Austria Is Again Menacing Balkans.

New York Times 100 years ago today, March 21, 1913:
Demands Made on Montenegro — Various Causes of Complaint Alleged.
ITALY WORKING WITH ALLY
May Try to Stop the Bombardment of Scutari and to Prevent the Landing of Servian Troops.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
    VIENNA, March 20.— Following the sailing of six Austrian warships southward from Pola yesterday in connection with Austria's dispute with Montenegro and Servia, it was announced to-day that the Austrian Consul General at Cettinje had made serious representations on behalf of his Government.
    It is understood that the Austrian causes of complaint include the reported murder of an Austrian priest near Jakova, the detention and high-handed treatment of an Austrian ship at San Giovanni di Medua, the shelling of an Austrian convent and the killing of Austrian nuns in the bombardment of Scutari, and the reported forcible conversion of Catholic tribes in the country near Jakova, to whom was offered the choice of embracing the Orthodox faith or death.
    It is reported, that if Montenegro's answer to the Austrian representations is unsatisfactory Austria and Italy have planned joint action, probably in the form of a naval demonstration.
    The Austrian censorship is very strict. Four newspapers have been suppressed for publishing news of the naval expedition.

    VIENNA, March 20.— The Austrian Minister at Cettinje was to-day instructed to make the following demands on the Montenegrin Government:
    First— The free exit from the fortress of Scutari of all non-combatants.
    Second— Explanations of the death of a Catholic priest named Palie, who is said to have been slaughtered because he opposed the violent conversion of prisoners.
    Third— Violent conversions to cease instantly.
    Fourth— Full satisfaction to be given for the violence of Montenegrins and Servians at San Giovanni di Medua against the crew of the Austrian merchant vessel Skodra.
    It is stated that the report that Servia was fortifying Durazzo and had made plans to build a railway station and improve the harbor helped to hasten Austrian action.

    BUDAPEST, March 20.— The complaint of Austria-Hungary in regard to the incident in which the Austrian steamer Skodra figured at San Giovanni di Medua was officially stated to-day to be based upon the following: facts:
    The Skodra went to San Giovanni di Medua to discharge her cargo, but the Harbor Master of the port forbade the landing of the cargo and ordered Capt. Blasich to assist in the landing of Servian troops and war munitions from some Greek ships. Capt. Blasich refused.
    In the meantime the Turkish cruiser Hamidieh arrived off San Giovanni di Medua, and sank four of the Greek transports. The Harbor Master after the departure of the Turkish cruiser, called upon Capt. Blasich to help rescue the drowning Servians. The Captain of the Austrian vessel declined, "in view of the danger which would be attendant upon such action."
    The commandant of the town then threatened to open fire upon the crew of the Skodra, and a Montenegrin gendarme forced the Austrian steamer's engineer at the point of a revolver to open the steam valves of the Skodra. As soon as the gendarme left the ship Capt. Blasich steamed away from the port at full speed.

    LONDON, Friday, March 21.— Austria, possibly with the assistance of Italy, is contemplating isolated action to stop the bombardment of Scutari, which, it is now alleged, is being directed against the town instead of the fortress, and finally enforcing the powers' decision that Albania shall be an autonomous State and that Scutari shall remain part of it.
    Of course Montenegro and Servia will first have the opportunity of withdrawing from the task of subduing the town, which, even after its capture, if that takes place, must, according to the powers, be given up by the allies.
    Part of the Austrian fleet has already started for the Montenegrin and Albanian coasts, and, while it is officially announced that the object of the warships is to carry out manoeuvres, it is apparent that their presence is designed to impress Montenegro and Servia with the determination of Austria to prevent the further cannonading of the civilian section of Scutari and to obtain satisfaction for the alleged forcible conversion of Catholics and interference with the Austrian steamer Skodra.
    Whatever truth or importance the alleged incidents have, the bitterest feeling on the part of Austria has been aroused, and the press and public of Austria-Hungary are demanding action. According to dispatches received by the Vienna papers, 400 Albanian Catholics at Jakova, weeping and wailing, were forced to join the Orthodox Church, the soldiers ordering them to choose between orthodoxy and death. At six other villages, it is declared, the residents were similarly converted.
    Various accounts are printed of the death of a Catholic priest named Palie, but all agree that he refused to renounce his faith and was beaten to death.
    The Austrian official account says that the Montenegrins are trying to destroy the town of Scutari, and that shells, instead of being aimed at the fortress, are directed against the town, where the citizens are in a state of panic, some of them taking refuge in the cathedral.
    It is expected that the Austrian squadron will prevent the Servian reinfocements which left Salonika on six transports on Wednesday from landing on the Albanian coast. These troops have been dispatched to the assistance of the besieging forces around Scutari.
    M. Popovitch, the Montenegrin delegate now in London, declares that the alleged incidents on which the Austrian complaints are based are either untrue or of small importance.
    The story of the molestation of the Austrian steamer Skodra is officially denied by the Montenegrin Government. She is an insignificant river craft, according to the Montenegrin statement, carrying a crew of eight men.
    The Montenegrin commanders, M. Popovitch says, have long known that the Franciscan monastery, the Austrians' Orphans' Home, the Italian schools, and other foreign private buildings in Scutari which fly the Austrian flag, have been employed for military purposes, and it is not surprising, therefore, he asserts, that they have been fired on. The allegations of the ill-treatment of Catholics and of forcible conversions, he declares to be false.