According to the budget of 1875 the army* embraced 1,613 officers, 62,158 men, and 14,921 horses.

The present ruler of Servia, the other dependency of Turkey in Europe, Milan Obrenovitch IV., was born 1855, and succeeded to the throne by the election of the Servian National Assembly, after the assassination of his uncle, Prince Michael Obrenovitch, June, 1868; was crowned at Belgrade, and assumed the government, August 22, 1872. He was married on October 17, 1875, to Natalie de Keshko, the daughter of a Russian nobleman. The legislative authority is exercised by the Skuptchina. The former Senate has been changed into a Council of State, which prepares the laws. The Skuptchina is composed of delegates chosen by the people, at the rate of one deputy to every 2,000 electors, and consisted in 1875 of 134 members, of whom 33 were appointed by the prince, and 101 elected by the people.

According to the budget for the year 1874'75 the revenue was 35,035,000 "tax-piasters (1 piaster = 4 cents), and the expenditure 35,031,983 piasters. The area of Servia is 16,817 square miles; population in 1872, 1,338,505; of whom about 5,000 are Mohammedans, 1,500 Jews, 360 Protestants, 3,500 Roman Catholics, and the remainder members of the Orthodox Greek Church. The capital, Belgrade, had in 1872 a population of 26,674, exclusive of the garrison. The army, actually under arms, consists of 4,720 men, with the exception of 200 cavalry and a small artillery corps, all infantry. The strength of the reserves is 150,490 men. The imports were valued in 1872 at 32,900,000 francs; the exports at 30,900,000 francs. There were in 1875 not yet any railroads in Servia, but the construction of a road from Belgrade to Nish was begun; the aggregate length of the telegraphlines was, in 1872, 853 miles.

The prince of the tributary island of Samos is Constantine J. Photiades. The area of the island is 212 square miles; the population in 1874 was 34,141. In 1874 the revenue amounted to 3,343,165 piasters, and the expenditure to 3,095,320 piasters. The imports and exports are estimated at 8,000,000 and 10,000,000 piasters respectively. The commercial navy comprises 236 vessels of 4,717 tons. The movement of shipping in 1874 was 75 steamers, of 9,087 tons, and 4,803 sailing-vessels, of 41,367 tons.

The principality of Montenegro, which was formerly a tributary state of Turkey, must now be regarded as an independent state. The For a fuller account of the Roumanian army, see ANNUAL

CYCLOPEDIA for 1874.

is separated on the north from Austrian Slavonia by the Save; on the east from the principality of Servia by the rivers Drina, Uvac, and Lim; on the west from Dalmatia by a chain of Alps and the Unna; and on the south bounded by the last-named country, Montenegro, and Albania. It has an extent of 23,400 square miles, and a population of 1,357,984 inhabitants. The political division of Bosnia is into seven governments. The centres of population are Seraievo, Travnick, Bihac, Banjaluka, Svornick, Novi-Bazar, Mostar, Trebigne, and Plevelji. The people belong, in great part, to the Slavic race. A small minority is composed of Jews, Bohemians, and unnaturalized foreigners. The regular Turkish troops stationed in the country under ordinary conditions number about 9,000 men. The Servian language is the only one used, excepting among officials and soldiers. In a religious point of view the inhabitants are divided into Christians (Catholics and Orthodox Greeks) and Mohammedans. The latter-about 493,000-belong to the same race as the rest of the population. They are Servians who have embraced Islamism in order to preserve their property. These renegades, who form, under the name of Begs, a kind of aristocracy, possess the whole of the soil, and treat the Rayahs, or common people, who live exclusively by the cultivation of the ground, with the greatest barbarity. A very few proprietors are also to be found of Turkish origin, termed Agas Sphaios, whose titles of possession date back to the conquest. The Slavi of Bosnia and the Herzegovina are tall and strong; their features are swarthy, and stamped with a manly energy. The Turkish occupation, although it has been established for so long a time, has not modified the character or the habits of the inhabitants of those countries. The food of the Slavic peasantry is of the most simple description, consisting chiefly of milk products and onions; he who can provide bread made from buckwheat is counted a man in easy circumstances. The whole of the territory of the province is mountainous. The most important river of Bosnia is the Save, which forms a part of the frontier toward Austria. Some steamboats ply upon it from Sissek, in Slavonia, to near Belgrade, where it joins the Danube. The Herzegovina, forming the south western part of Bosnia, has an area of 6,420 square miles, and about 290,000 inhabitants, of whom 62,000 are Mohammedans.

and the Austrian frontier toward Ragusa After a skirmish, near Nevesigne, the Turkish authorities made an unsuccessful attempt to induce the Christian villages to lay down their arms. On August 16th two detachments of Turkish troops entered Mostar, while at the same time the Governor of Bosnia was ordered to dispatch troops against the insurgents. The insurrection met at once with great sympathy in Servia and Montenegro, as the inhabitants of the Herzegovina are of the same race as those of the above countries, and large numbers of volunteers crossed over to the insurgents from these countries, and subscriptions in aid of the insurrection were opened by the Servians.

In the beginning of August the insurgents succeeded after several engagements with the Turks in surrounding Trebigne. In the middle of the month an insurrection broke out in Turkish Croatia, in the district between Kostainicza and Dubicza, along the Austrian frontier. Turkish Croatia is, like that part of Croatia which is under Austrian rule, inhabited by a people of Slavonian descent, who mostly belong to the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches. The section held by Turkey forms the north part of the vilayet of Bosnia; it is small in extent, but is inhabited by a hardy, brave people, who are in sympathy with the insurgents in Herzegovina. In the mean while the great powers of Europe took a considerable interest in the insurrection. On August 19th the Russian, Austrian, and German embassadors had a protracted conference with the Grand-Vizier. They advised a suspension of hostilities, with the view of affording an opportunity for ascertaining the grievances of the insurgents, but the Porte declined to accede to this proposition. Shortly after, however, the Porte, upon the recommendation of the six great powers, Germany, Austria, Russia, France, England, and Italy, appointed Server Pasha a special commissioner to hear and redress the grievances of the insurgents. The foreign consuls at the same time were ordered to inform the insurgents that they could count on no foreign assistance.

In August 2,500 troops arrived at Klek from Constantinople, and marching into the interior effected a junction with a force that had come overland. On August 30th they arrived at Mostar without having met with any opposition.

In the latter part of August the Turks relieved Trebigne, driving the insurgents_into the mountains. On September 6th the Turkish commander of Trebigne sent a detachment to Biletj, fifteen miles to the northeast. Though the detachment consisted of fully 1,200 men, commanded by Nedjib Pasha, they were lured into an ambush, and set upon with so much fury by an inferior force that several hundred were killed or captured, the rest reaching Trebigne in a very dilapidated condition. On the 11th another Turkish detachment was defeated

on the same road, losing forty mules laden with provisions. Encouraged by success, the insurgents on the 14th assailed Biletj itself, but were discomfited. Two thousand Turks, protected by earthworks, easily carried the day against 700 insurgents, who left a good many on the field before retreating. Better luck attended the operations of the insurgents on the same day at Bobr, some twenty miles northwest of Trebigne. There the Turkish earthworks were taken by storm and occupied by the insurgents, the garrison flying in every direction. In the first flush of victory the insurgents penetrated as far as Lubigne, where a store of ammunition and provisions was seized. In the mean while the foreign consuls met at Mostar, in order to have a conference with the Turkish commissioner and the insurgent leaders. The latter, however, failed to put in an appearance. The consuls then set on a journey through the Herzegovina, in order to look up the insurgents in their strongholds, and to counsel submission to the Porte. They were, however, unsuccessful in their efforts. A manifesto was addressed to the consuls by a number of Herzegovinians who had taken refuge in Austrian territory. It enumerated their grievances against Turkey, and concluded by rejecting the mediation of the powers and demanding the complete liberation of the country from the Ottoman rule.

In the beginning of September the Sultan issued the following firman to the governorgenerals of the provinces:

There is no doubt that the welfare of the country and the well-being of its inhabitants have for their general basis the security of property, life, and honor, of each one. This security can only be obtained by a good and impartial administration of justice. This was the sense of our last imperial hattí to our grand-vizier, which read as follows: As the good administration of affairs in our empire, the welfare of the country and the happiness of its inhabitants, is the object of all our care, it is our wish that an effective protection and equal justice be enjoyed by all classes of society in such a manner that the rights and the honor of all be secured. As the ministry of justice represents one of the most important departments of state, it is absolutely necessary that it proceed in conformity with our well-meaning intentions. We, therefore, order that these intentions be proclaimed and be fully executed. Our orders and our later instructions are only issued to-day, in order to confirm our above-mentioned sovereign' intentions. Their execution depends on the honest and energetic efforts which must be displayed by all dignitaries, whether they are judges or administrative officers, as well as on their willingness to produce a beneficial change of affairs. All public officers, and particularly those who are intrusted with judicial functions at the courts of the Scheri, and the civil courts, either in the capital or in provinces, must particularly see to it that the trials are conducted impartially, and in accordance with the laws of the Scheri, and the other laws in general, that all our subjects without distinction may enjoy the greatest security and justice. This is our decided imperial wish. After the preceding was brought to the notice of each one of my governor-generals, our present sovereign order proceeded from our imperial divan, and at the same time that you in your position as governor-general will receive this order you will also receive a list of

those acts which have been committed contrary to the laws of my empire, and with the knowledge of all the world. Upon the receipt of my imperial firthe knowledge of the judiciary as well as the adminman, you will hasten to bring these instructions to istrative officers, and all of our minor officers, in the capital and all the districts of the vilayet, and you will see that our orders are promptly executed. It is understood that the officers will be treated according to their good or bad behavior. The Sublime Porte will take such measures as may seem necessary to keep informed on the course of public affairs. As you know that the least infringement or neglect of our imperial orders will bring on you a heavy retake care to bring to the notice of our Sublime Porte sponsibility, you must act accordingly. You will all those officers who act contrary to our commands.

On October 2d an imperial "iradé" was published, providing that agricultural populations, who peacefully follow their avocations, be exempted from a fourth of the recently-imposed tithes, and that they be relieved from the payment of arrears of taxes up to the financial year 1289 (1873-74), the latter exemption not to apply to well-to-do classes who are indebted to the Treasury. The decree further enacted that communities are to be represented in an administrative council by persons chosen as enjoying their confidence, and the reasonable demands of such representatives will be received with attention. Deputations from the annual General Assemblies are authorized to come to Constantinople to submit to the Government their wishes. The Government is to decide which persons, enjoying the respect of their respective communities, shall be summoned from time to time to Constantinople. The information obtained from them will serve as a basis for reform measures. Special controllers are to be appointed to insure the legal apportionment and collection of the taxes. sideration to guarantee a just treatment of the A system is already under conpopulation by the conversion of tithes into a ground-tax. The decree announced that the gradual realization of these reforms had been decided upon.

General Ignatiev, the Russian embassador, after having paid a visit to the Czar in the Crimea, returned to Constantinople on October 27th, and immediately had an interview with the Grand-Vizier, Mahmud Pasha, during which he said: "The Czar regrets that the insurrection in the Herzegovina has not yet come to an end. He ascribes this delay to the poor actions of the tribunal recently appointed in Mostar, as well as to the low degree of security enjoyed by the insurgents who return to their allegiance. These, on the contrary, are subject to annoyances on the part of the authorities. Thus, also, the delay in the execution of the promised reform is a cause of the continuance of the insurrection. It is to be hoped that an improvement in these affairs will shortly take place; if not, he can not see the Christians of the Ottoman Empire continually exposed to persecutions, and the powers will be forced to intervene."

The Porte, at the suggestion of Russia, organized in November the southern part of the Herzegovina as a separate district, and appointed for its governor Constant Effendi, an Armenian, who, however, was decidedly unpopular among the Herzegovinians. The fighting continued with varying success during the whole of the negotiations, but upon the advent of winter it generally ceased. In the beginning of November the insurgents gained an important victory at Gatchko, where they captured a provision-train, fifty tons of ammunition, and three hundred rifles, destined for

Govansko.

All subjects of the Porte, without distinction, elect the judges, the Mohammedan as well as the nonMohammedan members of the courts, and the members of the provincial administration councils. The lawsuits between Mohammedans and non-Mohammedans will be turned over to the civil courts. No one will be imprisoned without a trial. Bad treatment of prisoners will not be permitted.

The following measures are named to prevent the arbitrary collection of taxes: Election of the tax-collectors by the Mohammedans and non-Mohammedans, and reform in the titles of real estate. The rights of possession of all subjects shall be secured, the gensdarmes shall be selected from the best inhabitants of each town, socage shall be abolished, and services for public works shall be kept in distinct bounds. The firman confirmed the powers of the Patriarchs, and gave to all other religious heads the right of the free exercise of their respective religions. At the same time all privileges for the founding of churches and schools were guaranteed, and all public offices opened to non-Mohammedan subjects. The amount for the exemption from military duty is adapted to the property of the inhabitants, and for non-Mohammedans shall be only one-half the amount for Mohammedans. Those unfitted for service are released from this fee. The right of holding real estate is secured to all nonMohammedan subjects of the provinces. Testamentary provisions shall be respected. The firman furthermore provided for bringing unhindered all just complaints and wishes before the Porte. The powers of the governors and other high officials are cut down. All the provisions in the firman are for the benefit of loyal subjects only. The grand-vizier will take the necessary measures to bring these reforms into execution, while a special commission will watch over them.

On December 20th a supreme commission was appointed, consisting of all state ministers, and several Mohammedans and Christians, who were to see to the execution of the new re

forms. Later two more commissions were appointed, one for commerce and agriculture, and the other for public works. Toward the close of December, Count Andrassy, the Austrian Chancellor, prepared, at the suggestion of Russia and Germany, a circular note to the great powers of Europe, which read as follows:

BUDA-PESTH, December 30, 1875. Since the beginning of the troubles in the Herzegovina, the European cabinets interested in the general peace have directed their attention to the events which have threatened it.

The three courts of Austro-Hungary, Russia, and Germany, after having exchanged their views on

this subject, have united their efforts in favor of peace.

in such a degree, that the other cabinets, upon being This object seemed to conform to the general view invited to take part in it through their representatives in Constantinople, hastened to unite their efforts with ours.

The great powers have agreed to use all influence at their disposal to localize and to diminish its dangers and calamities, in preventing Servia and Montenegro from taking part in the movement.

Their language has been all the more efficacious, as it has been the same, and has thus expressed the

firm desire of Europe not to let the general peace be endangered by any hasty actions.

The cabinets have furthermore offered to the Turkish Government the aid of their consular agents in suppressing the outbreak. In this undertaking they have taken care to avoid all interference, and to respect the dignity, the rights, and the authority of the sovereign.

The delegates could not act as an investigating committee, nor could they make themselves the advocates of the wishes of the insurgent population. Their mission was to take from the latter all illusions of foreign assistance, and to exhort them to disperse, after having declared their wishes and their griefs. The powers only reserved the right to press those demands of the insurgents with the Turkish Government which would be found legitimate. This conciliating action of the cabinets proved sufficiently the friendly intention which had prompted the offer of their good offices. It showed that the interests of Europe, the Porte, and the insurgents, were identical, to put an end to a bloody and destructive war, and to prevent its return by serious reforms and effective improvements, which would reconcile the best interests of the country with the legitimate demands of the authorities. This is in a few words the action taken by the powers since the outbreak of the insurrection.

The cabinets have been guided up to the present time by the desire to avoid, above all, everything that might be interpreted as a premature intervention of Europe.

In accordance with these ideas, the cabinets have restricted themselves to counsel the Government of the Sultan not to confine itself to military measures only, but to make it an object to combat the evil by moral means which are destined to prevent future disorders.

In acting thus, the cabinets had the intention of giving to the Sublime Porte that moral assistance which it needed, and on the other hand to give it time to pacify the insurgent provinces, hoping that thus all danger of future complications would be avoided. Unfortunately, their hopes were not fulfilled. On the one hand the reforms published by the Porte do not seem to have had in view the pacification of the population of the insurgent provinces, nor do they seem to suffice for this object. On the other hand, the Turkish arms have not succeeded in putting an end to the insurrection.

Under these circumstances we believe the moment policy, by which they can prevent the insurrection to have come for the powers to agree on a common from endangering the peace of Europe, through its further continuance.

We have applauded, the same as the other governments, the well-meaning intentions which have iniradé of October 2d, and the firman of December 12th, spired the recent manifestoes of the Sultan. The contain a series of principles destined to introduce reforms in the organization of the Ottoman Empire.

There is reason to believe that if these principles are embodied in wise legislative acts; if, above all, their execution is guided by the same enlightened views which dictated them, they will produce real improvements in the administration of Turkey.

At the same time we cannot be blind to the fact

that the reforms announced would not be able of themselves to stop for a moment the shedding of blood in the Herzegovina and Bosnia, nor to form a solid foundation for the future peace of these parts of the Ottoman Empire.

If, indeed, we examine the contents of the iradé of October 2d, we cannot but recognize that the Sublime Porte has paid more attention to general principles, which in a precise form will be able to serve as a basis for the administration of the empire, than to the pacification of the provinces at present in rebellion.

It is the interest of the Ottoman Government that the pacification be secured before everything else, because, as long as it is not secured, it will be impossible to put those same principles into operation which the Sublime Porte has proclaimed.

On the other hand, the state of anarchy which is devastating the northwestern provinces of Turkey does not only present difficulties for the Sublime Porte, but it also contains great dangers for the general peace; and the different European states cannot look on indifferently and see a state of affairs repeating itself, and growing worse, which already weighs heavily on commerce and industry, and which, destroying more and more every day the confidence of the public in the preservation of peace, tends to compromise graver and more important interests. We also believe to fulfill an imperative duty in calling the serious attention of the guaranteeing powers to the necessity of recommending to the Sublime Porte to complete its action by such measures which appear indispensable to establish order and quiet in the provinces disturbed at this moment by civil war.

As a result of an exchange of ideas which has taken place between us and the cabinets of St. Petersburg and Berlin, it has been recognized that these measures must be sought for in a double direction; in the first place in a moral, and secondly in a material way.

Indeed, the material state of the Christian inhabitants of Bosnia and the Herzegovina depends chiefly on their social and moral position.

In examining the fundamental causes of the peculiar position which the Herzegovina and Bosnia have occupied during several years, the feeling of enmity and mistrust prevailing between the Christians and Mohammedans is directly patent to all. It is this disposition which has rendered it impossible to our delegates to convince the Christian inhabitants that the Turkish authorities were actuated by the sincere desire to redress their griefs. There is probably no other part of European Turkey where the antagonism between the Cross and the Crescent takes such a distinct form. This fanatical hate and mistrust must be attributed to the neighborhood of peoples of the same race, enjoying that religious liberty of which the Christians of Bosnia and the Herzegovina find themselves deprived. The incessant comparison causes them to have the idea of being subjected to the yoke of an actual servitude, that the name of Rayah seems to place them morally in a position inferior to that of their neighbors; and that, in a word, they feel themselves as slaves.

More than once has Europe had to occupy itself with their complaints and the means for their redress. The hatti-houmayoun of 1856 is one of the fruits of the solicitude of the powers. But even by the terms of this act the liberty of worship is still limited by clauses which, particularly in Bosnia and the Herzegovina, are enforced with a severity which each year brings about fresh conflicts. The construction of edifices consecrated to religious worship and to instruction, the use of bells, the formation of religious associations, etc., are still subjected to such difficulties in these provinces as appear to the Christians as so many remembrances of the war of conquest, which let the Mussulmans appear in their eyes as enemies of their faith, and confirm them in the VOL. XV.-47 A

belief that they live under a yoke which it is their privilege and duty to throw off.

The last firman touches this point, even as it had been done by the hatti-sheriff of 1939, the hattihoumayoun of 1856, and other acts of the Sublime Porte. It confirms the powers of the Patriarchs and other spiritual chiefs with which they are invested for the affairs of other respective communities, and for the free exercise of their worship, but at the same time designates the rights and powers as limits. It also promises facilities for building churches and schools, a promise which has been more than once laid down in official acts, but which cannot aid the process of tranquilizing, as its realization depends upon the provincial authorities, who, obeying the local pressure, cannot put it into execution, unless the principle has been distinctly enunciated.'

The firman, therefore, which has just been promulgated, does not pass beyond any point not granted in the hatti-houmayoun, which, as I have stated, surrounds the religious liberty with restrictions, which, in the course of the last years, have provoked numerous conflicts. Restricted as they are, the concessions which it makes have never sufficed to satisfy the Christians. This will be all the less the case at the present time, after the events which have drenched the country with blood and which only embitter the contest which separates the two religions. The insurrection once suppressed, the Mohammedan element, considering itself as victor, will without doubt seek to avenge itself on the Christians for the losses which so violent a war caused them. A state of affairs which makes the coexistence of two peoples who have just emerged from so bitter a conflict possible can only be assured by placing the Christian religion on an equal footing with the Islam, and by publicly recognizing and respecting, and not only tolerating it, as is the case at present. It is for this reason that the guaranteeing powers ought in our opinion not only to demand of the Porte, but obtain of it as the first and principal concession, a full and entire religious liberty.

Equality before the law is a principle explicitly proclaimed by the hatti-houmayoun, and secured by legislation. It is without doubt for this reason that the recent acts of the Sultan have omitted to mention it.

But this principle, although legal, is not generally applied throughout the empire. In fact, the testimony of Christians against Mohammedans is received by the tribunals of Constantinople, and for the most part in the other large cities. But in some distant provinces, as in Bosnia and the Herzegovina, the judges refuse to recognize its validity. It would, therefore, be necessary to take such measures that in future the Christians will not have to fear a denial of justice.

Another point which calls for an urgent remedy is the farming out of the contributions. Even the hatti-sheriff of 1839, in speaking of this system, expressed itself in the following terms: "An evil habit still exists, which can only have disastrous consequences, that of the venal concessions, designated by the name of iltizam. In this system the civil and financial administration is handed over to a single man, that is to say, sometimes to the iron hand of the most violent passions and the most exacting cupidity."

And the hatti-houmayoun says as follows: "The most energetic and the promptest means will be advised in the collection of the taxes, especially of the tithes. The system of the direct collection shall be introduced successively, and as soon as possible, in the place of the farming-out system in all the branches of the Government."

In spite of these formal declarations, the farmingout system still exists in all its extent.

To-day the Porte brings reforms in view in this direction, without, however, saying anything definite. The firman of December 12th again desig