The Washington herald., 1906-11-12
IN BALKANS
Austria Said to Be Stirring
Up MOntenegrins.
ITALY OPPOSES HER AIMS
Some MiSapprebension Regarding
Prince NikOIa's Territory Cleared
Up-What HIS Government Has Ac-
compIIshed for the Peasantry-Es-
tabIlsheS POst-Omces and schools.

Editor Washington Herald:
A recent article IN the American papers
on Montenegro contains many untruths.
To begin with, it is dated from Vienna.
and that. to any one who has done much
Balkan travel, sufficiently explains its
meaning Austria, now that Russia is
temporarily disabled, is striving with all
her power 20 obtain territory in the Bal
kan peninsula. To this end great sums
are spent in brides, and no pains are
spared in the endeav0r to create rebel
lions Austria. being conveniently near.
hopes to be allowed by Europe to enter
with an army to restore order and then
to occupy the territory. Salonika Is
the object in view In North Albania the
ground has been pretty well salted with
Austrian money: but between Albania and
Austrian territory lies Montenegro. /
Hence there is Montenegro to be reck-
oned with.
The whole Of the western side OF the
Balkan peninsula swarms with Austrian
spies. who do their best TO foster discOn-
tent within the various countries and 10
inhame one race against another. Italy
does not mean that Austria shall hold
more territory on the Adr!atic coast. and
has. therefore, lately been supporting
Montenegro. This makes Austria saw
age. and relations between Austria and
Italy are strained. Hence Austria tries
70 make internal trouble in Montenegro.
The charges made against the Montene-
grin government, in all the points upon
which the present writer has personal
knowledge, are so grossly untrue as %
make doubtful the truth Of other state
ments Of like derogatory character. II Is /
stated that the people are enormously
Overtaxed- The ordinary peasant, far
from being overtaxsd pays but a little
over dollar a year. lives. ren3 free. and
has wood-cutting rights in addition.
Prince Lives simply.
Prince Nikola and his family live very
simply The talk about the state they
keep Is rubbish An ordinary English pro-
fessionaI man lives with a comfort and
luxury unknown TO TIE prince. A citizen
OF New York would. I feel certain, con-
slider he was -'roughing It" cruelty were
he made TO pass n few months in one Of
Prince Nikola's little houses
II must also be remembered that Prince
Nikcla has made Montenegro. Literally
made it. for before his time It was not
recognized as an independent State by the
powers of Europe Had there been no
Nikola. there would have been no Mon
tenegro. He led his own army in the
campaigns OF 1S7G-1S77. and almost doubled
Montenegro in size. Since 1877, he has
opened NJ the country with good roads.
II did not previously possess carriage
road He has established schools. and
wonderfully good ones. too. I'm every VII
lagee Of Importance: also telegraph and
post-off7ces. Also. he has put a State-paid
doctor in the chief towns. and a chemists
shop. and in some Of the towns q reading
room. For any one TO pretend that the
country Is worse of than under Turkish
rule is. 20 those who know the truth
absolutely laughable. Having explored
both sides OF the frontier. I have no mes
itation in saving that the Montenegrin
side IS a couple Of centuries IN advance
several Towns Rebuilt.
The statement t1at Spuz and Zabljak
were fourishing frontier towns under
the Sultan's seepter. and are to-day moth
ing more than miserable holes, is easily
explained. They We're both important
Turkish frontier fortresses. garriscned by
Turkish troops. who harried and pillaged
Montenegrin villages. This was their
only raison d'etre- But. sincee the Turks
have been evicted. the places are now far
from the frontier. and they have. not IN
naturally. been deserted and more suit
able building spots selected.
ferent II was a tiny walled town on a
Hill. and was besieEed and taken by the
Montenegrins during the last war. The
besieged. on surrendering. fred the
powder magazine and brew the whole
place into ruins. To rebuild the town on
the heights would cost more than such a
poor country can at present afford A
small town is growing up by degrees: but
the iOw-lying land In the neighbOrhOOd is
50 fever-stricken that il is not an attrac-
tive situation. As & IS, the Montenegrins
have built a new M0ntenegrin town at
Nishitch and at Podgorica, and have
much enlarged DanilOvgrad and Cetanje
why Emigration Has Grown.
II there is a large number OF Montene-
grin emigrants 10 America, i, is very
easily explained by the fact that. since
49,, the population has grown by leaps
and bounds. Before this, for many cen
turtles. the incessant border fighting with
the Turks made the death rate extremely
high and in addition TO this the very arid
nature OF the land caused it 70 suffer
frequently from famine. Even now, with
the new and more fertile territory, there
is still not enough cultivable land TO sup
port the population at its present rate Of
increase.
As to the parliament Of the country.
most foreigners who know Montenegro
were Of opinion that II was a mistake 20
grant a constitutional government so soon
10 such a medieval peasantry. Since
1877, they have had to leap several cen
turtles In less than thirty years they
have had suddenly sprung unOn them
ideas which the west of Europe has been
slowly evolving for centuries. United
under the guidance of a shrewd and intel
ligent prince. a man. mind you. to whom
they owe their national existence. they
may manage to steer clear through the in
trigues of the powerful neighborlands
awaiting an opportunity to absorb them.
Divided into political parties. which is
what must happen under parliamentary
form of government. and with the mass
OF the electors men who are totally
ignorant Of the outside world, they must
inevitably rush TO destruction.
Difficulties Of Education.
It is absurd to talk OF compulsory
education being abolished" in g country
where the peasants huts are scattered.
They are placed on any little patch of
fertile ground. often many miles apart.
and can only be reached by rough noun
tain tracks. In bad weather it IS ply