Secession?

About three weeks ago Stefan Radich ("stormy petrel of the Balkans") quit Croatia, province of Yugo-Slavia. Many voices were raised concerning his movements; nothing definite was known. Recently he arrived in London.

M. Radich has been active in the Croatian independence movement, which aims at setting up an autonomous state. That he has had considerable success in his political moves was well brought out in the last elections (TIME, March 31). Since that time the Croatian secessionists have become more bold and have more openly advocated the secession of their province from Yugo-Slavia. Matters came to a head, so far as Radich is concerned, when he compared the youthful Queen Marie of Yugo-Slavia (see Rumania, this issue, page 12) to Madame de Pompadour for sheer extravagance, and when he issued a manifesto calling on all Croats to vote for an independent republic. The boiling pot boiled over; the country became too hot to hold him, he fled. It appears that since Radich's departure the Croatian Republican Deputies, of whom there are 70, voted to discontinue relations with the Yugo-Slavian Government, but to open diplomatic relations with that country to discuss the establishment of a Croatian Republic. Moreover, Stefan Radich was asked to open diplomatic relations with foreign Governments. Montenegro also desires to regain its independence from Yugo-Slavia, with which State it was formally joined in 1921 (TIME, June 4).