Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1914-08-10

'~This damned eastern question,
lremarkcf Russian diplomat a half
century ago. lis like the sout Some
Times il nips YOU in the arm, some
times in the les we shall be lucky II
some day Il does not go To the heart. p
The sinister prophecy involved in
1.-THE Russians closing words today may
be on the eve~o Of a terrible fulfill
lment. for the bombs and bullets which
loniy month ago slew the Austrian
lheir-appareni. Franz Ferdinand. at
Saraieyo seem 20 have fired the train
(which may explode the magazine Of
THE eastern question and involve all
Europe in 4 general war-that mod
Tern PelopOnesan war, as Russian
gentleman once sadly remarked TO me,
SO dreaded these many years.
However those who see In the re-
ileniless phrases OF the Austrian uiti-
natum 10 serVia a mere catch-victory
OF the Vienna war party grossly de-
ceive themselves. The Austrian gov
lernment. and. in the main. the Aus
TRAN people. have quite made up their
minis that the present state Of Aus
.tro-Servian relations is intolerable.
land, in the words 81 the Austrian en-
clear up the situation
I recall vividly the attitude of Aus
TRAN opinion IN December, 1912. when
the peace Of Europe hung in the ball
lancc oyer the Albanian question and
when half a million Austrian reserv-
lists were with the colors. Az that
time | was in Austria and talked with
many persons Of standing and con-
sentative temper who had much TO
lose In any such titanic struggle as a
general European war. These men
we're neither army officers nor youth
full jingoes. yet their attitude betok-
ened a preference for decisive settle
ment even az the cost Of war rather
THAN a series Of acute crises and mo-
hilizations which would ruin Austrian
/ industry and crush the country under
the burden Of exceptional military
credits. "pesser ein ende nit
schrccken ais Elm schrecken ohne
ende" l"Betier fearful ending than
an endless fear } seemed to be the
general opinion. and II is undoubtedly
this body Of public opinion which Is.
behind the Austrian governments ex-
preston Of an uncompromising de-
termination to settle the chronic feud
Win tff rtNNUtlU N1i~HDtfs
The Cause Of the Feud.
This feud IS due 10 the irreconcila-
hie attitude 81 the entire Servian peO-
pie toward the Austrian annexation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina In the year
1905. To their fixed determination 10
undo that settlement. and to their
growing ambition 10 unite in Great
or Servia" not merely BOSNIA and Her
zegovina but all the Serbo-Croat pop
ulations ~ southern Austria Hungary.
Fer. though the Servia of the political
map Is bat A small state with less than
three million people before the late
Balkan wars and with not over five
and a half million today. she has
both a proud history and greater eN-
pectafi0ns No serb ever forgets that
500 years ago the Servian Emperor
Stephen Dush8n was undlsputed He
gemon OF the Balkans and. though
that WAS very long time ago. CEN
furies do not seem TO count in Bal
kan politics. the Turkish conquest
having acted like spell from which
the various Balkan people have re-
Gently awakened with the feeling that
their medieval pasts are bat an unin-
tefrupted yesterdays The servia OF the
twentieth century. therefore, asplres
10 revive the empire Of stephen Du-
shan and to unite all the scattered
branches Of the Serbo-Croat race in
modern Scrvian empire. This is what
is known as the "Yougo-slav" ideal.
The Real lily in the Ointment.
Now the most serious element in the
whole situation is the fact that these
sentiments are not confined to a small
section Of extremists but are held by
the great majority of the Servian peo-
pie Rightly or wrongly. the Servlans
have long considered their position
as intolerable, shut err from the sea as
they are and surrounded by extensive
territories inhabited by blood-brethren
under foreign rule. Their state OF
mind can be imagined. therefore,
when in 1905 Austria formally an
nexed the continuous Serb-speaking
provinces Of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
long claimed by Servia as her natural
inheritance ard her normal outlet to
the sea. Feeling herself strangling as
in vice, Servia. in l90S. openly pre-
pared 10 dash herself against the Aus
trian giant, and though at the mo-
ment she was forced 10 bow diplomat
icallv 10 the fat accompti. II was
with no sense Of resignation but rath-
or in a spirit of furious and ifTeccn-
cilahle protest
A really fanaticaI determination
sooner or later 10 attempt at all eosss
the undoing OF the Austrian coup
OF 1908 has never slaekened among
the Servian people Rather has Il IN
creased. for If such was the state OF
feeling five years ago one can imagine
the temper of public opinion after
Servia's great acquisition in the two
Balkan wars and the prestige OF Ser
Wan victories gained over both the
traditional Turkish enemy and the
still more dreaded Bulgarians. The
fanatical hatred which nerved mere
bows like Gavrio Prinzip and NedeiJo
Gahrinovies, the archduke's assassins.
to their deed Of blood. IS no common
order. while the unconeealed reloic-
incs in Servian circles show that peo-
ple to be in a mood TO risk the most
DANGEROUS consequences. Indeed, the
Austrian government must have TN
earthed some startling evidence IN its
recent INVESTIGATION of the Saralevo
tragedy To be thus venturIng the peace
Of Europe upon the acceptance of an
almost unprecedented in
severity.
\ Depressing Factor.
The most depressing factor in the
whole question of future Austro-Ser-
Wan relations. however. lies in the APP
parent bankruptcy of that coneiliatery
program known as rTrialism Trial
ism means the erection Of the Serbo-
Croat populations now under Austro-
Hungarian rule into an autonomous
unit with something like the present