Monday, Jan. 21, 1929

''Alexander the Absolute"

The dictature set up in Jugoslavia last fortnight by King Alexander and General Petar Zivkovitch, Commander of the Royal Guards (TIME, Jan. 14) assumed, last week, the powers of Absolutism, if not Despotism.

"The King is the Bearer of All Authority." declared a new Royal decree. "The King issues and promulgates all laws, appoints and dismisses all officials, commands the Army and Navy, declares war, concludes peace and pardons whomever and whenever he wishes.

"The ministers appointed by the King are responsible to him only, and can be judged only on complaint of the King by a court appointed by the King. All persons of the Judicature, including judges appointed by the Ministry of Justice, are appointed in the name of the King.

"The person of the King is inviolable. He bears no responsibility. He cannot be judged. He appoints a successor, in case of need, and a regency, if necessary. "The Karageorgevitch Dynasty is declared hereditary."

Since even the Dictatorship of Signor Benito Mussolini pales beside such preventions, the one title fit for His Majesty Alexander Karageorgevitch,* last week seemed to be "Alexander the Absolute."

European Reaction. Englishmen seemed predominantly shocked by events in Belgrade, last week. Frenchmen were overjoyed, Germans vexed and Italians furious. Said London's famed Spectator: "The severity of the dictatorship is startling. It is a disagreeable spectacle to see a nation abandon parliamentarianism and rush into autocracy." In Paris, where King Alexander is regarded as the chief Balkan ally of France, virtually the whole press praised the new Dictatorship. The German Monarchist Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung approved "this fresh proof of the futility of parliamentarianism"; but the Socialist Vorwaerts sneered savagely at "the Surgeon-King who seeks to cure his sick state by plunging in the bayonet." Perhaps the most restrained and weighty comment came from Editor Arnaldo Mussolini (brother of Benito), who carries on the family newspaper Il Popolo d'It alia ("The People of Italy") in Milan:

"The mailed fist inaugurated at Belgrade is no surprise to Italians. Centuries-old hatreds are pointed against us. We shall wait until developments mature. We shall examine our position for any eventuality."

Local Reaction. Throughout Jugoslavia chambers of commerce, banks, business houses and petty officeholders wrote and" wired their approval to King Alexander until over 21,000 paeans of loyalty piled up in the white stone palace at Belgrade.

The most ominous note was struck at Zagreb, seat of the Croatian Party led by Dr. Vladko Matchek, who came out strongly in favor of the Dictatorship when it was first proclaimed. Last week, however, Doctor Matchek and fellow Croats, barred from their own party headquarters in Zagreb by the police, were informed by Prime Minister General Zivkovitch that "all political parties are terminated and citizens do not assemble for political purposes since there are not any." Thereupon Dr. Matchek figuratively rent his garments, crying: "Woe to Croatia! His Majesty has not given us the new liberties we expected, but has taken away even those we had alreadv won."

*I. e., "Son-of-Black-George."