East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1921-05-06
inner WORKINGS
CONTINUED from Page ~


NfiNidf~ asfA AbHtFbl
"About the time Of the armistic,
little Montenegro. starving, sick an
decimatcd, eaten out of house an
home, sacked Of an It's clothes an
sheep by four Years ot Austrian occu
patton was Immediately through intri
que turned over to the Serbians by
small pro-serbian group led by RADIO
witch.
Their position reinforced by IN
appearance Of Serbian troops, tn,
elections which were elections in nam,
only were held, the main question he
ing whether Montenegro would sup
port the Jugoslav idea and Join in it
Many deceptive practices were follow
cd to prevent the people from voting
and some Of them did not know Of the
election until It was fifteen days past
Refugees outside Of the country whC
had been freed from Austrian prisoni
and were being repatriated, who hat
received whisper OF what was really
going on and who attempted to re-
turn 10 their native land were held a
the border by the AuStrians until after
the elections were over"
King Nicholas Dcposcd
"The pro- Serbian deputies who Were
elected Immediately voted to depost
the king and Join UP with Serbia
Then the Serbian troops occupied the
country with headquarters az Cettinje
The Montenegrin capital. Young Mon
tenegrins were recruited by force and
then transferred, the plan being tC
nc nd them to Serbia and replace them
with Serbian troops. Those men who
refused To serve in the army and fled
10 the mountains or the country had to
leave their families unprotected and
uncared for. Even the food. that was
acquired from America was used as
propaganda by the Serbians, it being
denied in some cases to those who did
not favor the coalition, Villages were
burned and many charges of atrocities
have been made by the Montenegrins
as n result Of these conditions.
Every attention was paid me- in
fact, too much attention until decid
ed to move Independently from Pod
goritsa into the interior. Every OBJ
sta lie was put in my way. and even
indirect threats of death were made.
was warned that / would surely be
killed by bandits in the mountains,
Radovitch and the Serbian officers
wanted to line the road near Nicshish
with soldiers and send a guard along
with me TO keep me safe from ban
dts
Held Up by Bandits"
But these bandits so-called. were
the very men wished to see, after the
disclosures made by my Investigation
of the castle of Podgoritsa. so l pro-
ceeded without guards. To make a
long story short was held up by these
mountain men. They were pictur-
esque lot with their double bandoliers
Of cartridges and they were armed
to the teeth. talked with the leaders
for an hour and half in hut out
side of which guards were posted.
Il then went on TO Nicshish after
having arranged for a second meeting
at which time they were to give me a
careful prepared document as to their
position. causes of it, their aspirations
and what they would assume as re-
sponsibilities.
Il returned a second time, my car
passing between two ranks Of about
loo men. / was presented with the
document which was a complete and
splendid exposition of the Montenegrin
position, and instead of be-
ing sigPed by irresponsible brigands. it
bore the signatures Of the chiefs of
the seven clans Of Nicshish. Among
this group were three orthodox priests
ard other reputable men"
Sees Other Refugees
''At San Giovanni de Medua, a little
indentation in the coast of Albania
near the confines of Montenegro, then
italian militarily controlled territory
and that too is another story-I sought
out camp Of about 400 Montenegrin
refugees with whose leader also con-
ferred in the presence Of them all,
seated on the barren, rocky mountain
slopes where they were encamped, liv-
ing in any kind Of an old tent and clad
mostly in old misfit picked-up uni
forms The story of these three
groups. the story of the leaders in pri-
son. the men in the mountains and
these refugees outside their country
was the same. Serbia had usurped
their nationality and tried to absorb
them into greater Serbia. This they
were against, but they were not against
a Jugoslav state. but with an autanto-
nous representation.
They wanted a fair election in
Montenegro under the protection 1ot
British or American troops, or both
with all Serbian troops withdrawn
and this I strongly recommended in
by dispatches to the peace conference
and the general staff. ! also urged the
release under certain conditions of the