FAREWELL BY WIRELESS

Southland Times, Issue 23768, 16 March 1939, Page 5

FAREWELL BY WIRELESS

Czech And Slovak Nations NEW CABINET AT BRATISLAVA (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright) (Received March 15, 7.50 p.m.) LONDON, March 14. The Czech and Slovak nations said farewell to each other by wireless today, after the proclamation of Slovakia as an independent State. Czech troops are being withdrawn from Bratislava, the Slovak capital, and other districts. It was officially announced from Prague that the Czechoslovak Government had resigned and that an independent Slovak State had been proclaimed incorporating CarpathoUkraine (Ruthenia). Father Tiso, the deposed Premier of Slovakia and now President of the new State, after proclaiming the independence of Slovakia, said: “The Government includes the best range of Slovak people who in this historic hour have fulfilled our centuries-old ambitions. Keep order and discipline; prove yourselves worthy of the happier future to which we hope to lead you. We hope that this hard-won independence will be preserved and that our development will be peaceful. We desire to live in amity with all our neighbours?

Father Tiso, reporting on his visit to Berlin, said: “If the Slovaks abide by the principles of racial determination Germany will support them. If not, so much the worse for the Slovaks.” An official Czech statement says: “Today the legal Czech and Slovak union disappears and each begins a separate existence. The Czechs have never showed any unfriendly feeling towards the Slovaks and hope that their independence will be happy and successful and that Slovakia will be able to create all the necessary economic conditions to supply her needs. We shall always remember our friendly association. The new dispensation cannot divide the hearts of people who have lived together for 20 years.” Earlier in the day a meeting of the Slovak Diet was held in complete secrecy. The precincts of the building were inside a cordon of police and the entrance doors were guarded by members of the Hlinka Guard (Storm Troopers). Only deputies were admitted. Enormous crowds gathered in the town’s squares. Swastika flags have disappeared and only the Slovak autonomist Hlinka banner is flying. The Slovak Diet appointed the following CabinetPrime Minister: FATHER TISO. Deputy-Prime Minister: M. TUCA. Minister for the Interior: M. SIDOR. Minister of Foreign Affairs: M. DURCANSKY. Minister of War: M. CSATLOS. Minister of Propaganda: M. MACH. Minister of Education: M. SIVAK. Minister of Finance: M. PRUCHINSKY. Minister of Justice: M. FRITZ. Minister of Communications: M. STAND.