740 



TURKEY. 



extending into Servia, and which seemed to 

 threaten to assume proportions which might 

 render its suppression impossible. The Skup- 

 tchina met on August 28th. A new coalition 

 ministry was formed by Ristic. Prince Milan, 

 in formally opening the Skuptchina on Septem- 

 ber 9th, referred, in indefinite language, to the 

 troubles in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He said 

 he relied on his people's support in the serious 

 task imposed by the grave crisis. Shortly after 

 the Servian ministry issued a circular to the 

 chiefs of the several districts, saying : " We are 



living on the best terms with the Porte. We, 

 therefore, order that you prevent this good 

 understanding from being disturbed either by 

 permitting volunteers to join the insurgents, 

 or by the export of arms, ammunition, or pro- 

 visions." On account, however, of the threat- 

 ening concentration of Turkish troops on the 

 frontier, the Servian Government ordered the 

 mobilization of six frontier brigades, aggre- 

 gating 24,000 men. Each soldier was supplied 

 with 100 rounds of ammunition, and special 

 precautions were to be taken during the night. 



BELGRADE. 



The address of the Skuptchina, in reply to the 

 speech from the throne, was published on Sep- 

 tember 23d. All means necessary to protect 

 the liberty of the people and the security of 

 the country were placed at the disposal of 

 Prince Milan. On October 4th the ministry 

 resigned, and a new one, under Kaljevic, was 

 formed. The new ministry was decidedly in 

 favor of peace, and although the Skuptchina 

 had a large majority in favor of war, it finally 

 acceded to the decided wishes of the prince, 

 who, in obedience to the pressure exercised by 

 Austria and Russia, exerted himself to his ut- 

 most to preserve the peace. On October 29th 

 Prince Milan adjourned the sittings of the 

 Skuptchina one month at the request of its 

 members. On November 12th the Servian 

 troops were withdrawn from the frontier, as 

 those of the Turks had been withdrawn a few 

 days previously. The Skuptchina reassembled 

 on November 30th. 



The Roumanian Chambers were closed on 

 March 28th by Prince Charles, by a speech in 

 which he called attention to the general re- 

 spect in which the principality was held in 

 Europe, as other powers desired to form treaties 

 with it, a sentiment which was warmly ap- 

 plauded. 



The elections for the new Chambers took 

 place on May 4th, in which the Liberal party 

 were badly defeated. 



The regular session of the Chambers was 

 opened on November 27th, by Prince Charles 

 in person. In the speech from the throne he 

 called particular attention to the prosperous 

 state of the country, atid closed with the 

 words, " We could only follow with the most 

 vivid attention the events going on on the 

 other side of the Danube. By means of our 

 favorable position we were able to continue 

 the course of peaceful reorganization, which 

 meets the real necessities of the nation." 



The famine in Asia Minor continued during 

 the early part of the year, and was followed 

 in March by destructive floods. The valleys 

 of the Meander and Hermus, the great agri- 

 cultural districts of Smyrna, were inundated 

 for over a month, to the complete suspension 

 of all farming operations, and to the destruc- 

 tion of a great deal of valuable property. 



In March, the city of Beyrout, in Syria, was 

 the scene of an anti-Christian riot. A great 

 number of Mohammedans, of both sexes and 

 of all ages, armed with knives, sticks, and 

 stones, assembled in a suburb and assaulted 

 every Christian they met, breaking the win- 

 dows of the houses they passed. As all the 

 Christian men of that part (chiefly the labor- 

 ing-classes) were either at work or attending 

 the Lent services in churches, the women and 

 children were unprotected, and shut them- 

 selves up in their houses. At length a body 



