Little Brother

As thunderclouds of difficulty so often do when "Europe's Smartest Little Statesman," Dr. Eduard Benes, arrives on the scene, the gathering storm of petty opposition among lesser Czechoslovak politicians to his election as President (TIME, Dec. 23) magically cleared on the great day last week. The local Nazis, Fascists and Extreme Rightists sulkily cast 76 blank ballots as the National Assembly polled. The Czech Agrarian Party threw away 24 more by voting for the only candidate who opposed Dr. Benes, a botanist-spellbinder named Bohumil Nemec. All other ballots, totaling 340, went to make President Benes.

Snug in Milwaukee a retired cabinetmaker received the news with joy. Said John Benes: "I was the second in our family of eight children. Eduard, my little brother, was only six years old when I left home--it was in Austria then--and came to America in 1889. I was the only-one to come here. I did not know until a few years ago the hardships Eduard went through to get an education. If I had, I could have helped him because I always made good money. But he never told me. Often in Germany, England and France he went without enough to eat so that he could learn. Always he read and studied. He had little time for play. Sometimes he would write to me from France or Germany for American books and I would send them to him. He would translate them to make a little money.

"Three times I have been home, and I learned how the people of Czechoslovakia love brother Eduard. I saw him on these visits, but never for long. He was always so busy, always doing so much for his country. I knew he would be President, I always knew. He will make a great President."

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