of Spain he saved her from internal anarchy, turned disaster abroad to the profit of the home country, and thwarted personal ambitions threatening the State by placing the crown securely upon the head of the boy King Alfonso.

Political Changes in the Smaller States of Europe

In Hungary the unpopularity of the Government army bill discussed in a previous chapter, brought about two changes of ministry. On June 28 a new cabinet was appointed with Count Khuen Hedervary, formerly Ban of Croatia, as Prime Minister, who proved unable to cope with the Independent party, and was forced to resign in October. He was succeeded by Count Tisza, whose father had been Prime Minister of Hungary from 1875 to 1890.

Changes in the Servian administration have already been noted in connection with the story of the tragedy of the murdered King and Queen of Servia. In Bulgaria, a cabinet crisis was precipitated at the end of March by the resignation of General Paprikoff, Minister of War, the other ministers having insisted on the appointment as chief of the staff, the notorious Colonel Dimitrieff, who had played a leading part in the kidnapping of Prince Alexander. General Paprikoff was succeeded by Colonel Savoff, but Colonel Dimitrieff did not get the appointment claimed for him, the military element opposing his being placed in a position which would have implied surrender to the dictation of Russia. The Ministry daily grew more unpopular, and on May 18 it resigned, to be succeeded by a cabinet whose policy was to oppose Russian dictation and maintain friendly relations with Turkey. The new Prime Minister was General Pietroff, a former colleague of M. Stambuloff. In Greece, M. Rally, the Prime Minister who had so strongly upheld Turkish authority, was forced to resign in December, his predecessor M. Theotokis being again called upon to form a Ministry.

Communal elections took place throughout Belgium in October. The question arose whether or not it would not be more advantageous for the Liberal party to ally itself with the Socialist with the object of downing the clerical party. This alliance took place in certain towns but the great majority of the Liberal party did not favor it. The Socialists had least reason to be pleased with the results of the election,

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an evident reaction against their party being shown. The success of the Liberals was not great enough to indicate that the electoral body wished to disavow the policy of the government. The Catholics, on their side, failed in their effort to gain control of the new communal administration in most of the great towns. The Chamber of Representatives for 1903 was composed of 98 Catholics, led by the Minister M. de Smetde Meyer and N. Woeste; two Christian Democrats, led by M. Dacus, 28 Liberals and Progressists, led by M. Heumens, and M. Janson; 38 Socialists, led by M. Vandervilde. The Senate was composed of 74 Catholics, 33 Liberals and Progressists and 3 Socialists. The government remained in the hands of the Catholic party throughout the year.

Holland's first chamber for 1903 consisted of 26 Liberals, 15 Roman Catholics, 9 anti-Revolutionists; the second Chamber of 100 members divided among the following parties: 31 anti-Revolutionists, 24 Catholics, 29 Liberals, 8 Liberal Democrats and 24 Social Democrats.

In Sweden a new political party was formed in the second chamber composed principally of government officials, among whom were the Postmaster-General, Bishop von Scheele and several unattached town members. The group was called the Friends of Moderate Reform, and the basis of their organization was a modification of the Government's Suffrage program outlined in a previous chapter. During the summer General Crusebjörn resigned his office as Minister of War to be succeeded by Colonel Virgén. He was lauded by all parties. for the great service he had rendered his country in the matter of military reform.

Norway's general election in 1903 was an event of unusual significance, since the change wrought by the elections was all the more. striking when compared with the first vote on the consular question in the Storthing on January 23, when the Conservatives only mustered 32 votes against the 81 votes of the Left and the Moderates. The campaign in connection with the general election had been waged from the beginning of the year. As early as February representative meetings of the Left delegates adopted an electioneering program containing the following features: Work for arbitration and neutrality, insurance against disablement, a stringent economy in finance, a direct method of

election, full equality within the union, a separate consular service to be completed within the session of the ensuing Storthing, and continued agitation for a separate Norwegian Foreign Minister. As the time for election drew near it became clear that the position of candidates on the Consular question was the most vital point in the campaign. Men who had hitherto been opponents united on this ground, a new combined party called the "Samlings party" being the outcome. The Left was in some places supported by the Social Democrats. The victory was finally with the opposition, the composition of the new Storthing being: Conservatives and Moderates 63, Left 50, and Socialists 4. A new ministry was formed on October 23rd. Professor Hagerup became Prime Minister and Home Secretary, and Dr. Sigurd Ibsen resident Counsellor of State in Stockholm. The Hagerup-Ibsen Ministry was well received. The Moderate Left was represented by 5 members headed by Dr. Sigurd Ibsen.

The election in Denmark for members of the folkething, the lower house of parliament, resulted as follows: Left reformists, 74 seats; Social Democrats, 16 seats; members of the Right, 12 seats, and moderate members of the Left, II seats. Finance Minister Hage was defeated by a Social Democrat on the issue of reform in the present system of direct taxation; this and the extension of communal suffrage were the issues of the campaign.

Japan's Unpopular Cabinet

General elections were held in Japan on March 7 in the midst of a parliamentary crisis growing out of the ministry's proposal with regard to the means of raising money to defray the cost of the great naval programme to which the country was pledged. All the political parties were arrayed against the Cabinet, not because of the naval program itself but because there was a strong objection to the government's plan to raise the money by increasing the land tax. The opposition, which elected 192 members of parliament in 1902, increased its members to 275, and the small majority held by Marquis Ito's followers was raised to 100. Marquis Ito's victory in the elections was a foregone conclusion, since he had commanded a majority in the House of Representatives for some time.

At the close of 1902 the Japanese Diet had been dissolved in con