Balkan Peninsula -- Description and travel; Eastern question (Balkan)
This is no doubt due, in the first place, to the constitutional
cautiousness of King Peter. He has inspired with confidence the
financial world in Paris and elsewhere, for it is well known that he is,
before all, a constitutional ruler, and that his Government will never
be anything else than a constitutional one. Therefore, by his attitude,
he has so improved the state of Servian finance that the future
prosperity of the country is assured.
When King Peter was proclaimed, the Servians restored their liberal
Constitution, which the late King, under the influence of his father,
had abrogated. This has opened the way to the development of the country
in every direction. There is, of course, much yet to be done. As regards
the administration of justice, several excellent reforms have been
introduced during the present reign. Dr. Vesnitch is at present
reforming the prison system, and is about to introduce, after studying
the question for fifteen years, a new and unique system. He is of
opinion that the prisoners from the towns should be separated from those
from the country, for two reasons.
He declares that when criminals from the towns commit crimes it is in
most cases because they are not sufficiently instructed in their skilled
labour. They are bad workmen, and hence their downfall. If, however,
they were classified and instructed in the prison, they would, when
discharged, be better prepared, with the assistance of the Prisoners’
Aid Societies, to seek an honest living. Again, the second reason is
that the influence of town-bred prisoners upon those from the country is
always an evil one, and should at all times be avoided. The Servian
Government have adopted the Minister’s point of view, and fresh prisons
are to be constructed upon that basis.
Another reform about to be introduced by Dr. Vesnitch is that of
“conditional release.” It is intended to preserve first offenders from
the demoralising influence of prison life, and to create a good moral
influence over those who commit a crime for the first time. In a word,
the Servian project seeks to conciliate the English method with the
French Loi Beranger.
In all the other administrations—public instruction, war, finance, and
agriculture—many other reforms have been introduced, and many are in
course of preparation. As a matter of fact, until two years ago Servia
had no University, but at present an excellent institution has been
established, the professors of which rank well with those of other
nations.
In the department of war, a very important reform is about to be carried
out, namely, the rearmament of the artillery. This is, of course, a wide
subject, and time must elapse before the defences of the country are in
an absolutely perfect state. Suffice it, however, to say that the
Ministers of War and Finance are exerting every effort to obtain the
best weapons in France, and, at the same time, to leave the country’s
finances uncrippled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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