Montenegro.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16404, 26 December 1918, Page 6

Montenegro.

Some of the news regarding Montenegro that has lately appeared in the cables appears to have come from tainted sources. Tho Belgrade message which stated that delegates from all the South Slav territories had met and proclaimed a union with Serbia and Montenegro under the Karageorge (Serbian) dynasty may have been authentic, but if it wero so, the delegates appear to have taken Montenegro's adhesion to the now arrangement too much for granted. The report from Austria, that the old king had been deposed by tho Montenegrin Parliament, left tho way open for the projected combination of tho Southern Slav peoples into a new Jugo-Slav State, which it was 6aid was to consist of Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and such part of Dalmatia as might bo agreed upon with Italy. But according to a subsequent message from Paris tho Montenegrin Parliament had denied both tho deposition of the King and the union with Serbia.

JFronx tho point of view of common nationality, the merging of Montenegro in the new State would have a good deal to commend it, for most of tho Montenegrins belong to tho Serbo-Croat : an branch of the Slavonic family. But there would bo ! something to regret in the disappearance, as a separate Staite, of the picturesque littlo kingdom of the Black Mountain, which won its independence by the sword and has more than once defended it successfully by the same means against the Turks. The Montenegrins are still a primitive race, possessing the physical vigour and love of freedom inherent in a mountain people, and possessing many of the primitive virtues. They are a warlike people— fighting may almost be said to be the business of tho men—and are bravo, proud, and patriotic. To say that they are vain and cruel, and, to put it mildly, not over-fond of hard work, is to say that they have the faults of the Slav temperament, emphasised, perhaps, by .the circumstances of their narrow, isolated life, and their constant struggles against woulcUbe oppressors. Early in the late war Montenegro threw in her lot with Serbia, and with her Buffered all the agonies of German-Austrian invasion. At the beginning of 1915 Montenegro was bearing unsupported the Austrian attacks, and the end came with the fall of the reputedly j impregnable citadel of Mount Lovchen, and of Cettinje, the little capital. It was reported by the enemy that the* mountain State had capitulated, but the statement was unconfirmed. The writer of an article in tho "New Europe" magazine some time ago declared that one of the King's sons was in secret communication with a military representative of Austria, that by the King's orders the Montenegrin army remained inactive, and that they were withdrawn from tho key position of Mount Lovchen at the critical'moment. It was further alleged that only the excessively harsh conditions proposed by Austria caused the eventual breaking-off of the negotiations It is impossible to say howk. much, if any, of this story is true, and how much has been invented by the King' 3" political opponents. His reported willingness to capitulato is inconsistent with his passionate determination to maintain the freedom and independence of Montenegro, an attitude which has brought him into disfavour with tho Committee for national union, who have been working for the establishment of the Jugo-Slav State. In the end the old King, who had ruled his tiny kingdom with, wisdom and liberality, retired with his family to Rome —his third daughter is Queen of Italy—and thence to France. Ho declared unwavering attachment to the cause of the Entente Powers, and full confidence that they would restore the independence and integrity of his country. Tho seat of Montenegro's Government has since been established at Lyons. The country has suffered grievously since it was overrun by tho enemy, famine has ravaged- it, and most of the leading men liavo been interned in Hungary. But a fragment of the Montenegrin ' army has been fighting alongside the Serbians, and have shared in the eventual triumph of the latter.

Tlic proposal that Montenegro should become a partner in tho New Jugo-Slar Sjtate, was strongly opposed by a section of the Montenegrins, who. clesiro nothing so much as their country's independence under the ruling family, with whom the throne has been hereditary. It is evident that it is tho proposal that the ruler of

Jugo-Slavia shall be the King of Serbia, I or one of his family, that is the chief obstacle to Montenegro's entrance into j the Southern Slav federation. The ; Petrovitch dynasty, represented to-day ! by King Nicholas, has ruled Monte- j negro for generations. By comparison | the house of King Peter of Serbia, the | ivarageorge line, is but a mushroom affair. The creation of tho new State, if all the Slav territories were harmoniously united, should make for the peace of South-Eastern Europe. It can hardly do this, however, if Montenegro remains outside, for the temptation for the others to apply pressure to the recalcitrant little kingdom would be irresistible. Some way out of the difficulty must be found if the peace is to be kept.