Evening star., 1937-05-23
TINY ALBANIA DECLARED
BIG THREAT TO EUROPE,
Several Nations Reported Eyeing Land
of King Zog-Freedom of Nation
Is Called Legal Fiction.

IiihC Alpanla Is virtually already an
Italian province, while even the native
Albanian soldiers uniform is almost
duplicate of the Fascist model.
1t Is therefore little wonder that
the visitor in the country finds every.
Where a deep hatred against Italy
and It's imperialism. The few AL
oanlans who have been we'll educated
join with the crudest mountaineer in
a pledge to fight to the death against
annexation. They also know that
King zog has made a great many
trade concessions to Mussolini.
whether or not these concessions lin
exchange for loans) have been worth
the sacrifice of freedom, whether the
modernization derived from Italian
money has been benefit, the fact
remains that King Zog Is more and
more finding himself distrusted by
his people.
Zog's Wealth Reported Abroad
They have heard rumors of Kir.,
zogs accepting favors from fore1gn
powers, and they hear that his for
tune is deposited in Swiss and Aus
trlan banks. Privates in the army
making a monthly salary of as little
as 30 cents discover that King Zoss
salary from the state amounted to
nearly 3 per cent of the total reve-
nue. OF the realm in 1934-5, accord
ing to John Gunther In inside
Europe"
Here Is country OF 1000, 900 per-
sons capable of supporting 5000 600
with ease. Rich in minerals and soil.
and IN scenery so beautiful as to be
comparable only to the Swiss Alps.
thus offering huge inducements to
prosperous influx of tourists, it
stul remains one Of the poorest and
most backward countries in the
world. Whatever advances King zog
has performed for his people, he has
not satisfied the majority.
In southern Albania. between
Valona and Sarranda, bordering the
1onian Sea. a long beach stretches,
hemmed In for miles by incredibly
beautiful mountain ranges and
throughout the year blessed by a
brilliant sun.
What Lures the Italians.
This section" says an English
educated Albanian business man of
Valona, is what the Italians want
mostly-together with the Oil fields.
The Italians could make a tourist
paradise here which would put the
French Riviera to shame. They have
already scared away all other for
elgn investors and they are now very
successfully starving out southern
Albania, using as their weapon the
special trade concessions which Zog
named TO them. 1t is now only a
question Of time before We will Of
ficially be annexed by Italy. For,
truly, We are but one of Mussolini's
provinces noW!"
The fact is that there Is a great
deal OF discomfort in Albania today.
Defenders of the King say that the
Aloanlans are always discontented,
that they never know what they want,
that they are naturally a lazy, shift
less people. But this is contrary to
the impressions garnered by the tour
lst. He finds a people endowed with
a remarkable native intelligence,
gripped with fantastic devotion to
independence, anxious to see Albania
happy and prosperous land The
majority OF Albanians, discontented
with the present form of government,
are looking for another. And the
strange aspect in Albania, and one
that becomes apparent to the visitor,
IS the trend toward communism.
Any Change Welcome
1t is a form of communism which
seemingly has been uninspired by
foreign suggestion; a majority of its
Albanian advocates could not tell
you exactly what it was. Most of
them find it impossible to differ
entiate between communism and de-
mocracy. They seem to know only
that they want change of govern
ment and they believe that anything
would be an improvement on what
they have now.
A sheep herder in the mountains
east of Kavaje typitied the general
attitude of his people toward their
government.
I'VE have tried hard-all Of us
under Zog to make our country happy
and prosperous he said. After our
bitter struggle for independence we
wanted to keep ourselves free people.
1t was up to the government that we
had fought for, the government we
supported and our King to show us
what our sufferings could win for us.
Up to now they have shown us only
that our struggles were in vain. To-
day We are little better of than we
were under the Turks"
Zog Has Done Some Good.
King Zog has undoubtedly done a
good deal to modernize his country.
Today there are more schools and
few more conveniences. Several
months ago he forbade the wearing
OF wells by women. 1t is now said
that this is main cause of the lat.
est uprising. and that communistic
intrigues from abroad are another
chief reason. The reasons for revo.
luton are obvious: Zog had sacri.
feed too much of hard-earned AL.
banian freedom without the sanction
of his people.
The newest uprising Is another
indication of growing unrest in that
mountain country. another evidence
Of increasing trouble in the turbu.
lent Balkans during the days to come.