thirty-five years built villages “after the pattern of Potemkin,” for the edification of foreign journalists, while the people have been left to starve, or sink into poverty and ignorance. The numerous foreign tourists who have travelled in these beautiful countries have seen nothing of Austria’s “work of civilization,” as they are kept to the beaten tracks specially prepared for them, and they only see the country like a carefully staged panorama on the films of the Royal and Imperial State Cinematograph! But had these travellers caught a glimpse of the abject misery of the people, their pleasure in these beautiful countries would have been spoilt, and they would have better understood why the inhabitants are rebelling against the “blessing” of Austro-Hungarian rule. It is much easier to understand why the political horizon in the Southern Slav corner of Europe is always clouded if one is given a clearer view of the _Chartered rights_, as opposed to the _actual position_, held by the Southern Slavs in the Monarchy; but this view is not usually obtained through the official channels of Vienna and Budapest. According to these, all ancient _charters_ of liberty are so many “scraps of paper,” and the actual law merely the right of the strongest. The Hapsburgs did not come as victors with the rights of a conqueror to the Southern Slav provinces. They became rulers of these countries in virtue of voluntary treaties, and they themselves issued manifestos and bulls, in which the integrity and independence of the Southern Slav countries are incontestably guaranteed. Centuries ago, while the Hapsburg dynasty was endangered by constant wars, and especially during the Turkish invasion, these guarantees were faithfully observed. But with the altered conditions of affairs the Southern Slavs had to wage a bitter struggle for their rights.