The libel action brought against Dr. Friedjung by the Serbo-Croatian
Coalition ended on Wednesday. Among the many witnesses for the plaintiffs called during the last week of the trial was Dr. Spalaykovitch, the Servian Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, who repudiated the idea that Servia had been in corrupt intercourse with Members of the Croatian Diet. It finally became quite clear that Dr. Fried- lung had been deceived by forgeries, and he was at last pre- vailed upon by his friends to publish a statement withdrawing, though without any apology, his accusations against the plaintiffs. The latter thereupon in their turn withdrew the prosecution. It is to be hoped that the result of the trial will be to convince the Austrian authorities of the loyalty of the Southern Slays, and induce them to abandon the oppressive method of government which has been revived in Croatia by Baron Rauch.
