INTERNATIONAL: Quadruple Fall

The cabinets of Czechoslovakia, Jugoslavia, Hungary and Austria resigned on four successive days last week. Though these four “great falls” followed one another like the toppling of so many tenpins they were in fact unrelated as to cause. A tourist, darting by commercial air routes from one capital to another might well have been present when each cabinet resigned and have satisfied himself as to the cause upon the spot. Such a tourist would perhaps have made entries in his diary about as follows:

Prague, Czechoslovakia. “Alighted at the Kbely aerodrome this morning and motored in through the smoky industrial outskirts to the ‘old town.’ Saw the Staromestska Radnice (Town Hall) dating from 1381, and the picturesque old Tyn Church, just across the Tyn (Market Place) where the German traders used to come in the 14th Century. So many of them came and got rich that now the Germans control a major portion of the industry of Prague, though they number only about five per cent of its half million population. Remarked to my guide that such a situation must produce a good deal of friction between the Germans and the Czechs.

“He told me that the Cabinet of Premier Cerný—composed mostly of bureaucrats—had been faced with serious opposition from the German and Slovak minorities ever since its formation last March. The Agrarian element of these minorities had been conciliated a few months ago by increasing the grain duties; and now Premier Cerný was about to resign, in order that a Cabinet representative of the whole nation might at last be formed.

“I expressed surprise, and said that I supposed President Masaryk and Foreign Minister Benes, tho ‘Allah and his Prophet who founded and built up (TIME, May 5, 1923; June 28, 1926) the Czechoslovakian republic after the War, were so revered by the people that any cabinet of which M. Benes was a member would be stable. I was told that M. Masaryk and M. Benes are indeed above all parties; and that M. Benes would certainly continue as Foreign Minister in the new cabinet; but that it was considered necessary to find a new premier about whom the newly representative cabinet might coalesce.

“Continued my sightseeing through the Joseph-Stadt or ancient ghetto of Prague, noting the synagogue which is said to be one of the oldest in Europe. As we emerged from this quarter and headed for the ‘new town’ with its handsome streets and palaces, a limousine stopped at the curb in which sat a man who reminded me at first glance of Mussolini.

“Robust in figure, his round bullet head and piercing eyes marked the man of resolution and leadership. He was, it seemed, onetime (Oct. 3, 1922 to March 16, 1926) Premier Antonin Svehla, one of the .pioneers who with Thomas Garrigue Masaryk and Edouard Benes took the new state into their strong hands when the Empire of Austria-Hungary crumbled and the hour of Czechoslovak freedom dawned. An Agrarian, and sympathetic to the Germans, he would be the very man to lead the new coalition cabinet. That afternoon the papers carried an announcement of his appointment as premier by President Masaryk; and he at once called into his cabinet the first Germans ever to enter a Czechoslovak government: Professor Mayr-Hartung of the University of Prague and the German Agrarian Professor Spina, as Minister of Public Works. As expected, Foreign Minister Benes retained his post.*

“By way of topping off the day in Prague I ascended the Hradcany Hill and visited there the vast palace of the ancient kings of Bohemia and the Cathedral of St. Vitus in which they were wont to be crowned.”

Belgrade, Jugoslavia. “Soon after leaving Prague our air pilot picked up the Danube and flew down some 500 miles with the river as a guide to Belgrade. The city seemed poor and unimpressive after Prague, but I spent a pleasant morning in the spacious Kalemegdan gardens overlooking the Danube. From there we could see the Citadel on which modern and still more modern forts have been built since the 3rd century B. C.

“Strolling back through the Usun Mirkova Uliza (street) I reflected that the Jugoslavs (Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) are perpetually faced with their minority problem which is chiefly provided by the Croats. It came as no surprise to learn that the fiery Croat leader Stefan Raditch had again caused the fall of Premier Uzunovitch’s Cabinet by charging its members with corruption, as he did last spring (TIME, April 26). Since this was the second time in succession that M. Uzunovitch had been forced to resign by the public accusations of Stefan Raditch, interest ran high as to whom King Alexander would next call to the Premiership.

“The King did not make up his mind last week, but many expected him to call upon either Dr. Nintchitch* who has shown great ability of late as Foreign Minister, or upon the old war horse Premier Pashitch, eleven times Prime Minister of Jugoslavia, who has been in retirement in Dalmatia. Dr. Nintchitch, I was told, might be counted upon to deal tactfully with the Croatian minority; but the return of Pashitch would signalize the reemergence of the ideal of ‘Greater Serbia’ as the harsh mistress of her subject peoples.

“Returning to my ‘first class hotel’ I found the burly clerk, clad in a soup-stained sleazy coat, uproarious over a newspaper. Pointing with an inky finger nail he translated for me the latest insulting name coined by the Serbs for hirsute Croat Raditch: ‘the political ape-clown.’

“Since the afternoon loomed with few urban attractions, the most promising pastime seemed to be to wander among the people—still ‘peasant clad’ in bright garments, rosy cheeked and good humored despite the $1,000,000 a year that King Alexander reaps from them as his personal income in addition to the usual taxes.”

Budapest, Hungary. “Wearied of aeroplaning, I took a wagon-lit (sleeping car) from Belgrade to Budapest—the city that has fallen heir to the gayety that was Vienna.

“All the world knows of the Hungarian franc forging scandal (TIME, Jan. 18 et seq.), as a result of which it appeared for a time that the whole Hungarian Cabinet would be branded as the accomplices of forgers. My guide informed me that Premier Count Stephen Bethlen has been entirely whitewashed by the courts; but on the morning when I arrived the Count proceeded to make a show of his complete innocence by resigning with his cabinet. The Hungarian Regent, Admiral Horthy, thereupon paraded his confidence in Premier Bethlen by refusing to accept his resignation. My guide winked assurance that the Premier and Regent of the ‘kingless kingdom* of Hungary understand one another perfectly.

“As luncheon time approached I avoided the too celebrated local gulyas (goulash) but found delicious another Magyar dish, chicken spiced with various condiments. The afternoon was spent in exploring the old and modern castles of Buda and the shops, boulevards, subway, and parks of Pest. These two cities (Buda and Pest) lie on either side of the Danube and form together the Capital (Budapest). Since it was already late, the Royal Opera was indicated and fulfilled its reputation as among the finest in Europe.” Vienna, Austria. “Four hours by rail sufficed to reach Vienna between breakfast time and luncheon. Grown used to falling cabinets, I accepted as natural the fact that Chancellor (Premier) Rudolf Ramek had at last been forced to the wall by the many disgruntled office holders whom he has dismissed as a matter of national economy. The entire civil service—the most rapaciously organized bureaucracy in Europe—had virtually threatened to strike if their combined salaries were not raised by the staggering total of 3,081,000,000 kronen ($445,000,000). Chancellor Ramek prudently evaded responsibility for unbalancing his budget by resigning. During the week President Michael Hainisch gave no inkling of whom he would call to the Chancellory.

“While the matter waited, there waited also for inspection the superb Kaiserliche-Königliche Hofburg (Imperial and Royal Palace), the onetime residence of Franz-Josef, and all the now decadent chateaux and pleasure resorts of the former Austro-Hungarian nobility. The night sparkle of Vienna is gone but its substantial daylight glories remain.”

*Main posts in the new cabinet:

Antonin Svehla Premier Dr. Edouard Benes Foreign Affairs Dr. Karel Englis Finance Dr. Jan Sramek Social Welfare Robert Mayr-Hartung Justice

*An international celebrity since his election as President of the Seventh Assembly of the League of Nations (TIME, Sept. 20).

*Admiral Nicholas Horthy de Nagybanya acts as regent for the kingdom of Hungary because the Allies will not yet allow the people to have what a majority of them almost certainly want, a Habsburg king