Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-13

loyal fellow workers in all my future
efforts to do what the health of the
state requires.
IT have. therefore, decided hereby to
decree the constitution of the kingdom
of 1921 abolished. The laws of the
land will remain in force unless can
celed by my royal decree. New laws In
future will be made by the same
method. The Parliament elected No
vember / is hereby dismissed"
The above quoted decree was follow
ed by four others. One sets forth the
position of the King. In fine, he Is the
sole source of power in the country.
He issues all laws and appoints all Of
ficials. Ministers of his own choosing
will assist him and be responsible to him
alone. Another decree deals with the
public security. Communism and
Nihilism are denounced and "any poll
tical party of nationalist or chauvin-
list character will instantly be dis
solved" A third decree gags the press.
A fourth abolishes all local elective
bodies and declares that governors will
be appointed by the King for admin
istrative subdivisions and municipal
councils for Belgrade, zagreb and
Laibach. :.
The action taken by the King was, If
not the only, at any rate the most OBJ
vious way to save the Kingdom from
civil war. There Is general agree
ment that the King took it most re-
luctantly, that he is a genuine friend OF
parliamentarism but convinced that the
institution is unsuitable to the present
situation, partly because of insufficient
education, partly because of manifold
conditions making for separatism, dis
harmony, lack of common understand
ing. The sequel will be watched by the
world with intense interest. Apparently
the populace of Belgrade Is delighted
with the change.
Latvia-Latvia has been celebrating
the tenth anniversary of the establish
ment Of Latvian independence. The
Let's have done exceedingly we'll. In
their war for independence they dis
played courage and address, in or
ganizing their republic they have dis
played sagacity and common sense.
1t Is scarcely correct to say that IN
dependence was established III years
aeu. It was asserted, but more than a
year elapsed before 1t was securely
established, before Russian bolsheviks
and German freebooters with whom
the Baltic barons" of Latvia were as
sociated) were rid out. The constitu-
ton was adopted early In 1922, and the
republic has known little serious In
ternal trouble, despite the great effort
of reconstruction required to repair the
havoc wrought by the bolsheviks and
the Germans.
BY a revolutionary agrarian measure
the great landed estates were broken
up, each owner being allowed to keep
his demeSne-that is. his manor house,
and SO or more hectares about it. The
rest of the land was parceled out to
the landleSS. Latvia Is therefore land
of small and medium sized farms; the
most stable form of economy. The
Baltic barons" were treated far better
than they deserved, in view of their
reasonable behavior toward the re-
public their ancestors had dispoSsessed
the natives, and the descendants of the
latter righted an ancient wrong not
without generosity to the descendants
of the former. The agrarian reform
has proved an economic success: the
value of the crops and the numbers of
livestock have notably increased since
the division.
Before the war, under Russian rule,
Latvian industry was of considerable
Importance, especially at Riga. During
the hostilities the principal plants were
destroyed, machinery suffering the
same fate or being removed to Russia
Recovery, however. is being made; II
has just passed so per cent. Agricul-
ture, however (including dairying and
the rearing of live stock for hides), and
fishing are and are likely to continue
the chief Latvian occupations. There
are there good harbors-Riga, Libau
and Windau. The budget is balanced
the currency stabilized (about 5.l8 lats
to the dollar, note emissions fully Sc
cured. the general financial situation
excellent. The fisc is managed with
admirable economy. All the foreign
sss:s lave hsan 1fGd of except those