Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1875-10-20
TIE IN,SURRECTION IN TUR
....-f KEY

|UI.r rar hEl.
l. The disturbance in Herzegovin,
a grows more and moro serious. Tn,
l. Turkish Government IL evidently no
|. disposed 10 yield, while the rcvolteC
d Christians are openly encouraged il
0 Montenegro, in Servia, and in Dalma
+ tia. Disturbances of this kind have
k frequently occurred in Turkey, and tb,
I present revolt might be settled as the
Y former were. In case, however, the
: Turkish Government fails OF success
Q this time, we are not unlikely TO see q
0 new kingdom formed in the East, with
or without general European squad.
: BILE. The whole gist of the insnrrec-
! ton in Herzegovina is told in few
!. words. The Christians hate the Turks,
: and the Turks hate the Christians.
, The Turks are extortionate, and the
r Christians are not disposed either to
! pay the heavy taxes or 10 submit "
+ the robbcries Of Turkish officials. And
, above all this, there is the question of
= Servian nationality-the nationality
Of a people who formed once almost as
numerous and important principality
as Poland
Servia proper, Herzegovina, Bosnia,
: Dalmatia, and Montenegro were once
. Servian territories, and are Still inhab-
tied almost exclusively by Servians,
Even the Croats are part of the same
race, speaking the same language, and
differing from the Serbs proper only
in being Roman Catholics, while the
Serbs belong to the Greek Church.
The history of the Serbs, like that
of all the Slavonian tribes, is very OBJ
scure. Where they came from nobody
has yet been able to make out but II
has been ascertained that in the mid
die of the seventh century they mi
grated TO the Roman provinces lying
between the Danube and the Adriatic.
These provinces the Serbs obtained
from the Emperor Heraclius for bav-
ing assisted him against the Avars and
other savage tribes, that formerly
dwelt in these regions of his empire.
Since then they have lived, now indie.
pendently, in kind of confedcracy of
various little tribes, having for their
chief authority an elected magistrate,
and now again under the rule of the
Byzantine Emperor. In the twelfth
century Servia appears as very thriv-
ing and highly commercial country.
Its political life was then concentrated
on the eastern course of the Adriatic.
The extensive Servian territories had
abundant natural wealth, and most of
the European gold was at that time
derived from the mines of that coun-
try. After the Turks conquered Con-
stantinople they began to push their
arms further north, defeated the Ser
Wan army in 1889 on the plains of
Kossovo, and in the next century we
find the Osmanlis supreme rulers fthe
Serbs, and the ancient Servian land
divided into Turkish pachaliks.
A handful of Servian patriots took
refuge in the Black Mountains, now
known as Montenegro, and carried on
there truly heroic defence against all
the assaults Of the Turks. Soliman ii !
extended his sway as far as Viennn,
but could never conquer the mountain
refugees, who thus became the main
representative Of Servian liberty, ira
ditions and nationality.
The Serbs living outside of Montene-
gro, and numbering altogether about
eight millions, are divided between
Austria, Turkey, and Servia proper
the Sultan counting more than four
millions of them under his rule
Though thus divided in point of gov
ernment-possibly, just on account of
this division-the Serbs have always
preserved strong national feelings of
unity. Had they been lett to live the
life OF an independent nation, they
would probably be constantly fighting
with each other, as they did formerly; |
while now the Serbs OF Herzegovina,
of Bosnia, of Belgrade, Of Ragusa, and
Of Bocci di Cattaro, profess the same
fraternal feelings to each other as the
Poles of Galicia, Silesia and Warsaw
and as the Government of Turkey is
incomparably weaker than those of
Prussia and Russia, and the Serbs are
much better warriors than the Poles,
there is very lair chance of seeing
Seivian kingdom established between
the frontiers of Turkey and Austria.
This would be all the more easily done,
as there is already q semi-independcnt
Servian principality existing, around
which the whole Of the nationality
could be collected.
Up to the present moment the Serbs
under the Austrian rule remain tolera-
bly, quiet, but the moment the Serbs
of Turkey shall have achieved their
independence, the Austrian Serbs will
Immediately rise in arms, and undoubt-
cdly have the support OF their com
patriots outside Although compan-
lively better treated than the Serbs of
Turkey, they still have many reasons
to complain of the Austrian rule. The
original convention, in accordance with
which they were embodied into the
hunhiihh thipiic, was htNcr ObbcINtu.
IL was understood that they would
have only to defend the southern from '
tier. Instead Of that, they were sent
wherever Austria had TO carry on war
ON the Rhine at the time OF Napoleon /,
and at Sadowa in our own day. They
were promised full liberty of religious
belief, yet frequent attempts have been
made to turn them per force into Ro-
man Catholicism, The bloody events
Of 1869 in tho district Of Bocca di Cat
taro, in South Dalmatia, have clearly (
shown how little chance there is that
the Serbs will ever become loyal sub
jects of the Austro- Hungarian mon
archy There can be little doubt that
had both the Austrian and the Turkish
Government well understood their ,
true interests, they would long ago
have let the Servians 60 adrift They
are the cause Of great expense and of
almost constant fighting. But to al
low the Servians TO become indcpend-
cnt would be to begin the work Of gen
cral dismcmbcrment of these two
empires. And that is what the Sultan,
the Emperor Francis Joseph, and, with
them, all other sovcrcigns Of Europe,