ALBANIAN PHILOSOPHY

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2144, 9 May 1914, Page 5

ALBANIAN PHILOSOPHY

- AN INNKEEPER'S VIEWS , v TWO UGLY STORIES ABOUT HIS > CHIEF. At tho end of a long day's ride ovei the. mountains which separate Tirana from Elbasan-we were sitting round a wood fire lighted in tho middle of the ' room of a native Khan (says the special correspondent of the "Daily Mail"). Tho owner of tho Khan was a warrior by profession, and only turned innkeeper when there was no lighting to be done.. He had lately- returned from Skutari, where ho had gono with 10,000 other of "Essad's men" to help their-chief de-. fond the place against tho Montenegrins. There did not- ceem to be any doubt in.'tho old man's.mind about two ugly stories against his chief—that ho had killed the first defender of Skutari, Hassan Riza Pasha, to take his place, and that lie had afterwards surrendered tho fortress :to King Nicholas in roturn for gold and the promise that his claims to the Throne of Albania, - if- - made, should not meet with opposition from Montenegro—Essad Pasha,' head of the Toptani family, with 10,000 retainers and follqvye/jS-, for the moment" the 'aoW'TOwirful-'Bor* fa > Albania! ' ' . ' , " ! ■' ' ' Our friend tho Ifhan-keeper was anxious t-o know whether ; it was' proposed. to deprive Albanians of their arms. , "At any rate," we.told him, "you are no longer be allowed to carry your ' rifles about with .you.'". . "Better to mgjtf than to take the rifle," .was' his cojiifienl/—an Albanian's rifle is dfcarer'to him than life.: He went on to, tell us of liis 'six "campaigns." Wo asked whotlier he would be ready to go and drive tho Greeks out of Koritjsa if the new King called on him. - "Yes, yes," he said eagerly, and then ruminating'half to himself, "It's better to go to a fight than to a marriage." Tho old philosopher had lived for fighting, • like , most Albanians of the hills. 'He had fought against the Turks ' in rebellion, for the Turks against, the Montenegrins, and against Serbs and B.ulgars on his owt\ account —ol- in duty to'his race, for the Slavs are Albania's traditional foes. . The Prince and His Subjects. ! Of such material do nine-tenth's of thenow King's subjects consist. They are practically the last of the fighting races of Europe, a bravo, brutal, sturdy, fearless people, inured to hardship, povertystricken, and greedy of money; loyal in a clannish way, devoted to their chief so long as lie treats them well; keenwitted, with a sense of honour of their own, ruled by custom and inspired by tradition. It has been tho unique distinction of tho Turks to keep tho Balkans at a standstill for 500 years. At the moment of their emancipation the Balkan States wcro what, they had been before the wonderful 16th century had transformed European thought and driven European activities into new channels. The Albanians arc emerging from medieval existence to-day. ■ We see Albanian civilisation in its proper -perspective if wo compare tho condition of the country now wish that of Scotland, with which Albania has many characteristics in common, during the minorities of the early Jameses five centuries ago., The aim of James I has been described a? "to make the nobles more dependent upon the Crown; to restrain them from oppressing the people; and "to rule tho kingdom through Parliament acting with tho executive power of the Crown." Tho task of William I of Albania will not bo: much-different. It- will be gradually to abolish the feudal pre- . rogatives of tho Beys, and to induce the hillmen who inhabit the less accessible parts of Albania to substitute for ' . loyalty to a local chieftain loyalty to the King; to teach them to honour labour. to the head of a family, manual labour is positively derogatory; (o perceive the gain of general submission to a common law; and to love their wives better than their rifles 1 A Disappointment. Albanians are disappointed bccause tho opening of the new Sovereign's reign has changed nothing, tlioy say. Only tho Palace,' which used to be tho Turkish Ivonak, has bccome an ,:iutcrliatioual island"; instead of a Vali it holds a German Prince, with his German aide-de-camp, two' or three Austrian Court functionaries, an Italian soldier, and an English private secretary. Tile Prince has scarcely been 1 outshlo it; nobody ei'er sees him. Men go in and out of Essad Pasha's house as before, whilo the Palace of tho great Christian Prince is unapproachable. Evidently, tho natives reflect-, the Moslem Pasha is still supreme. In his .ante-rooms lounge -armed retainers.Those who come with boons to ask seldom go away unsatisfied. A "napoletm," a lamb, some wine, no one leaves empty-handed. , Prince William can scarcely bo expected to make doles to all and sundrv callers, still less to lead untrained mountaineers to expel the Greeks liom Kiiirus. Hut he might, have done something lo make bis presence a reality to his new subjects. lie lost a great opportunity when he slipped mi to bis realm almost unpcrceived. if tho Prince does not mnke a bold stroke soon to win the innnarcliic.il and.aristocratic instincts of his people he may never win them.