SERVIA. 



SHIP-BUILDING IN 1902. 



623 



not kept pace. The deficits in the ordinary budg- 

 ets in twenty years amounted to 100,000,000 di- 

 nars, the extraordinary deficits to an unknown 

 sum. After the unification of the debt in 1895 

 it was hoped that an equilibrium would be main- 

 tained. The debt, however, continued to increase 

 and the terms on which money could be main- 

 tained grew more onerous. A foreign loan was 

 absolutely necessary to clear the floating debt, 

 and one of 90,000,000 francs at 5 per cent, was 

 sought in Paris, but no better terms than 75 could 

 be obtained. On March 19, the Skupshtina, hav- 

 ing approved a bill offered by the independent 

 Radical leader to make officials irremovable ex- 

 cept for cause and prevent a general change by 

 each incoming Cabinet, the ministers offered their 

 resignations, but the King declined to accept 

 them and the Skupshtina passed a vote of confi- 

 dence. On April 6 Dr. Popovich resigned his post. 

 On May 15 the entire Cabinet resigned, and Nikola 

 Pasich, former Radical leader, was entrusted with 

 the formation of a new ministry. The Skupsh- 

 tina was dissatisfied with the terms on which the 

 new loan was arranged. The attempt to form a 

 Radical Cabinet having failed, Dr. Vuich was 

 asked to organize a new one, which was con- 

 stituted on May 20 as follows: President of the 

 Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Mi- 

 chael Vuich ; Minister of Finance, Dr. Mika Popo- 

 vich ; Minister of Public Instruction and Worship, 

 Dragotin Stamenovich; Minister of War, Lieut.- 

 Col. Basil Antonich; Minister of the Interior, 

 Nikola Stefanovich; Minister of Public Works, 

 Peter Velimirovich ; Minister of Justice, Aron 

 Ninchich ; Minister of Commerce, Dr. Gioka Niko- 

 lich. The Cabinet was composed of 4 Radicals, 3 

 Progressists, and 1 Independent. A loan of 60,- 

 000,000 dinars at 5 per cent., redeemable in fifty 

 years, was placed in Paris at the issue price of 75 

 and approved by the Skupshtina in August, al- 

 though a syndicate seeking the privilege of estab- 

 lishing a gambling casino offered to lend at 90. 

 The Government received no ready money from 

 the loan, but cleared off all floating obligations. 

 On Oct. 14 the Vuich ministry resigned. 



The King was not popular. The people resented 

 the abrogation of the liberties they enjoyed under 

 the old Constitution. In April a great many stu- 

 dents were punished for a manifestation in favor 

 of liberty of meeting and association. Early in 

 the year the party of Peter Karageorgevich of 

 the old reigning family made attempts to stir up 

 a rebellion against the King. Letters were sent 

 to the officers of the army telling them to prepare 

 for a change of dynasty. On March 5 a political 

 exile living in Austrian Mitrovitza, a former lieu- 

 tenant named Radomir Alavantich, crossed the 

 Save into Servia, donned the uniform of a Ser- 

 vian general, enlisted and armed some professional 

 smugglers, ordered the frontier guards and cus- 

 tom-house officials at the river stations to follow 

 him, and was obeyed, entered Shabatz, ordered 

 the firemen to join his band, proceeded then to 

 the prefecture and commanded the gendarmes to 

 fall in. A few objected, but were quieted by 

 threats, and the doors were locked to prevent any 

 person from escaping. Two gendarmes who rec- 

 ognized the adventurer as a political conspirator 

 who had been convicted for participating in the 

 plot to kill King Milan got out through a win- 

 dow and informed their commanding officer, Capt. 

 Nicolich, who hastened to the prefecture and 

 called upon the impostor to explain his actions. 

 Alavantich answered with a pistol shot which 

 slightly wounded the captain, who disabled his 

 antagonist by a shot in the leg and ordered the 

 gendarmes to despatch him. Alavantich had 



about 80 men under his orders when killed. The 

 firemen and the frontier guards were condemned 

 to prison for five years. Servians took little 

 part in the Macedonian disturbances', which were 

 largely directed against the Servian nationality 

 by the Bulgarian agitators. Many persons of 

 Servian race fell victims to Albanian lawlessness, 

 and on this account Russia established a consu- 

 late in Albania. The long-deferred consecration 

 of the Servian Bishop Firmilian as metropolitan 

 of the Greek patriarchate in Uskub was allowed 

 by the Porte to take place in April under pressure 

 from Russia, although it was bitterly opposed by 

 the Bulgarians, who asserted that only a sixth of 

 the Christians there were of Servian nationality 

 and another sixth Bulgarians and Greeks of the 

 Greek Church, while two-thirds were Bulgarians 

 of the exarchate, who have their own bishop in 

 Uskub. 



A new Cabinet was formed on Nov. 20 as fol- 

 lows: President of the Council, Gen. Zinzar 

 Markovich; Minister of War, Gen. Milovan Pav- 

 lovich; Minister of the Interior, Velimir Todoro- 

 vich; Minister of Finance, Miloran Marinkovich; 

 Minister of Public Works, Paul Denich; Minister 

 of Commerce, Liubomir Novakovich; Minister of 

 Public Instruction, Lukas Lazarovich; Minister 

 of Foreign Affairs, Lieut.-Col. Vaffe Eutonich. 

 The Skupshtina was prorogued the same day. 

 The head of the new Cabinet, who had been in 

 favor with King Milan, was appointed command- 

 er-in-chief of the army earlier in the year. The 

 chief task which King Alexander set before this 

 ministry was a revision of the Constitution. 



SHIP-BUILDING IN 1902. So far as is as- 

 certainable in view of the divergence between the 

 calendar years and the fiscal years of the mari- 

 time nations, the total shipping tonnage finished, 

 under construction, or so far advanced toward 

 completion as to justify mention, amounted in 

 round numbers to about 3,000,000 tons. This 

 shows a slight gain over the preceding year. The 

 British ship-builders of course lead the list by an 

 overwhelming surplus. The new construction in 

 the United Kingdom during the year was not far 

 from 1,700,000 tons, or more than 60 per cent, of 

 the world's production. It is gratifying to know 

 that in spite of all set-backs the United States is 

 still her nearest rival, although she can claim only 

 317,775 tons. She is followed by Germany with 

 272,719 tons. In France there was a gain of a lit- 

 tle more than 100,000 tons; in Holland, about 40,- 

 000; in Italy, 22,000; and in Japan, 15,000. All 

 these amounts, so far as can be definitely judged 

 from the returns, include war-vessels. In 

 France the increase is to some extent accounted 

 for a new bounty law, which has stimulated 

 the industry rather more than would have been. 

 the case naturally. 



While the vast preponderance of modern con- 

 struction is in the direction of steel-built steamers 

 of heavy tonnage, there is a marked tendency, 

 particularly in Great Britain and the United 

 States, toward an increase of the proportion of 

 sailing vessels. In this respect Germany leads 

 the record for Europe with a five-masted, full- 

 rigged ship of 5,080 tons; but the American seven- 

 masted schooner, described hereafter, exceeds this 

 by 138 tons. In British yards the proportion of 

 sailing ships in 1902 was 5.6 per cent, of the whole 

 output. 



The preponderating tendency is toward larger 

 and faster ocean steamers. The Kaiser Wilhelm 

 II, the latest accession to the German Atlantic 

 fleet, was built at the Vulcan yards, Stettin, by 

 the same firm that has constructed the rest of the 

 great German liners, which at this time hold the 



