PROMOTION OF SOCIAL PEACE 213 



the agricultural co-operative associations there 

 to promote. "The Court of Good Men " is 

 really a board of arbitration for the settlement 

 of local disputes, so as to avoid alike the spread 

 of ill-blood and the waste of money in legal pro- 

 ceedings. The report already referred to shows 

 that during the year ending June 30th, 1903, no 

 fewer than 103 cases came before these courts, 

 and out of the 103 there are three only which 

 are described as ending unsatisfactorily. Most of 

 the cases turned on questions of right of way or 

 the appropriation of a slice of a neighbour's land 

 in the process of ploughing the unfenced fields ; 

 but a certain number dealt with claims for money 

 due, and still others related to " insults to one's 

 honour." But, whatever the points in dispute, 

 the value of the services rendered to the parties 

 concerned in obtaining so large a proportion 

 of friendly settlements may well be set to the 

 further credit of the local organizers of agri- 

 culture. 



So the conditions in Servia are being sub- 

 stantially improved, and that country, also, is 

 joining with zest in the scramble among the 

 nations for the privilege of furnishing us with 

 our food supplies. From a bacon factory set up 

 in Belgrade in 1901 there have come to Eng- 

 land in the course of a single year 19,750 cwts. 



