Mr. Jackson to Mr. Hay.
Athens, June 29, 1903.
Sir: As a matter of historical interest in connection with the recent Servian revolution, I have the honor to state that I received four official communications from the Servian ministry of foreign affairs during my sojourn in Belgrade.
The first of these communications was dated May 29–June 11, the morning after the assassination, and was signed by Mr. Kallevitch as minister of foreign affairs in the provisional government. It began by stating that “certain differences which arose at court led to the intervention of the army and a conflict, in which King Alexander and Queen Draga lost their lives,” and it continued by saying that in order [Page 719] to maintain peace the representatives of the various political groups had hastened to organize a provisional government and to reestablish the constitutional situation which had existed until last March, under the constitution of April 6, 1901. A list of the provisional government followed, as well as a statement that the National Assembly had been called together to elect a new sovereign on the following Monday. The communication closed with a statment that, according to the reports received from the military and civil authorities, there had been no disturbances throughout the country, and that the Government was convinced that in pursuing the course adopted it would “assure the sympathies of all the European powers with the new state of affairs.”
The second communication was dated June 2–15, and was also signed by Mr. Kallevitch. It contained a statement of the fact that the National Assembly had unanimously chosen Prince Peter A. Karageorgevitch to be King of Servia, and requested the legation to communicate this information in the proper quarter.
The third communication was dated June 7–20, and was not signed. It contained the information, communicated by the “royal ministry of foreign affairs,” that King Peter I would arrive at Belgrade on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
The fourth communication was dated June 9–22, and it, too, was unsigned. In it the royal ministry of foreign affairs informed the legation that the president of the council of ministers had received a telegram from Geneva stating that the deputation from the National Assembly had been received by King Peter I, and that His Majesty had accepted the document informing him of his election and had declared his willingness to accept the election, “which makes him King of Servia.”
During the interval between the election of the King and his acceptance the Servian Skupshtina had voted to put in force the constitution of 1888, with certain changes, making it even more liberal than it had been before, and prescribing an oath of allegiance for military officers to both the constitution and the sovereign, thereby creating a situation which I think is unique. * * *
I have, etc.,