Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-03-30
asliseellaneous 8eadins.
THE LAND OF STONES.
HERZEGOVINA and the Balkan Dead
lock.

/
If on a clear night you look through
a telescope at the full moon and see
the mountains lighted by the sun you
will have some notion of Montenegro
and HERZEGOVINA. OF both these coun-
tries is told the legend that the devil
hying over the earth with a sack OF
stones, dropped his burden on this
corner of the Adriatic.
Mountains may inspire poetry ano
patriotism, but these indigenous prod
ucts do not satisfy the hunger of man
And this is the root Of the matter IN
Herzegovina-the people ask for breao
and are given a stone. or course the
government is the unnatural father
and the last is always the worst. For
ty wears ago 1t was the Iurk
who made the government-and tne
stone; and now the Austrian has tax
en- his place-and his blame.
Poverty mated to fanaticlsm-
whether Christian or Moslem-are a
hard couple to lead or to drive. And
Bosnia and Herzegovina have more
than their share Of both, as history
shows from that fateful day when Ola
Servia was slain by the sword OF Ma
hommed on the field Of Kossovo, and
the Slavs, disdaining the help OF Rome
accepted the sultan in preference 10
the pope. The inveterate hate that FOR
centuries has divided the Roman ana
Greek churches gave the Balkans TO
the Turk, and the rich families De-
came Moslems in order to keep their
estates; while the poor, having MOTH
ing to lose, were under no necessity
to lose their faith. Thus are the land
owners Moslem beys, while the peas
ants are Orthodox Greek in Bosnia and
and Roman Catholic in Herzegovina.
The Turk, having no zeal for reform
ing himself, Is never insistent on re-
forming others, and these divisions OF
religion and riches remained undis-
turbed for centuries. But the strain
proved too great, and Bosnia and Her
zegovina strove to throw or the MO-
hammedan yoke. Russia, ever sympa-
thetic with Slavs, came to their aid,
and was rewarded by seeing the two
provinces rescued from the Turk-and
consigned to the Austrian. The united
wisdom Of Europe, subtly 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,
Christian and Moslem having fought
and separated thirty-f1ve years age,
are uniting again to oppose Catholic
Austria and to demand the return Of
the sultan's suzerainty.
Thus-as you see-poverty and reli-
gion are the secrets Of the woes OF Bos-
mia and Herzegovina-and Of these
poverty Is the greater OF the people
less than one half belong to the Greek
church. and of the remainder the Mo-
hammedans are twice as many as the
Catholics. And nearly 80 per cent Of
the population is dependent on the SOIL
What this means in Herzegovina you
may see without travelling far from the
railway. In the wilderness Of rock and
stone the oases are few, and the people
live on the razor edge Of starvation.
To adopt the peasants opinion Of the
Austrian rule would be as foolish as
to Judge the social and economic condi-
tions of Great Britain by the mid
night assembly Of the hungry on the
Thames embankment. From his hovel
and his crop Of stones, where a goat
would have to be- busy to grow fat,
he would point to the palace Of the Ro-
man Catholic archbishop in Mostar and
to the wine cellars adjoining, which
sr~ that his eminence has interest In
commerce as we'll as in souls. This
natural antagonism Of poverty Is in
tensified by impending famine, owing
to the failure of crops last autumn, by
Slav agitation reused by the Austrian
annexation of the provinces, and by
Austrian suspicion as manifested In
her military preparations. With fam
inc Austria is dealing through the agri-
cultural banks established some years
ago to help the needy cultivator. But
gratitude for benevolence is never an
asset Of governments, and is not like
ly to be exuberant under military pres
sure and political agitation.
N.Y.. son . ,,oo,,ant ora paople allowed
to forget that Austrian rule means
armed occupations. Towns and villages
are garrisoned, railways are strongly
held, tunnels and culverts are guarded
night and day, patrols move restlessly
along the borders which are open to
raids and the smuggling Of rifles from
Montenegro. Herzegovina, in short,
has the aspect of a country invaded
lace Is unarmed and a rising would be
madness.
For the political causes Of discomfort
you must look to Sarajevo-the capital
Of Bosnia. Mostar-the capital OF Her
zegevina-has agitators and journals
that disappear under the wand Of the
censor, but they are strong only in Sa-
rajevo, where a committee of five Or
thodox Greek Christians and five Mos
lens directs and controls the agitation.
l used the word controls" advisedly,
being convinced that these rich mer-
chants, we'll to do lawyers and Moslem
landowners will never risk their sub