d Slovenes. This had been the case at Maribor in
Styria, where the population rose against the 70 Slovene soldiers during
the visit of an American mission. Many of those who were afterwards
questioned were obliged to admit that they were of Slovene or of partly
Slovene origin, but Austria had taken care of their national
conscience. Had they been freely left to choose between the two
nationalities, and had they, out of admiration for the German, selected
that one--you would not endeavour now to make them Slovenes; but of
course these people were never given the choice, and therefore every
effort should be used to make to dance that portion of their blood which
is Slovene, and sometimes all your efforts will be fruitless. That those
who fought in Carinthia against the Slovene troops were of this origin
can be seen by the names of the officers of the so-called
"Volkswehralarmkompagnien" (_i.e._ the People's Emergency Defence
Companies). A document, marked W. No. 101, and signed by a Captain
Sandner, fell into Slovene hands on February 21. It gives very full
arrangements for these companies in Wolfsberg and the neighbourhood. At
St. Paul, for instance, men are to gather from three other regions, to
wit 40 from St. Paul itself, 120 from Granitzthal, 60 from Lagerbuch and
30 from Eitweg; the officers of this St. Paul contingent are called
Kronegger, Andrec, Kloetsch and Gritsch--the last three are of Slovene
origin. These Defence Companies consisted largely of ex-soldiers, under
the command, very often, of a schoolmaster or some such person; and if
they had done nothing more than to defend their own soil, one would have
less to say about them; but as a matter of fact they sent arms across to
their adherents in the territory occupied by the Slovenes. Thus at
Velikovec (Voelkermarkt) and Donji Dravograd (Unter-Drauburg) shots were
fired from houses which had been armed in this way. Incursions were made
into Yugoslav territory, where the people were urged to rise; and as
these Defence Companies did not wear any uniform their members could, if
captured, protest their innocence. The officers were given 20 crowns a
day, the men six crowns, with 5.44 a day for their keep during the time
of emergency, and four crowns daily in addition if they went outside the
garrison town. As it would not be possible to get the commissariat at
once into working order the men were asked to bring at least sufficient
bread with them for a few days. Most