Human rights in Hungary [antikvár]

FOREWORD Between the two world wars Hungary developed, yet not enough on the political, social and cultural lines. At that time we lived in a class-society where origin and fortune were greater assets than talent. In politics the opposition was put behind un-contemporary barriers, and our electoral law ins-tead of pouring fresh blood into the tired old political system fed only the decayed old body. In the field of social backward-ness we may mention the low living standard of the working class, and the bleak existence of the peasantry without land (they made up 1 /3 of the population) as well as the hopeless situation of the young intellectuals. We did not equally enjoy our freedom rights, neither were our duties the same. On the top — as oustomary in a fclass-society — the practice of law was complete, when we arrived to the lower stratum of society, only the duties could be detected. On the top the privileges, at the bottom the duties. This is the coat-of-arms of a class-society. It was a strange country, with privileges our generation could not comprehend. For instance an officer of the armed forces, who already had many privileges, could travel at half price on the national railways, whereas a worker, or a poor peasant or a young man wishing to get acquainted with his homeland, — had to pay the full fare. And our public life was full of such outdated privileges. Nevertheless, it would be mistaken to call the Horthy regime a diotatorship, despite all the above. It was far from being one, because even if restricted, there existed an opposition that had organizations, newspapers, and even members of parliament. But what meant even more was, that the new and young reform-generation was permitted to be active pretty much as of the thirties and in every field of the Hungárián life. Of course, the regime had been tolerant alsó be-