English Translation

- 25 - 61 socialist bodies composed, these support societies and other organizations, were gained from the beginning to revolutionary work and their representatives participated in the meetings of the headquarters in Chicago. Once a year, the representatives of these organizations from all over America should meet at a joint congress that would review the old work and order the new one. The statutes of the "Czech National Association" define their goal very clearly: "The Czech National Association supports with all honorable means the independence of the Federation of Bohemian Countries together with the Hungarian Slovakia and makes and finances in this sense also the appropriate propaganda": These statutes had to be octro- ed, It was impossible to wait for their democratic vote through a long procedure. He caused enough difficulties; but the novelty allowed no other way out. In the first days of September, an other, very significant event took place and had a considerable influence on the development of our work in the United States, at that time it was located in the Stidtchen Sanduska, at Lake Era, a gathering of representatives of the Czech branch of the American Socialist Party to hear Soukup's news from home. It was interesting there: Kolařik from New York, J. Martínek and T. Novotný from Clevesland and the secretary-translator Josef Novák from Chicago. From this meeting the position of our comrades in America changed radically and the elements of the revolution, which were well-minded, came to the fore during the whole war from the appropriate word and the flexible pen J. Martineks and Novotnýs. Work began with the "National Union" and especially in Cleveland the socialist party was a pillar of the revolutionary struggle. In Sanduski it was decided and determined to write a rally to the International, which then went in many thousands of copies and in six languages all over the world and was reproduced in a hundred-toned numbers in England. Thus it fulfilled its mission. Already in the summer of 19l5 Tvrzický tried to establish a connection with the Slovaks; but at that time was not as it - 26 -