SMALLEST STATE

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 144, 21 June 1930, Page 14

SMALLEST STATE

THE VATICAN CITY

QUIETEST IN WORLD

HOW IT. IS ORDERED

' (By Beatrice Baskerville.)

(Copyright.)

The .Vatican City State, which covers 14 acres, has 1000 chapels and apartments, and a population of -518. It is much tho smallest State in the world.

With the Lateran Pact passed into the realm.of historical documents, and Pius XL, under its terms, free to leave the confines of the Vatican, tho ancient rules and traditions so long a part of St. Peter's are being revealed once more. ' For the pact not only created the Vatican City State, but fundamentally changed the Pontiff's life and position. Before,, he was a; prisoner, even though a voluntary one. Now he is free to travel the world over. Prom a' mere occupant of" the Vatican, dependent for his home on the goodwill of the Italian State, the Pope is monarch. Born- an,ltalian," he is now a "foreigner," first citizen of his ■ own realm, for the Pope enjoys exactly the same sovereign status as the President of the United States, the King of England, and the heads of all other republics and monarchies. . .

Contrary to general belief, the cardinals have no say.in the:' State's rule. Only when the Holy See becomes vacant through the reigning Pope's death do his administrative powers pass to them. Even then they may only, issue laws in cases of emergency.,'': 'The new Pope, can quash them. The Vatican City State is the only one in the world set in .the midst of another' State's capital. Monumental walls are its frontiers; an immeasurable spiritual abyss divides it from all realms. ,As in other States, foreigners, meaning everybody but the 518 Vatican citizens, must produce pagsports. The Swiss Guards mount sentry at the massive gates. They can deny ingress if the applicant is unsuitably dressed or in any way disorderly. For the women, short skirts. and bare arms are classed as unsuitable. HISTORIC GUARD. In brilliant red and yellow . garb, plumed helmets, halberds, these Swiss Guards have defended the Popes' lives and property for over four centuries, often shedding blood freely. They come from Switzerland's three Catholic Cantons. Their are about 300 now, but more arc being recruited. Day and night they stand outside the Pope's doors and challenge all comers. The Vatican City is the quietest city in the world. Street cries and squabbles never'cross its borders. Besides having some of the finest architecture and art treasures in existence, it is full of the colour of past , ages. Whether you wander in the vast chambers of its palaces, admire tho Pope's new railway station —which will enable him to reach other countries without setting foot in Italy—or mail cards with tho new Papal stamps, you meet Papal chamberlains in hose, doublet, and . sword, noble, guards in fur colpaks'and scarlet, •gondannes in Napoleonic uniforms, cardinals in.-bright robes, resplendent ambassadors on their way to private audience with tho Pope. Everybody looks cheerful, but talks quietly. Courtesy is a-well-observed, law. ■ Gossip is forbidden. King Albert of BeMura' recently visited the Pope. Nobody in Bomo knew it. Even Belgians beard of if only after the King s return home. For the courtiers who ushered him to tho throne room, noble guards on duty there, gendarmes who formed the .escort of honour, Swiss Guards who*did sentry, kept silent. They hart been told the visit was incognito." Discipline is strict m tins State. PROHIBITIONS. There are many "don'ts." Don't attempt to stay after 11 o 'clock at niffht, or enter before 6 o'clock in the morning. Don't take food in. Its sale is the Pope's monopoly, its importation and exportation is a penal, oifenee, punishable with fines, , ana for. hardened offenders imprisonment' in the ' State gaol This because His Holiness retails food to his citizens at cost price and cheaper than Rome. Don't try to open a shop or office. Don't try to find a night 8 lodging. Even . citizens may not let rooms to fellow citizens without written permits from Count Serafim, the Governor, for there is not much space in these fourteen acres with a thousand halls, chapels, and apartments. _ For purposes of-public order, His Holiness applies laws as made by the Italian authorities for -Borne, except where'-they are contrary to canon law aiid divine law as set forth in Holy Writ. Bars, dancing halls, and theatres do not exist in the Papal State. Vatican- citizens who feel Count Serafmi has infringed their rights may appeal to the Pope. A court with a lay president and two lay Judges tries penal coses. .There is no jury. Appeals, in the first instance, are taken to the\Holy Bota, famous for annulment of marriages; in the second instance to the Segnaturo, supreme tribunal of the Holy See. Both these courts are composed of ecclesiastics, though some of the advocates are laymen. ONE ARREST. Count Serafini is solely responsible to the Pope for maintenance of law and order. Gendarmes are under him, and he can call upon the Swiss Guards if need be. So far he has made only ono arrest. A youth went careering about those sedate squares on a bicycle, and had no bell or other signal. He paid a small fine. The Pope is strict about education. Parents who fail to send their children to school regularly arc fined up to £0 and liable to not more than ten days in' the state goal for a third offence. Fines and gaol await unlicensed tourist guides, souvenir hawkers, beggars. The population includes two babies born sinee1 tho Lateran Pact was.-sign-ed. Eleven nationalities go to tho total, including 389 Italians, a dozen Frenchmen* some Dutchmen, Austrians, Norwegians, Belgians, and ouc young native of Ethiopia, who is,preparing for baptism. There are twenty-three Cardinal citizens. Only two live in the State. ■ Tho Papal Secretary of State has a princely apartment in the main palace. Cardinal Merry del Val, a Spaniard and archpriest of St. Peter's, lives surrounded by his rare books in tho house of the Canons of that basilica. The other Cardinal citizens live in Borne; they lose their citizenship when they cease to live there. All other people lose theirs when they cease to live in Vatican State. '■..,' DINES ALONE. With all his unbounded authority the Rope is a lonely man. Nobody may talk to him on terms of equality, and he confides in no ono. Strangely enough, he is hemmed in by an elaborate code of unwritten laws, immovable as those, of the Medes and Persians, and almost as ancient. One of them rorbids him to sit down to a meal with another human being. He must breakfast, dine, and sup alone. ' ' No dish, no drink, however palatable, may be scut twice to his solitary table. All food.,that has been served' once becomos the servants' pcrquisititis. Pius X, old and ailing, received a present of two bottles of old Tokay wino from a Hungarian nobleman. He sipped one glass at his frugal dinner, felt new life

in his veins, and asked for the bottle next day. It was not given to him, so he had one glass out of the second bottle. By the time his chaplain had communicated with the donor and asked for nioro the World .. War was raging and Pius lay on his deathbed.