SERVIA. 



the policy of developing the resources of the 

 country. The King, in breaking with Russia 

 and accepting Austrian domination, adopted a 

 course which was inevitable and advantageous 

 to the country. The Pirotchanatz ministry 

 was appointed after the dismissal of Ristich to 

 consummate the accommodation with the Haps- 

 burg Government. By excluding Servian hogs 

 and other products, through the operation of a 

 prohibitory tariff, Austria could cut tbe Ser- 

 vian farmers off from the only natural outlet 

 for their produce. A favorable commercial 

 treaty was arranged. The Servian concessions 

 favored Austrian manufactures at the expense 

 of the English trade. Servia came to terms on 

 the railroad question. 



The popular jealousy at the humiliating sub- 

 serviency of their Government to a foreign 

 power was intense. The railroad convention, 

 however advantageous from a commercial 

 point of view, leveled all defensive barriers, and 

 laid the country open to the ingress of an Aus- 

 trian army at any moment. The Liberal party, 

 composed of the followers of Ristich, was as 

 weak in numbers as the supporters of the King. 

 The Radical party was composed of the liberal 

 elements of the old Ristich party, reorganized 

 by Pashich, Tedorovich, and other professors 

 and journalists, whose teachings indued it with 

 a more advanced and democratic character. 

 The refusal of the King to be controlled by the 

 result of the last election greatly increased its 

 strength. The following of the pretender Kara- 

 georgevich was not large, and its influence was 

 restricted by the Draconic laws against anti- 

 dynastic agitation. The declared foreign pol- 

 icy of the Radical party was to cultivate friend- 

 ly relations with both Austria and Russia, 

 without entering into any alliance, 



The King, who was absent during the au- 

 tumn elections on his visit to Germany, trusted 

 to his ministers to secure the forty-and-odd 

 votes necessary for a majority. The Radicals, 

 with the dozen votes or so of the Ristich party, 

 had a clear majority as the result of the election 

 of September, which the invalidation of the re- 

 turns in certain districts failed to upset. The 

 Assembly was opened on the 28th of Septem- 

 ber. The victorious party attempted to elect 

 a president by acclamation, but after a stormy 

 scene were obliged to go through the formality 

 of a vote. King Milan, determined to be 

 master, chose a desperate course. As Pirot- 

 chanatz and his colleages, who had resigned, 

 were unwilling to be the instruments of his 

 will, he appointed a new Progressist ministry 

 under the presidency of Nikola Cristich. The 

 Skuptschina was at once dissolved. The King 

 sounded the officers of the army and made sure 

 of their fidelity. The disarmament of the mili- 

 tia was proceeding in pursuance of a previous 

 enactment. The people in certain districts of 

 the mountains refused to deliver up their arms. 

 This complication rendered the situation ex- 

 tremely critical. The Radical leaders deemed 

 the moment favorable for a revolutionary at- 



SHERIDAN, PHILIP H. 715 



tempt, and prepared a constitution, embodying 

 democratic principles under monarchical forms. 

 Pashich and the whole eighteen members of 

 the Radical committee were arrested in tho 

 dead of night and thrown into prison. Liberty 

 of the press and of assembly was suspended. 

 Martial law was proclaimed in various districts. 

 In Zaizar, the principal seat of the revolt, 

 troops were speedily collected. Wherever 

 there was a sign of resistance, soldiers were 

 quartered on the people. The people of the 

 eastern and southeastern districts of the coun- 

 try, who are largely of Roumanian extraction, 

 were soon in open rebellion. At Cerna Reka 

 there were 3,000 insurgents in arms against the 

 Government. The revolt did not become gen- 

 eral, because the Servian people had no strong 

 confidence in the Radical leaders, and were not 

 ripe for a political change. The insurrection 

 was put down by the military after a few en- 

 counters. The Radical leaders were court- 

 martialed and condemned. Some of the least 

 influential were executed, others were par- 

 doned. The revolted districts were not easily 

 restored to order, although the military power 

 was employed with relentless severity. Hun- 

 dreds of arrests were made, and a large num- 

 ber were executed. The new law of conscrip- 

 tion was passed, with the disarmament bill, in 

 the spring session of the Skuptschina. The 

 various arbitrary acts of Milan, culminating in 

 the sending home of the Skuptschina, inspired 

 them with a thorough distrust and dislike of 

 the King, though it was not easy to alienate 

 them from the popular Qbrenovich dynasty. 



The increased taxes and the oppressive mili- 

 tary conscription appealed powerfully to those 

 who were susceptible only to immediate prac- 

 tical grievances, and not conversant with ques- 

 tions of high politics or capable of patriotic 

 enthusiasm. The disarmament of the militia 

 at this time provoked resistance because the 

 Servians thought it deprived them of the means 

 of defending their national liberties, which was 

 the reason why King Milan proceeded so expe- 

 ditiously to have it carried into effect. 



SHERIDAN, Philip Henry, Lieutenant-General 

 of the United States Army, born in Somerset, 

 Perry co., Ohio, March 6, 1831. A few years 

 at the village school, followed by service in the 

 village store, furnished his education and train- 

 ing until a fortunate application to the Congress- 

 man of his district made him, in 1848, a cadet 

 at West Point. He should have been graduated 

 in 1852 ; but a year's suspension, the result of 

 a quarrel with a fellow-student, transferred him 

 to the class of 1853, in which he ranked 34th 

 among its 52 members. He was appointed a 

 brevet second-lieutenant of infantry, July 1, 

 1853 ; in the following year was assigned to the 

 1st Infantry, in Texas ; and on Nov. 22, 1854, 

 received his commission as second-lieutenant 

 of the 4th Infantry. With the latter regiment 

 he served during the next six years, in Wash- 

 ington Territory and Oregon. In one of Gen. 

 Scott's orders we find this mention of him: 



