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APPENDIX X

POLITICAL PERSECUTION OF THE NON-MAGYARS

(E) Press Actions against the Národnie Noviny. (1892-1906).

I. (Dec. 17, 1892.) Svetozar Hurban Vajanský was sentenced at Pressburg to 1 year, a fine of 600 crowns and 515 crowns costs. Offence : — (a) incitement against an insti­tution of the constitution (§ 173 Crim. Code); (b) incite­ment against the Magyar nationality (§ 172). Incurred in an article entitled "Hyaenism in Hungary" (for ex­tracts from this article see p. 306).

II.  (Oct. 3, 1895.) Izidor Ziak Somolicky, sentenced to 2 months and 50 crowns. Offence: incitement against the Magyar nationality. Incurred in an article entitled "Don't expect holy water from the Devil!" (Feb. 16, 1895, i.e., 8 months previously). The change of govern­ment, he argued, would bring the Slovaks no good, the tyrannical attitude of the Government and Adminis­tration towards the nationalities would remain unaltered.

III. (Feb. 6, 1896.) I. Z. Somolicky, sentenced to 2 months and 50 crowns. Same offence. Incurred in an article entitled "Magyar Effrontery." In it he discusses an advertisement published in an official Magyar educational paper, inviting applications for "a position as teacher for the purpose of Magyarization." He then urges the Slovaks to unite against the enemy.

IV. (March 9, 1896.) I. Z. Somolicky, sentenced to 4 months and 100 crowns. Offence : libel against the Government and the authorities. Incurred in an article entitled "Political Bandits" (May 21, 1895, i.e., 10 months before). He attacks the "ruling classes" and "the Judaeo-Magyar Press," declares that the Government conducts a bandit policy against the nationalities and does not respect the law.

V.-VI.-VII. (Ap. 18, 1898.) I. Z. Somolicky, sentenced to 8 months and 1,200 crowns. Offence : incitement against the Magyar nationality, incurred in three articles — (a) "The Magyar-Roumanian Alliance" (Sep. 30, 1897); (b) " Herod " (Oct. 22); and (c) "Help the people" (Oct. 27). The second of these describes as barbarous the forcible removal of Slovak children to South Hungary, in order to further Magyarization. Owing to a campaign in France and Russia this slave-trade was abandoned, and now the kindergarten was established as a new means of Magyarization. Refusal to attend was followed by violence and brutal treatment of mothers and children. The author protests against such cruel Vandalism. The third article describes how under pretext of "helping the people," Slovak children were removed from cholera-stricken districts, and Slovak emigrants sent back from America at their own expense. The only real help would consist in abandoning forcible Magyariz-ation and supplying the people with means of economic progress.

VIII.-IX. (June 23, 1898.) Ambrose Pietor sentenced to eight months and 1,200 crowns. Offence: — (a) instigation to class hatred, incurred in an article entitled " Slavery above and below" (July 15, 1897, i.e., 11 months before), in which he declared that the Slovak bricklayers on strike in Budapest were treated worse than dogs; (b) instigation against the Magyar nationality, incurred in an article entitled "Paralysis Progressiva," protesting against the forcible Magyarization of the primeval Slav placenames, which are described as "foreign," and have to make way for barbarous jargon invented for the purpose.

X. (June 12, 1899.) Joseph Skultéty, sentenced to 3 weeks and 300 crowns. Same offence, incurred in a review of a pamphlet by Baudoin de Courtenay, professor in Cracow, on the persecution of the Slovaks.

XI.  (Oct. 20, 1899.) I. Z. Somolicky, sentenced to 3 months and 800 crowns. Same offence, incurred in an article entitled "Megalomania." Everything in Magyar public life was described as "great," whereas it really was very small. 746 small villages in Hungary have the prefix "Nagy" (great). The jury convicted him of "incitement to class hatred," though this had not been referred to at the trial. The decision was therefore annulled and the case reheard, when the jury found a similar verdict on the proper count.

XII.  (Dec. 4, 1899.) Antony Novak, sentenced to 1 week and 50 crowns, for a review of Courtenay's pamphlet on the Slovaks.

XIII.  (March 21, 1903.) Svetozar Húrban Vajanský, sentenced to 2 months and 400 crowns. Offence: incitement against the Magyar nationality, incurred in an article entitled "We must not give in" (Nov. 25, 1902). He attacks the deadly Chauvinism which prevails in Hungary and urges his readers to defend Slovak honour and Slovak culture, since through them alone can the Slovaks achieve anything. What is foreign can only have a negative value for us, until our intellect has made it entirely out own.

XIV.  (Ap. 25, 1903.) Svetozar Húrban Vajanský, accused of instigation against the Magyar nationality in an article in which he attacked a ministerial order prescribing twenty-four hours weekly for instruction in Magyar. The first instance of an acquittal.

XV.-XVI. (May 15, 1903.) Antony Novak, sentenced to i month and 120 crowns. Same offence, incurred in two articles — (a) " In defence " (Dec. 4, 1902), which contrasts the Chauvinist attitude with Deák's policy. Deák said, "In political matters we will give you nothing, but in cultural matters everything," To-day nothing is given, and even what the Slovak people creates for itself is taken from it; (b) "Countless Exiles" (Jan. 27, 1903), which discusses emigration and ascribes it to forcible Magyariz­ation and the tyranny of the authorities. The peasants are ill-treated by the szólgabiró and the notary, the educated classes are dragged into court.

XVII. (Mar. 23, 1904.) John Stróbl, sentenced to i month and 600 crowns. Same offence, incurred in an article "Let us honour intellectual work" (July 18, 1903, i.e., 8 months before). Culture and language are the two bulwarks of nationality, and of these the Slovaks are being robbed.

It will be observed that the sentences imposed upon the Slovaks during these years are much milder than those inflicted on the Roumanians. Till recently, the Magyars regarded all move­ment among the Slovaks as almost beneath contempt, and it is really only since the accession of the Coalition Government to power, that they have begun to admit the existence of a "Slovak danger." This new frame of mind is reflected in the annals of the political trials of the last two years, and the outrageously severe sentences imposed.