We have dealt in our leading columns with the friction
between Austria-Hungary and Servia, but must add here that the latest news on Friday shows that we have somewhat under-estimated not only the danger but the directness of the Austrian pressure upon her neighbour. The Austro- Hungarian Note was actually presented to the Servian Government at six o'clock on Thursday evening. Its form is that of an ultimatum, for it demands a reply within forty- eight hours. Its language is exceedingly emphatic. The Note, in effect, charges Servia with abetting the movement against the Dual Monarchy, with tolerating apology for crime, and, further, with something in the nature of an indirect responsibility for the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand and the Duchess of Hohenberg in June last. It also alleges, and this is perhaps its most menacing portion, that the Serajevo outrage was planned at Belgrade, and that arms and explosives were given to the criminals by Servian officers and officials belonging to an association called the Narodna Obrava. Further, it alleges that the passage into Bosnia of the criminals and of their arms was organized and made effective by the chiefs of the Servian Frontier Service.
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