TU:KI:Y. 



service, consists of eight regiments of infan- 

 try culled dorobami ; eight regiments of cav- 

 alry, ral Ifil ritliircuhi; and one battery of ar- 

 tillery fi.r each of the thirty-three districts 

 iiiin \\hicli the country is divided. The militia 

 rt insists of two classes: one embracing tho 

 men from twenty-one to twenty-nine years 

 \\ ho have not been drawn for the standing or 

 territorial army; the second the men from 

 twenty-nine to thirty-seven years who have 

 completed their service in either of these two 

 armies. The national guard and the masses 

 include the men from thirty-seven to forty-six 

 years of age. According to the bndget of 

 1875, the standing army embraced 1,103 offi- 

 cers, and 18,271 men; the dorobami, 411 offi- 

 cers, 31,980 men ; the calarashi, 160 officers, 

 10,706 men ; total of standing and territorial 

 armies, 62,631 officers and men, with 14,578 

 horses. 



The present ruler of Servia, tho other de- 

 pendency of Turkey in Europe, Milan Obrono- 

 vitch 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 gov- 

 ernment, August 22, 1872. The legislative au- 

 thority is exercised by two bodies, the Senate 

 and the Skuptchina, or House of Represent- 

 atives. The Senate consists of seventeen 

 members, nominated by the people, and is per- 

 manently in session. The Skuptchina is com- 

 posed of delegates chosen by the people at the 

 rate of one deputy to every 2,000 electors. 

 According to the budget for the years 1874 

 '75jthe revenue was 35,035,000 ''tax-piasters" 

 (1 piaster = 4 cents), and the expenditure 

 at 85,031,983 piasters. The area of Servia is 

 16,817 square miles; population in 1872, 1,- 

 838,505 ; of whom about 5,000 are Moham- 

 medans, 1,500 Jews, 860 Protestants, 3,500 

 Roman Catholics, and the remainder members 

 of the Orthodox Greek Church. The capital, 

 Belgrade, had in 1871 a population of 27,589. 

 The army, actually under arms, consists of 

 about 4,000 men ; with the exception of 200 

 cavalry and a small artillery corps, all infantry. 

 The strength of the militia is estimated at 

 about 79,000 men. The imports were valued 

 in 1872 at 32,900,000 francs, the exports at 

 30,900,000 francs. There were in 1873 not yet 

 any railroads in Servia ; but the construction of 

 a road from Belgrade to Alexinatz was begun ; 

 the aggregate length of the telegraph-lines 

 was, in 1873, 602 miles. 



The Grand- Vizier, Mehemed Rushdi Pasha, 

 had to resign in February, because he had al- 

 lowed the French embassador, Count Vogu6, 

 to address the Sultan directly in behalf of the 

 Papal party in the United Armenian Church. 

 In compliance with the remonstrances of 

 France, the Hassunists (Papal party of tho 

 Armenian Church) were allowed to form a 

 separate civil community, and to elect their 

 own representative near the Porte. A com- 



mittee was appointed by the Government to 



decide on tho property of tliu Armenian 

 Church, and t lie majority of tin: committee de- 

 clared in favor of the unti-lIuMiun party. 



Several districts in Asia Minor, especially 

 tho neighborhood of Angora and Ctesarea, 

 severely Buffered in the latter part of tin 

 from a famine. In the town of Angora, 8,00u 

 persons were reported in December as being 

 dependent for their daily bread upon charity. 

 Fourteen villages in tho district, whose popu- 

 lation previous to the famine was 7,200, Jo.-t 

 more than 2,000 by death and 1,400 by emigra- 

 tion. In the city of Caasarea, 200 families 

 were being assisted, at Talas about 1,130 per- 

 sons, including Greeks, Moslems, and Armeni- 

 ans. The population of the village of Ahali, 

 which two or three years ago was about 1,100, 

 has been reduced by the famine to 500. 



In May, Prince Milan, of Servia, paid a visit 

 to the Sultan, at Constantinople. This act of 

 homage to his suzerain was regarded in Servia, 

 as well as in Constantinople, as an event of 

 considerable political importance. The Na- 

 tional Servian party, which subordinates every 

 thing to its desire for the establishment of an 

 independent Servian empire, felt greatly hu- 

 miliated by this step, in which it saw, on the 

 part of the prince and his advisers, a marked 

 change in policy, not at all favorable to their 

 own special views. 



The Skuptchina (National Assembly) of Ser- 

 via was opened on November 22d. Prince Mi- 

 lan, in his opening address, laid special stress 

 on the honorable reception which he had met 

 with in Constantinople, Vienna, and Paris, and 

 recommended to the Legislature liberal amend- 

 ments to the state constitution. The Govern- 

 ment also announced a bill for the establish- 

 ment of a National Bank. The Skuptchina 

 met not, as usual, in Krajugevatz, but in Bel- 

 grade. In discussing the address, by which 

 the Skuptchina was to answer the speech from 

 the throne, one member used so violent ex- 

 pressions against the head of the state, that he 

 was for one month excluded from the Assem- 

 bly. The draft of the address which was rec- 

 ommended by the committee was so warlike 

 against Turkey, that the ministry declared the 

 address would not be accepted by the prince. 

 In compliance with the demand of the minis- 

 try, the Skuptchina rejected the proposed ad- 

 dress, but only by a majority of three. The 

 ministers, therefore, offered their resignation, 

 and a new cabinet was formed by the Minister 

 of the Interior, Zumitsh. The new ministry 

 declared, however, that it would adhere to a 

 peaceable policy, like its predecessors, and the 

 majority of the Assembly deemed it best for 

 the present to express their confidence in tho 

 Government. 



, Roumania has taken another important step 

 toward establishing its complete independence. 

 The autumn manoeuvres of the M&ldo-Walla- 

 chian army, laughed at in 1872, but which at- 

 tracted some attention a year later, again took 



