Autonomous Slovakia went to the polls today to put its seal of approval on a hand-picked government list of candidates for its first diet under the new Czechs- Slovak constitution. The official list, headed by premier Joseph Tiso of Slovakia, was expected to receive a vote of 85 to 95 per cent. The election, really little more than a plebiscite, resembled closely those of the totalitarian states.
(Czechs and Jews were required to vote although they will not be represented, a Jewish telegraphic Agency dispatch said. In cities where minorities exist five ballot boxes were provided, one each for Slovaks, Czechs, Germans, Hungarians and Jews. The Jews asked for special ballot boxes so that they could not be accused of a lack of loyalty.)
Meanwhile, regulations which will make Slovakia “a country in uniform” were announced here. All the newly-elected deputies in the Slovak Diet will wear Black uniforms, with caps resembling those of the Spanish Insurgent Phalangists, military shirts and black riding breeches. In addition every Slovak between the ages of 6 and 60, male and female alike, is now required to join the “Hlinka Guard” organization and wear a uniform. Members of the semi-military organization will be divided into three categories – between the age of 6 and 11, the ages of 11 and 19 and the ages of 19 and 60. The enlarged Hlinka Guard is designed to develop the physical and moral qualities of the Slovak people, according to Karel Sidor, Vice-premier in the Czechoslovak cabinet and Slovakia’s representative at Prague.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
