The Washington herald., 1909-07-05
THE LAND OF STONES
Herzegovina and the Balkan Dead
lock.


the earth with a sack OF stones. dropDes
his burden or this corner OF the Adriatit
Mountains may inspire poetry and nat
riotism- bat these Indigenous products do
not satisfy the hunger OF man. And this
IS the root OF the matter IN Herzegovina-
the people ask for bread and are given a
stone OF course the government is the
unnatural father-and the last Is always
the worst Forty years ago It vas the
Turk who made the government-and the
stones. and now the Austrian has taken
his place-and his blame
Poverty mated TO fanaticism-whether
Christian OF MOsiem-are q hard coupsf 10
lead or 70 drive. And Bosnia and Here
govina have more than their share o.
both. as history shows from that fatefuI
day when Old Servia was slain by the
sword Of Mohammed on the field OF Kos
sovo, and the Slavs, disdaininE the help
OF Rome, accepted the Sultan in prefer
ence 70 the Pope. The lnvete-ate hate
that for centuries has divided the Roman
and Greek churches gave the Balkans 70
the Turk. and the rich families became
MosleIns IN order 20 keep .heIr estates;
while the poor, having nothing 70 lose.
were under no necessity 20 lose their
faith Thus are the landowners Moslem
beys. while the peasants are orthodox
Greek IN Bosnia and Roman Catholic IN
Herzegovina
The Turk having no zeal FOR reforming
himself. IS never insistent on reforming
others. and these divisions OF religion and
riches remained undisturbed for centuries.
But the strain proved too great. and Bos-
MIA and Herzegovina strove 10 throw OF
the Mohammedan yoke. Russia. ever
sympathetic with the Slavs, came 20 their
aid, and was rewarded by seeing the two
provinces rescued from the Turk-and
consigned 10 the Austrian The united
wisdom Of Europe. subtiy guided by
Prince Bismarck. so decided and en-
shrined its resolve IN the famous treaty
OF Berlin.
And now history IS performing one OF
those somersaults by which she shows
her contempt for statecraft. Greek. Chrl2-
tian and Moslem having fought and sep
arated thirty-flve years ago. are uniting
= gain 20 oppose Catholic Austria and 70
demand the return OF The Sultan's suzer-
sinty.
Thus-as you see-pOveTty and religion
are the secrets OF the woes oS Bosnia and
Herzegovina-and OF these poverty IS the
greater. OF the people less than one-half
belong 10 the Greek Church. and OF the
remainder the MohsmmeGans are twice
as many as the Catholics And nearly
80 per cent Of the population g dependent
on the soil What this means IN Here
govina you may see without travelling
far from the railway IN the wilderness
OF rock and stone the cases are few
and the people I've on the razor edge %
starvation :
To adopt the peasants opinion OF the
Austrian rule would be as foolish as 20
Judge the social and economic conditions
OF Great Britain by the midnight assem-
bly, OF the hungry on the Thames en-
bankmenc From his hovel and his crop
Of stones. where a goat would have 70 be
busy 20 STOW fat. he would point 70 ths
palace Of the Roman Catholic archbishop
in MOstar and 10 the wine-ceIlars ad-
joining. which show that his eminelcs
has interest in commerce as vel as IN
souls. This natural sutagorism OF pow
erty IS Intensified by impending famine.
owing 20 The failure Of crops last aUr-
umn. - SlaV agitation reused BY the
Austrian annexation OF the pr0vences. and
by Austria suspicion as manifested 81 he-
military preparations. With famine Aus
tria IS dealing through the agricultural
banks established some years ago 70 hel5
the needy cultivat0r. But gratitude for
benevOlence is never sn asset OF govern
ments. and is not likely % be eUuberant
under military pressure and political sgi-
yation-
Not for a moment are people allowed 10
forget that AUSTRIAN rule means armed
Occupa-I2n- Towns and villages are gar
risOned- railways are strongly held. tua-
ueis and culVertS are guarded night and
day. patrols move restleSsiy along the
borders. which are open 20 raids and the
smuggling OF rifles from Montenegro.
in short. has the aspect Of
a country invaded and co1vulsed by ware
Yet the populaCe iq unarned and a rising
would be madness.
For the political causes of discomfort
you must look 20 Sara jev0-tle capita, of
Bosnia. M0star. the capital of EerZe-
sOvina. has agitat0rs and journals that
disappear under the wand Of the censc-.
but they are strong only IN Sarajevo.
where a cOnuitte Of five orthodox Greek
Christians and Gve GIOslenns directs and
controls the agitation 7 use the wo-d
controls" advisedlv. being convinced
that these rich merchants. well 20 do
lawyers. ard NOSlem landowners win
{
They NAV hold conferences IN raI=a-t
trains. they may resent the preselyJisir-A
activity OF Roman Catholics, and tire
preference given 10 Austrisns and Hon
Earians in the service Of the state. But
-kese conferences and comola ints are not
lew, end Pan-Slavist agitation like rhe
Nationalist movement in Ireland. is a
powerful lever for extracting concessions.
This brotherhood OF NOslen GCd Chris
ian is new. however and its novelty MAJ
we'll provoke suspicion. For general -rs
)oth Bosnia and Herzegovina S-rOve TO
remove the Moslem yoke which they pro-
'esS 70 be anxious 70 restore-Uith pre-
-autionS. II IS easy enough for comfort
ible. middle-aged merchants and lawyers
md landlords. secure behind the walls q
S2rajevo. 20 devise plans fo- a new MOsT
en- saddle that shall be placed on the
back Of Europe and not on themselves-
But what do the people of Bosnia saw
Their answer Is characteristic of the Bai-
zans Twelve months ago the provinces
vas peop,~d with Servians. To-day they
ell YOU they are Bulgars. Yet they ara
be same peOple-only the conditions have
hanged. Bulgaria has proclaimed a
,Zar Ferdinand IN the place Of a Prince
Ferdinand and n the Balkan peninsula
race Is as easy 70 change as name
Poverty does not press heavily on The
masses IN Bosnia as in herzegovina. The
,Ountry IS rich ia natural resources. and
Austria has done mucE 10 develop them.
hough she might have been more prud-
mt in the choice OF capitalist Instruments
And prosperity countS-even in TIE
SalkanS
What I fear most Is ingratitude. said
ne OF the most militant agitators- 7 vas
ut in the ilsUrrectiOn Of Sta Majcr IN
he rebel army We endured many pri-
-atious and losses. but We were sustained
~ the spirit Of patriotism and the con
ciousnesS that we were fulfilling the
.eareSt wishes Of our people, one day,