AMONG THE JUGOSLAVS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 221, 12 June 1919, Page 6

AMONG THE JUGOSLAVS

VISIT TO CROATIAN CAPITAL ("Morning Post" Correspondent.) Zagreb (Afjram), ApVil 3. Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, present? a very different aspect from Belgrade, for it is outwardly untouched by the war and has , the appearance and life of a thriving provincial (own. The essentials or hfe are plentiful and good, though dear, while everything else, especially textile goods of all kinds, is beyond the reach of all except the rich. Machinery of all kinds is lacking, es well as petroleum and benzine, while ihe most serious factor of all is the dearth of coal. The town is .fearfully overcrowded, as there aremany refugees, especially inhabitants of the districts bordering on the Adriatic occupied by the Italians, they having fled inland to escape oppression 'and deportation to Italy. Before the war Zagreb had a population of about 90,000, to-day it is estimated at 150,000, the consequence being that it is extremely difficult to find a bed. Waiting for Paris, Politically the people of Zagreb are in a state of. considerable excitem mt. In the firstplace, the Croats, who have enjoyed considerable autonomy under foreign dominion for centuries, have not yet had time to become accustomed to the fact that they form part and parcel of-on independent State, and, in the second place, the fact that the «.international problems in whiclf they and ,'ugo-Slavia. fire concerned are still unsolved keeps them in a state of constant agitation. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Zagreb, who received me and other Entente journalists yesterday afternoon, said that the whole of Jugo-Slavh was eagerly awaiting the end! of the Peace Conference and the definition of its frontiers. His Grnco npnrehends tho spread of Bolshevism in neighbouring countries if peace is not soon concluded,, and observed that, although Jiicro-Slavia wna not ground in which Bolshevism could flourish, it was too small to resist invasion from all tho eurrounding countries. Confidence jn England. The Archbishop told me that all tho people of Jiivo-Slavia were looking to England- for support. Many other Jugoslavs have expressed to me the 'hope and belief that England will stand by' n nation which has at last shaken off the fetters that have bound it hand and foot for centuries, and which is striving only to have its independence confirmed. Tin Jugo-Slavs know how England acts 'in her own colonies and dependencies, and cannot but think she will have, sympathy and help for a little friendly' nation fighting for its national life. We have also been received bv tho Ban of Croatia. Under Austro-Huuga-nan rule the Ban was a high Hungarian official appointed by the Government >f \ ienna as Governor over Croatia. Hij office is.temporarily retained, but is now filled by a Croat appointed by the Government of Belgrade. The' Ban drew attention to the critical position in which Croatia is placed. She cannot, he pointed out, trade with the Central Empires and receive merchandise from them as before the war, and Italy prevents goods entering through Adriatic ports. The Government at Belgrade has now retorted by prohibiting all export through Fiume into Italy—a measure which is to serve the further purpose of proving (hat Fiume cannot live without its hinterland. I find here, as in Belgrade, absolute necord on the question of -Jugo-SlavM. Everybody with whom I speak tells in.) ns a simply indisputable fact that all Croats desire the , union of the Serbspeaking Slavs, which has been the dream of their race for centuries, and all, as in Serbia proper, are resolved to die if nece.ssiirv for the attainment of their ideal. The longer I stay in Jugoslavia and the more views I hear, the more convinced I become that is (he re.-rolve of the very s"ul of tlie nation.' Little is said about it, but the people breathe a determination to remain free on their own soil. The wholo nation is Trillin* to abide by a plebiscite, though it demands that the plebiscite shall be taken in complete freedom.