Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-14
WRETCHED ALBANIANS
LIFE OF JEWELLERS IN THE IN
FLAMED BALKAN STATE.
Province Not Long Ago Enjoyed Peace
and Prosperity-Sultan Has
Changed All That.


barrie country, without roads or bridges:
where you may ride only on horseback.
may cross streams only by fording them;
where every man carries weapons and ex-
ecutes Justice for himself; where the only
known laws are tribal customs. verbally
transmitted. The people in this land know
no god save a distant sovereign who pays
cash to secure recognition and who never
demands to be obeyed by his subjects They
speak a language that has never been re-
duced to writing; that has. indeed. neither
alphabet nor grammar. They have only
vague conceptions of three religions-the
Mohammedan. the Greek Catholic and the
Roman Catholic-to any one of which they
conform with Indifference as occasion or
convenience demands. No nation has ever
possessed better right to wear the motto,
Neither God nor master"
Such people are the Gueghs or Alban-
ians, living in the Balkan peninsula. to the
north of the plains of Macedonia, protected
by the spurs of Pindus and the mountain
range of Schar-Dagh from the Turks, VINO
can enter the realm only through the de-
file Kasanik. Beyond the mountain tract
the home of the AlbanianS for centuries,
extends the plain of Old Servia, which the
savage mountaineers exploit today just as
in the good days of Ali de Tebelan and
Mahomet-Ali. In Old Servia the Albanian
has always been king; able to defend his
bailiwick alike against Turk and Austrian.
The authors personal experiences with
the Albanians began in May, 1902, When
with two European companions. he set
forth on horseback from Uskub, the last
Turkish village on the Macedonian from
tier.
Anarchy in Albania.
That the Albanian anarchy has grown
steadily worse in recent years was re-
vealed by the confessions of a little Jewish
merchant from Salonika who accompanied
the French journalist for a portion Of his
journey, with evident dissatisfaction in his
mission. Our people all regret the passing
of the good old days in Albania" he said.
Time was when the good Hebrew houses
of Salonika carried on most profitable
traffic with the Gueghs sending thither
their merchants as fearlessly as into the
towns of Macedonia. No man then ran
any risk of losing his life. True. the AL
banians had their vendettas but with
self in any way. Occasional hold-ups were
reported. but the large profits in the bust
ness more than made up for them
NOW all that has been changed. Brigan-
dage has increased until the risks are SO
great that no conservative house in Sa-
lonika will any longer trade with the Alba
mans. The plain fact is that the sultan,
Abd-ul-Hamid has spoiled the country for
business. He has called the Gueghs by
hundreds to important military and civil
positions, and has allowed those left at
home to bulldoze Old Servia, and even
Macedonia. The Albanians now recognize
only two legitimate means of getting a
livelihood-by open robbery private citi
zens and by organized blackmail when they
become Turkish officials. The national char
acter has fearfullly deteriorated Formerly
the Albanian was an honest thief. his word
of honor could always be depended upon.
Today he lies readily as he steals and
shoots AS for this last, the use of the
rifle becomes each year a more marked
.it-ri, -
trict. The men of Dibra shoot in order to
steal: they of Dialsovo out of real or simu-
lated fanaticism; the citizens of PrisZrend
out of bad temper; of Ipek from sheer de-
light in shooting; of Kalliendclen in order
that they may test the accuracy of the
weapons they themselves make in their
smthies. In Albania the Guegh shoots to
show that he feels at home and that he
eXacts the right of living after the fash
ion of his ancestors; away from his own
wles he shoots because that is his habit
and reputation and because that is why the
sultan hires him.
Rule of Raniz-Bey.
The author and companions visited several
Albanian cities, finding In all of them essen
TALLY the same conditions of misrule. Prisz-
rend. a town of $1,000 Inhabitants, populat-
ed by Servians with Albanian overlords,
may be taken as a fair example of the
Guegh situation. The old seQuestered town
itself, with its picturesque wooden dwell
ings appearing amid rich verdure with
its lovely series of cascades in a ravine just
outside the limits of the town. might be the
background for a pretty comic opera, were
not the Albanian troop all the while play
ing high tragedy in the life of the place
The chief actor is a certain Ramiz-Bey. a
Guegh. who entered the city one morning
some years ago, announcing to the aston
ished inhabitants that he had long been
alive to their municipal needs and that he
intended giving them new form of gov
eminent. AS he was well attended with
mountaineers there was no resisting his
kind offer. The city council passed a set
of complimentary resolutions regarding
him and disbanded forever They knew
only too well that RamiZ-Bey was support
ed by an organization compared to which
the Sicilian Malta Is a good government
club. For ten years Ramiz and his asso-
ciates have been in power in the city At
the least sign of revolt from their sway
they threaten to call in the tribes of the
neighborhood And the city understands
what that means. A few hours march
from Priszrend live the feared Ostrozoubs