The Czechoslovak Review/Volume 2/The Philadelphia Convention

For works with similar titles, see The Philadelphia Convention.

The Philadelphia Convention.

When the delegates of the thirteen colonies proclaimed in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, the independence of the United States, it was a matter of doubt, whether they would go down in history as fathers of a nation, or as unsuccessful rebels, or whether their act would at all be remembered. Because their people stood behind them and fought for seven years to make the Declaration of Independence good, the signers have been remembered and honored by five generations of men, and Independence Hall is the shrine of America and the birthplace of democracy.

In this sacred place, under the shadow of a great tradition as Professor Masaryk expressed it, there met the delegates of twelve European and Asiatic nations to proclaim to the world that they, too, are independent. The future only will show whether the declaration of October 26, 1918, will take its place in history as a document of equal, if not even greater im portance, than the declaration of July 4. At any rate a powerful impulse was given by the Philadelphia meeting to the idea of co-operation among the various peoples of that zone of small nations stretching be tween the Germans and the Russians, the importance of which has only recently been appreciated.

The convention was a real assembly of nations. There was a delegate from Finnland and there was one from Jerusalem. There were nations represented, the very name of which was unknown to 99 Americans out of a hundred, and it maybe said that the convention put one people on the map for the first time, namely the Uhro-Rusins. Some of the delegates represented a recognized government with full power to bind it, others spoke for the principal revolutionary organizations of their people, but lacked authority to conclude any thing binding on behalf of their organizations; while still other delegates represented only the principal national organizations of their people in the United States.

High above the delegates there towered both physically and intellectually the tall figure of Professor Masaryk. His position as president of hte Czechoslovak government and as chairman of the convention signaled him out for the attention of the press and the people of Philadelphia, and every one who came in contact with Masaryk carried away the impression that he had spoken to one of the truly great men. Sitting in the chair in which George Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention, or in the high carved chair made of the wood of the tree under which William Penn concluded his famous treaty with the Indians. Masaryk was the personification of calmness, strength and intellect. Whenever he spoke, the pencils of the reporters got busy.

There were some able men among the delegates; the spokesman of the Jugoslav National Council, Hinko Hinkovich, is an extremely able and forceful lawyer from Zagreb (Agram). He was a very zealous advocate of the claims of the Jugoslavs to all the Adriatic coast of Austria, and if it had not been for the personal influence of the chairman, a quarrel might have broken out between the Jugoslavs and the Italians. Captain Stoica, representing the Roumanians of Austria-Hungary, attracted much attention by his modest bearing in spite of his noble war record. Dr. Szlupas of the Lithuanian National Council made a very striking appearance, when he presented the claims of his people to complete independence. The Uhro-Rusins, the smallest of the twelve nations, a veritable Benjamin among the tribes, had an able representative in a young Pittsburgh lawyer, Gregory I. Zsatkovich. The Czechoslovaks are particularly interested in this small people because the Uhro-Rusins are their neighbors on the East and because the Uhro-Rusinian people of this country whose number is one-half as large as that of their people in Hungary are debating now the problem, whether to join as an autonomous unit the Czechoslovak state of the future Ukrainian republic.

The convention furnished the best evidence of the tremendous impression which the Czechoslovak cause has made upon America in the last six months. In the Democratic Mid-European Union the Czechoslovaks are but one of twelve nations, but the newspapers of Philadelphia insisted upon speaking of the convention as the Czechoslovak Convention. In vain did the

Prof. Masaryk in the center, holding a document. To the left Mayor Smith of Philadelphia, to his right Director Miller of the Union.

delegates resolve over and over again that they were not Czechoslovaks or Slavs, that they were the delegates of various small nations seeking independence and na tional unification. The newspapers printed their resolutions and went on referring to the convention as Czechoslovak. Sometimes the predeliction of the reporters and editors for the Czechoslovak nation had its drawbacks; thus when one of the delegates, in a fit of temper, tore up a map lying on the table, of course the newspaers had to refer to him as the Czechoslovak delegate.

On the great day of October 26th, the Czechoslovak name, the Czechoslovak flag, and the Czechoslovak leader again had the front of the stage. While preparations were being made for the solemn ceremony of signing the Declaration of Independence by delegates of the convention, two Czechoslovak soldiers recently arrived from Siberia appeared in Independence Hall to serve as bodyguard to the President of the Czechoslovak State, while he signed the document and later on read it to the public. On the platform constructed for the delegates and the mighty guests there were flags of all the signatory nations grouped in the rear, but in front two flags only fluttered to the breeze, the American and the Czechoslovak and besides the American hymn the only other national anthem was the Czech (Kde domov můj). It may also be mentioned that among the great outpouring of people that gathered in Independence square to hear Masaryk read the declaration, by far the largest group was constituted by the Czechs and Slovaks of the city.

The proceedings were concluded by a luncheon tendered to the delegates, to the rpresentatives of the city of Philadelphia and to the Sons of the American Revolution, by the Philadelphia branch of the Bohemian (Czech) National Alliance. Here again the Czechoslovaks had a prominent place on the program. Miss Louise Llewellyn, dressed in the Moravian costume, sang Czechoslovak folk songs; after giving an English paraphrase she interpreted the simple love songs so powerfully that tears were running down the cheeks of the guests. The great address of the afternoon was again the one made by Professor Masaryk. At the conclusion of it, as the gathering was about to disperse, John Wanamaker, the famous merchant and philanthropist of Philadelphia, stood up at the side of Masaryk and putting his hand on Masaryk shoulder said a few impromptu words which testified to the unusual impression made upon him by the personality of the Czech leader. He said that now he understood, why Masaryk was at the head of the great movement to co-ordinate the efforts of twelve nations to secure independence; it was Masaryk’s great head and great heart which made him the leader. Mr. Wanamaker added that he stood ready to back the movement with his whole strength.

The Philadelphia convention left an overpowering impression on the Czechoslovaks present—a feeling of pride in their people and its leader, and a feeling of responsibility which the position of their people as the first liberated nation among all these small nations imposed upon the future Czechoslovak Republic.