--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - J. M. Tanner collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 6 number: 9 published: 1903-07 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'J. M. Tanner, "Some Leading Events in the Current Story of the World," *Improvement Era* 6, no. 9 (July 1903): 696–701.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0609unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0609unse start_page: 696 end_page: 701 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1903-07) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0609unse publication_year: 1903 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1903, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Some Leading Events in the Current Story of the World SOME LEADING EVENTS IN THE CURRENT STORY OF THE WORLD. BY DR. J. M. TANNER, SUPERINTENDENT OF CHURCH SCHOOLS. The Revolution in Servia. On the morning of June 11, a military revolution took place at Belgrade in which the king and queen, a number of courtiers, and some of the ministers, were assassinated. The wholesale tragedy is one of the most shocking events in the royal life of Europe. Servia has been rent for many years by the contentions of Austria and Russia for supremacy in that little Danubian king- dom. Servia is known in history as the peasant nation. It had no important history until the latter part of the eighteenth century. When the Turks invaded Servia, the Servian nobility was destroyed and the Mussulmans were made rulers of the country. The people were reduced to peasant life, and swine raising became the chief industry. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, some of these swine herders had risen to wealth and some distinction, and from these swine herders two powerful and rival families arose, the Karageorgevitches and the Obrenovitches. These families suc- ceeded each other by revolutions, and were the partisans either of Austria or Russia. An excellent illustration of the influence of Russia and Austria was had in the Servo-Bulgarian war which took place in 1886. Bulgaria and Servia had been rivals for the exten- sion of their government. The people of Roumelia, a dependency of Turkey, were permitted, under the treaty of Berlin, to select their own governor. When they selected the prince of Bulgaria, Servia immediately declared war. It was thought that the Servians, whose army had been somewhat trained and disciplined, would, of CURRENT STORY OF THE WORLD. 699 course, be victorious. Russia was with Bulgaria, and Austria was with Servia, and, to the astonishment of the world, the Bulgarians were victorious. The writer happened to be in Bulgaria at the time, and had an opportunity to observe the inflamable character of both Bulgarians and Servians, who are both quite capable of bringing about just such revolutions as that of June 11. Both these nations are Slavonic, and their natural tendency is toward a state of anarchy. They are wholly unfit for republican institutions, and the probability of converting Servia into a repub- lic, as hinted at by some of the press despatches, is past consider- ation, neither Austria nor Russia would permit a republic in Servia. As a result of the war, Servia's ambitions were somewhat checked; but if Servia could not quarrel with her neighbors, like the Bulgar- ians, she had at least abundant material for civil strife and revo- lutions within her own domains. In 1889, Milan abdicated the throne, and was succeeded by Alexander I, son of Milan. Alexander, an Obrenovitch, looked to Austria for support. Immediately upon his assassination, the sol- diers proclaimed his rival, Karageorgevitch, king. The latter is strongly supported by the Russians; indeed, the son of Karageorge- vitch is now in St. Petersburg receiving an education at the expense of the Russian government. It is not easy to see how this revo- lution could be brought about by Russian intrigue, as Russia and Austria are at present united in their policy respecting the Balkan States, and therefore, naturally, there would be no contentions between them respecting Servia. However, there can be no doubt that Russian influence is remotely responsible for what has just occurred. King Alexander was a worthless and arbitrary monarch. A little more than two months ago, he suspended the constitution that made Servia a limited monarchy. Another circumstance that made him unpopular was his marriage to Draga, a woman of obscure family, whose intrigues and deceptions have made her very unpop- ular with the masses of the people. The Kishineff Outrages. When Russia, Prussia and Austria divided among them the kingdom of Poland, Russia came into possession of a large number 700 IMPROVEMENT ERA. of Jews that have been a source of no little concern to the Russian government, which now has to deal with some five millions of these people who are located along the western and south-western boarders of Russia. These unfortunate people have been largely confined to certain districts; and those that were on the border were forced to leave their homes and settle farther back, a dis- tance of some fifty or one hundred miles. This action was taken because it was alleged that the Jews, being traders, were disposed to smuggle goods into the country. From the beginning the Russian government has adopted the policy of adding restriction after restriction upon the Jews, until the rules and regulations restricting Jewish life would fill a volume of some three hundred closely printed pages. The discrimination against this unfortunate people by the government led to discrimi- nation against them by the people; and thus the Russians came to regard themselves a superior people, and, therefore, looked down upon the Jews with contempt. The same thing happened to the Jews that happens when a man assumes a superiority, when, in fact, he is really inferior —a feeling of hatred. In south-western Russia is a province called Bessarabia, and its chief city is Kishineff . Here, recently, April 19-20, there was an outbreak of Russian hatred toward the Jews which resulted in the destruction of life and property, and in widespread human suf- fering. Just what gave rise to the first act of violence cannot be definitely stated. The report was circulated that a Christian boy had been killed, supposedly by the Jews, who were to celebrate about that time their Easter. Oriental Christians have a silly tra- dition and belief that a Jewish Easter cannot be properiy cele- brated without the use of Christian blood; and these Christians, therefore, have wonderful and weird stories to tell about the dis- appearance of Christian children living near Jewish neighbor- hoods. For some time past, an anti-Semitic paper called the Bessara- bitz has been agitating the Jewish question, and creating the strong- est possible race-hatred. The massacre, therefore, that recently took place st Kishineff is said to be due to the campaign which the Bessarabitz has been waging against the Jews. The outburst of Christian fury spread terror throughout the entire Jewish com- CURRENT STORY OF THE WORLD. 701 munity. Men, women and children were tortured and put to death in the most horrible manner. It is stated that during the two days of these massacres seven hundred homes were destroyed, six hun- dred shops were sacked, ten thousand persons made homeless, forty- five persons killed outright, eighty-four seriously wounded, and five hundred slightly injured. That such outrages could be carried on for two days and nights in a large city like Kishineff, which is in telegraphic com- munication with St. Petersburg, seems incredible without believing that the governor of the province was actually abetting the crime. The central government, in the end, ordered a stop to be put to the carnage, and disavowed to the world any responsibility for the excessive acts which had been committed. Russia has been censured severely throughout the civilized world for her treatment of the Jews, and especially has she been blamed fur the wanton destruction of Jewish life and property at Kishineff. The world will never cease to hold Russia responsible, as long as the Jews are made the objects of religious hatred, and as long as the government discriminates so unfavorably against the Jews by its laws and the conduct of its officials. The Russian clergy are constantly denouncing, before the people, the Jews who are held up to ridicule and scorn. In Russia, there is a severe censorship of the press, and yet leading papers like the Znamya, the Novoe Vremya, and the Bess- arabitz are permitted year after year to denounce the Jews in such unmeasured terms as to create the most violent prejudice in the Russian mind. Only a few Jews are permitted to attend the Russian univer- sities, and those young Jews who educate themselves abroad, ex- cept a very few, are not allowed to practice medicine or law within Jews cannot become farmers, and if a Jew the Russian empire. comes by will into the ownership of a farm, he must dispose of it in six months. In the army, the Jew cannot rise above the office of a non-commissioned officer, no matter how well qualified or how valiant he may be. There is one healthy sign that has been the outgrowth of the felt the sting massacres at Kishineff, and that is that Russia has world, and under that sting she of criticism offered by the civilized 702 IMPROVEMENT ERA. summarily banished the correspondent of the London Times. Whether we can see that Russia has any well defined conscience or not, we at least know that Russia feels the unmeasured condemna- tion which the civilized world has laid upon her. A Venture at Prophecy. Now that all the world is reminded of the unhappy condition of the Jews in Russia, and is full of sympathy for that unfortunate people in this the hour of its great distress, it may not be out of place to consider the fact that many in this country, liberal as we profess to be, are not wholly without aversion to the Jewish race; and it may be safely predicted that the day is not far distant when we shall feel the force of an anti-Semitic agitation, even in the United States. Call to mind the fact that the State of New York, in our elections, frequently decides which political party shall become predominant in the nation, and the City of New York is not only a dominant factor in the State but also in the nation. Then take into consideration that New York city has within its borders more Jews than have ever been assembled in any one place since the dispersion; that there are between six and seven hundred thousand Jews in New York city, and that within the next decade that number may increase to a million, and then you can realize what a powerful factor the Jewish race may become in the political strug- gles of our nation. There has been a considerable demand on the part of the Jews that this country, through its executive, speak out in condemnation of Russia's treatment of the Jews. The Jews will feel, indeed they feel now, the force of their political strength. At a critical point n the political life of our nation, it will not be easy for an execu- tive to resist the temptation to yield to the appeals of a class of people whose support he feels strongly the necessity of. Ex-Presi- dent Cleveland attended and spoke at a meeting of Jewish sym- pathizers in the City of New York. It would be wondrous strange if theJews did not take advantage of their growing political and commercial power to compel this country to espouse the cause of the Jews in foreign lands. If the Jews should undertake to pun- ish men in high places by Jewish vote, it can easily be seen that CURRENT STORY OF THE WORLD. 703 -they may excite an enmity here that will be the beginning of a strong anti-Semitic feeling in the United States. The Jews are not at rest even in the United States. They do not find that complete freedom of action they desire, and it is measurably certain that this country will, before many years, have its Jewish problem also. The Zionists appreciate coming events which, in their minds, have already cast the shadows of future Jewish misfortunes in this land. As this country grows more and more Catholic, there will be more and more an anti-Semitic spirit. The Protestants are much more tolerant to the Jews than the Catholics. Two classes are becoming predominant in New York city, the one Jewish, the other Catholic. They are elements that have never mixed. We may, therefore, predict that before many years, important Jewish problems will await a satisfactory solution by the people of this country. History is growing interesting, and the Latter-day Saints see the hand of God in it all. THE WORKERS. Warriors of Peace, whose laurels drip no dew of blood or tears, Whose victories past shall nerve your arms through all the coming years, Still shall be yours, when, with the western sun, You homeward wend your glad though weary way, The smile of God for duty nDbly done, And Love's sweet welcome at the close of day. Though careless, thoughtless minds may fail to comprehend your toil, Breasting the seas, taming the wilderness, tilling the stubborn soil, It honors Heaven's behest; for at the birth Of this fair world, 't was thus His mandate ran: "The pleasures and the treasures of this eart\ Lo, they are his whose life is lived for man!"— Selected.