Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-04
R ON AN T TG BALKANS
TtuI
UNIFORMED NATIONS AND Draw
LING PEOPLES.
a Proper Setting for Opera Bouffe-
snSt
Geography andoEthnclcgy Of
Southeastern Europe.

FROM tfe Boston Transcript.
The files of the Lefldon Times for a quar-
ter century back will show larger aggre-
gate space devoted to the Balkan states
than to any other foreign nation. Switzer-
land or Holland. for example, is as popu-
lous as any of the Balkan states: and yet
to match one five-line dispatch from Berne
you will find five columns OF coups detat.
ministerial crises. assassnations, suspended
constitutions and political intrigue from
Sofia. Bucharest and Belgrade. This argues
that IL a state is tranquil 1t may be happy
Cor, as the French put It, 'Heureux ceux
qui mont pas dhistoire'D. but the world
won't hear a great deal about It, And yet
it is unfair to say that these little princi-
palities are of evil repute When n some
what primitive and childltke people. unused
for five centuries to political organization
Of any kind. is given a brand-new made
In Germany" constitution. 1t is not strange
If their frolics with the new and delightful
toy causes the rest OF the world to gaze
open-eyed.
Past and Present.
When Anthony Hope wrote 1.-THE Prisoner
OF Zenda' and George Bernard Shaw wrote
Arms and the Man" they set the vogue
for several seasons of romantic anachro-
nistic fiction in which medieval princes
and their medieval courtiers, with me-
diaeval conceptions of love and war and
manners dwelling in courts of the middle
ages pattern. shoot each other with the
latest improved Springfield revolver send
challenges by telegraph and go riding on
bicycles. Without exception, these novel
lists nave fixed their scenes in southea stern
europe, IN the mountains south of the
Danube They seem to have felt that If
these curious things didn't actually hannen
yet Iney might have happened in that land
OF petty municipalities. One is TEMPTED to
say they are right. The Anthony Hone
,s~rlN
themselves to literal history-they would
nave been Just as interesting. What couId
oe more dramatic than a young lieutenant
E 10, nuss So IN the German army getting
IeaNe VI absence for few weeks going to
1aIls and donnfng disguise in the accepted
ArIasnan manner, taking a train intoe-
mo hi Ior bucharest and successfully seating
nlmSelf on the throne?
The Kings Rule.
nat could be more romantic than the
same kings rapid wooing and winning Of
carmen Sylvia: or more opera bouffe than
the King of Servia's Official declaration that
the calendar was mistaken when 1t said
ne was only seventeen. he was really twen-
ty-one rex dixit and therefore the regents
nlust mana IN their designations; or the
same kings forbidding his angry father to
cross the frontier into his own country or
the kidnapping of 1.-THE zreigninR Prince Of
hb ,..4S. or the Prince of Montenegro's
the nrst horse himself in order to overcome
ms SUBJECTS prejudice and inaugurate the
business S Of farriery in his kingdom. Some
one has said that the thing which makes
life endurable to the young cadets ne nohIs
!amiiles who hold subaltern Commissions
IN the herman army Is the exciting chance
INA. some day they may be visited by a
kan prlncfpaltty, who are looking for Soma
young fellow with a touch of the purple in
Dloou ana manner! to- come and wear a
crown Inc invitation must appeal to a
young man with any spirit Of adventure
In him. Dying in bed is as rare with raj
kan kings as with the Adventures of the
early west who made 1t point OF honor
10 Ole with their boots on" The last
prince of Montenegro, Prince Michael Of
Servia, and the prime minister of Bulgaria
were murdered; the last Queen of Seryia
was exiled by her husband the king and
ne In turn was banished by his SON.
Political Unrest.
The political unrest in the independent
Balkan states. the rapid and unstable sue
cession of constitutions, ministries and
kings, Is the result of many causes: and
the chief cause lies not in those states but
IN their powerful protectors. They are, to
"a certain extent. the victims Of their fool
friends" Doubtless they could never have
shaken of the Turkish yoke without for
eign aid. If only the powers had confined
their aid to armies alone. If they had but
Withdrawn when actual independence was
won If they had refrafned from the we'll
meant but mischievous generosity of pre-
senting ready made constitutions and forms
of government to the liberated countries.
then today those countries would have been
happier. and their politics more stable
If France, after aiding with her army
and her feet, had insisted on aiding US
with her craftsmanship as well, we should
have had reason to doubt both her motives
and her wisdom She would doubtless have
given a monarchy, with perhaps a
needy French younger son for a king and
a ready-made aristocracy. Happily, we were
permitted to work out our own salvation;
and because we struck out on original
lines, because we consulted only our pecu-
liar needs and selected only that which was
especially adapted to our people and our
environment, made the most successful
experiment in self-government the world
has ever seen. The trite phrase 'twhat is
one mans meat is anothers poison" Is of
pungent significance here. The constitu-
lions which the powers presented to the
Balkan states had all the modern improve
ments, but they were not adapted to the
Balkan peoples, and they worked as badly
as possible. The Balkan states should have
been left to evolve their own form of gov
ernment-with many painful mistakes, per-
haps with much blind cropping, but with
ultimate certainty and success.
MANS