The Future of the Albanian State Author(S): J

The Future of the Albanian State Author(s): J. S. Barnes Source: The Geographical Journal, Vol. 52, No. 1 (Jul., 1918), pp. 12-27 Published by: geographicalj Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1779856 Accessed: 11-06-2016 12:10 UTC

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known until lately as the Hon. T. F. Fremantle, who has been for twenty years an active member of the Society, and who is an authority on all matters connected with the rifle; Dr. Corney, formerly Principal Medical Officer in Fiji, who has been a lifelong student of problems in the Pacific; and an old friend, Dr. Aubrey Strahan, Director of the Geological Survey, and formerly the Chairman of our Research Committee?a most useful Councillor for re-election. I trust that these distinguished gentlemen will all meet with your approval.

THE FUTURE OF THE ALBANIAN STATE

Captain J. S. Barnes, R.F.C.

Read at the Meeting of the Soeiety, 8 April 1918.

I. The Boundaries

THE in followingme by two paper expeditions is the final which outcome I undertook of an interestsuccessively first in aroused 1911. The first penetrated into Albania from Dures (Durazzo) to Tirane, the stronghold of Essad Toptani Pasha, and to Kruje, the ancient capital of Skanderbeg; the second consisted in a rapid journey from Vlore (Vallona) to Ghinokastre (Argirocastro) and up into the Drinopol valley, close to the southern boundary where Albanian meets Greek. Beyond these districts I have no first-hand acquaintance with Albania; but my personal experiences there, however limited, have at least enabled me to take a more intelligent and critical interest in the authorities I have consulted, when I came to make a study of Albanian problems, than I should otherwise have done. I have had singular opportunities, too, in Italy of meeting travellers intimately acquainted with Albania, such as Herr Hassert and Captain Castoldi; and of discussing Albanian questions with Italian statesmen and with the Marquis di San Giuliano in particular, who had himself visited the country on more than one occasion. The names in this paper of places within Albania according to the Treaty of London, 1913, are spelled in accordance with the map published by the Albanian Soeiety (Brussels, 1910). The conventional (usually Italianized) spellings are given in brackets on the first mention of the name. The names outside Albania of 1913 are spelled as on the Sofiya sheet of the i/M map, first edition. The claims of Albania to be regarded as a distinct people, with national traditions and ideals peculiar to themselves and deserving of recognition, have been formally acknowledged by Europe as a whole, including the Central Powers, at the Ambassadors' Conference held in London during the winter of 1912-13, which gave birth to the new State. Her claims are indisputable, and are only disputed by certain parties

This content downloaded from 132.174.255.116 on Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:10:40 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms THE FUTURE OF THE ALBANIAN STATE 13 selfishly interested in her dismemberment, or by people who fail to distinguish between what is meant by self-determination and the question whether or not a people is fitted here and now to take complete charge of its own destinies. Whether Albania is so fitted is a question which will be discussed in its proper place; but whatever the answer may be it cannot affect her indefeasible right to national unity and to separate national organization. The Albanians, or Shkipetar as they are proud to call themselves, are descendants of the original inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula, who, like our own Britons driven before successive incursions from the East, have taken refuge among the mountain fastnesses of the West. Here they have succeeded through the centuries in maintaining their ancient language, their national customs, their virtual independence. No people in Europe have proved themselves more resistant to efforts of assimilation; and if in many ways they are still barbarians, it is because they have suffered the double disadvantage of forming part of a corrupt and stagnant Empire, cut off during the past five hundred years from all contact with progressive Europe; and of having lived in a constantstateofinstability and insecurity on the very fringe of that Empire, which, though strong enough to encom- pass them, was nevertheless not strong enough to subdue them. Now there is every reason to suppose that, secure in the possession of its own land, the race which gave birth to Pyrrhus and Alexander, to Skanderbeg and Lek Ducaghin; which in more modern times has furnished Turkey and even Greece * and Italy f with eminent statesmen, sailors, and soldiers; and which has justly earned a reputation for courage, industry, and integrity, will before long amply justify its title to recognition and autonomy. " The future of Albania, this new-comer into the circle of European Governments, will depend on the skill with which its boundaries are drawn. Expediency and not strict justice has always ruled the decisions of the Great Powers, who are the final Court of Appeal in such matters, but if a mistaken idea of what seems to be the easiest way is allowed to prevail, and if the land greed of the neighbouring states is permitted to supplant the natural and ethnical frontiers by boundaries inspired by earth-hunger, then the Near Eastern Question, so far from being settled, will only be shifted to another phase, and the Slav will stand out as the oppressor of nationalities in the Balkans in the place of the Turk." J The boundaries of Albania drawn up by the Conference of Ambassadors in 1913 were the result of a compromise between the claims put forward by Greece and Serbia and those urged on behalf of Albania by Austria and

* Admiral Miaulis and many other heroes in the struggle for Greek Independence were either Albanians or of Albanian extraetion. t The famous Italian statesman, Crispi, was of Albanian extraetion. | * Albania,' by Wadham Peacock, formerly H.B.M. Charge d'affairsin Montenegro and Consul-General in North Albania (1914).

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Italy. N^either one side nor the other was actuated by any but interested motives; and the resulting compromise was never anything more than a makeshift diplomatic expedient to avoid what might otherwise have pre- cipitated the great European conflict. Except for the southern boundary between Albania and Greece determined by the International Commission presided over by Lieut.-Colonel Doughty Wylie in 1913,110 serious attempt at all was made to draw boundaries in accordance with either ethnical or economic principles. The natural sympathy felt for Serbia, deprived after two brilliantly successful wars of the very object for which she went to war?a free outlet to the sea; the fear of Great Britain and France of alienating the friendship of Russia; and in all probability also a sad ignorance of facts, each contributed to a solution which both in its Albanian and Macedonian aspects held in itself the germs of future trouble. The war, however, has not only removed many misconceptions; it has created a better atmosphere. Victory will untie our hands for the making of a solution which, if we stick to our principles, should prove also a permanent settlement. The first and fundamental principle here to be taken into consideration in the task of boundary delimitation is that of Nationality, which in the case of Albania happily coincides with race and language, and is not further complicated by the question of religion.* Economic, commercial, and strategical considerations must also be taken into account. The whole is essentially a geographical problem. All doubtful points should be referred in the last resort to a purely geographical solution. In regard to the first principle?to use the words of a recent contributor on the

* Miss Edith Durham, writing in 1909, observed that until quite recently fights between Moslem and Catholic have been all either inter-tribal or "blood," just as between Christian and Christian or Moslem and Moslem. " Religion has not been more of an excuse for fighting than have other things. Only quite lately have Moslems persecuted Christians as Christians. This is because the Moslem sees that Catholicism is the thin end of the wedge for a foreign invader?to wit, Austria. He has no particular quarrel with Catholicism as such, but foreign rule, disguised as Catholicism, he will resist as long as he can stand and see" ('High Albania,). These remarks tally with my own experience and with that of other travellers I have consulted. In Southern Albania an exact parallel exists in the relations between the Moslem and Orthodox Creeds where the latter is only too often regarded as disguised Hellenism. The failure of the Prince of Wied to gain his subjects' confidence was as much due to his clumsily concealed Austrophil policy and to the way in which he leant to this end on the support of the Catholic tribes, as it was to his wooden and obtuse personality. In fact, the comedy of 1914 amply confirms Miss Durham's diagnosis. An enviable tolerance characterizes in all other respects the relations between Moslem and Christian in Albania: witness the national custom of the Saint Nicolo, whereby a father chooses a friend?a Christian if the father be a Moslem, and vice versd?to perform the ceremony of cutting the lock of his child's hair in its first year. "The lock of hair is placed in a purse with a golden or silver present and is kept as a souvenir. This act is supposed to create a spiritual relationship between the family of the child and the friend, and by it they contract obligations towards each other of mutual aid or vengeance in case of outrage " ("Albania and the Albanians," by Ismail Kemal Bey of Vallona, Quarterly Revirtv, July, 1917).

This content downloaded from 132.174.255.116 on Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:10:40 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms THE FUTURE OF THE ALBANIAN STATE 15 subject in the Quarterly Review (" The Final Settlement in the Balkans," Qttarterly Review, October, 1917), "the best means of information are the works of impartial and conscientious travellers who have spent some time in the regions they describe, more especially those who in recent years have made a study of the various populations, languages, and dialects for purely scientific purposes.* The official statistics put forward by the variously interested Governments and Societies are quite worthless in that they utterly contradict each other. " The integral ranges of the Balkan Peninsula . . . give a vertical, not a horizontal, direction to its main structural lines, dividing the land into long belts, which may communicate more readily with what lies to north or south of them, whether sea or land, than with one another. The westernmost of these vertical belts bears the general name of Albania, being, as to its northern part, all the territory that intervenes between the main range of the North Albanian Alps and the start of the main vertical spine in the Shar Mountains, and as to its southern part, such land as divides that spine from the Adriatic Sea " (' The Nearer East,' by D. G. Hogarth). This territory is compactly inhabited by Albanians, except in the extreme south, where either the Hellenic or Vlach elements predomi- nate. South of the Shkumb and north of the boundary laid down by the International Commission of 1913 there are a few isolated Greek colonies and a considerable Vlach population, which has identified itself with the Albanian in everything but language. These Vlachs must not be confused with the Hellenophil Vlachs of Pindus. In the north-east in the basin of the White Drin there are considerable Serbian minorities. At Dibra there is an important Bulgarian minority, which swells into preponderance in the districts of Struga and Oher (Okhrida). East of the spine the dis- tribution of races is more evenly balanced. The Slavs generally pre- dominate; but in a few districts the Albanians still hold a majority, notably in the plains of Kossovo and Tetove and in some parts of the Sandjak of Novibazar. Again, north of the main watershed of the North Albanian Alps, tribes forming an integral portion of the Albanian nation have overflowed on to the fringe of the Montenegrin Plateau; and south of Golo and between Janine and the sea there are numerous Albanian villages. Following these general indications, I shall now proceed to examine the matter in detail, starting in the Primorje between the mouth

* To supplement my own experiences, the chief authorities I have consulted, either through their works or in conversation, are as follows : A. Baldacci (* Itinerari Albanesi,' Rome, 1917 ; E. Barbarich ('Albania,' Rome, 1909) ; Captain Castoldi; Edith Durham (* High Albania,' London, 1909); Bourchier ("Albania," article in the Encyclopcedia Britannicd); Louis Jaray (' L'Albanie Inconnue,' Paris, 1913); K. Hassert; K. Steinmetz ('Eine Reise durch der Hochlandergaue Oberalbaniens? Ein Vorstoss in die Nordal- banischen Alpen?Von der Adria zum Schwarzen Drin, Sarajevo'); Wadham Peacock ('Albania, the Foundling State of Europe,' London, 1914); A. Boue ('La Turquie d'Europe,' Paris, 1840) ; the Marquis of San Giuliano ; Sulliotti (' Albania,' Milan, 1916) ; Vico Montegazza (' II Mediteraneo?Questioni di Politica Estera,5 1910).

This content downloaded from 132.174.255.116 on Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:10:40 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 16 THE FUTURE OF THE ALBANIAN STATE of the Buene (Bojana) and Tivar (Antivari), and working round the country clockwise till finally we come again to the shores of the Adriatic. * ****** The Primorje is the southernmost district of Montenegro, lying between the sea and the Lake of Shkoder (Scutari). It was lost to the Ottoman Empire in 1880, at the instance of Gladstone, in exchange for Plave and Guisune, allotted in spite of fierce Albanian protests to Montenegro at the Treaty of Berlin. The exchange satisfied the Albanians little better. In either case it meant the loss of some strictly Albanian territory.* Between the main ridge which runs parallel to the coast and culminates in Mount Rumija there is no marked geographical boundary. The ethnographical line, however, is fairly satisfactory. Following the road which leads from Tivar to Ultsin (Dulcigno), the last village with a Serb majority is Pechu- ritsa, an hour's walk beyond Dobravoda, and an hour short of Cugne, which is predominantly Albanian. From the sea just south of Cape Berit to a point on the road taken rather nearer Cugne than Pechuritsa, a good line may be drawn along the crest of a spur north-eastwards up to the ridge of the Megurit Mountains, and be thence continued till it joins the line of the main watershed. This would leave the Serbo-Moslem tribe of Mrcojevitsi the whole of Mount Lesin, and the Serbophil villages of Mali- and Veliki-Michulich to Montenegro, while the more or less anti-Serb village and district of Megurit would fall to Albania. From the main watershed the ethnical and geographical boundaries running north-west over the summit of Mount Rumija absolutely coincide. No difficulty occurs until we have to decide where the frontier is to approach the lake. The villages of Gorgni-Dogna and Dogna-Seotsa are Catholic Albanian ; the district of the Tsermnitsa is Montenegrin, and owes its prosperity largely to the enterprise of King Nicholas. Through it pass the road and railway which join the port of Tivar and Virbazar. It would be invidious to draw the frontier too close. Perhaps the happiest solution would be for it to strike the head of the small stream which divides the watershed south and west of Gorgni-Dogna and to follow its course to the lake. Thus the whole of the district between the lake and the mountains remains strictly Albanian. The greater part is inhabited by the interesting Moslem tribe of the Crajins, whose privilege it used to be to furnish the Sultan Abdul Hamid with his faithful bodyguard. On the opposite side Ultsin, in spite of efForts to colonize it with Serbs, remains essentially Albanian. Its future lies with its admirable situation and equable climate as a fashion- able watering-place. Allotted to Albania it will never rival Shen Ghin

* The defeat of Turkey in the Russo-Turkish war called into being the Albanian League to defend Albanian nationhood. The threatened collapse of Turkey in Europe brought Albania face to face with far more dangerous enemies of her independence than was ever the old Turk ; and the Albanian League was the first expression brought to the notice of Europe of Albanian national consciousness, hitherto regarded as more or less non-existent. It came into being to resist the provisions of the Treaty of San Stefano. It was revived a year later to resist the compromise of the Treaty of Berlin.

This content downloaded from 132.174.255.116 on Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:10:40 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 10 20 30 40 50 Scale y2.o0o.000 or y2M. Miles Kilometres Boundary accord/ngto the Treaty of London,/9f3 + + "? + +*+ Suggested Boundary._ Raitwctys.? ?. SKETCH-MAP OF ALBANIA Names within the 1913 boundary are spelled as in map of the Albanian Association (Brussels, 1910). Town signs are small black solid. The larger circles show the proportion of Albanians (white) to other nationalities (black). C

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(San Giovanni di Medua) as a commercial port. Altogether there is no valid argument for the retention of the present frontier on the Buene except in charity for the restricted Montenegrin seaboard. It is very much to the advantage of the Shkoderenes to have undivided control of the Buene Channel in view of its canalization which one day must come. Besides, it is to be hoped that with the Allies' victory Montenegro will gain all that she desires in her legitimate expansion west and north. Over the lake we come into the country of the Maltsori. There is no part of our task more difficult than here. From the centre of the North Albanian Alps, the mighty Procletija, the main watershed runs in a general northerly direction across the Predelets Pass to the great mountains of Maglich and Kom, and onwards into the heart of Montenegro between the basins of the Tara and Moracha. The spurs which it throws westwards towards the Lake of Shkoder divide from one another deep precipitous river valleys till they widen into the plain. There is no obvious geographical frontier till we reach the region of Predelets, and there it diverges conspicuously from the ethnical frontier, and the two do not merge again until we reach the sources of the Bistritsa. The indisputable Albanian origin of the Serbophobe and Orthodox Montenegrin border tribes only increases the difficulty, as we are left in doubt as to the degree of facility with which border tribes, now Albanian, could be assimilated by Montenegro and vice versd. The only safe method would seem to be to let our frontier follow the boundaries recognized at the present time by the Maltsori group, composed of the five tribes of Hot, Grude, Kelmend, Kastrat, and Shkrel, all purely Albanian, situated in the very midst of this geographically debatable land, and bound together by ties which do not admit of them being divided. Here and there it should be corrected in detail to adhere to natural physical limits, in order to remove as far as possible opportunities for dispute, for in this part of the world with its backward civilization it would be unwise to neglect strategical considerations altogether ({Some Frontiers of To-morrow,' p. ioo, by L. W. Lyde, m.a.). Anyhow, the boundary should be so drawn as to be appreciated by the local inhabitants as being at least definite whenever it is not traditional. These conditions are fulfilled if we draw our line upstream from the mouth of the Proni Mileshit to a point about a mile beyond the insignificant hamlet of Codrabudan, where a range of low hills starts on the right bank and parallel to the stream. Following the crest of these, it should be continued past the old Turkish Kulas west and north of Tuz, past Milesh lying a mile or so to the east, till it cuts the Zem, whence it should be drawn to join the former Turkish frontier-line above Dinosh. This would leave the entire plain of Podgoritsa to Montenegro except the marshy portion between the Proni Mileshit and the Liceni Kastratit; and it would leave Tuz, the chief town of Grude, made famous in the Balkan war, and determinately pro-Albanian? to Albania,

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The former Turkish frontier from above Dinosh ran approximately in accordance with the boundaries now recognized by the Maltsori. It ran for the most part along the crest of the heights dominating the right bank of the Zem Cafion. If we keep our line along the crest, no material altera- tion is necessary till we reach the summit of Mount Soko. From here it would seem advisable to let it follow the watershed formed by the spur running south from Mount Maglich and across the Chafa Velja; continuing thence round the head of the Vermusha along the Crna Gori and the Lipovitsa Grebeni, leaving the whole of the basins of the Limbraja and Shlitska to Montenegro, and those of the Vermusha and Shkrobotusa with their mag- nificent forests to Albania. From Mount Soko this line creates a pretty formidable wall between the two countries at no single point lower than 5000 feet. Only in the neighbourhood of Ricavats have we trespassed on the accustomed pastures of a Montenegrin tribe, and that in exchange for the upper Limbraja valley. In the whole region only one Serb village is included in Albania, namely, Vraka, isolated from all contact with its kith and kin on the edge of the lake a few miles north of Shkoder; and in no case has an indisputably Albanian village been included in Monte? negro. From the Lipovitsa Grebeni we have now to draw our line to the head of the Bistritsa, so as to give the fiercely Albanian district of Gusine and Plave to Albania. This was the district, the cession of which to Montenegro at the Treaty of Berlin was so hotly contested by the Albanian League. The compromise suggested at the time by Count Corti, but rejected by the Montenegrins in the well-grounded hope of obtaining wider compensation elsewhere?they received Dulcigno?follows the best geographical line, along the crest of the precipitous Visitor mountains dominating the lake; across the upper Lim valley to Kar Norshishi; and thence up the spur to join the main watershed which divides the basin of the Bistritsa from that of the Lim at Kar Jesero. The whole of the much-contested Velica valley would go to Montenegro; but though no doubt plausible Albanian claims could be urged for an extension of their position here, there being no better geographical solution, I have allowed my golden rule to solve the question for me. The Bistritsa of Petsh (Ipek) is the chief tributary of the White Drin, which drains the fertile upland plains on which are situated the important cities of Petsh, Dyakova, and Prizren. The whole of the district was excluded from Albania at the London Conference. Yet the Serbs can urge but little right to it, always excepting that of recent conquest and certain ancient historical associations. There is no question as to its over- whelmingly Albanian character. Of the three cities Prizren contains the larger proportionate Serbian population, and even there it is insignificant, True, there are a large number of Serb and orthodox villages scattered about the plain, but they bear no comparison to the corresponding number of Albanian and Moslem villages, though they outnumber those which are

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Albanian and Catholic; and only in the north, between Petsh and Devich,* can they be said to form even a local majority. Since the late Austrian occupation we may be pretty sure the Serbian minority has dwindled even more. Commercially and economically, the whole district is naturally the hinterland related to Shkoder and the Adriatic. Only since the building of the Mitrovitsa Railway have Petsh, Dyakova, and Prizren diverted their main trade routes towards the East. As soon as a corresponding improve- ment in communications is established with Shkoder, the position will be reversed and the former conditions resumed. Even as it is, the present frontier inflicts the greatest hardships on the Albanian country-side, where the tribes of the Maltsia Ghakovs, besides those of Has and Ljune, are deprived of their only market towns. From the geographical point of view, too, the answer is emphatically the same. The whole of the basin of the White Drin is geographically Albania. No better frontier could be devised than that decided by nature along the crests of the Mocra, Suhe, Devich and Tsemoiheve Planinas, the Hogie Balkan, and finally the great Shar Mountains. The Albanian claim to districts beyond these limits is far more valid than the Serbian claim to districts within them. The Kossovo plain is inhabited by a distinct Albanian majority. So is the valley of Tetove. Even in Shkup (Uskub) there are a larger proportion of Albanians than there are Serbians in Prizren or Bulgarians in Dibra. The passionate desire of Serbia to possess these places is purely senti- mental, based on the memory of glorious days of ascendancy. Yet " in every town and district which the Slavs can claim by right of conquest under some nebulous and transitory Empire, the Albanians can oppose the title of original ownership of the soil from ages when neither history nor the Slavs were known in the Balkans (from * Albania,' by Wadham Peacock, p. 181). The real title of the Slavs to Kossovo, Tetove, and Shkup is commercial and geographical?and, taking into consideration the decision and vehemence with which they assert their right of possession, it would be wise in this quarter to allow commercial and geographical rather than ethnical reasons to prevail. On the other hand, all arguments combine in favour of assigning the whole basin of the White Drin to Albania. From the Shar Mountains the main vertical spine which determines the eastern boundary of geographical Albania is continued by the Rudoca, the Iame Bistra, the Stugoro, the Turije, the Ilinesca, and the Galachitsa ranges, the latter culminating in Mount Tomoros between the Lakes of Okhrida and Pryespa (see 'The Nearer East,* by D. H. Hogarth). Dibra, with the greater part of its Kasr, is unquestionably Albanian. In fact, Dibra is one of the most tenacious centres of Albanian nationality. Further south, however, yet within the mountain barrier, Struga and Okhrida

* Devieh is famous for its Serb Monastery, to which thousands of the faithful make their annual pilgrimage. It was founded after the great defeat ofthe Serbs at Kossovo and dates from the time of George of Smederevo (ob. I457)? w*10 ?led a restricted Serbia under Turkish suzerainty. See ' High Albania,' by E. Durham.

This content downloaded from 132.174.255.116 on Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:10:40 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms LOOKING INTO ALBANIA FROM KRUSHEVO

OKHRIDA TOWN

This content downloaded from 132.174.255.116 on Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:10:40 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms MONASTERY OF SVETI NAUM

HEAD OF LAKE OKHRIDA WITH MONASTERY OF SVETI NAUM

This content downloaded from 132.174.255.116 on Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:10:40 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms THE FUTURE OF THE ALBANIAN STATE 21 have become sufficiently Bulgarian to warrant their exclusion from Albania on ethnical grounds. Commercial and geographical reasons on the other hand so strongly point to an opposite conclusion, that I have no doubt in the long run it would be the wisest course to allow them to ,prevail, as in the case of Kossovo and Tetovo, assigned on these grounds and on these grounds only to Serbia. Free intercourse north and south between Dibra, Struga, Okhrida, and Korche (Koritsa), which is the next important and unquestionably Albanian town,* is of the greatest mutual economic import? ance to all of them. Besides, since one of the first roads and railways to be built in the new state will follow the general course of the old Via Ignatia, linking up the railhead at Monastir with Dures (Durazzo), both Dibra and Korche will need to tap this main trade route by the most natural means of access, the former up the Drin valley, the latter across the lake from Pogradets. But if the district of Okhrida were excluded from Albania this could only be done by emerging from Albanian territory, with the certain result that the trade of Dibra and Korche would be diverted towards Monastir and Salonika instead of towards Elbasan and Dures. So two of the most thriving centres of Albanian life would be divorced in their material interests from that of the parent state. This might be partially remedied in time by the building of first-class roads between Dibra and Tirane, and between Korche and Berat ; but any one acquainted with the country is aware of the enormous difficulties which would attend their construction. Albania will not be in a position to afford expensive luxuries even in the matter of roads for some considerable time. Though she cannot do better than to spend her money on improving her communications, she must begin first with building those which are essential to her economic existence. Costly roads between Dibra and Tirane and between Korche and Berat cannot be included in this category. On the assumption that these arguments are conclusive, our line will continue along the crest of the spine, over the Prevtis Pass, and along the watershed which forms the rim of the basin of the upper Devoll, north-east and south of Biklishta, till it joins on the summit of Mount Kazan the mighty Grammos range. Here we enter the region of the International Commission's labours of 1913. The line determined by them could hardly be bettered, granted that the Vlachs of Mount Grammos are to be excluded from the New State. On the whole I am inclined to accept this view?first, because no better geographical frontier could be devised than the watershed of the Grammos range; secondly, because there is no definite break in the compact mass of Vlachs inhabiting this

* Korche has a population of about 25,000 of which about 20,000 are Albanian and the rest Vlach. Most of the inhabitants are Greco-Orthodox, divided into the Pharsaliot and Moseopolene sects. There are no more active and intelligent adherents of the Albanian State. The successful experiment of setting up a local Albanian Republic at Korche during the war in the territory occupied by French troops augurs well for the future of the country.

This content downloaded from 132.174.255.116 on Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:10:40 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 22 THE FUTURE OF THE ALBANIAN STATE region to separate them from those of the Pindus, who are loyal subjects of Greece; and thirdly, since it is particularly the interest of Greece and Albania to become close political friends, it would be unwise to draw the frontier through the midst of a people who as time-goes on are bound to draw together in defence of their peculiar racial traditions. The Vlachs of these regions can never hope nor even wish to form a separate state; but they may look forward to the enjoyment of special status and privilege. The problem does not differ essentially from any other national problem, and history clearly teaches that in these matters the first rule to ensure international stability is national unification. It is out of the question to unite the whole of this body of Vlachs within Albania. It could only be done by doing violence to Greek national unity. On the other hand, the alternative solution of uniting them within Greece is perfectly feasible. The scattered remnants of the race in Southern Albania are in a too negligible minority, supposing for the sake of argument they were ever to desire union with their brethren, to be a serious cause of trouble. On the contrary, they are likely to serve as a useful means towards consolidating Greco-Albanian interests. At the same time it must not be forgotten that the Vlachs of Mount Grammos are at present strongly pro-Albanian, probably on account of their Pan-Latin tendencies, which would find sympathetic support among the Albanian Tosks and a champion in Italy, whose influence is certain to be paramount in Albania before that of any other power.*

* " The mountaineers of Grammos and Pindus, ranging from near Goritza even to the Agrapha district of ^Etolia and the lateral chain of CEta, distinguish themselves in common as Vlachs or Wallachs from the Toskhs, with whom, however, they admit at least a cousinship. Witness the attempt made a few years ago by a Rumanian Wallach to invite all the " Shkipetar " to weld themselves into one nationality with his own people. Though socially solid and of similar type and character, the Vlachs of the north are distinguished from the Vlachs of the south by their peculiar designation, their speech, and to some extent their religious and political sympathies. The Masseret or Rumanian Vlachs of Grammos speak a Latin idiom, and have always had tendencies towards Pan- Latinism; the " Lame " (Koutzo) Vlachs of the Pindus speak Greek, and are now at any rate all orthodox and Hellenist. The truth is that the two sections are of one stock, but have different histories. . . ." ('The Nearer East,' by D. G. Hogarth). See also 'Itinerari AlbanesiJ (Rome, 1917), by Antonio Baldacci, pp. 17, 18 : ". . . i Romeni Macedoni indirizzarono nel 1913 al Marchese di S. Giuliano un memorandum del seguente tenore : 'oltre cento mila Rumeni sparsi in quaranta borgate del Pindo, termi nella coscienza della loro origine latina, nella volonta di conservare, con la loro esistenza storica, la ragione stessa del vivere loro e della loro missione di lavoro e di civilta, implorano il generoso intervento del Governo italiano, perche, nel momento in cui sta per decidersi il loro fato nazionale, non vengano lasciati condannare a sicura perdizione senza il soccorso di chi solo puo autorevolmente parlare in nome della Madre Roma. L'ltalia checon tanta forza ed autorita ha patrocinato la causa della nazionalita Albanese, sappia che il suo compito non e ancora finito. Se il principio del confine meridionale dell' Albania teste stabilito a Londra segna un successo della diplomazia italiana, il tracciato di questo nuovo confine piio se l'ltalia vuole, segnare une vittoria della latinita. Situati fra due termine di frontiera fissati a Londra, fra Stilo e Corsita, noi, Rumeni del Pindo, in nome di quel principio di nazionalita onde l'ltalia si e fatta

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The frontier laid down by the International Commission of 1913, so ably conducted under the presidency of Lieut-Colonel Doughty Wylie, and as finally ratified, ran as follows : from Kazan it adheres to the crest of the main Grammos watershed over the towering summit of Mavri Petra to Mounts Golo and Kammik, whence it descends by a spur between the villages of Radoti and Cursaca to the bed of the river Sarantaporos. This it follows down to its junction with the Viose (Vojussa) at Messarija, which goes to Albania. From here it climbs a long spur to the top of Tumba, whence after keeping to the high, sparsely inhabited region to the north of Voshtina and south of Mount Burato, it descends again to the bed of the Zrinos and the Ghinokastre (Argiro- castro)-Janine road a little west of Han Arinista. From this point it follows the crest of the hills overhanging the right bank of the Kseria till it turns south-west between the villages of Castagnani and Corsorica, and reaches the summits of Murgana and Stugara (both over 6000 feet high), the summit of Spara, and, across the upper valley of the Pavla, the water? shed east of Berdikeri. The line now adheres to the watershed, which between Conispolis and Sugiada turns westwards to run parallel and within a few miles of the coast, and finally reaches the sea in the Bay of Ftelia just east of Cape Stilo. This line is an admirable compromise between conflicting claims and interests. To the south of it there are, it is true, considerable Albanian populations, but for the most part they are Hellenized, and their economic and commercial interests link them with Greece. On the other hand, there are a few Greek villages north of the line, notably Politsani, Scorie, and Sopiki to the west of Ghinokastre, in addition to an important Greek minority in the Drinupol valley, besides the small seaport of Cimarre in the Acroceraunian Mountains. But the district as a whole north of the line from Leskovik to Sarande (Santi Quaranta), including Permet, Tepelen, Ghinokastre, and Vlore (Vallona), contains only an insigniflcant Greek minority; and it is difficult for any one with an acquaintance of these parts to imagine on what grounds the Greek pretensions to them rest. Economically and commercially the valley of the Drinupol is indivisible, and depends for its natural outlet to the sea on Sarande.* nel mondo banditrice e fautrice coi famosi plebisciti della sua politica costituzione, chiediamo di entrare a far parte del nuovo Stato di Albania. Uniti all5 Albania, cui ci accumano secolari legami di buon vicinato e di pacifico e proficuo consorzio, noi saremo serbati alle nostre sorti nazionali, incorporati con la Grecia noi saremo inesora- bilmente destinaii a scomparire.1" * " Santi Qurranta apour Argirocastro plus d'importance encore que pour Janina, car c'est par ce port seul qu'il peut avoir commodement acces a la mer. Separee politiquement de Santi Quaranta la vallee d'Argirocastro serait au point de vue economique condamnee a. la stagnation " : extract from the memoir on the frontiers of Epirus submitted by Greece at the Conference of London, and cited by the Italian delegate at the 13th Seance of the International Commission sitting at Leskovik, as unbiassed evidence against any suggestion for separating any portion of the Drinupol valley from Albania out of consideration for the Greek elements.

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Similarly the natural port of Janina is Preveze. In view of these facts, the ofifer made to Greece in November 1914 of the whole of Southern Albania up to the Viose, with the exception of Vlore, as an inducement for her to enter the war on our side, sounds peculiarly cynical in that we were proclaiming in the very same breath our allegiance to the cause of small nationalities. In fact, the failure of our diplomacy in the Balkans was no doubt largely due to the obvipus discrepancy for a long time between our precept and practice; and it is fortunate for us that public opinion in the course of the war has steadily grown in weight and authority to put a stop to this state of affairs. Albania now looks to England as the only European Power in a position to approach the problems which affect her in a spirit of perfect impartiality. Both our honour and interest are involved in seeing that this trust is not misplaced.

II. The Political Future. Provided she is secured in the frontiers which are her due ?for otherwise she runs the risk of being strangled at birth?Albania has no reason to despair of a prosperous and even a brilliant future. To begin with, the Albanian has many sterling qualities which make for success. He is brave, frugal, generous, independent, honest as well as honourable, industrious, intelligent, artistic, and faithfully obedient to those whom he trusts and respects. If he is ignorant, diffident, superstitious, obstinately conservative and lacking in self-control, these are defects due to his environ- ment rather than innate in his character. A strong, just, and national Government should soon give Albania her birthright to civilization. The material is there strongly endowed; the resources are there beyond doubt j she occupies an enviable geographical position with the makings of good harbours on the narrowest portion of one of the most important waterways of the world; and she lies across the path of what will one day be the quickest mail route from London to Suez vid Brindisi, Vlore, Janina, Kalabaka, and the Piraeus. The extent of her minerai resources are doubtful, beyond the rich bituminous deposits round Selinitsa. But her future is none the less promising. The cultivation of the vine, the olive, tobacco, wheat, maize, hemp, flax, cotton, rice, valonia, the potato, and fruits of every description. including the mulberry for the rearing of silkworms, will form the staple industries, complemented by the manufacture of milk products, together with sheep, horse and cattle rearing, afforestation, and sea and lake fisheries. The list by no means exhausts what might be profitably undertaken for export. Poultry farming, bee farming, and the cultivation of the beetroot should be added before compiling supplementary lists of minor and bye-products. The manufacture of silk, cotton, wool, leather, and tow would have at hand their raw materials of high quality; and power would be supplied by the control of the abundant rivers. In addition, pottery,

This content downloaded from 132.174.255.116 on Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:10:40 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms THE FUTURE OF THE ALBANIAN STATE 25 weaving, iron, silver and leather work have a long history as local industries, which exploit the Albanians' delicate artistic sense, and are capable of considerable development. There are no grounds for pessimism in this quarter. If there are any grounds for pessimism at all they lie in Government and Finance. Much money will have to be expended before the resources of the country can be properly developed. The opening of communications, the construction of ports, irrigation, and the combating of malaria will absorb large sums at the outset, to say nothing of the cost of setting up and maintaining the ordinary machinery of Government, of schools, hospitals, and other institutions. The reform of the system of land tenure, which entails the breaking up of huge feudal estates, is an absolutely necessary poiitical measure before the country can look forward to any agricultural progress; and the Government will not have an easy task in overcoming to this end the local prejudice against change and the strong vested interests. Taxation too in a country of which many parts have resisted successfully for hundreds of years all efforts to enforce contribution is another difficult problem for the Government to solve. Hope lies on the one hand in the patriotism of the people, particularly in that of the richer Beys and local leaders; and on the other hand in the fact that, whereas every other State in Europe will start its normal life again after the war burdened with an unprecedented debt, created in utterly unproductive expenditure, Albania will start clear of liabilities excepting those which she will voluntarily incur for the development of her resources. Much will depend on the choice of a prince. If the choice is made in the manner of the choosing of Prince William of Wied, the results will be disastrous. He must be selected carefully for his qualities, and not for the sound of his name, nor out of deference to the wishes and fears of interested parties. He must have the qualities of the race he comes to govern. It is well to repeat them: generosity, courage, frugality, independence, honesty, as well as a high standard of honour, industry, intelli- gence, sensibility, and loyalty. He should be young and vigorous, and should have proved himself as a combatant in the war to be a good leader of men, with tact, judgment, and decision. Lastly, he should be a cultivated gentleman, not necessarily anything more?with the English gentleman's inherited talent for ruling and the continental gentleman's inherited talent for European politics. With such a prince?and if he is chosen on his merits and not on those of externals, he should not be difhcult to discover?the future of Albania, I am confident, is assured. The international status of Albania will be the next thing to decide. She will need an army of foreign experts to help and advise her? engineers, financiers, doctors, scientific agriculturists, etc, etc. For instance, as the first care of the Government must be to construct certain absolutely necessary roads, improve in some degree the ports of Dures

This content downloaded from 132.174.255.116 on Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:10:40 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 26 THE FUTURE OF THE ALBANIAN STATE and Shen-ghin, and undertake for the benefit of agriculture and health considerable work in irrigation, commissions largely composed of foreigners will have to be appointed for the purposes of survey, information, and control. One indeed will be charged with the task of surveying the country as a whole, which is only imperfectly mapped, of determining the exact frontiers, and of reporting on the extent and condition of the forests. Then there will be the institution of the Albanian State Bank, of hospitals, of the customs, and of fishing and agricultural societies. For all these things and many others, during a long period of time, foreign help will be necessary. Although there is no reason why experts should not be appointed of diverse nationality, competition for future concessions and political influence ought not to be encouraged ; and for this reason, if for no other, it would be advisable to give most of the appointments to experts of one particular country. Besides, everybody's child is nobody's business; and though Albania must look to Europe as the guarantor of her independence, Europe would do well by her if she insisted on placing her under the protection of one particular power during the period of her adolescence?say, for a limited term of twenty-five years, after which her status would again be considered. This power must be Italy. No other power has a better claim, whether on the grounds of ability, goodwill, or geographical position. No other power, unless it were England, would be more acceptable to Albania. Old ties historical and commercial bind the two countries together. The 200,000 Albanians resident in Italy, who have found their refuge there from the tyranny and barbarism of Turkey, will form a powerful link in the chain of friendship. Italy has never dreamed of destroying the national particularism of these colonists nor of molesting them in any way. The blood of young Italian volunteers shed for Albania during the Maltsori revolt against the Young Turks in 1911 is another link in the chain. Such things are not easily forgotten. Another is the traditional Pan-latinism of the Vlach elements; another, the memory of the civilizing missions of Rome and Venice. For my own part I am sure that the Italians, who are endowed more than any other nation with a sense of practical idealism, may be entrusted to undertake the task both efficiently and sympathetically. One more point I will consider. What kind of a constitution will Albania have? No precise answer can be given before the matter is discussed in detail with the Albanian notables. But certain general propositions can be laid down. The Government must be national. It must rest ultimately on popular consent. It must be cantonal and communal?and, to a certain extent, patriarchal. The central authority must owe its strength in the first place to the prestige which it will enjoy by virtue of its recognition by Europe and the protecting Power; to its supreme control of finance and of the gendarmerie ; but above all to the allegiance of the people to the person of the prince; in the second place, to its energy, decision, and justice. It is useless to try and foist on Albania

This content downloaded from 132.174.255.116 on Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:10:40 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms THE FUTURE OF THE ALBANIAN STATE : DISCUSSION 27 a ready-made, modern democratic constitution. The local government of the mountain tribes can only be undertaken by utilizing the existing machinery of an hereditary (in a few rare cases, elected) Bairactar, assisted by an assembly of heads of houses. Any violent interference with tribal custom, hallowed by generations of tradition, would only end in disaster. Democracy will come all in due course. It will probably grow rapidly, and at the same time find its ideal poiitical eonditions in the cities, which with their immediate districts should come to be organized as small republics. Wisely administered, an economic democracy based on co- operative production should simultaneously grow up in the lowland country-side. The prince, though in many ways an absolute monarch, should not be endowed with theoretically unlimited sovereignty. There must be constitutional safeguards against the abuse of power, and at least there should be constituted the embryo of a future Parliament. For instance, in order that the prince's edicts should have the force of law, they might be necessarily made in the form of an Order in Council, or, in other words, require to be countersigned by a quorum of his ministers. The appointment of ministers at the same time might be required to have the sanction of the assembly of notables and representatives. Out of such beginnings constitutional Government may be expected to grow in the form best adapted to the genius of the country. That genius is not to be despised. If Europe is in earnest with her intention to create this new state, and is careful to go about the business in a spirit of frank and painstaking justice, she may rest assured she will not be disappointed with the result of her labours.

Before the paper the President said: It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you Captain Barnes of the Royal Flying Corps. He is the son of a very old friend of mine, and he has made a most instructive and adven- turous journey into a part of Europe which is little enough known to travellers and hardly known to statesmen. The result of his investigations there will, I hope, lead to an interesting discussion.

(Captain Barnes then read the paper printed above, and a discussion followed.) The President : Captain Barnes' address has a very particular interest to me, as to all of us, because it touches on the vexed question of boundaries. One feature of his paper none of us can have missed?that he distinctly holds a brief for Albania. I have been unable to follow him quite as closely as I should wish in that north-eastern portion of his investigations, from the Adriatic up to the extreme north-east corner. But there he must have learnt at least two lessons : one the excessive difficulty of arranging any boundary on a purely racial basis, and the other the extreme danger of listening to any exparte statement. He claims the whole of the basin of the Drin for Albania. Geographically, no doubt that is correct. In adjusting territorial distributions of this sort it is of very great importance to preserve such geographical units as the basin of a river wholly for one country or the other. Moreover, it is very much easier to adjust the people to the boundary?to tell them on which

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