776 



SERV1A. 



intended to apply for employment in the army, 

 would be likely to send him to prison and have 

 him tortured, as he hated Bosnians. The proofs 

 that the prosecution relied upon to connect ex- 

 Col. Nicolich and other persons with Knezevich 

 or to trace the latters journey to Roumama 

 broke down. Knezevich repeated his accusations 

 against the others, and before the end of the 

 trial recanted them again, saying that he wanted 

 to pay off grudges against those persons and to 

 save his own skin. The wholesale denunciations 

 of Krezich or Krezovich, whose real name was 

 proved to be Payich, he having stolen the pass- 

 port of one Dimitri Krezovich, were no better 

 established. Ranko Tisich, once the aggressive 

 Radical leader of the Servian peasantry, was in- 

 cluded in the indictment, but he had been long 

 a refugee, holding a post of honor in the Monte- 

 negrin Government. Several other accused peas- 

 ants took flight before the arrests were made. 

 Six of the prisoners, including Knezevich, were 

 charged with being concerned in the plot to kill 

 ex-King Milan, the other 23, on the information 

 of Krezovich, with conspiring with members of 

 the Karageorgevich family to overturn the Obre- 

 novich dynasty. Ten more were placed on trial 

 for the minor' offense of Itee-ma jcstt or for in- 

 fractions of the press law. The Itee-majesti con- 

 sisted in uttering insults against ex-King Milan, 

 who was heir to the throne. This offense was 

 proved by the evidence to have been committed 

 by Taushanovich and others of the Radicals; but 

 the antidynastic plot was not shown, nor were 

 any relations with the pretenders, except on the 

 part of the priest Jurich. The court ruled that 

 offenses against ex-King Milan were offenses 

 against the dynasty. To the surprise of many 

 people who had followed .the proceedings, the 

 judges, on Sept. 25, found most of the prisoners 

 guilty. Knezevich was sentenced to death, and 

 was immediately shot, protesting once more be- 

 fore his execution that he had no accomplices. 

 Three of those whom he had accused and excul- 

 pated by turns were sentenced to twenty years' 

 hard labor, as w r ere Jurich, Protich. Pavichevich, 

 and even Milinkovich, who claimed to be a Gov- 

 ernment spy in the employ of the prefect that 

 had killed himself after protesting that he had 

 acted under instructions from ex-King Milan. 

 Pasich, with seven others, w r as sentenced to five 

 years' imprisonment; Taushanovich to nine years' 

 imprisonment. Tisich and Uroshevich, a fugi- 

 tive in Roumania, were sentenced in contumaciam 

 to twenty years' penal servitude. Six peasants 

 who had spoken of an impending change of ad- 

 ministration were condemned to prison for five 

 years, because, though not actually conspiring, 

 they had omitted to inform the Government. M. 

 Yesnich, Professor of International Law, was sen- 

 tenced to two years' penal servitude, and M. 

 Pavolovich, who had been previously deprived of 

 a professorship for writing against ex-King Milan, 

 received a three years' sentence, two others sen- 

 tences of six and eight years, and six more vari- 

 ous terms on the charge of Usc-majeste. Pasich 

 was pardoned within an hour, and in thanking 

 the King for his clemency he promised him his 

 support. Plots against the Obrenovich dynasty 

 were known to exist, although no direct connec- 

 tion of any of the prisoners with such a plot 

 was legally proved at the trial, and in the course 

 of his deposition Pasich had blamed himself for 

 not having rid the Radical party of the anti- 

 dynastic elements. His letter to the King was 

 tantamount to a recantation of his Radical prin- 

 ciples and a condonation of the constitutional 

 changes which destroyed the Constitution of 1888. 



SIAM. 



After the court had rendered its unexpectedly 

 severe verdict the Russian charyv d'affaires left 

 Belgrade, intrusting to the second secretary the 

 conduct of the business of the legation, after Hi -t 

 calling the attention of the Servian Government 

 to the painful impression produced abroad by 

 the severity of the sentences. The representatives 

 of France and Italy made similar representations. 

 The Skupshtina was convoked at Nish on <>ct. 

 2. Stricter laws against sedition were submitted. 

 A commercial convention with Turkey was ap- 

 proved. The revenue was increasing, and ar- 

 rangements were made for the extension of rail- 

 road communications, especially a contract \\ith 

 an English firm for a railroad through western 

 Servia. The development of the army, the rai-- 

 .ing of the material condition of the people, and 

 the return of the people from political agitation 

 to productive work were the avowed objects of 

 the Government programme. The loyalty of the 

 people not being agreeable to the subversive de- 

 ments, these were represented in the royal speech 

 as having hired a venal individual to strike at 

 the life of King Milan with a view to the de- 

 struction of legal order. The state of siege \\a- 

 raised just previous to the convening of the Cham- 

 ber. The Government, which has often 



broken its pledges to its creditors and com -- 

 sionaires, attempted to confiscate the railroad 

 surplus that had been mortgaged to bondhold- 

 ers. offering to substitute for this security the 

 profits of the match and cigarette-paper monopo- 

 lies. The foreign creditors, who are mostly Grr- 

 mans, refused to accede to the change. The fruit 

 harvest was so abundant in 1899 that only a wart 

 was marketed. The Government has offered in- 

 ducements to English capitalists to improve the 

 means of communication and open up the mines 

 of the country. 



SIAM, an 'absolute monarchy in southeastern 

 Asia. The reigning King is Chulalongkorn, born 

 Sept. 21, 1853, who succeeded his father Mongkut 

 on Oct. 1. 18(18. The King, who has power to 

 name his successor from among the prince- of 

 the royal family, on Jan. 17, 1895, nominated as 

 Crown Prince his eldest son, Maha Vajiravudh. 

 By the royal decree of Jan. 10, 1895, a Legislative 

 Council was created, consisting in 1 *'.>'.' of 43 

 members, including the Ministers of State. 



Area and Population. The territory ea-t ..f 

 the Mekong river as far as the mountain range 

 of Anna in. formerly claimed by Siam, was ('(in- 

 ceded to be French in the treaty of September. 

 1893. The present area of the kfngdom is a 1 tout 

 244,000 square miles, including 00,000 square 

 miles in the Malay Peninsula. The population, 

 estimated at 10,000,000. comprises about 2.500,- 

 000 Siamese, 3,000,000 Chinese, 2.000.000 Laotian*. 

 1,000,000 Malays, and 1,500,000 Cambodian-. I'.ur- 

 mese, Indians, and others. Bangkok, the capital, 

 has over 400,000 inhabitants. The labor of the 

 country is mostly done by immigrants Karens 

 and Burmese in the teak forests of the north and 

 Chinese coolies in the mines and factoYies of the 

 south. The natives are liable to forced labor. 

 and compelled to work for the local governors 

 at certain periods of the year. Slavery for debt. 

 is legal, though by an edict of the present King 

 no person born since his accession can be held 

 in slavery after reaching the age of twenty-one. 



The standing army numbers about 12.000 men. 

 but not more than 5,000 -are kept under arms. 

 The principal vessel of the navy is the cruiser 

 Maha Chakrkri. of 3,000 tons, armed with 4 4.7- 

 inch and 8 6-pounder quick firers. 



Commerce and Production. Rice is the chief 

 agricultural product, being the common food of 



