Evening star., 1928-11-19
SEVENTEEN YEAR
OF REIGN ATTAINED
Liechenstein Ruler Assembled
to Throne Before Lincoln
Was Inaugurated.

Little Liechtenstein halls Good Prince
Johann II as he attains the SEVENTEEN
year of his reign. If he lives two years
more he will equal the phenomenal
record of Louis XIV of France.
Johann was crowned Prince of
Liechtenstein the year Queen Victoria
was proclaimed Empress of India and
Minnesota was admitted to the Union.
The Dred Scott decision was a fresh
political issue. Abraham Lincoln was
still a lawyer in Springfield, Ill.
Seventy years that have seen the
transformation of the world have wit
messed relatively little change in the
of Jiechtenstein, tucked
away between Switzerland and Austria
in a mountain valley near the source
of the Rhine" says a bulletin from the
National Geographic Society.
Too Late to Fight.
"The standing army of 80 men hur-
ried off in 1866 to the Austro-P -PruSsian
War, but got to the front too late to
fight. An army that can't find a battle
ought to hunt other. work, Prince
Johann decided. He ordered his in
u.
muskets and leather helmets of the
late Liechtenstein army can be seen
today in the royal Chateau Museum.
Demobilization was probably the Princes
first important reform.
''Of course electricity has come to
The Rhine, rushing along
the national border, gives up it's en-
ergy to light the towns, operate tele-
phones and run the elevator, which has
been built into the massive walls of the
ancient Burg Vaduz fortress-p palace.
Prince Johann, at 88, finds an elevator
useful.
"Movies" Once Week.
"When weekly movies first f1ickered
at Vaduz, all Liechtenstein rocked with
the news. The coming of a spinning
mill to the capital and of cotton
weaving factory to Triesen could be
considered equivalent to the rise of steel
at Pittsburgh and of automobiles at
Detroit. Yet dairying with mild-eyed
Swiss cattle remains the basic industry.
are farmers even unto
many generations.
Prince Johann, crossing from one
side of his tower room to the other,
can look upon the most of his Graus-
tarkian domain. SiXty-tWo square miles
is Liechtenstein; eight square miles less
than the District of Columbia. The
comparison does not complete the pic
ture. Washington's miles are reason
ably square; Liechtenstein's tend toward
cubes. A dozen peaks in this minia-
ture kingdom tower more than a mile
in the sky. Liechtenstein is miles
wide, 20 miles long and l mile high.
Chateau Towers Over Capitol.
"The royal chateau caps a crag above
Vaduz, the capital, much like Month
cello commands a hill above Charlottes-
vile, Va. A single misstep and Prince
Johann would tumble in upon his gov
ernment! The Regierung, or capitol
building, stands directly under the prec-
ipice which the chateau SurmountS.
1T is truly said that no visitor can
remain stranger within the gates of
Liechtenstein. 'Sgott' Is the
password of greeting offered without
The village barber knows
the nationality, business and marital
state of every one who stays overnight
An American who visited the princi-
pality tells that while watching the
weekly movie at the inn he distinctly
heard voice in the dark say, He has
had hot bath at the hotel every night
since he came
Absentee monarchy best describes
Liechtenstein's government. Prince
Johann rules his 1000 subjects from
Vienna most of the year The system
works well. Trust of his people has
been repaired with ffection and obedi-
ence. BY wiping out the public debt
and keeping the Liechtenstein budget
down to 81 per person. he merits the
generous honor of the title, Johann the
Good.
"Liechtenstein is today the only Ger
man state which is still monarchy"