696 



SERVIA. 



SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST CHURCH. 



Liberals; the abuse of the power of the state 

 officials and the serious financial condition im- 

 bittered the supporters of the Radicals, and a 

 number of Deputies deserted the cause of Pre- 

 mier Pachich. In the meantime the Liberals 

 and Progressists agitated against the Govern- 

 ment in power, under the leadership of the for- 

 mer Prime Minister, Garashanin, and not without 

 success, for when Pachich, in order to prevent 

 the total dissolution of his party, undertook a 

 tour through the provinces, making speeches in 

 which he advocated his party's cause, he found 

 that the popularity which he had formerly en- 

 joyed had seriously diminished. The question 

 of filling the third place in the Regency not 

 only affected the parties, but was of the greatest 

 importance to the Regents themselves, for in 

 case a Radical obtained the office he could bring 

 the whole business of state to a standstill by 

 refusing his signature to important measures. 

 Premier Pachich desired to fill the place of a 

 third Regent himself, and to be able to re- 

 unite his party he endeavored to have himself 

 elected, and then come before the party con- 

 vention called for Sept. 1, 1892, with the accom- 

 plished fact. For this purpose he demanded 

 'the immediate convocation of the Skupshtina, 

 grounding his demand on the necessity of ratify- 

 ing the Austro-Servian commercial treaty. The 

 first Regent, Ristich. declared himself ready to 

 come to a compromise with the Government re- 

 garding the election of a Regent, and that no 

 necessity existed for convoking the Skupshtina. 

 Prime-Minister Pachich insisted that such action 

 of the Regents was unconstitutional, and that 

 he would insist on his demands. The Regent 

 replied that, this being true, he would have to 

 request the ministry to resign, and that he would 

 call in a Liberal ministry, which was constitu- 

 tional. Consequently the Pachich Cabinet on 

 Aug. 15 tendered their resignations, which were 

 immediately accepted, and the leader of the Lib- 

 erals, Avakumovich, was charged with the forma- 

 tion of a new Cabinet. Evidently the fall of the 

 Radicals had been expected, for it did not re- 

 quire any length of time to complete the list of 

 ministers, the new Cabinet being composed of the 

 following members : Premier and Minister of 

 Foreign Affairs, Jovan Avakumovich ; Min- 

 ister of the Interior, Stojan Ribaraz ; Minister of 

 Finance, Demeter Stojanovich ; Minister of Jus- 

 tice, Witskovich ; Minister of Public Instruc- 

 tion and Worship, Jovan Boskowich ; Minister 

 of War, Gen. Bogitchevich ; Minister of Public 

 Works, Prof. Alkovich ; Minister of Agriculture 

 and Commerce, Svefcozar Gwozdich. The pro- 

 gramme of the new Cabinet embraced friendly 

 relations with all powers, to secure Servia's neu- 

 trality; strong administration of all branches 

 of the Government ; extension of the means of 

 communication and regulation of the system of 

 taxation, so as to balance the financial budget ; 

 and to properly organize the national defense. 

 To prevent the Radicals from electing one of 

 their number to the vacant post in the Regency, 

 the regular meeting of the Skupshtina was post- 

 poned two months, and at the expiration of this 

 time the Chamber was dissolved, and new elec- 

 tions ordered to be held in February, 1893. 



At a mass meeting of the Radical party held 

 at Alexinatz, Sept. 5, 1892, resolutions were 



adopted declaring the Radical Government jus- 

 tified in tendering its resignation, and giving it 

 the approval of the Assembly. A second resolu- 

 tion condemned the action of the Regents as 

 being opposed to parliamentary order, in ap- 

 pointing a ministry from among a party which 

 only represented a small minority. 



Session of the Skupshtina. A bill was 

 submitted to the Skupsntina and passed on 

 March 24, 1892, dealing with ex-King Milan's 

 renunciation of his Servian citizenship. By this 

 measure Milan, in consideration of a stipulated 

 sura of money, renounces absolutely all his 

 rights as a Servian citizen and his ties with the 

 Servian royal house ; he gives up his influence 

 over the education as well as financial affairs of 

 the King ; he agrees never to make any further 

 demands on the Servian Government nor on the 

 royal house ; nor can he again become a Servian 

 citizen without the consent of the Skupshtina. 

 He is forbidden ever to return, remain, or settle 

 in Servia, except in the case of a serious sick- 

 ness of his son, when he may be permitted, with 

 the consent of the Regency, to remain with his 

 son during the duration of such sickness. 



The commercial treaty with Austria was pro- 

 longed until Jan. 1, 1893, a new treaty being 

 under consideration. A sum of 26,000,000 francs 

 was granted by the Skupshtina to complete the 

 organization of the army. 



SEVENTH -DAY BAPTIST CHURCH. 

 Seventy-three churches of this denomination 

 which reported to the General Conference re- 

 turned a total of 458 additions, of which 287 

 were by baptism and 27 by testimony, and a total 

 decrease of 355 ; a net gain of 103 members. 



The ninetieth General Conference met at Nor- 

 tonville, Kan., Aug. 24. Mr. David E. Tits- 

 worth, of Plainfield, N. J., was chosen president. 

 Meetings of the Tract, Education, and Missionary 

 Societies were held in connection with this meet- 

 ing. The Tract Society reported that its receipts 

 had been $8,708. About 294.000 pages of new 

 tracts had been added during the year, aside 

 from the Reform Library, comprehending 30,000 

 evangelical tracts and 31,000 Sabbath tracts, 

 some in English and some in German. The 

 Reform Library is a regular monthly publi- 

 cation of tracts, both old and new, distributed 

 through the mails as second-class mail matter. 

 The publishing house returned a net gain in 

 values of $974, its present worth being $13,362. 

 An office had been opened in New York city. 

 At the annual meeting of the society a memorial 

 to Congress was adopted against legislation 

 forbidding the Sunday opening of the World's 

 Columbian Exposition, on the ground, as the po- 

 sition of the body is defined, that Congress 

 should " not thus enter upon the work of legis- 

 lation concerning religious questions. Your pe- 

 titioners believe that such a law would be con- 

 trary to the principles of religious freedom and 

 the entire separation of Church and state upon 

 which the National Government of the United 

 States is based. We urge our prayer in the 

 name of religious liberty and the noninter- 

 ference of Congress, directly or indirectly, in re- 

 ligious matters." The Education Society reported 

 concerning the condition of Salem College, West 

 Virginia ; Milton College, Wisconsin ; and Al- 

 fred University, New York. The Missionary 



