Sarajevo, under state supervision. Its income rose to £25,000 in 1895, having quadrupled itself in ten years. The Vakuf tenants were at that time extremely prosperous, for their rent had been fixed for ten years in advance on the basis of the year’s harvest, and so had not risen proportionately to the value of their holdings.
8. Industries and Commerce.—Beside agriculture, which employed over 88% of the whole population in 1895, the other industries are insignificant. Chief among them are weaving and leather and metal work, carried on by the workmen in their own houses. There are also government workshops, opened with a view to a higher technical and artistic development of the house industry. More particularly, chased and inlaid metallic wares, bez (thin cotton) and carpet-weaving receive government support. Besides the sugar-refinery already mentioned, there were in 1900 four tobacco factories, a national printing-press, an annular furnace for brick-burning, an iron-foundry and several blast-furnaces, under the management of the state. Among the larger private establishments there existed in the same year seven breweries, one brandy distillery, two jam, two soap and candle factories, two building and furniture works, a factory for spinning thread, one iron and steel works, one paper and one ammonia and soda factory, and one mineral-oil refinery.
In respect of foreign trade Bosnia and Herzegovina were in 1882 included in the customs and commercial system of Austria-Hungary, to the extinction of all intermediate imposts. Since 1898 special statistics have been drawn up respecting their trade also with Austria and Hungary. According to these statistics the most important articles of export are coal and turf, fruit, minerals, soda, iron and steel, and cattle. Other articles of export are chemicals, dyeing and tanning stuffs, tobacco, sugar-beet and kitchen-salt. The imports consist principally of food stuffs, building materials, drinks, sugar, machinery, glass, fats, clothes, wooden and stone wares, and various manufactured goods.
There is a national bank in Serajevo, which carries on a hypothecary credit business and manages the wholesale trade of the tobacco factories. There are savings banks in Banjaluka, Bjelina and Brčka.
9. Communications.—The construction of carriage-roads, wholly neglected by the Turks, was carried out on a large scale by the Austrians. Two railways were also built, in connexion with the Hungarian state system. One crosses the Una at Kostajnica, and, after skirting the right bank of that river as far as Novi, strikes eastward to Banjaluka. The other, a narrow-gauge line, crosses the Save at Bosna Brod, and follows the Bosna to Serajevo, throwing out branches eastward beyond Dolnja Tuzla, and westward to Jajce and Bugojno. It then pierces through the mountains of northern Herzegovina, traverses the Narenta valley, and runs almost parallel with the coast to Trebinje, Ragusa and the Bocche di Cattaro. Up to this point the railways of the occupied territory were complete in 1901. A farther line, from Serajevo to the frontiers of Servia and Novibazar, was undertaken in 1902, and by 1906 782 m. of railway were open. Small steamers ply on the Drina, Save and Una, but the Bosna, though broad from its very source, is, like the Vrbas, too full of shallows to be utilized; while the Narenta only begins to be navigable when it enters Dalmatia. All the railway lines, like the postal, telegraphic and telephonic services, are state property. In many of the principal towns there are also government hotels.
Serajevo, with 41,543 inhabitants in 1895, is the capital of the combined provinces, and other important places are Mostar (17,010), the capital of Herzegovina, Banjaluka (14,812), Dolnja Tuzla (11,034), Travnik (6626), Livno (5273), Visoko (5000), Foča (4217), Jajce (3929) and Trebinje (2966). All these are described in separate articles.
10. Population and National Characteristics.—In 1895 the population, which tends to increase slowly, with a preponderance of males over females, numbered 1,568,092. The alien element is small, consisting chiefly of Austro-Hungarians, gipsies, Italians and Jews. Spanish is a comomon language of the Jews, whose ancestors fled hither, during the 16th century, to escape the Inquisition. The natives are officially described as Bosniaks, but classify themselves according to religion. Thus the Roman Catholics prefer the name of Croats, Hrvats or Latins; the Orthodox, of Serbs; the Moslems, of Turks. All alike belong to the Serbo-Croatian branch of the Slavonic race; and all speak a language almost identical with Servian, though written by the Roman Catholics in Latin instead of Cyrillic letters. A full account of this language, and its literature, is given under Servia and Croatia-Slavonia. To avoid offending either “Serbs” or “Croats,” it is officially designated “Bosnisch.” In some parts of Herzegovina the dress, manners and physical type of the peasantry are akin to those of Montenegro. The Bosnians or Bosniaks resemble their Servian kinsfolk in both appearance and character. They have the same love for poetry, music and romance; the same intense pride in their race and history; many of the same superstitions and customs. The Christians retain the Servian costume, modified in detail, as by the occasional use of the turban or fez. The “Turkish” women have in some districts abandoned the veil; but in others they even cover the eyes when they leave home. Polygamy is almost unknown, possibly because many of the “Turks” are descended from the austere Bogomils, who were, in most cases, converted to Islam, but more probably because the “Turks” are as a rule too poor to provide for more than one wife on the scale required by Islamic law. In general, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina are sober and thrifty, subsisting chiefly on Indian corn, dried meat, milk and vegetables. Their houses are built of timber and thatch, or clay tiles, except in the Karst region, where stone is more plentiful than wood. Family ties are strong, and the women are not ill-treated, although they share in all kinds of manual labour.
11. Government.—At the time of the Austrian annexation in 1908, the only remaining token of Ottoman suzerainty was that the foreign consuls received their exequatur from Turkey, instead of Austria; otherwise the government of the country was conducted in the name of the Austrian emperor, through the imperial minister of finance at Vienna, who controlled the civil service for the occupied territory. Its central bureau, with departments of the interior, religion and education, finance and justice, was established at Serajevo; and its members were largely recruited among the Austrian Slavs, who were better able than the Germans to comprehend the local customs and language. A consultative assembly, composed of the highest ecclesiastical authorities, together with 12 popular representatives, also met at Serajevo. For administrative purposes the country was divided into 6 districts or prefectures (kreise), which were subdivided into 49 subprefectures (bezirke).
Every large town has a mayor and deputy mayor, appointed by the government, and a town council, of whom one third are similarly appointed, while the citizens choose the rest; a proportionate number of councillors representing each religious community. To ensure economy, the decisions of this body are supervised by a government commissioner. The commune is preserved, somewhat as in Servia (q.v.), but with modified powers. Each district has its court of law, where cases are tried by three official judges and two assessors, selected from the leading citizens. The assessors vote equally with the judges, and three votes decide the verdict. Except where the litigants and witnesses are German, the Serbo-Croatian language is used. An appeal, on points of law alone, may be carried to the supreme court in Serajevo, and there tried by five judges without assessors. In cases not involving a sum greater than 300 florins (£25), no appeal will lie; and where only 50 florins (£4:3:4) are in question, the case is summarily decided at the Bagatelle Gericht, or court for trifling cases. The number of lawyers admitted to practice is strictly limited. As far as possible, the Turkish law was retained during the period of occupation; all cases between Moslems were settled in separate courts by Moslem judges, against whom there was an appeal to the supreme court, aided by assessors. All able-bodied males are liable, on reaching their 21st year, for 3 years’ service with the colours, and 9 years in the reserve. The garrison numbers about 20,000 Austrian troops, and there are 7100 native troops. The principal military
