Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-04-07
ADDRESS HAS
FAR REACHING
DECLARATION
Believed to be Virtually
of Independ-
ence On Croatia.

49, N~0R~ ~04SA -
s~pQht 10 bo IN. address to Belgrade
b. The Croatian Peasants party for
Mu1saed ut y meeting in Agram on
FehrMny 11-12 and suppressed by the
eovlEnment, il printed by the Reichs-
poae Of this city. It is virtually a lee
Rxf1on OF Independence OF Croatia.
A significant feature of it is the
4Act that It is addressed to His Royal
H8hneas, the Regent of the Kingdom
Of Serbia as Military Commander in
Belgrade" Signed by 48 deputies OF
the Radieh party it begins with the
duty to invalidate in the name of the
Cruatian nation and state the address
which the central committee of the
National Assembly, with only eight
members of the Croatian Diet, pre-
scented to the Regent in December 19.
1918, and also to i%nvalidate the deci-
sions of the Croatian Diet since Octo-
her of that year.
Declaring hat the Croatian Diet
in october, 1918, proclaimed the en-
tire independence Of Croatia. Slavon-
ia, Dalmatia and the Muir Islands and
handed over to the National Assem-
bly, the supreme power the address
points out that at h same time it
distinctly made clear h they meant
only to become members of a union
but by no means to join the central
lied state of the kingdom of the Serbs.
Croats and Slovenes. 1t supports this
view by constituting the decision of the
peace conference in response to its
appeal for an independent peasant
republic as meaning Croatia was com
PEELED to become part of the S. H. S.
only in an International sense and
that the conference did not force upon
Croatia the Serbian monarchy.
The monarchy vas proclaimed by
the Regent. the manifesto continues.
''on the basis of the aforementioned
address which was repudiated and
invalidated by the Croatian nation i'll
November of last year. so that the
present regime which constitutes an
Unprecedented reign of terror can
only he kept up by force of arms and
oppression"
Has Bad Effect.
Since December of 1920. the mani
festo continues, the Croatian nation
has been oppressed and suppressed
in a manner never before experienced
in it's history, while the introduction
of corporal punishment and its daily
practice upon the peasants by The
gendarmeric because Of their repub-
lican tendencies lis a deadly hurt
TO the naLlONal 1ceilnS. dignity anu
culture of the country"
Relying upon military force, the
manifesto charges that the Serbs have
deprived the Croatians of equal rights
in the Union in n sphere and has
outlawed them in financial. military
and constitutional affairs.
Suppression of newspapers printing
articles offensive to Belgrade is
charged as we'll as the strict prohibit
ton of a peasants party organ. 1t
recites the arbitrary ACKNOWLEDGMENT
IN a way not even attempted by the
Venetians, the Turks, nor the Austri-
ans in the course Of centuries. 1t
recites the arrests and Imprisonment
Of the Croatian deputy, Nikola, Srdo-
vic. because he defied the king and
stood by his constituency and says
that the Serbian commissionaires pub
licly declare they will bring about the
bankruptcy of those municipalities
who do not vote as Belgrade directs.
BY far worse wrongs were done
by your government to the Croatian-
Mohammedan majority in Bosnia and
Herzegovina continues the docu-
ment. las we'll as to the Croatian ma
.iority in the Barska. Two hundred
thousand Croatians there were treat
ed in a manner that would have been
forbidden ever were they MaEylrs. 4
system Of numbering and %plunderine
is being carried on. The embitter-
rent of the whole ration is such tina
history may hardly afford an analogy
= --.-. -sl>,a ~uiscontent.'
Must Be Republic.
lThe manifesto concludes: ".Afte,
this great war a peasant stat" can ex-
list in our territory only in the form
of a republic and if the present mo.
ment is not a suitable one for the con.
struction of "a republican constitution
in our territory on account Of part,
disputes and WEAKNESS. the unbend
ing will and resolution of the Croatiar
people is that Il peasant republic BIZ
created without hindrance by force
The conscience of reawakened human
ity, the vigilant eye OF Europe, tht
vital Interests of our Jugoslav nation
al unity demand c~ategorically tina
your Hoya! Iiighness may forbid an
tearing asundor of the Croatians ant
the Serbs by military forces unde
your command. thus creating an en-
lrenched military amp IL Croatia in
stead of building up a peaceful work
shop with new constitutional life il
harmony with Serbia and jim com
munlty with all Jugoslavdom."
The Reichspost declares hal thi
document was promptly suppresse,
n the only paper printing it wa
c~onfiscated. incidentally the Vienn,
Reichspost has been forbidden circu
lation in South Jugoslavia because 0
a series of articles describing alleee,
prosecutions of the minor peoples b
the Belgrade government