8ERVIA. 



691 



grade, and assumed the Government, August 

 22, 1872 ; was married October 17, 1875, to 

 Natalie de Keshko, the daughter of a Russian 

 nobleman ; offspring of the union is a son, 

 Prince Alexander, born August 14, 1876. The 

 area of Servia is 14,606 square miles; popula- 

 tion in 1876, 1,366,923. According to the bud- 

 get for the year 1875-'76, the revenue was 35,- 

 256,692 " tax piastres " (1 piastre = 4 cents), and 

 the expenditures 34,806,884 piastres. A loan 

 was contracted in 1876 in consequence of the 

 war, the amount of which, however, is not 

 known. The number of taxable persons in 

 1875 was 287,047. The imports in 1874 

 amounted to 32,456,362 francs, the exports 

 to 39,001,878 francs, and the transit trade to 

 6,631,000 francs. 



According to the new organization intro- 

 duced after the conclusion of the armistice in 



1876, the Servian army in composed: 1. Of the 

 standing and regular army (4 battalion* in- 

 fantry of 400 men each, and two squadrons 

 cavalry of 1)6 men each) ; 2. The active army 

 comprising the former militia or the national 

 army of the 1st ban ; 8. The reserve, comprising 

 the 2d and 3d bans of the national army. 



Toward the close of January, Midhat Pasha, 

 the Turkish Grand-Vizier, addressed a note to 

 Prince Milan, inviting him to conclude peace. 

 In the beginning of February, the Porte pro^ 

 posed the following conditions to Servia, waiv- 

 ing its former claim for substantial guarantees: 

 1. The right of being diplomatically represent 

 ed at Belgrade. 2. That Jews and Armenians 

 shall enjoy the same rights as native Servians. 

 8. That Servia shall not allow the formation 

 of armed bunds or the violation of Turkish ter- 

 ritory. 4. That the existence of secret socie- 



TIIK IRON GATE Or THE DANUBE. 



ties shall not be permitted. 5. That the Ser- 

 vian fortresses shall be kept in good repair ; 

 and, finally, that the Turkish flag shall be 

 hoisted upon those fortresses jointly with the 

 Servian flag. The Servians declared it impos- 

 sible to discuss the stipulation for granting 

 privileges to Jews and Armenians equal to 

 those enjoyed by other Servian subjects. The 

 opposition to the Jews came from a combina- 

 tion of merchants in Belgrade, who were con- 

 nected with and influenced the body in Servia 

 which furnishes cabinets to both political par- 

 ties. The Jews had connections which wonld 

 enable them to import goods and merchandise 

 direct from the manufacturers in France, Eng- 

 land, and Norway, while the Servian merchants 

 were only known and credited in Austria. 

 Under such circumstances the Jews conld 

 greatly undersell the native merchants in the 



interior, and for this reason the Servian GOT- 

 ernment placed restrictions on Jewisii citizens. 

 On February 14th, a deputation from Serria, 

 with Senator Christitch at its head, set out for 

 Constantinople to conduct the peace negotia- 

 tions, while on the same day the Great Sknp- 

 ehtina was convoked to meet on February 27tn. 

 This body, which has four times an many mem- 

 bers as the ordinary Legislature, is called to- 

 gether only on extraordinary occasions. In 

 the latter part of the month a complete ajrree- 

 ment was effected between the Port and the 

 Servian agents. On February 27th the Skup- 

 fthtina met and organized by the election of 

 Topnzovitch as President. On the following 

 day Prince Milan with his minirter* appeared 

 before the assembly, and having declared it for- 

 mally opened, began bin addroM, which lattcd 

 for about one hoar. lie urged the members 



