boycotted German goods even before the war. Prague is a railway centre of
European importance, being situated just midway between the Adriatic and
the Baltic Sea. An agreement with her neighbours (Poland, Yugoslavia and
Rumania) and the League of Nations arrangement would secure her an outlet
to the sea by means of international railways, while the Elbe and Danube
would also form important trade routes. Bohemia would become an
intermediary between the Baltic and Adriatic as well as between East
and West.

Also the future relations of Bohemia with the British colonies are not
without importance. More than half the trade of Austria with the British
colonies was transacted by the Czechs, and Austria-Hungary exported to
British colonies L3,500,000 and imported from them L10,500,000 worth of
goods annually.

5. One of the most important reasons why the Czecho-Slovaks, when
independent, will be able to render such valuable services to the Allies,
is the high degree of their civilisation. Despite all efforts of the
Austrian Government to the contrary, the Czechs have nevertheless been able
to attain a high standard of education, and they also excel in literature,
music and the arts.

The Czechs are not only the most advanced of all Slavs, but they are even
the most advanced of all nations of Austria-Hungary. In Austria as a whole
6.7 per cent. of the children do not attend school; in Bohemia only 1-1/2
per cent. The standard of education of the Czechs compares with that of the
Austrian-Germans and Magyars, according to the _Monatschrift fuer Statistik_
of 1913, as follows:

Czechs. Austrian Magyars.