NEW ORGANISATION PLAN

CORFU, THURSDAY (DELAYED).

The Serbian Press Bureau has issued a statement, of which the following are the chief points:

At a conference of members of the former Coalition Cabinet, the present Cabinet, and the representatives of the Jugoslav Committee, views were exchanged with the co-operation of the President of the Skuptchina on all questions relating to the life of the Serbians, Croats, and Slovaks in their future united state. Complete unanimity on every question that arose prevailed. Divided among several States, our country is cut up in Austria-hungary alone into eleven provincial administrations with thirteen legislative bodies. The war forced by German militarism upon Russia, France, and Great Britain has been transformed into a fight for the liberty of the world and for the triumph of right over force. To noble France, which proclaimed the liberty of nations, and to Great Britain, the home of liberty, there has been joined the great American Republic and the new, free, and democratic Russia in proclaiming as principal object of the war the triumph of liberty and democracy, and, as the basis of a new international system, the freedom of nations to govern themselves.

The authorised representatives of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes declare that the desire of our people is to free itself from all foreign oppression and to constitute itself into a free, national, and independent state, based on the principle that every people is free to govern itself, and are agreed in considering that this State should be founded on the following modern and democratic principles:

1. The State of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, who are also known by the names of Southern Slavs and Jugoslavs, will be a free and independent monarchy, with an indivisible territory and unity of power. This State will be a constitutional, democratic, and Parliamentary monarchy, with the Karageorgevitch dynasty, which has always shared the ideals and feelings of the nation in placing above everything else the national liberty and will, at its head.

2. The name of this State will be the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, and the title of the Sovereign will be King of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.

3. This State will only have one coat of arms, one flag, and one Crown.

4. The four different flags of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes will have equal rights, and may be hoisted freely on all occasions. The same will obtain for the four different coats of arms.

5. The three national denominations, the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, are equal before the law in all the territory of the kingdom, and each may freely use it on all occasions in public life and before all authorities.

6. The two Cyrillic and Latin alphabets also have the same rights, and everyone may freely use them in all the territory of the kingdom. The Royal and local self-governing authorities have the right and ought to employ the two alphabets according to the desire of the citizens.

7. All religions are recognised, and may be free and publicly practised. The Orthodox Roman Catholic and Mussulman religions, which are most professed in our country, will be equal, and will enjoy the same rights in relation to the State. In view of these principles, the Legislature will be careful to preserve the religious peace in conformity with the spirit and tradition of our entire nation.

8. The Gregorian calendar will be adopted as soon as possible.

9. The territory of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes will comprise all the territory where our nation lives in compact masses and without discontinuity, and where it could not be mutilated without injuring the vital interests of the community. Our nation does not ask for anything which belongs to others, and only claims that which belongs to it. It desires to free itself and establish its unity. That is why it conscientiously and firmly rejects every partial solution of the problem of its freedom from the Austro-hungarian domination.

10. The Adriatic Sea, in the interests of liberty and equal rights of all nations, is to be free and open to all and each.

11. All citizens throughout the territory of the kingdom are equal and enjoy the same rights in regard to the State and the law.

12. The election of Deputies to the national representation will take place under universal suffrage which is to be equal, direct, and secret. The same will apply to the elections in the communes and other administrative institutions. A vote will be taken in each commune.

13. The Constitution is to be established after the conclusion of peace by the Constituent Assembly elected by universal, direct, and secret suffrage will serve as a basis for the life of the State. It will be the origin and ultimate end of all the powers and all rights by which the whole national life will be regulated. The Constitution will give the people the opportunity of exercising its particular energies in local autonomies, regulated by natural, social and economic conditions. The Constitution must be elected in its entirety by a numerical majority of the Constituent Assembly, and all other laws passed by the Constituent Assembly will not come into force until they have been sanctioned by the King.

Thus the united nation of Serbs, Croatians, and Slovenes will form a State of twelve million inhabitants. This State will be a guarantee of their national independence and of their general national progress and civilisation, and a powerful rampart against the pressure of the Germans, and an inseparable ally of all civilised peoples and States. Having proclaimed the principle of right and liberty and of international justice, it will form a worthy part of the new society of nations.

Signed at Corfu, July 20, 1917, by the President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Serbia, Nikola Pasitch, and the President of the Jugoslav Committee, Dr. Anto Trumbic. – Reuter.