participation of Czechs in Austrian politics, and declaring that since the
Czech question is an international one and can therefore be decided only at
the Peace Conference, the duty of the Czech deputies is not to assist in
the revision of the Austrian Constitution, but to insist upon the creation
of an "_independent Czecho-Slovak State with all the attributes of
sovereignty_."

Simultaneously also the Czech Agrarian deputy, _Zahradnik_, made the
following remarkable declaration in the Reichsrat on September 26:

"In view of the prevailing policy directed against the Czech people,
can any one wonder that _they have lost all confidence in Vienna_ and
that they refuse to let this parliament decide their fate? _It is
necessary to secure for all peoples, great or small, the right to
decide their own destinies_. This applies also to the ten million
Czecho-Slovaks who, moreover, cannot rightly be considered merely as a
'small' nation: the Czechs, too, do not desire anything more than
peace, but it must not be forgotten _that our men did not shed their
blood merely for imperialism or for Pan-Germanism. We do not want
anything but an honourable peace which would bring equality to all
peoples_, a peace assuring liberty and equality to all, and not a peace
which would leave our fetters unbroken. We regret that the Pope omitted
to mention the Czechs in his peace offer although he mentioned the
Poles. _But we shall obtain our right without alien support. The Czechs
will never swerve from their demand for an independent Slovak State
with all the attributes of sovereignty. The Czechs are convinced that
the question of Bohemia is too great to be solved in Vienna. It must be
decided at the Peace Conference_."

On November 9, deputy Stanek made it clear that the Czecho-Slovaks expect