Evening star., 1923-08-01
Pashitch, Serbia's Grand Old Man, :
Holds Jugoslav Kingdom Together
ny THE MARaUIsE DE FONTENOY.

ny THE MARQUISE DE FONTENOY.
For Nicholas Pashitch to be shot
at is no new experience. For this
near octogenarian statesman whom
Lloyd George on a number of occa-
sions described as 1.-The grand old
man of Serbia" has frequently risked
his life during his extraordinarily
eventful career. many attempts hav-
ing been made to kill him by means
of poison, bullet. bomb and knife, and
thrice he was sentenced to death on
the gallows. To those who have the
peace of Europe at heart IL must be
a source of sincere congratulation
that he escaped his would-be assassin
with only very slight injuries. a
mere flesh wound and the cutting by
broken glass. For with all due re-
gard for the quiet heroism with
which King Alexander conducted the
stubborn defense of his country dur
ing it's two invasions between 1914
and 1913. and directed the victorious
operations of his troops during two
Balkan wars which preceded the
great international conflagration. 1t
is only a statesman possessed of the
wealth of experience or southeast
European politics, such as Premier
Pashitch. who, after having brought
the South Slavic union, known as the
JugosIav Confederation, into exist
ence. could hope to keep it intact.
without exception the most re-
markable statesman that Serbia has
ever produced, he first became known
to any extent abroad at the time of
the Balkan conference in London.
some ten or eleven years ago, where
he ran the then Hellenic premier,
Eleutherios Venizelos, very close
second in the profound impression
potentiaries assembled around the
council board in st. James palace,
circles generally. With his COM
mandiag stature. his patriarchal
white beard: his eree. aa earriaEs; i; he is is
eyes heteken that keenness of vision,
and above all that fearlessness.
which is Indispensable in the make
UP of those who aspire to play a
leading role in the affairs of south
eastern Europe. he presents very
striking appearance.
An engineer by profession. Pashitch
in his younger days was an anarchist
of the most violent type, fervent
and enthusiastic disciple of that Rus
sian Baron Bakounine, who was the
father of Muscovite nihilism, and the
founder of that movement known as
the .internationale," which. like the
bolshevism of today. is the negation
of all religion, of law, of custom. of
property and of the western social
system, and in one word a cult of
destruction, with nothing definite to
put in its place. BY the time that
Pa shitch had attained his fortieth
year he had, however, outgrown
these foolish and utterly subversive
converted to the necessity of law and
of order for the protection of life,
and especially of property. For we
find him established as president of
the leading insurance concern In
Serbia. doing an enormous business
and amassing great wealth.
Naturally, he was drawn into poll
tics, in which he soon commenced to
play a. leading role and this eventu-
ally led him to abandon the insurance
business, which he found hampered
his political designs. Indeed, the in
terests proved difficult to reconcile.
For whenever Pashitch as one of the
leaders of the opposition-he was al
ways a vigorous opponent of King
Milan's pro-Austrian policy-was
concocting any coup against the
crown and administration, he would
usually consider 1t necessary to give
q quiet tip to his insurance agents to
be very chary for the time being
about accepting risks, in view Of the
bloodshed by which political dis
turbances in the southeast of Europe
are almost invariably attended. In
this way King Milan, who is ne fool.
usually received warning beforehand
of the danger in store for him.
Pashiteh was repeatedly either
driven into exile by King Milan or.
imprisoned in the dungeons of the
old fortress at Belgrade, weighted
down, with heavy. chains and man
aelss,1.@hiis en fsFee separate eeea-