Masaryk Hails American “melting Pot” As Ideal Treatment of Minority Problem

The American “melting pot” in which immigrants of all races and religions are transformed into loyal citizens of the United States, despite any racial or language differences, was hailed as a model of democracy by Czech Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk, delivering the annual Lucien Wolf memorial lecture here last night.

Discussing the contributions of Czech Jews to literature, art, science, industry and commerce before the Nazi occupation, Mr. Masaryk said they were “admirable citizens.” He described the Czech minority policy under which Jews had the right to constitute themselves an ethnic minority, and pointed out that under this regulation more than half of the Czech Jews declared themselves to be members of the “Jewish nationality.” He paid tribute to the Jews’ loyalty to Czechoslovakia and expressed the hope that his country would soon be liberated.