The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-10-14

help in order to be governed.
 Judged by modern methods, Albania has not enjoyed all that progress and development of the more advanced com munities. But there is very good req son for this, namely, that these other communities have been free to develop themselves, while Albania has been un- der the rule of Turkey up to few years ago. It is really tribute to the virility of the Albanians that they have been able to preserve their race and language through five centuries of subjection 10 Turkish rule. Through all this period every method was employed to Turk-a1y Albania, to do away with the language and the schools.
 UNITED IN PAST
 'Tt is not the only time the Alban- fans have shown their remarkable na- tional unity, for they are the only na- tionality which successfully preserved their racial identity against the sweep of the Romans then the Venetalns, then the Slavs, and then the Turks. It has been steady struggle for lnde- pendence and to preserve the natloh- ality from conquest and absorption pv some alien power. As sueh Alpanla furnishes the modern theorists on lla- tionality a real example of what SDldll COuIliS IsAo 5N-tS
 preserve it's nationality"
 Essad Pasha's emphatic declaration for an independent Albania, was directly opposed to the recent action of Italy in proclaiming protectorate over Albania, and he was asked as to the Albanian policy toward protectorate
 We are opposed to all foreign pro : tectorates," he said, "and the Albanians will never consent to give up their rights of directing their own affairs in their own way. That has been the cause they have struggled for through centuries, and they feel the sentiment all the more now that the European war has brought ambitious designs from all quarters on Albania. What AL bania wants is the same right of free development that other small states enjoy. and as a distincst nationality with it's own race and language it feels 1t Is entitled to this same status that Is accorded to all other small states. This is a war for the protection of small states, and not for the absorp- tion by protectorates."
 While Essad Pasha was here he con- ferred with Premier Venibelos and M. Politis, minister of foreign affairs, and there is reason to believe Greece is in full accord with the view expressed by the Albanian ruler for a free and in- dependent Albania. with no foreign protectorate. Servia and Rumania will doubtless be of the same view, so that the solid Balkans will be arrayed against a foreign protectorate over Albania. Essad Pasha's protest against the Italian protectorate has been ex- pressed in formal document laid be- fore the minister of foreign affairs
 Asked what he had succeeded in do- ing in h1fShjr1O Sfo rot rj jr,1o t,, Albania, Essad Pasha said:
 For F months prior to our enter ing the war, I had been administering the affairs of the country. This was at the request of the powers, following the unsuccessful experience of the Prince of Weld. Considerable progress was made, and the experience of those IF months showed Albania could be organized on a self-governing and in- dependent basis. But the coming on of the war interrupted our plans. Aus tria was our greatest menace, almost encircling us on the north, and press ing toward the Adriatic. It was at this time that Austria made her overtures for an Albanian alliance with the cen- tral powers, and following their rejec- tion declared war against Austria and later against her allies.
 MADE STAND
 we made stand for time, but Albania was in no condition to resist the advance of such a military power as Austria, with her men and equip ment all along our frontier. They have overfiowed the country, down to Valona where the Italians have landed, while our Albanian troops have been con- centrated with the allied forces on the Saloniki front. So that northern AL bania is for the present occupied by the enemy, and southern Albania Is oc- cupied for military purposes by the Italians. But all this occupation will be regulated at the final congress of the powers, when we are sure Albania will be restored as an independent na :. tion.'
 Essad Pasha is proud of what his Albanian troops have been doing on the Saloniki front. They are on one of the most exposed sectors, near Mon astir, where they have seen some of the hardest fighting against Bulgars and Austrians. They are hardy lot of big men, most of them mountaineers, and their fiery rushes have won the admiration of British, French and all other allied forces It was this same class of men who used to be consid- cred by Abdul Hamid as the very pick of his fighting men when Albania was under Turkish rule They are used to the climate and the hard life of the Balkans, and they fairly thrive on their fighting while most of the other allies are fighting against the condi- tions of the country as much as they are against the enemy.
 Based on his military experience, and having watched the two sides in con- test during the last three years, Essad Pasha says there can be only one out come of the war-the victory of the entente allies. At the front he has noted the steady decline in the initia- tive and power of the central allies, and the steady increase of the entente forces. The entrance of the United States in the war has been, he says, one of the most stimulating influences on the morale of the entire entente army along the Saloniki front.
 Declaring that he had seen in Saloniki moving pictures of the American troops Essad Pasha said they gave him and General Sarrail, the commander in chief of the entente forces, "a good idea of the splendid military qualities of the Americans who are joining us' 1 English Are Not Saving