Repository: UIHistories Project: War Publications - WWI Compilation 1923 - Article 18 [PAGE 8]

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The Albanians again have been decidedly conscious of those arbitrary adjustments, like that put into effect by the Ambassadorial Confcwyice at London in 1912, which have placed sections of their country h the inhabitants under foreign jurisdiction; thus, for example, Wl certain leaders of the country have requested Italy to represent them at the peace conference and to demand for them Epirus and parts of Serbia. Furthermore the Albanian Federation in America, with headquarters in Boston, recently issued an authoritative statement to correct distorted views of their country and people. It surveys with evident modern peopl nds of their neighbors in most recent times, notes that the Albanians have made common cause with the Allies, that many of the seventy thousand Albanians in America are in service in the American armies, $1,000,000 worth Liberty lop ted land; and concludes with the notelook to America and the Allies at the peace n of their country's independence within boundaries Such are obvious witnesses of a national consciousness on the part of this people. The evidences may be few; that there are any such, under the circumstances, is highly significant. And finally, the little trustworthy information available about this people shows them to be a folk with intensely strong racial characteristics. Centuries long they nave maintained themselves in their mountain fastnesses against successive waves of invasion, ultimately either absorbing or driving out their would-be conquerors. With a like tenacity, successive generations of Albanians resident in Greece and Italy through hundreds of years adhere staunchly to their native speech. Signal virtues are theirs also, despite their tribal organization with its endless local warfare, their blood feuds and their gross ignorance. The following quotation speaks for itself: "Brigandage, despite the prevailing myth on the subject, is practically unknown in Albania. The native is too proud and chivalrous—and these are his two main national characteristics—to lower himself to the condition of highwayman As to the reputed fanaticism of the 9