Evening star., 1928-10-14


the Serbs and the people from the
new territories, are at loggerheads.
Many observers do not realize that IL
is not racial question which is pre-
venting harmony in Jugoslavia. Edu-
cation and tradition aside. the races
are about the same The real Diff
ference is between the Old Serbia and
the new areas added TO make Jugo-
Slavia. The Serbs are ruling the coun-
try and the Pretchani want to vrest
the power from their hands.
As the Pretchani. or those across ths
rivers. outnumber the Serbianski.
one wonders how the Serbianski. or
those who live In old Serbia. are able
to maintain themselves in power. The
reason is partly beca''+ the Serbs run
the elections as thev they ought
| to be run. but m: cause the
Croats have no deflp gram and
never seem to have defii aim. They
appear not to know what they want.
One cannot speak of the Greats be-
ing disfranchised. because they elect
20 Deputies out of total of 315. Then
during the last voting in the Skupshtina
tParliament) there were only IA votes
cast. The Croats, Slovenes. Germans
and the Serbian Peasant party deputies
all remained away from Parliament.
Ihdt SIBAllleS lul DepuCleS JOlHeQ Tie
Croats against Belgrade. But even then
the Serbs had a majority due to the
fact that many of the Pretchani Depu-
ties remained in the Skupshtina
The Croats will say the Serbs obtain
! their majority through forcing cleo
tions in Southern Serbia and in the
Hungarian districts. But that would
rot account for all the votes. There
must be scme other reason for the Serb
majority and this reason seems to be
the hesitancv of the Pretchani to fol-
low the Croat-Democrat combine.
Point to War Loss.
| Another Crcat complaint is thst the
Serbs allow themselves representation
based upon the prewar population of
/ Serbia. And they point out Serbia
| lost 100000 killed during the war,
/ therefore. that Serbia should lose th5
! votes besides Not exactly a beautiful
sentiment, but mathenatically accurate
And it is well known how hercely the
! Croats and the Bosnians fought for
| the central powers. Let lis hasten to
/ add that they would fight better III
defense of their own country.
The Serbs hold the whip hand In
Jugoslavla because they know what they
want and are we'll organized The rad
ical natlonalists in Belgrade have per-
feet machine small but efficient They
J manage to keep the Pretchani divided
and themselves united. -.-.
They are big enough to be patriots,
but they are also small enough to think
of themselves first. And it cannot be
! 'aid that they have made an outstand-
ing success of running Jugoslavia. They
have served their purpose in holding
JugoSlavia together. and now ought to
90. and make room for constructive
government 1t Is said that a group
which thrives by special privilege and
refuses to recognize the right of each
citizen to equality In taxation and rep
resentation has no right to continue. II
the Pretchani are right in their iudz-
i11ent of the radical government then
this obstacle In the path Of Jugoslavia's
progress cannot survive
The Serbs do not take the Croats
: seriously enough. because the confusion
resulting from the present system Is
not helping Jugoslavia to become a
strong country. The truth is the Croat
political leaders are no match for the
Serbs. This Croats did not have the
right to general and direct voting under
Hungary. and have not yet had enough
experience in gaining their ends through
jhn polls. Their leaders are clever speak
crs, but not good at combining. and
not resolute. Experience has shown
this.
Protests Are Ignored.
/ Directly after the war. Stephen
Raditch talked of separation and went
! to prison on charge of treason. Sveto-
zar Pribichevitch, leader of the Pret-
chani Serb Democrats. went to Belgrade
and became a minister A new con-
stitution was adopted. The Croat pa
pers called the constitution null and
void, but it was applied just the same,
and nothing came Of it. In 1923 cleo
1 tions for the Skupshtina we're carried
out in Croatia although the Croats said
the Skupshtina was illegal Nothing
happened Raditch went to Belgrade
and entered into negotiations with
Premier Nicola Pashitch. The consti-
tuition was not questioned. neither was
the election. but Raditch did not enter
the cabinet because the Croats were
not offered places. In 1925 the Croats
entered the government in order to get
what they could after realizing that It
was still impossible to obtain absolute
( control
Then In 1926 and 1927 there was
| almost peace in the Jugoslav family.
but 1t was found impossible to govern
With the inconsistent changeable
Croat leaders. But Jugoslavia did not
go TO pieces.
Recently the Nettuno convention was
ratified. There we're loud protests from
the Croats. a few demonstrations, but
The denatured treaty went through the
SkuDshtina, with all the opposition
Deputies absent. And nothing will hap-
pen when il comes up again. The
""r"enlent will be declared illegal, not
binding. but it viii 60 through lust
the same. The Croats are protesting
but they will not do much else. FEEDER
alism and senaratism are as far away As
thew were 10 years ago
There il q very good reason for this.
The Croats and the Pretchani do not
want to leave Jugoslavia; they hope to
govern 1t some day