The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-06-22
A POSSIBLE DANGER IN EASTERN
EUROPE.


1t is said that Alexander Obrenovitch,
the young king of Servia, has fallen
into a condition of health which causes
acute alarm in his family and among
his subjects. Indeed, it is asserted, in
way which is unusual when kings are
the subjects Of diagnosis, that there is
no reasonable hope of his permanent
recovery. We do not usually notice
such statements, more especially when
they are peremptorily denied, as this is
by the minister of Servia, but they re-
mind the world of the forgotten fact
that peace really hangs upon the life Of
that young man. King Alexander Of
Servia has no heir, his father, Milan,
being declared to be impossible" and
his death, therefore, would leave the
throne of the Servian kingdom open to
any powerful pretender.
1t is hardly possible that, under such
circumstances, Russia and Austria
should not support rival candidates,
and not very difficult to foresee who
they would, in all probability, be. The
Russian government, always keenly IN
terested in Servia, as being essentially
Slav. would put forward Prince Nicho-
las Of Montenegro, whom it has always
favored, and now regards almost as a
prince of the imperial house. He him
self makes no secret of his ambition,
and, 1T is said, promises the Servians
that If he is elected he will restore the
ancient though short-lived glory Of TIE
Servian 'empire"-that is, will stretch
his dominion over Bosnia and northern
Bulgaria, and seat his kingdom at once
on the Black Sea and the Adrlatic
The prince is a man of ability and am
bition, he is accustomed to govern and
successful in government, and he can
dispose Of forces which, if not numer-
Gus, are Injured to war, and are dreaded
throughout the Balkans and in Euro
pean Turkey for their bravery and de-
votion to their chief. AS the only
crowned Slav, except the emperor of
Russia, he would be a most formidable
candidate, and would, it is believed, be
most acceptable to the Servians, who
are possessed with the idea that they
ought to recover their ancient patrimo-
ny, and, above all, to reach the sea.
To the Austrian government, on the
other hand, such candidature would
be most unacceptable. The Hapsburgs
are always sensitive, with good reason,
about the freedom of the Danube,
which q Danilo dynasty seated in Bel
grade would be able at will to threaten,
and always hope that an extension to
Salonika would give their subjects the
means of becoming rich through Asia
tic trade. With Servia in the hands of
enemies, and Bosnia threatened, that
extension would finally be barred.
They have no intention of surrendering
Bosnia, which they have turned into a
fourishing province, or of renouncing
their claim to equal influence with their
secular rivals in the whole peninsula.
They would be almost compelled either
to occupy Servia for themselves, as the
Servians fear they will one day do, or
to support a. candidate of their own,
who could only be the king of Romania,
who is the one prince in eastern Europe
possessing both more capacity for mill
itary enterprise and larger resources
for war than the Prince Of Montenegro,
and the only one in whose success the
Hohenzollerns would feel something
more than benevolent" interest.
Such a rivalry would mean war in Che
near future even if both empires Ware
bent on peace, and it is by no means
certain that they are bent on peace as
decidedly is they were a year or two
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