Rieka is a place concerning which a good deal has been written, but I
doubt if there have been two words more striking than the phrase which
the Consiglio Nazionale Italiano applies in a pamphlet to the last
Hungarian Governor. This official, appreciating that his presence in the
town would serve no useful end, dissolved the State police on October
28, 1918, and departed. "Hote insalue, il disparut...." says the
pamphlet. After all the years of kindness, all the million favours
showered on the Autonomists by their beloved friends the Magyars, after
all the dark electioneering tricks and gutter legislation which for
years had been committed by the Magyars to the end that the Autonomists
and they should have all the amenities of some one else's house, it
surely is the acme of ingratitude to call this tottering benefactor
"Hote insalue." If the Autonomists did not desire to reap advantages
from any Magyar corruption, they might at any time since November 17,
1868, have torn the swindling piece of paper, the "krpitsa," from the
Agreement made between the Magyars and the Croats. Then the Croat would
not have been kept for all these years a slave in his own home.... But
on October 28, 1918, the "krpitsa" had no more weight, the iniquitous
Agreement was obsolete, the Croats came into possession of their own.
The Compromise of 1868, which gave the administration of Rieka
provisionally to the Magyars, was formally denounced on October 29, so
that the _status quo ante_ returned, and Rieka was again an integral
part of the Kingdom of Croatia. The Croatian Government (that is, the
National Council) had then every right to depute its adherents at Rieka
to undertake the affairs of that town. Dr. Vio was too much of a lawyer
to dispute the legality of any of these statements....