REFORMS IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA

...The principle of checks and balances is evident in the powers of the two houses-The Constitution lays greatest stress on the Chamber of Deputies and makes of the Senate an organ whose functions are largely to cheds and control rather than to initiate...

...In this way the government has done much to stabilize the fundamental basis of the state for there is little place for Communism or Bolshevism in a country where any considerable proportion of the citizens are landowners...

...The strike was opposed by the Social Democrats and by the Trade Unions and as a result it fizzled badly...

...Thus neither Government nor President may act against the will of the majority of the people...

...He made a particular investigation of the laws of Czechoslovakia, one of the new republics in Central Europe...

...This commission may also make urgent legal regulations but may not impose new permanent obligations on the people...

...The President can convene, adjourn, prorogue, or dissolve Parliament but only under such restrictions that no lengthy cessation of parliamentary government is possible...

...The lowe house of National Assembly is known as the Chamber of Deputies and consists of 300 members elected for a six year term...

...No bill may ever become law against the will of the Chamber, while a three-fifths majority vote of that body can make a law of any bill, no matter how bitter or great the opposition from Senate or President...

...Following these great social reforms, and really more important than any of them, came the far-reaching Agrarian Reform which attempted a solution of one of the most urgent problems facing the new state...

...The Czech Socialists had 24 seats and various others had lesser representation...

...Is Independent Nation FOUR years ago Czechoslovakia was largely a name...

...Repair shops were closed and dismantled and the railroad personnel was badly disorganized...

...Perhaps the most unique thing about the Czechoslovak State is its political organization...

...The labor movement in Czechoslovakia has always had a tendency toward social reform, and has been marked by the reasonableness of its views on economic and social questions and their development...

...All citizens over twenty-one years of age may vote in such referenda...

...Would that there were more of their socialistic brethren in other parts of the world who could see their way clear to the adoption of as sane and rational point of view...

...This constitution is a very—democratic and all its regulations aim at securing the people's will not only in the legislative bodies, but if necessary against the Cabinet and the President...

...It has been an experiment in popular government under Socialist control the success of which has rather rudely overthrown some of the old-school ideas on the subject of who must be at the helm if a popular government is to function properly...

...He may not be reelected more than once...

...It is necessary that we keep this point of view in mind when we are surveying the achievements of the new republic...

...They have constantly pursued a moderate policy which has resulted in the achievement of important reforms both social and economic...

...The railroads were in a deplorable condition at the close of the war...

...This statement was given to the world in October of 1918 and the history of Czechoslovvakia since that time presents one of the most interesting studies to be found in the new Europe which has evolved from the War...

...With these signifi cant words Thomas G. Masaryk, first President of the Czechoslovak Republic, declared his nation's independence, and set forth some of the principles that were to guide its course as an independent state...

...The strongest of these is the Social Democratic Party which controlled 74 seats among the Czech deputies and 31 among the German in the first regularly elected Parliament...

...A special court known as the Constitutional Court judges whether or not laws passed by Parliament are in conformity with the Constitution...

...Shoults interviewed several cabinet ministers and other high government officials, and the following article is written exclusively for La Follette's as a result of his first hand observations.—Editor's Note...

...At the same time they guarded all legitimate private interests...

...When for any reason Parliament is not sitting, there is a permanent commission of twenty-four members, sixteen from the Chamber of Deputies and eight from the Senate, which sits with power of control over the government and over the executive...

...Almost a third of all the land in the country was in the hands of large landowners whose families acquired title to it from their services to the Hapsburgs in helping to repress the Czech uprising in 1620 which ended in the fateful Battle of the White Mountain...

...The Socialists of Czechoslovakia have declared themselves for a democratic parliamentarism, and as being unalterably opposed to any so-called "dictatorship of the proletariat...

...The National Assembly, controlled by the Social Democrats and the Agrarians, immediately set to work to adjust some of the social differences that were most apparent in the life of the nation...

...They have never numbered more than a score of Deputies and their importance has been constantly dwindling...

...All citizens over 21 vote for the deputies while only those 26 or over can vote for senator...

...The Agrarian Party, made up mostly of middle class people and small farmers, had 41 representatives...

...The President is elected at a joint meeting of the Chamber and the Senate by a three-fifths majority, and serves a term of seven years...

...Without soldiers, administrators, financial means, or definitely defined territory, and with a population near the starvation point and still under the heel of a foreign military force, it has succeeded in consolidating its newly found freedom and independence into a sane and workable machinery of state...

...There are eight different parties represented in the Czechoslovak Parliament...

...In constant endeavor for progress it will be guaranteed complete freedom of conscience, religion, science, literature, art, speech, the press, and the right of assemby and petition...

...Sickness and accident insurance laws as they existed under the old regime were extended and enlarged upon, and compulsory pension funds were extended to all workers above the age of sixteen...

...But more than all this, they have established a government which is both democratic and efficient, qualities which are too often mutually exclusive...

...If defeated on some measure in Parliament and being unwilling to dissolve Parliament and call a new election, the Government may appeal directly to the people on the issue in question by means of a referendum vote...

...The Moscow Reds have left no effort untried to split Czechoslovak Socialist parties and while their efforts have not borne much fruit, they have not been entirely without results...

...How nearly the ends set forth by Masaryk have been realized, can best be judged by the progress made and the results achieved since then...

...The program of the party is one of international social democracy...

...The Catholic Party, with a moderately socialistic program, controlled 42 votes...

...The Communists attempted a "coup d'etat" in December of 1920 when they called a general strike, but thejr had mistaken their power...

...Land is allotted to small holders, owners of small industrial concerns, disabled soldiers and legionaries and their dependents, cooperative associations, municipalities, public associations, and scientific institutions etc...

...Altho subjected to the hardest kind of use, rights of way had been neglected and roadbeds untouched during the four years of fighting...

...Provisions were made covering night work, and affording protection for women, children, and adolescents in industry...

...Post-war conditions are by no means favorable ones for the birth of a new state and it is therefore not surprising that Czechoslovakia, founded in the midst of such conditions, should have had tremendous problems to grapple with and enormous obstacles to overcome...

...Government Commissions were established to supervise working conditions in all industries...

...This office fixed the areas of separate plots in three different units, the size of the plot received depending upon the value and quality of the soil...

...THE Czechoslovak State shall be a Re-public...

...The party has gone frankly on record as being unwilling to engage in any Communist experiments which might cause it to forfeit the universal confidence which it now enjoys...

...Equipment was worn out and depleted...

...It is at present the only state in Central or Eastern Europe whieh is on an absolutely solid foundation, politically, financially, and economically...

...All in all the Socialist parties in Czechoslovakia have proved themselves to be a constructive force in the politics of their state, and have loyally supported it since its inception...

...The large estates were broken up and thousands of people who had never owned land of their own were given an opportunity to secure it...

...A legal eight hour working day was established throughout the Republic...

...One of the most presssing matters confronting the new government was that of reorganizing and indeed almost reviving the transportation system of the country...

...Late in 1920 a small section of the Social Democratic Party broke away from that body as a result of Communist agitations, and established themselves as the Communist Party...

...While in Prague, the capital of the country, Mr...

...To-day it is in every respect an independent nation, standing on its own feet in the family of nations, and haying every reason to be proud of its accomplishments...

...Two Chamber System THE two chamber or bi-cameral system of legislation is provided for...

...A temporary unemployment insurance measure was adopted...

...It is probably the only successful Socialist government in the world today, but its Socialism is not of the wild-eyed variety...

...Reforms in Czechoslovakia New Republic Has Eight Hour Work Day, Temporary Unemployment Insurance and Laws Giving Aid to Sick and Injured By WORTH E. SHOULTS Worth E. Shoults, a senior student of economics at the University of Wisconsin, spent last summer studying economic and social conditions in Europe...

...Labor and Social Reform THE Social Democrats are the political representatives of the labor group...

...Eight Hour Work Day WHILE Bolshevism reigned in Hungary, the Spartacists were carrying on a violent agitation in Germany, and the Russian Reds were promoting a most insidious propaganda all over Europe, the sincerely democratic spirit of the Czechoslovaks saved their country from any social upheaval similar to those which took place all around it...

...It must be cultivated or used for the erection of dwellings, workshops, or factories...

...The Church shall be separated from the State...

...If a bill passed by the Deputies is not either assented to or rejected by the Senate within six weeks, that body is considered as having agreed to it...

...The Senate it composed of 150 members elected for eight years...

...As a consequence it has been of a practical character and has rather approximated the position and spirit of the Labor Party in England...

...It was very largely due to the reasonable attitude of the Social Democrats that many of the early reforms were accomplished without the occurrence of any sort of a revolutionary upheaval resulting...

...Building on the ruins left after Austria's collapse, the Czechs have established a thriving agriculture, industry, and commerce...

...The President appoints the ministers of the Cabinet but they must be agreeable to the Deputies, for if a simple majority of the latter pass a vote of lack of confidence in the gov-ernment, it is the duty of the Cabinet to resign...

...Land Is Taken Over THE area of the land taken over by the State under this law was in excess of 17,000 square miles and distribution of it has been made by the government land office...

...It is a sane Socialism, and operates under a constitution which, while it declares the people to be the only source of all State authority, is nevertheless also a protector of all legitimate private rights...

...Through the passage of the Land Reform bill the lands thus acquired became the property of the Czech nation...