slovak Board of Commissioners (the regional government), submitted to M. Gottwald a new list of commissioners, consisting of eight Communists, two Slovak Democrats, one Social Democrat, and representatives of the Catholic Freedom Party, the Slovak Trades Union and the Slovak Partisans. The commissioners previously comprised five Communists, six Slovak Democrats, one Social Democrat, one Freedom Party, and two non-party British United Press correspondent says the Ministry of Information announced that 27 foreign language newspapers had been banned in Czechoslovakia, and Prague radio had refused foreign radio correspondents facilities to broadcast until further notice. Cominform’s Aims A British Foreign Office spokesman read to a press conference to-day the Communist Party’s pronouncement at the Comintern Congress in 1920, ana stated that the British Government considered it an accurate analysis of recent Communist tactics m Czecho•slncakia says a London message. The spokesman read from the Communist statement that “Communisms fixed aim is the destruction of parliamentary Government. The Communist Party enters such institutions not to do constructive work, but to enable t masses to destroy the bourgeois State machine and Parliament from within The Czechoslovak Ambassador n London, Dr Bohuslav Kratochvil, told a press conference at the Czech Em bassy to-day that he could not name the foreign Power involved in the alleged plot against Czechoslovakia, but he gave an assurance that Britain was not implicated. Press Attacks Deprecated

Dr Kratochvil said: “Never, even during the worst days of 1938, did our press attack the Western States like the press of the Western States has been attacking Czechoslovakia in the past few days. We positively deny the right of certain people- -the French Foreign Minister, M. Bidault, for instance —to speak about Munich in connection with Czechoslovakia.” _ In Paris to-day M. Bidault, in a statement on the Czech crisis, told the National Asserfibly that these international manoeuyres could- ifbt continue indefinitely without producing a dangerous situation.; All the deputies except the Communists rose and cheered when M. Bidault said internal unity was more thhn ever necessary between all who priced the freedom of France. *