SAN MARINO

Northern Advocate, 25 November 1925, Page 12

SAN MARINO

A LILLIPUTAN REPUBLIC

OLDEST INDEPENDENT &TATE

The oldest independent State in 1 Europe, and proud of its title! j Perched high up in the mountains of l the march of Ancona, in North-East i Italy, ringed round with Italian terri- ; ! tory from all except the right of the ! sea, is the tiny republic of San I Marino, independent from the Middle 1 Ages, with a population of 11,000 S soula and an area of thirty-three square miles. Its fate as an independent country hung in the balance during the invasion of Napoleon, and it was due to the reasoning of the State's spokesman' that Napoleon spared it. This man consequently has, in the Republic, as great a claim to reverence i as Saint Marinus himself. j Admirers of republics in theory do . a great deal for San Marino, the sole I country where the torch of freedom has flamed unquenched since the Middle Ages. In the United States, France, etc., the flame of liberty scarcely precedes the advent of gas — coal gas. ' An enthusiastic republican, a sculpj tor named Ottilia Heyroth-Wagener, j presented in 1876 to San Marino a ; statue of Liberty, whose head shows {to distinct, advantage on postage ) stamps. As a reward for this homage !to republican principles, the lady was created Duchess of Acquiviva, one of j the State's half-dozen hamlets! I The capital, San Marino, clusters j round the foot of the Roeca Moun- | I tain 2.438 ft. above sea level, in the j angle of two precipices. T'here are I three peaks in the republic, each crowned with a strong tower and an iron feather. These three towers and three feathers are reproduced in the arms of the republic. ONE HUGE FAMILY. Though imposing from without with its cluster of \he most romantic looking castles out of Italy, the capi'tal is prosaic enough from within and i the castle is merely a scantily filled town gaol. There are, of necessity, few prisoners, as the inhabitants of San Marino comprise one huge intermarried family, and a man can't arrest his own people. Indeed, the twenty-three carbinieri who compose the business proportion of the 950 j men and thirty-eight officers, have to ! be imported Italians, in order to avoid J favouritism. San Marino itself is a clean, selfrespecting little town, with no other inhabitants above the rank of petty shopkeepers. But the Government must not be omitted. This most efficient little body consists •of a great council of sixty members, headed by 1 the two Captains-General of the Republic and the Secretary of State for | Foreign Affairs, who may hold the ! peace of Europe in his hands. As the ! Captains-General are elected every half-year, most eminent citizens enjoy the honour tolerably early in life. The buildings are miniatures of the thirteen century communal palaces of | Italy. The Palazzo Public, or Town ; Hall, is a' structure of dignity and I beauty, and cost only £6000. It is easy to believe that the public affairs of the State are run economically. The fine building above, however, is one of the republic's chief assets. CHARMING OLD THINGS. San Marino has a picture gallery which is open only when it pleases the curator, and he is a man swayed I not even by the wishes of a CaptainGeneral. The real museum in San Marino, however, is the post office, where the obliging postmaster readily displays the stamps of the Republic ranging from about ten lire to a single centesimo. All tourists are bound to buy stamps, and a complete set, too, for their friends, as the labels are regarded as curios in the outside world. The mint is not so • considerate to tourists, and San Marino pennies are rare. There are no curio shops in San Marino. The people have, however, \ many charming old things to sell, and j are in no way behind the ordinary ' curio dealer in quoting and getting ! prices. In fact, the natives of the j republic are suspected by some to be ' a remarkably line branch of the ten j lost tribes. There are two types of carriage in the republic—the vettura, a palatial conveyance, like a private apartment, and the express, a little, hard-seated cramped country 'bus, which is a | danger to life and limb. The vulgar j express, however, gets you there, and ( the vettura—sometimes. j With the hotel and the gorgeous scenery, the attractions of San Ma- J rino are exhausted. The first is an ' inn on quite modern lines (Irish fashion) and the second a lingering, beautiful memory of mountain and sea, torrent and castle, flaming sunset and undreamed of little nooks.