two other party leaders an ex-Premier, was regarded as the mainspring of the new coalition, and initiated a more moderate foreign policy than that of the previous Cabinet. Russia advised Servia to give up her demand for territorial compensation, and on March 9 Servia addressed a note to the signatory Powers of the Treaty of Berlin declaring that she had no intention of forcing hostilities with Austria-Hungary and was prepared to preserve amicable relations with her as in the past, that the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was a matter for the great European Powers, that she left it to the equity of those Powers, and demanded from Austria-Hungary no compensation in connection with that incident. The Powers, however, especially after the decisive step taken by Germany at St. Petersburg (p. 327), showed no inclination to pursue the matter any further, and being only anxious to preserve the peace, which was endangered by Austria-Hungary insisting on the complete surrender by Servia of all her demands, induced her to accept the wording of a declaration to that effect proposed by Great Britain (March 31), and accompanied by assurances on the part of the AustroHungarian Foreign Minister that "Austria-Hungary did not desire in any way to exercise any pressure upon Servia or impede the normal development of her defensive forces," that she "did not plan any attack upon Servia if she disarmed," and that she "had no intention of acting against Servia's independence, her free development, her security, or the integrity of her territory." This solution of the question was facilitated by the renunciation by the Servian Crown Prince, the most hot-headed of the advocates of resistance, of his rights of succession on March 25 in consequence of the death of one of his servants owing, it was said, to his having been subjected to extreme violence by him, and the proclamation on March 27 of his brother Alexander as heir to the Servian throne.

The Coalition Cabinet appointed in February, which had held together so long as the country was in danger of war, broke up in October, and on the 24th of that month a new Cabinet, composed of representatives of the two Radical groups, was formed with M. Pachitch as Premier, M. Milovanovitch retaining his former post as Minister of Foreign Affairs. On December 27 the Skupshtina authorised the Government to raise a loan of 6,000,000l. and passed a two months' vote on account for 1910, and on December 29 the President of the Skupshtina and the Minister of Foreign Affairs made enthusiastic speeches on the occasion of the Gladstone centenary, and a telegram was forwarded to the Gladstone Celebrations Committee in London 'recalling with gratitude the work of Mr. Gladstone in fortifying the oppressed outside England and in protesting eloquently against violations of civil and national rights.

In Bulgaria the most important political incidents of the year were the recognition by the Powers of the Bulgarian king

dom and the financial arrangement with Turkey. In February the British diplomatic agent informed the Bulgarian Government that Great Britain would recognise Bulgarian independence when Turkey did so, and the differences between her and Bulgaria were settled. Prince Ferdinand proceeded to Russia in the same month to attend the funeral of the Grand Duke Vladimir, and though he was received with Royal honours he obtained much the same answer to his claim for recognition as that of Great Britain. Meanwhile Bulgaria was mobilising her troops and threatening war with Turkey; upon which Russia intervened with a proposal for settling the differences between the two powers by a financial arrangement, unanimously approved by the Western Powers, which was equally advantageous to them both (p. 338), and was ratified by protocols signed by Turkey and Russia on March 16 and by Turkey and Bulgaria on April 19. All the signatory powers of the Treaty of Berlin then recognised the independence of Bulgaria; England, Russia, and France on April 23, and Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy on April 27. The above protocols assigned a sum of 3,280,000l. to cover both the proprietary rights of Turkey over the Oriental railways and the concessionary rights of the company over that portion of its lines which runs through Bulgarian territory, the portion of the above sum payable by Bulgaria for the railway being 1,680,000l. These matters having been satisfactorily arranged, the relations between Bulgaria and Turkey became friendly, and a rapprochement was also effected with Servia. King Ferdinand travelled, on October 25, to Krushevatz, and thence proceeded with the Servian Crown Prince to Brus, on October 25, and was warmly welcomed by the population. On November 25 he paid a visit to King Peter at Belgrade. In December a delegation from the Bulgarian Parliament proceeded to London to place a silver wreath on the tomb of Mr. Gladstone in Westminster Abbey on the occasion of his centenary in recognition of his services to the Bulgarian cause. A memorial service was held in the Cathedral, all the schools had a holiday, lectures were delivered on the life and work of Mr. Gladstone, and congratulatory telegrams were sent to Mr. Asquith and Mr. Herbert Gladstone by the Government, the Chamber, all the party leaders, and the educational societies. The Budget for 1910 showed receipts of 6,880,9361. and a deficit of 3,040,000l., which was to be covered by a loan.

An attempt on the life of the Roumanian Premier, M. Bratiano, was made on December 21 by a dismissed railway servant. The incident had no political significance.

CHAPTER IV.

LESSER STATES OF WESTERN AND NORTHERN EUROPE.

I. BELGIUM.

THE leading feature of the domestic legislation of the year was the reform of the Army, a subject which occupied a great deal of Parliamentary time. The Schollaert Ministry had referred the subject to a committee of fifteen members (ANNUAL REGISTER, 1908, p. 341), whose report was presented to the Chamber on May 1. The majority were in favour of the maintenance of voluntary service. The Committee admitted that the Army lacked 4,802 men on the peace strength and 18,844 on a war footing, but the partisans of voluntary service attributed the deficiency to the hostility of officers, and to the inadequate enforcement of the law of 1902 (ANNUAL REGISTER, 1902, p. 333). General Hellebaut, the War Minister, was well known to be a strong partisan of compulsory and personal service. But MM. Beernaert and Verhaegen, the leaders of the "Old Right," leaving their former standpoint, declared against his view, and it was expected that the "Old Right" (ANNUAL REGISTER, 1908, p. 340) would solidly support the principle of substitution. An Army Reform Bill was promised by the Premier towards the end of June and introduced on July 7. It proposed to abolish the ballot, but to compel only one son in each family to serve, while retaining the system of substitutes. The sections of the Chamber promptly rejected these proposals, and it was decided to call a special session for October 19. After prolonged debates the Chamber of Deputies passed the amended Bill (substitution, after all, being abolished) by 104 votes to 49. The War Committee of the Senate and the Senate itself passed it also, the latter by 71 votes to 22, and the Bill became law on December 14, to the satisfaction of King Leopold II., who had expressed a special desire to sign it before his death, and to that of the Ministerial parties generally, who preferred to face the elections of 1910 without being hampered by this disputed question.

Several minor reforms were also introduced into the Army; several regiments of field artillery were equipped with the new Krupp quick-firing guns; an electric automatic target was adopted, instantly registering the result at the firing point, and so obviating the dangerous work of marking. A sum of 360,000l. was voted for the further fortification of Antwerp.

A question of long standing, that of the hours of labour in mines (ANNUAL REGISTER, 1908, p. 340), was raised, but not settled within the year. A Committee of the Chamber had approved of it in December, 1908, and it was passed by the Chamber in April, 1909. It came back from the Senate, with very important amendments regarding the work of loaders and

drivers. The Chamber in July declined to accept these amendments and passed the bill unaltered for the second time on December 16.

The Gambling Act was once more brought into notice in the beginning of July, as the Court of Appeal quashed sentences of fine and imprisonment imposed on the managers of gaming establishments at Ostend.

The seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Free University of Brussels, founded on November 23, 1834, was celebrated on November 19. Numerous representatives from various foreign Universities were present. Among the readers of papers were Professors Holland, Westlake, and Cormack, of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and London respectively, and on these, as well as on Professor Francis Darwin of Cambridge, honorary degrees were conferred. Friends of the University contributed a fund of 8,000l. for its benefit, which was placed at the disposal of M. Buls, the Burgomaster.

A British Chamber of Commerce for Belgium was formed by merchants of Brussels and Antwerp. It began its career by an effort to stop the fraudulent use in Belgium of English labels on goods not made in Great Britain.

The year closed without the definitive recognition by either Great Britain or the United States of the transfer of the Congo territory to Belgium. (For the agitation in England, see pp. 26, 127, 257.) Two Socialist deputies, MM. Vandervelde and Royer, called attention in the Chamber, on March 16, to a decree of January 6, authorising the impressment of 2,595 natives for work on the Grands Lacs railway. In reply, M. Renkin, the Colonial Minister, justified the decree on the ground that the work was urgent, and was useful to the natives as well as to Belgium, but he stated that the treatment of the natives had improved, and promised the eventual introduction of free labour; and, on the motion of M. Hymans, the Chamber passed a resolution which virtually endorsed his statement. In the correspondence between the British and Belgian Governments, published in June, Sir Edward Grey continued to insist on forced labour and the system of native taxation as the great obstacles to the recognition of the transfer by Great Britain, and the correspondence between the Belgian and United States Governments, published in August, indicated that the latter took a similar view. The transfer was celebrated at Antwerp (June 6-13) by a Colonial festival, including an effective procession, an exhibition of the products of the Colony, and a native encampment; and the proceedings were closed by a speech from King Leopold, who said nothing of the native question, but insisted on the need of the commercial expansion of Belgium, especially with regard to her mercantile marine, and offered to encourage capitalists to promote it by giving them concessions in the Congo. In the Chamber on June 6 M. Furnémont, a Socialist deputy, argued that such grants would virtually restore the

Crown Domain and so conflict with the Colonial law; the Government, however, accepted responsibility for the speech, and explained that the King had referred only to vacant lands. However, Prince Albert, accompanied by the Colonial Minister, visited the Colony during the year. After some difficulty in obtaining the consent of the King, the Prince started from London on April 3, having postponed his departure from January, in order to avoid the unhealthy season caused by the floods. He travelled by way of Capetown to Katanga, and thence to Boma, where he arrived early in August, after walking about 1,500 miles through the Congo forest. He reached Antwerp and Brussels on August 16, and his return was celebrated by public rejoicings. It was stated in the Press that he had been dissatisfied with the conditions prevailing in the Colony, and on October 28 the Colonial Minister outlined his scheme of reform in the Chamber, in introducing the Colonial Budget for 1910. He began by denying the charges of cruelty made against the officials, founding his denial on the results of inquiries made during his visit; and he proceeded to state that, though the vacant lands belonged to the State, regard must be had to the interests of the natives. They would, therefore, be granted leave to take the produce of the soil by three stages. On July 1, 1910, the Lower Congo, Stanley Pool, Ubangi, Bongola, Kwangi, Kasai, Katanga, the southern part of the Eastern province, Aruwimi, and the banks of the river as far as Stanleyville, would be opened to freedom of trade. The Domain of the Crown would be opened on July 1, 1911, and the Welle district on July 1, 1912. Taxes would be levied in money, and the compulsory provisioning of agents would be abolished. Investigation was promised of the administration of territories held by concessionaires, with the view of ascertaining whether better arrangements could be made. M. Cattier, a Roman Catholic who had frequently criticised the administration of the Congo, expressed his approval of the new regime, and the Socialist members with some reserves did likewise. The statement did not check the agitation in Great Britain (p. 257); the Belgian Episcopate, however, congratulated the head of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England on refusal of the British Roman Catholic episcopate to take part in it, and, towards the end of the year, the Belgian people seemed generally disposed to await the fulfilment of the promise of reform. The hopes of the reformers were strengthened by the accession of Prince Albert to the throne.

King Leopold II. died on December 17 (Obituary, p. 141). His successor is his nephew. King Albert Leopold Clement Marie Meinrad is the younger son of the Count of Flanders. He was born at Brussels on April 8, 1875, and married at Munich on October 2, 1900, Duchess Elisabeth of Bavaria, born July 25, 1876. She is the second child of the second marriage of the late Duke Charles Theodore of Bavaria (Obituary, p. 139). They