The Washington times., 1916-01-12
ANOTHER LlTTLR STATES
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Montenegro sees ahead Of it the
fate that has already been imposed
on Belgium, Poland, and Serbia. 1t
is one more of the minor states des-
tined to be crushed between the up
per and neither millstones of war
ring neighbors. If it survives as an
organized community it will be with
numbers so reduced and it's country
so devastated that rehabilitation will
be well-nigh impossible.
Yet if the western world knew
Montenegro as well as it knows
Switzerland, there would be much Of
that same sympathy and sentiment
Of guardianship for the little Balkan
state that has always gone out to
the Alpine people whom Caesar
fought and to whom, as the Hell
vetti, he paid high tribute. The
Montenegrins are yet primitive,
while the Swiss have become highly
civilized and institutionalized. But
the fiber is the same. Willingness
to pay any price for the boon of
freedom has been the characters
tic of both.
The Montenegrins are a branch
of the Serbian race which long
stood between Europe and the Turk
ish assault. When over 500 years
ago Serbian power was overthrown,
the Montenegrins retired to their
mountains and continued the strug-
gle; maintaining ever since sub
stantial independence, though until
a generation ago always claimed as
tributary to the Ottoman empire. In
proportion to their numbers, they
have done a greater service in pro-
tecting Occidental civilization from
the Turk than any other people.
In the Middle Ages they were
supported.by the power of old Venice
against the Turks; and a dispatch
from Rome today tells of Italian
concern lest they may now be
crushed, and their stronghold on the
eastern side of the Adriatic become
an Austrian base against Italy. Thus
does history repeat itself. The fast
nesses of Montenegrin mountains
are strategically as important today
in the conflict between the two great
Mediterranean peninsulas as they
were before America had been dis.
covered.
Montenegro is about the area OF
Connecticut; but it is forbidding
land. 1t is almost entirely noun.
famous, with bits of valley here anC
there. Its peaks ascend to 5000
feet. Composed of a curiously por,
Gus rock, it's soil will not hold water
and the rivers have an uncanny way
of disappearing into chasms, to flow
in subterranean channels sometime!
for many miles, and reappearine
again. Sometimes river will dis
cover a new hole that it may drol
into, or under pressure Of floods, ;
new vent from which it may fore,
a way from it's subterrancan chan
mel to the surface.
Physically big, powerful, an,
splendidly formed, the Montenegrin
are simple, superstitious, devout il
their way, given to feuds, adherent
: of the Greek church, and for NOR
than two centuries allied to Russia
; A rudimentary sort of education i
compulsory as to the men; tn
women receive little education, bu
: are revered as womankind is in fe,
other lands.
The end and aim of Montenegr
: for centuries was to fight the Turks
t Only a handful in numbers-the
= counted about 225,O00 at the begin
ming of the present century-th
men are all soldiers, dedicated to tn
ancient hatred of the Turk and tn
more modern feud with Austri;
e Their religious and racial ties t
h Russia, together with their logics
t community of interest with Italy
h opposing Austrian aggressions
d the eastern Adriatic, have mad
: them a sort of diplomatic hyphe
d between Italy and Russia. This ci,
n cumstance has more than once
S their history given them an impor
r ance far beyond the seeming signii
canoe of their numbers and powe
5, Even today, a Montenegrin pril
Il cess is the beloved Queen Helena
J. Italy.
It A poor people, though proud, Il
); Montenegrins of the rural distric
1t live in little stone cabins, usual
S, with a single door and a solital
n window. They have governme
e, under which the King is nearly
despot; but the despotism is benev
'e lent, and the people devotedly 10y
Is to the King, as he always is to thel
re They are quarrelsome internally