6i4 



The Review of Reviews. 



" Durazzo would not lend itself well to 

 the creation of a militar}^ port of any_ 

 importance, the expense being too 

 heavy. If there is a desire to make 

 Durazzo a commercial port which would 

 open to Italy an economic route from 

 the Adriatic to the Danube we could 

 not wish for anything better, but Italy 

 could never consent that a Great Power 

 should instal itself directly, or indirectly, 

 at ^^alona, and still less that she should 

 convert this position into a veritable 

 base of operation." It would thus seem 

 that Italy does not share Austria's \4ews 

 as to the danger of a Servian outlet 

 upon the Adriatic. 



An object-lesson of great 



A Nation at War. ValuC tO all thOSC who 



believe in national 

 solidarity has been 

 afforded by Servia in the present war. 

 Here we have a small country which 

 has evolved its national existence, ham- 

 pered in every direction, which, how- 

 ever, shows to a very remarkable degree 

 all the attributes of national efficiency, 

 bound together by an almost inordinate 

 amount of realisation of its being a 

 nation. It is very remarkable to note 

 that during this war waged on its 

 frontiers it has not been thought neces- 

 sar}^ in Servia to proclaim a state of 

 martial law or in any way to interfere 

 with the freedom of the Press or of the 

 indi^'idual. We do not remember any 

 similar case in similar circumstances. 

 The ultra-democratic ideas of the Ser- 

 vian people, together with the fact that 

 the great majority of the population 

 owns some small portion of the surface 

 of the country in inalienable right, un- 

 doubtedly makes for national solidarity, 

 since there is no artificial edifice con- 

 structed on a more or less solid or in- 



secure foundation. Pubhc opinion is 

 dominant in Servia, stronger than king, 

 or parhament, or constitution. But, 

 happih', the Ser\dan peasant is one who 

 studies and understands national 

 affairs and also international politics. 

 It is astonishing to go into the outlying 

 valleN^s of Servia, where no railway has 

 come, and find old peasants able to 

 discuss intelhgenth' the relative policies 

 of Count Berchtoldt and M. Sazanoff 

 and their bearing upon Servia. People 

 such as this may be temperamentally 

 prone to undue optimism or undue 

 pessimism, but there can be no question 

 of such a people rushing into war with- 

 out having counted the cost, and being 

 prepared to pay the price. A demo- 

 cratic community such as this does not 

 bluff, although it may fail to obtain 

 what it demands. Bluff is as foreign 

 to Serxian policy as is corruption to 

 Servdan administration. It is difficult 

 to find corruption, political or other, 

 in any country where public opinion is 

 not onl}^ active but positive, as is the 

 case in Ser\da. Msitors to Servia during 

 the war found no excitement, but e very- 

 bod}^ extremel}^ bus3^ working for one 

 branch or other of the national welfare. 

 All official salaries were paid not only 

 promptly, but one month in advance, 

 \\hile the women whose husbands were 

 at the war receixed a weekl}^ allowance 

 of money and provisions. All the ladies 

 are at work at the hospitals as nurses 

 or cooks, and doing other domestic 

 work. In the Ministries and public 

 offices where the regular messengers are 

 absent the boys of the town take their 

 places x\ithout any remuneration. 

 E\-erybody is doing something for the 

 national welfare, and doing it not for 

 a reward, but for patriotism. Such a 



