sly exterminated, and stated that until it
was seen that the Balkan conquerors were capable of just rule, the
Capitulations should remain in force. Those with whom I spoke
admitted that the consular reports from Uskub and Monastir were very
bad, but that it was not advisable to publish them. In truth, we
were hopelessly tied to Russia and could say nothing about her pet
lambs, even though the truth of the accusations had been proved up
to the hilt by the Carnegie Report. The laws signed by King Petar in
October 1913 for the purpose of crushing the annexed regions are
alone enough in their barbarity to condemn Serbia. They are
published in the Carnegie Report, which should be read by all
interested in forming a just and lasting Balkan peace.

It was also made clear by the Carnegie Commission that the
accusation that the atrocities were planned and carried out by the
Serb "Black Hand" society were true. Damian Popovitch, the leader of
the regicides, led the massacres of Kosovo. All was part of a
prearranged Great Serbian plan. "The Serbs," I overheard two
Montenegrins say in the inn at Rijeka, "are right. They put these
gentry (non-Serb population) to the sword as they go, and clean the
land." As the Black Hand was a "government within a government," and
unofficial, Belgrade could always pretend to be ignorant of its
doings. Both the Tsrna Ruka (Black Hand) and larodna Odbrana
(National Defence) societies had a free hand. The Carnegie Report
tells: "The population at Uskub called their station the Black
House, from the name of the League itself, The Black Hand. The worst
crimes were committed by this organization, known to all the world,
and under powerful protection. It was of distinct advantage to the
regular government to have under its hand an irresponsible power
like this, which soon became all powerful, and could be disowned if
necessary. . . . Our records are full of depositions which throw
light on the activities of these legalized brigands. Each town had
its captain. . . . Where complaints were made to the regular
authorities they pretended to know nothing, or, if the person were
obscure, punished him. If he were a personage, as for example the
Archbishop of Veles, the bands were sent from the town down to the
villages, only to be replaced immediately by bands from Uskub."

In February 1914 I received a letter from Monastir, from my former
dragoman of 1904. Since then he had worked for years for a
well-known G