CHAPTER II

POLITICAL PARTIES

Existing parties – Authority v . Faction – Garashanin – Novaković – Nikolajević – Hristić – Ristić – Belimarković – Simić and his Ministry- Pashić – Katić – Radical shortcomings – Decentralisation – Expropriation of minor officials – Public security – Radicals not really a danger – Popular movements in a nutshell .

UNTIL the end of 1896 all Servia was divided into three parties , known as Liberals , Radicals , and Progressists . Then the Progressist Premier , M. Novaković , resigned ; the Progressist organ , the Videlo,¹ was discontinued ; and the head of the Progressist party , M. Garashanin , broke up its organisation . Today the Progressist party is only a memory , but the party position is unchanged . Now , as heretofore in Servia , as always has been and always will be in all countries , the issue remains one between authority and faction , between loyalty and disorder . Party names are as misleading in Servia as elsewhere . The Progressists were really a species of Conservatives , and made it their first principle to support the Crown against all comers . Their main strongholds were the towns , but they possessed an extensive organisation throughout the country , and had attracted the majority of the orderly and well-to-do .

The Liberals answer in numbers and influence to our own Whigs , and , while concurring with other anti-Radicals in upholding authority , desire to be its only exponents . They have no very definite principles , unless it be to support their leader , M. Ristić , through thick and thin , and further all his ambitions in the hope of one day sharing his triumphs . They would oppose King and people alike with something of a Venetian oligarchy .

The Radicals are the most elaborately organised , and have contrived to secure at least the nominal adherence of all the poorest , laziest , and most ignorant peasants in the realm.² Whenever their leaders desire to hold a great popular demonstration , they can always count upon the presence of several thousand peasants , who gladly accept a holiday at the expense of the party funds , and will carry by acclamation any resolutions which may be submitted to them . A friend of mine who was present at a great Radical meeting in 1896 told me that , out of some 14,000 demonstrators present , only thirty or forty listened to the speeches , while all the rest ate melons . He added that each demonstrator had received three dinars³ for his trouble .

But the party names are mere labels . There are on the side of authority plenty of statesmen who belong to no party and have no organisation of their own , but who will always command the confidence of the nation when they are called to office by the Crown . And even within the ranks of the Radicals a large section , known as Aulic or Court Radicals , are faithful adherents to the Monarchy . It is from this section that the greater part of the present Ministry has been recruited , and there has been no sign on their part of any reluctance in obeying the Sovereign’s orders . To understand the state of home politics in Servia , it is necessary to pay little attention to party names , and observe only the broad division between the King’s friends and the King’s enemies .

We are confronted by a distinct and momentous issue-whether sturdy Monarchy or unbridled Democracy is better suited to the development of a young country . Whenever Servia has been strong in the past , it has been under the personal rule of one strong man ; and whenever she has proved weak , it has been due to factious attempts at Democracy . So long as Milosh ruled absolutely , he could perform prodigies for Servia ; but when the Hospodars and the Vojvodes and the Skupshtina sought to share his sway , Servia went under once more , and her prodigious Prince was forced to take flight abroad . So in recent times . For several years the factions had mismanaged the finances , lowered the flag to the foreigner , and abandoned whole districts to the terrorism of the hajdutsi . Then King Alexander , still in his teens , but ‘ in sage counsels old , seized the reins , and saved his country from the confronting precipice . He declared himself of age and locked up his Regent all night in the dining – room ; he tore up the existing Constitution , and revived an old one with a restricted franchise and King’s nominees in the Chamber ; he set to work to govern the country himself , and , so far , has certainly governed it very well .

I will go through the various supporters of authority , who might be summed up as the Party of the King’s Friends . Foremost among these are the members of the late Progressist party . M. Garashanin , its chief , is Servian Minister in Paris , and presides over the deliberations of the Skupshtina . I had the pleasure of a conversation with him in Paris the other day , and his explanation of the disbanding of the Progressists bore out my theories . He had come to the conclusion that the multiplication of parties was a mistake , and that the country could be better served by the various disciples of order sinking their minor differences and working together to defeat a common foe . The party had done good work in the past⁴ and would , he hoped , yet do good work in the future , every member of it in his individual capacity . M. Garashanin is a man of culture and ability , more perhaps of the diplomat than the party man , and inclined to use finesse rather than force . His responsibility for the Bulgarian War has discounted his influence in Sèrvia , but his chivalrous championship of Queen Nathalie must always stand him in good stead ; and he might easily be recalled to power one day , if indeed he desired it . He is one of the few Servians who have been brought up to politics , his father having been Prime Minister for a period of twenty years , and his grandfather a Vojvode . I have seen the house in Belgrade from which he fired upon a menacing mob , killing several persons . My friend M. Pera Todorović was indirectly responsible for this incident , as M. Garashanin had never carried a revolver until the other warned him of the advisability of doing so for his own protection . Within a few days of this advice M. Garashanin had occasion to use his weapon .

The late Premier , M. Novaković , was not a man of much initiative , but was admirably suited to be a Premier who was not the leader of his own party , and to serve a King who knows his own mind . He is a stranger to emotion , and views politics from the standpoint of an honest family solicitor . He can give good advice ; but if it be not followed , he can carry out instructions without a murmur . I have seen him at many State functions , and enjoyed more than one private conversation with him . What most impressed me about him was his modesty and his caution . His father was a humble joiner , and he has never grown accustomed to the ways of Society . I should imagine that he was a shy man , for his tendency was always to slink away to the lowest rooms at feasts . Not only did he never thrust himself forward where as Premier he would have been welcome , but he seemed to shrink from publicity or recognition . His tall , lanky form , clad in a long frock – coat of broadcloth and a round felt hat , his melancholy expression and heavy stoop afforded a very characteristic ensemble , which somehow reminded me of a figure in a Noah’s Ark . In conversation he proved reticent about public affairs , and far from loquacious on other matters . The keynote of his remarks was to deprecate aggression by Servia , and to protest that she only asked to be allowed to work out her own political salvation in peace . Speaking months before any rumour of the recent Greco-Turkish War , at a time when it was the fashion to despise Turkey and insult her Sovereign , he showed his sagacity by speaking in the highest terms of the genius , fallen , justice was allowed to have free course , and Belgrade now has her University . This episode has been utilised by M. Lazar Komarchić as the plot of one of his novels , ‘ The Precious Necklace . ‘

Another Liberal leader is General Belimarković , one of the most devoted partisans of King Milan ; but he has now quarrelled with M. Ristić , and lives in retirement in a large villa near the baths of Vrnjtse .

The Aulic Radicals , who form the major part of the present Ministry , are mainly recruited from the trading class and the professional politicians . They detached themselves from the regular Radical party when it avowed open hostility to the King and carried the doctrines of Radicalism to absurd , if logical , conclusions . M. Simić , the Premier , is a statesman of independent views , which he shows signs of subordinating to the wishes of his Sovereign . His present programme is the maintenance of good relations with other countries ; a vigilant look-out for a due share of Macedonia , if that province should ever come up for partition ; and the draft of a new Constitution , which has been in contemplation ever since the last state-stroke , but which may , with absolute propriety , be deferred indefinitely . The only Liberal in the Cabinet is General Misković , who has long been out of touch with his old party , but whose views are known to be on the side of authority . The most prominent Aulic Radicals in the Cabinet are M. Mika Djeordjević , Minister for the Interior , who has already served as Minister of Justice and of Foreign Affairs , and who was stabbed by an anarchist in a Paris restaurant four years ago ; and Dr. Vuić , Minister of Finance , who has already held the same portfolio on more than one occasion .

The Radical party , as usual , is hydra-headed . The titular leader is M. Pashić , an engineer of small parts and no manners . The best of his colleagues or rivals is M. Katić , a real son of the soil , who returns , like Cincinnatus or Kara George , to his plough in the intervals of action . In a great emergency he might do great things . He is sure of himself , and , though impregnated with current theories about ‘ the voice of the people , ‘ is otherwise a model of moderation and good sense . So long as his authority is accepted by the masses , no excesses need be feared . I visited his house , where every evidence of solid comfort was combined with Stoic simplicity . He was away at the time , but I was hospitably entertained by his wife , who frankly confessed that she regretted the times when she and her husband were simple peasants and knew nothing of the burthens and anxieties of leadership . I met him a few days later at dinner , and had a long conversation with him ( through an interpreter ) about foreign and internal politics . His sympathies incline to Russia , but only in the last resort , and he would be glad to see Servia able to hold her own independently of foreign influence . He thinks , however , that the introduction of foreign capital is necessary to the development of Servia , though , when I put it to him , he admitted that there was a danger of the Servian peasant-proprietors being swamped thereby . Discussing with him the chances of a Balkan alliance , I asked whether it would not be possible to come to terms with Bulgaria on a basis of allowing her to take part of Macedonia in return for her help towards the restoration of the old Servian Empire . But he became declamatory at once , and protested that not a stick , not a clod of her old territory would be abandoned by Servia , so long as her sons had breath in their bodies .

He is a very different man from the ordinary Radical leaders . These , I am told , are men without visible sources of income , living from hand to mouth , and obtaining credit from their party coffee-houses against the turn of the wheel which may one day bring them into office .

I do not myself think that Servia has really much to fear from her Radicals . Socialism is almost non-existent , and whatever small taint of it there may be is exotic , being imported by Servian immigrants from Austria-Hungary and taking no permanent root . The disease of Radicalism assumes therefore a mild form in Servia ; and so long as the army remains faithful to the Crown and the cause of authority , there is little to be feared . I have conversed with a very great number of officers , not only in Belgrade , but in almost every country garrison , and without exception I have found them enthusiastic for their King and impatient of party strife . The Radicals are for ever clamouring for new Constitutions , ‘ they exclaim . Very well , let the King give them one ; only let it confer wider powers on the Executive and restrict the franchise to those who have a real stake in the country and possess a measure of education . We will not be ruled by paupers , illiterates , and vagabonds . ‘

It is asserted with confidence that the Radicals form the vast majority in the country , but the comparative strength of parties is difficult to estimate , as the party in power generally contrives to control the elections . I was congratulating a Prefect on the insignificance of the opposition in his district , when he smiled and said it was by no means insignificant . Then how did you obtain so magnificent a majority ? ‘ I asked . He shrugged his shoulders and replied with a merry twinkle , ‘ Ein bischen hokuspokus ! ‘

The main objections to the Radicals in Servia are their inability to maintain order , their wholesale expropriation of minor officials , and their desire for Communal government ,⁵ which is a cardinal article of their programme . Communal government , as they understand it , would mean anarchy and a terrorism of local minorities . Moreover , a strong central government is necessary in Servia to avoid corruption and to administer the laws impartially . The clean sweep of all officials with every change of Government is a common fault with young countries who are cursed with popular government . In Greece and America it has been carried to so grotesque a length that nearly every man , woman , and child has become a professional politician . In Servia the respectable parties have sometimes erred in this direction ; but the Radicals , having more hungry mouths to feed , have committed themselves much further . The matter has not yet , however , become a crying scandal , and under the recent Progressist regimen I found many Liberal and even some Radical officials . The Director of Customs at Shabats , for instance , was a Liberal . The only restriction imposed was that officials should not take part in public demonstrations against the Government which employed them – a rule against which no one could take exception .

Of the insecurity of the country under the Radicals I heard many complaints . One evening , when I was driving back to Kragujevats in the dusk , after visiting a mill in the neighbourhood , I was told that I could not have done so under the Radicals without grave risk of being kidnapped or shot on the way . Again , when I was visiting a zadruga⁶ in the Machva , the head of the household , a Progressist Deputy , exclaimed with pride : ‘ Now that we have a good Government , we can sit out in the yard under our lime-tree till ten or eleven o’clock at night . ‘

‘ Well , why not ? ‘ I asked . Could you not always do so ? ‘

‘ Bogami !⁷ no , ‘ he replied ; ‘ two years ago , when the Radicals were in power , we had to barricade ourselves indoors directly the sun went down . You may imagine how provoking that was on a fine summer evening ! There was no security in the country under the Radicals . We always had to go about armed . We could not send our children alone to school or to the fields . It was like a state of siege . You see that man sitting on a stile by the maize-fields ? ‘ ( This was at about 4 P.M. ) ‘ Well , his life would not have been worth many minutes ‘ purchase there two years ago . ‘

‘ What was the danger ? ‘ I asked . ‘ Hajdutsi ? ‘

‘Not so much the regular hajdutsi , for they generally kept to the mountains and only made occasional raids into the plain ; but every bad character profited by the general insecurity and the apathy or even sympathy of the authorities . I will give you an instance of their attitude . Just before the elections a man walked into our yard and handed me a letter , which ordered me , under pain of death , to place five hundred ducats⁸ in the hollow of a certain tree within twenty-four hours . He made no attempt to run away , but waited while my son and I read the letter . My son wanted to arrest him and give him over to the police ; but I knew that if we did so , we should probably be arrested ourselves , the man would say he had not brought the letter , and he would be believed . It was a trick to keep us out of the way during the elections . So we let the man go , and as a matter of form denounced him to the police ; but , as I expected , they declined to interfere . Of course we did not send the ducats . ‘

Some of this must , however , be discounted , for party feeling runs high in Servia . The excellent editor of the Videlo , who accompanied me on one of my tours , made a great favour of staying at a Liberal hotel , even when it was the only decent one in the town . Whenever he met a Progressist , he was received with open arms , and I used to chaff him about his formula of introduction . ‘ This , ‘ he would say , ‘ is one of my most intimate friends ; ‘ then he would proceed to enumerate the intimate friend’s qualifications in detail until he came to the climax , ‘ et aussi Progressiste ! ‘ After a time I took to stopping him in the middle of his enumeration by asking ‘ et aussi ? ‘ and he would reply ‘ naturellement ‘ with great delight .

In the year 1883 the Opposition seceded in a body from the Skupshtina , and the Government considered the propriety of declaring the second candidate on the list to be duly elected wherever the first declined to serve . Jules Ferry was consulted on the feasibility of this plan , and replied , ‘ It is impossible for me to say , as I do not know the temperament of your people . ‘ It is my knowledge of the temperament of the Servian people which renders me confident that their Radicals are not really a dangerous element , if carefully supervised . I was particularly struck by this as I watched thousands of peasants assembling in Belgrade the night before a great Radical meeting . So large a concourse of people might easily have menaced public tranquillity , and would certainly have done so in almost any other capital . They presented a mass of drab and white , being the poorest of the population ; goodhumour was stamped on every face ; and there was a quiet , sturdy dignity about their manners which impressed me favourably . They straggled about the streets in crowds , often with a pope and a band at their head , and inspected the various monuments . It was not an infrequent sight to find a policeman acting as volunteer cicerone . I overheard a party discussing the public gardens of Kalemegdan . They could not at all understand why anyone should trouble to plant shrubs and flowers there , when there were so many natural forests and wild flowers in Servia : it seemed to them sheer waste of money . Many of them had only come to the meeting because they were told that the King needed them and intended to preside over it .

I was talking about this meeting with the charming old director of a provincial gymnasium , and he said he was reminded of an experience of his own as a pedagogue . A portion of his school attempted a miniature rebellion , and the leaders came up to state their grievances in the name of the school . He locked the leaders up in his study and went down to parley with the rank and file .

Well , ‘ he said , ‘ what is it you want ? ‘
‘ We want the same as the other boys upstairs . ‘
‘ What is that ? ‘
‘ We do not know . ‘

That is the history of all popular movements since the world began .

1. Light. ↩︎
2. If left to themselves , they are naturally law-abiding citizens ; but they have been corrupted by the various catch-words which demagogues teach them , and they have imbibed strange ideas of their own sovereignty and equality . They grumble at paying railway fares , because they consider a State railway is theirs , and should be maintained entirely by foreigners . They will stroll into the best hotel or coffee-house and sit down by the best-dressed man they see , simply to assert their equality , however many other tables and chairs may be vacant . But they are simple , they are natural , they have the instincts of gentlemen . Once let them understand that they were not all born to be statesmen , that the masses have nothing to do with the laws but to obey them , and their prosperity at home , their expansion abroad , need know no limits . ↩︎
3. Francs. ↩︎
4. Educational and military reorganisation are due to them . ( See . Laveleye , p . 175. ) ↩︎
5. Some have even agitated for a division of Servia into Federal Cantons on the Swiss model . ↩︎
6. Patriarchal household . ↩︎
7. Egad ! ↩︎
8. About 240l. ↩︎