Josef Štýbr

“ This axiom expresses fittingly the basic principle of americanization. It is both right and proper that a man who has adopted this land for his country and is eating its bread should sing its praises, in other words, that he should become American. The question only is, how it should be done so that the country might find in him a loyal and useful citizen, and he in turn might find in the country the right kind of domicile, a satisfactory substitute for his native land, so that he might live contented and happy; for only then will he become a good citizen. ”

“ If you will attempt to compel the foreigner to do something similar, he may learn how to tell you in plain English what he thinks of you, but then your purpose may be spoiled. And remember, gentlemen, that if the foreigner will be docile and willing and will see his best interest in becoming speedily americanized, that he can hardly do it in any other way except by imitating you and your ways in order to produce the golden American amalgam, and utimately you will be able to see yourself in him like in a mirror. ”

“ Let us not object to the name Bohemia and Bohemians, but should any occasion arise of encountering a person so ignorant as to be in doubt as to the meaning of the expression, let us gracefully elucidate his dark mind. On the other hand, in order to introduce the words “Čech”, “ˇČechia”, into the English language ,we cannot improve on the spelling of the words from the Bohemian way. ”

“ Czechoslovak to represent the race and Bohemia to represent the citizenship. It would be simply absurd to speak of a Rusin Czechoslovak or a German Czechoslovak, when referring to a Rusin from Marmoros-Sziget or a German from Northern Bohemia. But it will be perfectly proper to speak of a Rusin Bohemian or a German Bohemian, as one speaks of German Swiss or Walloon Belgian. Thus we would have Bohemia, not Czechoslovak Republic, the United States Government would send a minister to Bohemia and the Legation in Washington would be known as the Bohemian Legation. ”

“ We have been taught the German language at home so efficiently that in time we were able to tell the Germans plainly in their own tongue what we thought of them, and then we left our oppressed native land to seek the land of liberty. ”

“ In the end, whether fully conscious or partly unconscious of the fact, we are all working toward one end in preparing this beautiful and great, but still young and somewhat raw, country for the happiness of our future generations. And while each of us is doing his bit to his best ability, the great melting pot is boiling hot and working over-time. ”

“ One point which has not been sufficiently brought out in the discussion is the distinction between the designation of the race and of the country. The term Czechoslovak properly designates a people composed of two branches, the Czechs and the Slovaks. During the war the Czechoslovaks conducted a revolution against the Hapsburgs, organized their own Czechoslovak Army and followed the leadership of the Czechoslovak National Council. Their efforts resulted in the creation of a new state, the people of which are overwhelmingly of the Czechoslovak race, but which includes minorities of other races. ”

“ So you see, gentlemen, that americanization, as I say, is much slower process than many of us may imagine, and I do not believe that the hyphen can be expunged within one generation. That, however, does not necessarily mean that the americanized foreign-born citizen should or does love his adopted country less than his american-born fellow-citizen. ”

“ In analysing the difficulties of properly establishing the name in English, we soon come to the conclusion that it is unavoidable to create something new in the English speech, since none of the various modes of spelling is by itself capable of being pronounced correctly. The sound is simply not in the English mouth, and, therefore, cannot come out of it, except it is first properly placed there. The word “Czech” is a miscreant to the English eye and tongue. ”

“ If the proper distinction between Czechoslovak and Bohemian were merely a question of exactness and logic, it would not be worth while to press it; time would take care of it. But here in America for instance it has considerable practical significance. People simply will not accept the odd looking word Czechoslovak as permanent. When Col. V. S. Hurban testified before the Senate Committee investigating the Russian situation, he was asked by Senator Nelson the name of his country. ”

“ The historic nomenclature of our national entity as the ultimate successors of the Boii in our native land has always been and will remain Latin “Boemi”, “Bohemi” or “Bojemi”, and the Latin races have quite naturally accepted it like all the others of their Latin derivatives. To eradicate it would mean to abolish the natural process of etymology in the languages that sprang from the Latin. ”

“ The process of americanization along these lines is naturally slow and requires a good bit of patience from both sides. It would be unnatural, unreasonable and even immoral to expect the foreigner to forget all that he was before he fell into the amalgamating pot. ”

“ It was he who took the z from behind the c and placed on top of it in the form of the hook in the same manner as he did with all the other diacritic marks, when simplifying the art of writing the Bohemian language and rendering its spelling into the phonetic type. But ask an American or an Englisman to pronounce it, and he will invariably say, “zek”.—On the other hand, Mr. Nigrin’s proposition to spell the name “Chehs” is only another miscreant. ”