774 



SERVIA. 



of Worship and Public Instruction, 1,644,217 

 dinars for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 3,353,- 

 750 dinars for the Ministry of the Interior, 8,195,- 

 130 dinars for the Ministry of Finance, 15,754,013 

 dinars for the Ministry of War, 4,704,903 dinars 

 for the Ministry of Public Works, Agriculture, 

 and Commerce, 426,358 dinars for miscellaneous 

 expenses, and 1,005,052 dinars for the Board of 



The total debt on Jan. 1, 1899, was 416,912,807 

 dinars, of which 352,190,000 dinars were converted 

 bonds of 1895, 29,785,000 dinars lottery bonds 

 of 1881, 10,012,500 dinars revenue bonds of 1886, 

 3,750,000 dinars a Russian loan, 1,352,000 dinars 

 a loan secured on the salt monopoly, 9,640,000 

 dinars one secured on the tobacco monopoly, 

 924,500 dinars a railroad loan, and 9,258,807 

 dinars borrowings from the national bank. 



Commerce and Production. In Servia nearly 

 nine tenths of the men are farmers owning from 

 10 to 30 acres or more of glebe land, orchard, 

 and pasture. The crops are Indian corn, wheat, 

 barley, rye, oats, tobacco, hemp, flax, wine, 

 prunes, and other fruits. The forests belong to 

 the Government and the villages, and are cut 

 methodically, cask staves being exported to Hun- 

 gary and France. Pigs, cattle, and sheep are 

 reared for export. The Government and various 

 companies mine coal, iron, kad, zinc, antimony, 

 silver, etc. The total value of imports in 1898 

 was 41,102,000 dinars, and of exports 56,991,000 

 dinars. The imports of horticultural and agricul- 

 tural produce were 4,116,000 dinars, and exports 

 22,259,000 dinars; imports of food and drink 

 1,357,000 dinars, and exports 1,824,000 dinars; 

 imports of colonial goods, 3,368,000 dinars; im- 

 ports of animals and animal products 451,000 

 dinars, and exports 26,744,000 dinars; imports 

 of hides, leather, and rubber 2,798,000 dinars, and 

 exports 3,279,000 dinars; imports of wool and 

 woolens 1,483,000 dinars, and exports 157,000 

 dinars; imports of seeds and seed products 1,483,- 

 000 dinars, and exports 157,000 dinars; imports 

 of wood and wood manufactures 2,407.000 dinars, 

 and exports 495,000 dinars; imports of metals 

 4,352,000 dinars, and exports 596,000 dinars; im- 

 ports of stone, clay, and glass products 2,523,000 

 dinars, and exports 319,000 dinars; imports of 

 paper, 984,000 dinars; imports of drugs, dyes, 

 and chemicals 1,320,000 dinars, and exports 147,- 

 000 dinars; imports of machines and instruments 

 1,320,000 dinars, and exports 23,000 dinars; im- 

 ports of cotton and linen goods 6,884,000 dinars, 

 and exports 959,000 dinars; imports of silk goods, 

 660,000 dinars; imports of hardware, 1,111,000 

 dinars; imports of trimmings, embroideries, and 

 bonnets 2,703,000 dinars, and exports 2.703,000 

 dinars ; imports of fertilizers 2,000 dinars, and ex- 

 ports 71,000 dinars. The values in dinars of im- 

 ports from and exports to different countries in 

 1898 are given below: 



The Army. Obligatory military service was 

 decreed in 1896, commencing at the age of twenty- 

 one and lasting two years with the colors, eight 

 years in the reserve, ten years in the first ban, 

 and ten years in the second ban. The author- 

 ized strength of the active army in 1897 was 

 1,248 officers and 21,200 men, of whom 14,000 were 

 infantry, 1,400 cavalry, 4,000 artillery, 1,000 en- 

 gineers, 300 train, and 500 sanitary troops. The 

 number of horses was 4,846; of field guns, 192. 

 The war effective is calculated at 5 divisions of 

 22,049 men, making 110,245 men in the regular 

 army. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 length of railroads in operation is 377 miles, 

 consisting of the Servian section of the interna- 

 tional railroad to Constantinople and branches 

 to Pirot, Velika Plana, and Kraguyevatz. There 

 are 2,526 miles of telegraph, with 5,042 miles of 

 wire. The number of dispatches in 1898 was 

 996,094, of which 838,828 were internal, 131.0S2 

 international, and 26,184 in transit. The po-tal 

 letter traffic in 1898 was 11.222,000 in tin- in- 

 ternal, 3,864,000 in the foreign, and 1,513,000 in 

 the transit service, and of registered letters and 

 postal orders 310,000, with 101,728,000 franc-. \\nv 



sent in the internal, 1. II. 000. with .-T'.ll ) 



francs, in the external service, and 671,000, \\itli 

 30,440,000 francs, in transit. 



Political Affairs. The rivalry of the two na- 

 tive Servian dynasties, the Karageorgevichs and 

 the Obrenovichs, which have alternately sei/cd 

 the supreme power, the contest between Austria 

 and Russia for a predominating influence in Ser- 

 vian affairs, the rival ambitions of the Sei \iun 

 King and the Prince of Montenegro to unite all 

 Serbs under one scepter, and the fierce and vin- 

 dictive passions roused by the struggle for place 

 between the leaders of the Radical. Liberal, and 

 Progressive parties have kept the kingdom in a 

 constant turmoil, and have retarded its political. 

 social, and economic development, permit tin- it 

 to be outstripped by Bulgaria and Roumania. 

 which have inferior natural advantages. The 

 Radical party, which represents the bulk of tin- 

 peasant population. ha- alway- Keen bitterly Inu- 

 tile to King Milan, subservient to Russian inllu 

 ences, and clamorous for a reduction of the army 

 and the substitution of a peasant militia, which 

 would reduce taxation and relieve the people 

 from onerous military service and at the -ame 

 time curb King Milan's power, who ha- a!\\ ay- 

 been popular with the army, although he led it 

 to defeat. The Liberals, who draw their main 

 strength from the town population, have no deli 

 nite political principles aside from a general lean- 

 ing toward Russia. The Progressives have -up- 

 ported King Milan's policy of favoring Austrian 

 aid and influence, being jealous of Russian inter- 

 ference with national independence, and looking 

 to western Europe both for the impel ns to polit- 

 ical and intellectual progress and for the stimulus 

 and the necessary capital for economic pro.L'ie . 

 While King Milan reigned he was engaged in an 

 incessant conflict with his many foe-, and in 

 the end he succumbed to the Radicals, aided by 

 Russian influence and the friends of his divorced 

 consort. On being promised a liberal yearly al- 

 lowance, he agreed in 1888 to go into perpetual 

 exile. It was decided that Queen Natalie should 

 likewise live abroad, and that the heir apparent 

 should be proclaimed King, with M. Ui-tidi. the 

 Liberal leader, as regent. Oueen Natalie. h<>\ 

 came back. and was only expelled after a de-; 

 resistance on the part* of her adherent- In l^'.'l. 

 The Radical party, under the lead of M. Pashich, 

 then took the helm, and proceeded to carry out 



