Charles Pergler

“ Socialism and radicalism of the destructive sort, preaching the overthrow of government by force, has no serious footing among the Czechoslovaks. The Czech membership of Communist organizations barely reaches the dignity of hundreds, and among these are very few who believe in violence as a method of political action. ”

“ The plain people , as Lincoln would have called them, constitute, of course, the vast majority of Americans of Czechoslovak origin. It is a tribute to their sound political instincts, and to their political maturity, that upon the outbreak of the war they at once, and spontaneously, took a position which events have proved to be in the right, and which, in the end, prevailed. ”

“ The National Alliance of Bohemian Catholics was the organization of the Czechs of that denomination, and while, for purposes of political activity, it formed a part of what the American public came to know as the Bohemian National Alliance of America, so that there could be no question as to the solidarity of the Czech movement, it yet lived an active life of its own. ”

“ While the bulk of the Czechs and Slovaks now living in the United States, came to this country during the last seventy-five years, yet immigration of Czechs, to speak of the older branch of the nation, is not a phenomenon restricted wholly to the nineteenth century. The first individuals of Czech (Bohemian) origin came to America during the seventeenth century, undoubtedly seeking religious and political liberty, even as did the Pilgrim Fathers. ”

“ The Czechoslovak Press in this country, as that of other immigrants, affords the first generation the only means of information concerning current events and is frequently the only source of inspiration to cultural, political and other activities. ”

“ Czech immigration, therefore, was to a large extent of an agricultural character. The farmers of this origin concentrate in Texas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and the Dakotas. Czechoslovak immigrants do not congregate in slums. In fact there are no Czechoslovak slums in the United States. The Slovaks of course came chiefly to Pennsylvania, seeking employment in mines and steel mills.
Czech labor in the urban districts consists almost entirely of skilled workmen. Merchants are plentiful, and professional men of all branches abound. ”

“ Criminality of the graver sort is quite rare among Czechs. Speaking of the Czechs in Chicago, Capek states that the Czech percentage of burglary is the same as the Canadian and the German, but both of these latter nationalities have higher percentages of the total of gainful offenses and of the specific crimes of forgery and fraud, of larceny and receiving stolen goods. ”

“ The bulk of the Czech stock is in the West. A relatively small number of Czechoslovak immigrants remain in the East. The twelfth census showed 71,389 Czech individuals of the first generation, and 32,707 of the second generation, engaged in gainful occupations, so-called, and of the first generation 32 per cent, and of the second generation 43 per cent, were devoted to agricultural pursuits. ”

“ Obviously its influence has always been considerable, though it is well to point out, lest its function be misunderstood, that the more or less prevalent belief that the foreign press in the United States is running contrary to American opinion is disproved by a study of 8,504 editorials recently made by the Foreign Language Information Service, of New York. While the immigrant press has certain distinctive interests, it does not differ essentially in subject or emphasis of editorial comment from the vernacular press. This is particularly true of Czech journalism. ”

“ The writer recalls distinctly how a small western daily would occasionally make use of the bulletins in editorial form, as its own material. The truth of the facts registered in these bulletins was never challenged even by those hostile to the work.
Toward the end the offices of the Bureau became much more than a press office and developed into a political center, particularly of the representatives of the smaller nationalities. More than one conference was held there and more than one resulted in concerted important action. ”

“ In 1917 there were in Chicago 46 male and 22 female medical practitioners and 78 lawyers. Among the professional classes the most numerous, however, are school teachers. A reliable estimate places the number of teachers of Czech descent in Nebraska at 290. College and university professors we meet in relatively large numbers, three of them on the staff of Yale University. Czech Catholics have a college and seminary in Lisle, Illinois, and many parochial schools and academies. ”

“ It appealed for the founding of an organization of all American Czechoslovaks for the purpose of aiding the poor, suffering from the consequences of the war and on behalf of widows and orphans of Czech soldiers who were forced to fight contrary to their will against brother Slavs. ”

“ The intense political activity of the Czechoslovaks in America is further well illustrated by the fact that they could, and did, bring their cause effectively to the attention of the Vatican, realizing its international importance. ”

“ Not a dollar was asked for or accepted from a foreign source. Those were Masaryk’s orders, “This is our revolution, and we must pay for it with our money.” The first bazaar of consequence was held in New York in the winter of 1916. It yielded $22,250. This was thought an extraordinary achievement. The bazaar given in Cleveland in March, 1917, netted $25,000 and one closely following it in Chicago, $40,000. The comparatively small Omaha community surprised all by making $65,109.20 in September, 1918. ”