ALBANIA: A Constitution Coming. - Time, Monday, Feb. 11, 1924, електронен архив

ALBANIA: A Constitution Coming

Monday, Feb. 11, 1924

In the town of Tirana, capital of Albania, a little advertised but none the less bitter controversy was waged over the future Albanian Government. Is it to be Monarchical or Republican? That is the question which Albanian Deputies of the Constituent Assembly were discussing during the past week over their cups of Turkish coffee.

The presence of the Deputies and their wives and families caused a congestion in the capital. As they persisted in taking their families into the Assembly building, it became overcrowded and numerous cafes were turned into antechambers to hold the overflow.

There is only one decent hotel and all the Albanian Deputies (with their wives and families) tried to get into it. Many of them were sleeping six in a room.

From 1431 until 1912 Albania, a small country on the Adriatic Sea, was under Turkish rule. Two years later the Crown of Albania was offered to and accepted by the German Prince Wilhelm of Wied, but as soon as the War broke out (and before a Constitution had been framed) he fled back to Germany. Albania fell into a state of anarchy and was invaded by Italy, Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Austria. Her independence was again declared in 1917 and since then the Government has been in the hands of a Constituent Assembly and a Council of Regents, composed of representatives of the following religions : Bektashi Moslem, Sunni Moslem, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Catholic. Since 1920 Albania has been a member of the League of Nations.