The Servian Uprising

THE SERVIAN UPRISING.

The revolution in Servia resulting in the assassination of the king and queen and various of their relatives and members of the cabinet, while horrible in the contemplation may be said to be a natural result of the conduct of the royal debauchees and their surroundings. The actions of the king and queen have been such for years as to drive away from themselves the support of all decent people, and others, of course, cared nothing for them at best. There seems to be no regret among any of the people for the violent taking off of the reigning regime, and even those who never can approve of assassination, aside from their abhorrence of the deed, probably have little to regret in the change thus brought about. The new regime may be and probably will be, little if any better, but it can be no worse. It is said that the new king set up by the army is a decent sort of a fellow, but he will be surrounded by murderers and assassins, those who are responsible for his elevation being the ones guilty of the violent taking off of King Alexander and the others. In the very nature of the case, Servia being a sort of buffer state, along with several other Balkan principalities, there can be little in the nature of settled conditions. These small states, were their people all that could be desired in character, would find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to maintain a decent and orderly conduct of public affairs, because of the outside influences to which they are subject. Their independence is only quasi independence and even that is only a matter of sufferance, being maintained only because of the jealously of the great nations which surround them. The people are little united and lack in large measure the patriotic spirit of cohesion and consequently are divided into cliques and factions ready at any time to be at the throats of each other. None of the governments which are set up have much regard for the rights of the people, and the affairs of these governments are conducted on a scale of cost rivaling those of the great nations surrounding them and the people are burdened with taxes almost beyond endurance and there is little or nothing to attach them to any regime. These peoples would be better off probably if they were attached to some one or more of the strong governments of Europe. This fate overtook Poland and because of similar causes to those which keep Servia in a constant turmoil. Servia and the other Balkan petty, quasi independent states have been the victims of invading armies for centuries and these experiences have left their indelible influences fixed upon them. And the Slavic peoples who constitute the bulk of the population appear to be incapable of uniting to maintain their rights and liberties. In many ways they are a very capable people, but lacking cohesion, they are a prey to the designs of jealous surrounding nations. And they seem destined to continue in the same path they have for centuries, or to absorption after the manner of Poland.