An Observer in the Near East

by William Le Queux

BULGARIA

His Royal Highness Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria.

CHAPTER I
SOFIA OF TO-DAY

At the Bulgarian frontier—A chat with M. Etienne, French ex-Minister of War—Evening in Sofia—A city of rapid progress—Engaging peasants for Earl’s Court Exhibition—Amusing episodes—Social life in Sofia—The diplomats’ club—The Bulgarian Government grant me special facilities for investigation.

The Orient Express—that train of dusty wagons-lits which three days a week gives communication between Ostend and the East—had just passed the Bulgarian frontier at Tzaribrod, and my passport had been examined and stamped by a keen-eyed little man in black.

I was sitting in the dining-car with a very distinguished French statesman, M. Etienne, ex-Minister of War, and we had been chatting for several hours as the train wound through the defiles of the Servian mountains.

A diplomat’s wife, with four pet spaniels, on her way, I believe, from Japan to the Turkish capital, was seated at the next table to ours. She had ordered coffee, for which she paid with a thousand-franc French note! The takings of the “pudding-car” of the “Orient” must be considerable, for the maître d’hôtel promptly cashed the note—nine “one-hundreds,” some French gold, silver, and copper—and received a few centimes as a tip! It was my first quaint experience in Bulgaria. Mark Twain with his million-pound-note should come here. Curiously enough, I afterwards met the diplomat’s wife in Constantinople.

Entering Sofia from the station, the traveller is at first sadly disappointed. The place looks dismal and half finished. There are wide roads and boulevards laid out, with scarcely a house in them. Your cab suddenly turns a corner. The high pointed minaret of a mosque comes into view, and lo! you are in a wide boulevard, which would really do credit to Brussels. You pass a many-domed building, the Cathedral, and presently a pretty garden behind railings, and a long handsome building with sentries at the entrance-gate—the Palace of Prince Ferdinand. You are in modern Sofia.

After a wash at the hotel, I went to the Palace, signed my name in His Royal Highness’s visiting-book, and then went forth to wander in the streets.

It was now already dark. In the trees of the central boulevard thousands of rooks were cawing and circling above, disturbed by the lights and movement of the street. Men were shouting the evening newspapers in strident voices, and one could almost imagine oneself back on the Boulevard des Italiens at the absinthe hour, with the camelots crying “V’la la Presse!” Only, in Paris, rooks do not nest in the streets, nor do the watchmakers have twenty-four inches of space and a chair in the windows of the smaller cafés. A walk along any of the principal streets at once shows the Bulgar to be a fighter, for the display of arms of all kinds, even to the modern Browning automatic pistol, is immense.

Here, one is really in the Balkans. The last official census gives sixty-six Englishmen and forty-six Englishwomen in the whole of Bulgaria. I met six only. Uniforms, upon Russian models, are everywhere—the peaked cap, the grey overcoat, the big revolver. Men in European dress jostle with peasants in linen blouses, round astrachan caps, and drab blankets around them, or others in sheepskin jackets with the wool inside, all with the inevitable round Balkan cap of astrachan. The Turk, too, is quite at home and friendly with the Christian, and modern progress is typified by the electric trams whizzing and clanging everywhere.

Peasants in Sofia Market Place.

The Old Mosque: Sofia.

Sofia is essentially a town of progress. During the past eighteen months whole streets of new villas have sprung up upon its outskirts, and such a rush has there lately been for building plots that our Foreign Office—who want to build a new Legation—are unable to get any decent site in a central position. Sofia is just now in the transition stage. Great new public buildings and fine boulevards are springing up everywhere. There is a beautiful new theatre, a new post office, a new Agricultural Bank, and hosts of minor structures, all spacious and well built, which, in themselves, show Bulgaria to be a country of rapid advancement.

Unlike some other Balkan countries, there seems no lack of money here. Just now, for example, it is proposed to expend a little matter of fourteen million francs upon roads in the Principality, and the cost of the new market-halls and other buildings will probably be prodigious.

But the Bulgar is essentially a thrifty person. During the past twenty years he has transformed his capital from a wretched little Turkish town into a really handsome city. In twenty years to come, at the present rate of progress, it will be the Brussels of the East, for it is modelled upon the same plan.

Sofia is a city of quaint contrasts. Fine modern shops, where one can obtain the latest Parisian perfumes, the latest French modes, or expensive table delicacies, are hopelessly mixed up with the Turkish stalls where sallow-faced men are squatting at work, or sitting pensively at the seat of custom. The Sofia tradesman likes to expose his wares, whatever they may be, in the street, for in that he still retains the trace of the trade manners of the Turk. The pavements of the main streets are heaped with wares—fish in barrels, meat, groceries, live fowls, live pigs tied to lamp-posts, and among it all jostle the passers-by.

The broad Maria Luisa Ulitza, the Dondukoff Boulevard, or the Pirotska Ulitza are, on a Friday, the market-day, crowded with peasants in the most picturesque costume of all the Balkans. Until a year or two ago the skirts and head-dresses were of white linen embroidered, but in these modern times the women dye all their white clothes a pale blue. Therefore they all seem to wear the same delicate shade. The married women have their heads covered with a pale blue handkerchief, and wear a heavy silver girdle; but the village maidens all have their hair parted in the middle and hanging in a hundred small plaits with sequins down their backs, while over the left ear they wear a bunch of fresh flowers, which gives them a most coquettish appearance. The skirt is short, always hand-embroidered, and sometimes studded with gold sequins, while over all is worn a short jacket of sheepskin with the wool inside, rendering them somewhat podgy.

The men from the country, a fine tall race, wear embroidered costumes, the jackets of dark stuff flowered in pale blue and ornamented with hundreds of pearl buttons, tight white trousers embroidered at the knees, and the inevitable round cap, without which no Bulgar is complete.

I spent one amusing morning with Mr. James Bourchier, the well-known Balkan correspondent of the Times, who is six months each year resident in Sofia. He was on the local committee of the Balkan Exhibition at Earl’s Court while I was on the London committee, and our mission was to discover in the market some good-looking peasant girls to go to the wilds of West Kensington. He had already been to several villages, but the girls, he said, were rather chary of going so far from home, even though assured by their local Mayor of their well-being and safe return.

On the particular day of our visit to the market my journalistic friend had arranged to meet the Mayor of one of the neighbouring villages—a peasant—and with his aid try induce some of the best-looking girls to grace the Bulgarian Section of the Exhibition. The village Mayor being prevented from joining us, we determined to start upon a voyage of discovery ourselves.

It was a rather formidable undertaking. We, however, spent an amusing morning; but though we talked with many comely girls with flowers in their hair, we somehow were unable to impress any of them with the advantages of a free trip to London. Unfortunately, they did not take us at all seriously; there was a good deal of tittering at our proposals, and the market with its vegetables, its sucking-pigs on strings, and its turkeys tied head downwards on cross-sticks, was drawn blank. We could only hope that next Friday, with the presence of the confidence-inspiring Mayor, we might be more successful.

His Excellency Dr. Dimitri Stancioff,
Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

As a matter of fact, a few days later, accompanied by my friend, M. Dimitri Stancioff, of the Commercial Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and M. Mandersheff, another functionary from the same Ministry, we took carriages out to the picturesque village of Vladaja, some seventeen kilometres from Sofia on the broad highroad that leads to Kustendil and Macedonia. The drive was a delightful one in the bright winter sunshine, through a fertile undulating country, until, turning off from the well-kept military road, we found ourselves in a small village lying in a deep dark ravine.

Here the costumes were very quaint and interesting, the men in long blouses of white blanket-like woollen stuff trimmed with black, raw-hide shoes, and their legs bound with leather thongs; while the women and girls wore gay colours, short lace-edged petticoats, and quantities of gold sequins and coins about their necks. Some of those strings of coins were worth at least from fifteen to twenty pounds.

Our journey of investigation was distinctly humorous. Sometimes the four of us could not agree as to the personal beauty of a fair candidate for the approbation of the British public, while those we spoke to were mostly shy to answer our questions. Many of the village girls flatly refused to leave their homes unless their lovers were also employed in the Exhibition, but after much explanation, a good deal of chaff, and considerable giggling, the names of several were taken in order that inquiries should be made of the village Mayor before the presentation and signature of their agreement, which provided for their fare to London, the payment of their wages, their insurance for the benefit of their family in case of accident, and their safe return to Bulgaria at the termination of the Exhibition.

We engaged one flute-player—a tall, dark-faced young giant in sheepskins—after he had displayed his aptness with his instrument. The local han, wherein we rested, drank rakhi, and ate cream-cheese, was a big common room with earthen floor. In the centre was a large stove, upon which was cooking some steaming dish with appetising odour. Around us sat dozens of huge burly fellows, bulky in their sheepskins, gossiping and drinking wine, a fierce-looking assembly, to be sure, and yet withal extremely good-humoured.

After a while, the village musician was discovered, a short little fellow who played a quaint kind of two-stringed violin, and almost as soon as he sounded the weird, plaintive music, young girls with flowers entwined in their long plaited tresses, and others, slightly older, with the white handkerchiefs on their heads—the badge of matrimony—came trooping forth to perform for us the national dance—the horo.

Forming in a line, the youths and maidens crossed arms, linked their hands in each other’s belts, and then began a curious kind of dance, keeping step with the music and ever advancing and retreating, keeping it up for a full half-hour. Now and then the tune was changed, and with the tune the dance.

In the clear Eastern afterglow of evening, with the thin crescent moon slowly rising, it was a quaint and curious scene. The weird music, the strange costumes, the cries of the dancers, and the merry laughter of the girls, will long live within my memory as a picture worthy the brush of a great painter.

And as we drove back to Sofia through the silent, starlit night, I wondered what impression those simple-minded folk, so far removed from Western civilisation, would receive of our fairy-lamps, pasteboard, tinsel, imitation mountains, brass bands, and water-chute at Earl’s Court!

What would be the stories of their adventures in West Kensington and the wonders of London when they returned to remote Vladaja?

I had, like every other Englishman, always regarded Bulgaria as a terra incognita, where local manufactures were absent and where most goods were imported. Therefore a surprise awaited me one day when Monsieur M. V. Lascoff, Director of the Bulgarian Commercial and Industrial Museum at Sofia, took me round that institution, and showed me specimens of the various goods produced in the country. In the museum was a most wonderful collection of articles representing the manufactures of Bulgaria, ranging from violins to soap, and from table-covers manufactured from beautifully embroidered jacket sleeves to writing-ink and tinned fruits.

One of the prominent industries is the distillation of otto-of-roses in the Shipka district, where in summer the whole country is covered with blossom, an industry to which I will devote a chapter. Carpets, very similar to the dark crimson-and-blue Persian varieties, and goat-hair floor-coverings are made largely by the peasantry, who also weave by hand wonderfully fine gauzes, tissues, and dress-stuffs. Felt hats, blankets, pottery, and copies of antique filigree jewellery are also of peasant manufacture, and are really wonderfully done. The stranger has no idea, until shown this museum, of the rapid progress the country is making commercially.

While passing round the museum I chanced to admire two pairs of very fine antique silver earrings of rare design worn by the Bulgarian peasants two centuries ago, whereupon the case was at once opened, and they were presented to me as a little souvenir of my visit.

Sofia, being a brand-new city, is not, of course, quite perfect. It requires, among other things, a good system of drainage and the repavement of its streets. The latter work is to be commenced in a few months’ time. A good first-class hotel, too, is also badly required. At present the hotels, though clean, are poor and comfortless, and neither they nor the restaurants do credit to the go-ahead character of the progressive Bulgarians. All this, however, will soon be remedied, for I heard of schemes for new hotels with fine restaurants and winter-gardens. So in six months’ time the traveller may expect to be in the full enjoyment of them, for in Sofia they do not talk, but act.

If you are anywhere in the Balkans and mention Sofia, you will be told, with a sigh of regret, “Ah! they have a club there. We haven’t.” I had heard this in Belgrade, in Sarayevo, in Ragusa, in Cettinje—in fact, everywhere throughout the Balkans; therefore, with some curiosity I entered the sacred portals of the much-talked-of club with my friend Colonel Hubert du Cane, the British military attaché, and was elected a member during my stay in the Bulgarian capital.

It certainly is a most excellent and comfortable club—one of the best I know of on the whole of the Continent. The rooms are cosy and artistic, and the members are most diplomats, Cabinet Ministers, and high functionaries of the State. At lunch, representatives of most of the European Powers assemble at the long table and chat merrily, while at dinner, at the small table at the end, M. Petkoff,[^[1]] the Premier; Dr. Dimitri Stancioff, the Foreign Minister; and several other members of the Cabinet, dine nightly at “the Ministers’ table.”

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[1]. M. Petkoff has, since the present work has been in the press, been assassinated while walking in the Boris Garden in Sofia.

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The food is excellent, though there are, of course, some grumblers, and the whole institution is conducted on similar lines to a first-class London club. Perhaps the custom of personally introducing the stranger to every single member of the club strikes the foreigner as a little unnecessary, yet without doubt there is real good-fellowship existing, such as is entirely absent in some other clubs I know—the English Club in Brussels and the Florence Club in Florence, in particular.

Men, and especially the diplomats, find it a very great boon, for to go to Sofia is to find a real good club and quite a host of good cosmopolitan friends ever ready to show the stranger all kinds of hospitality.

Social life is far from dull. Sport and games of every kind are most popular. There is an excellent tennis club, hockey is played three or four times a week, and large riding parties, personally conducted by Baron Rubin de Cervin, the Italian military attaché, go out for long jaunts into the neighbouring mountains several times each week. Then at night there are constant dinners and receptions at the Legations, and everyone seems to lead a very pleasant life, without a moment’s dulness.

His Excellency D. Petkoff,
Prime Minister of Bulgaria.

Lady Buchanan, wife of Sir George Buchanan, the British Minister, is the principal hostess, and with her daughter is foremost in Sofia society. Until ill-health prevented her recently, she was an ardent player of hockey and tennis, and constantly in the saddle. Her entertainments are always brilliant, and in her pretty salon one meets everyone who is anyone in Sofia.

Again, the Military Club is another centre of social life. The building is a handsome one, with an extremely fine ballroom, where dances, given every week through the season, are attended by the elite of Sofia. I went to one, and found it a particularly gay and brilliant function.

Government institutions in Sofia amazed me. They would do credit to any European capital. The Agricultural Bank, the inner working of which I was permitted by Monsieur N. Ghenadieff, Minister of Commerce, to inspect, is a fine new building of huge dimensions, with a beautifully ornamented board-room, and its operations no doubt tend much towards securing the public prosperity of Bulgaria. M. Seraphimoff, the Governor, who conducted me round, told me that the bank had its origin in the time of the Turkish rule. As far back as 1863, the Governor of the vilayet of the Danube created small banks in order to aid the peasants, the villagers repaying their loans in crops and the banks selling the produce.

During the Russo-Turkish War, however, many of these banks lost their capital, for the Turkish functionaries escaped with all the funds they could place their hands upon. The Provisional Russian Government re-established the banks, and they have continued to progress until the present institution was founded. It now has eighty-five branch offices in the principal towns and agents in most of the villages. Its direction is under a governor and four directors nominated by Prince Ferdinand. The operations of the institution are as follows: to accept deposits; to grant loans on mortgages or securities; to grant loans upon cattle and agricultural produce; to advance money to the peasants for the purchase of cattle, seeds, or agricultural implements; to make personal loans; to open current accounts with peasants; to buy agricultural implements, seeds, and machinery for the peasants; to accept loans for departments or communes; and for the transfer of securities. The interest charged or given is 5 per cent. for deposits for five years, 4 per cent. for three years, and 3 per cent. for one year. In 1901 the amount of the bank’s operations was 535,575,182 francs, while in 1905 it amounted to 1,180,778,378 francs, thus showing how greatly it is appreciated by the peasant, and of what enormous benefit it is to the country.

While there, I saw many uncouth peasants in their sheepskins from far-distant villages come and obtain loans, repay their interest, or make petition for their inability to pay. It is very apparent that all of them greatly appreciate the fact that the Government is their creditor and not the Jews.

Another institution which I inspected was the State printing press, a fine building containing the latest machinery; and afterwards I was shown the building of the magnificent new church of St. Alexander Newsky, which, being constructed in blocks of white stone just behind the old church of St. Sophia, is costing over three million francs, and is to be in memory of the Russian liberator of Bulgaria.

Truly, everywhere one turns in Sofia one sees some new buildings, for signs of rapid progress and up-to-dateness are on every hand.

Bulgaria, with Servia, is surely destined to expand in the near future, and the “big Bulgaria” must some day ere long be an accomplished fact.

The Royal Palace: Sofia.

The Main Boulevard: Sofia.

CHAPTER II
BULGARIA AS A FIELD FOR BRITISH
ENTERPRISE

Audiences of members of the Bulgarian Cabinet—Dr. Dimitri Stancioff, Minister for Foreign Affairs, the coming man of Bulgaria—His policy—Facts about the mineral wealth and mining laws—Advice to traders and capitalists by the British Vice-Consul in Sofia—Our methods as compared with those of other nations.

One of the objects of my observations being to point out where British capital can, with advantage and security, be employed in the Balkans, I made, while in Sofia, very careful and exhaustive inquiry.

Information was given me by the late Premier, M. D. Petkoff; the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Dimitri Stancioff; and by M. Ghenadieff, the Minister of Commerce, who was also interesting himself very actively in the Balkan Exhibition at Earl’s Court. To these three members of the Bulgarian Cabinet, and to His Royal Highness Prince Ferdinand himself, I have to acknowledge my thanks for placing all information at my disposal. The Minister for Foreign Affairs deputed his cousin, Monsieur D. M. Stancioff, of the Commercial Department of the Ministry, to accompany me everywhere and explain everything. I was given a perfectly free hand to go when and where I liked, and, as His Excellency put it, “to see Bulgaria just as I pleased.”

The Bulgarians are nothing if not thoroughly businesslike. I was particularly requested by the Ministers not to paint the country in couleur de rose. One member of the Cabinet said, as I stood in the corner of the ballroom of the Military Club one night, “We would like the English to know exactly what they can find in Bulgaria, and how we shall treat them. Don’t flatter us, and cause English capitalists to expect too much. We have good paying investments for them—if they will only come here.”

I took a good deal of trouble in going very minutely into this very important question, and found the Government ready and eager to give every facility to British capitalists to exploit the great mineral wealth in their country. The mining laws are just, and extremely favourable to secure absolute rights to those who invest. The Government have established in Sofia a Mining Department under the Ministry of Commerce, where specimens of ore may be seen, and where every information can be obtained. By the courtesy of M. T. Michailowsky, the able Director of this Department, I was afforded an opportunity of inspecting the various collections, and was given much information of intense interest.

It seems that up to the present time the Government have given thirty-one concessions, mostly to French, Russian, Belgian, and Italian capitalists. Of these, sixteen are for coal, four for copper, two for manganese, two for iron, two for lead, two for zinc, and one for oil-bearing minerals. There are no English companies in Bulgaria at present, but I was informed by the Minister of Commerce that the greatest attention would be paid to any serious application from England. There are known to exist in the district of Bourgas, on the Black Sea, very rich copper deposits, also in the Vraza district, and in Belogradjik, near the Danube.

Two kinds of “permits for research” are granted by the Government. The first—a general one to search in any part of Bulgaria—is given free, but with a personal guarantee that any damage done will be made good. The second is a permit for a special place, which must not be of greater extent than 8,000,000 square metres, and for this is charged eighty francs. This lasts for two years. After this time, if a concession is desired, the Department make inquiries in order to see if the proposed mine bears sufficient to justify its working. This having been decided—which takes about a month, or at most two—the Prince issues a decree, and the concession is granted for ever. No deposit is required, but the Government takes, for each hectare, three francs per annum for coals, and four francs per annum for minerals. They also tax the output at the rate of one per cent. Machinery and material enter the country free of duty, and as far as I was able to judge, the Bulgarians make excellent workmen, being very sober, industrious, and obedient. At present, however, there is large emigration, for there is not sufficient work for the four and a half millions of people in the country.

His Excellency N. Ghenadieff, Bulgarian Minister of Commerce.

One colliery is worked by the Government at Pernik, and this supplies the railways, the city of Sofia, and the many industrial enterprises with about 200,000 tons of excellent coal yearly. All the other mines are just starting to work, and show prospects of splendid profits.

The copper mine at Vraza, which is exploited by Monsieur Maurocordato of Constantinople—who has invested about 600,000 francs—has, in two years, repaid itself, thus showing that there are mines in Bulgaria, and very rich ones indeed.

All the concessions already granted show great futures, but unfortunately, with the exception of the Vraza enterprise, the concessionaires lack capital.

The Bulgarian Mining Law is a very liberal one, being an exception to the laws of most other countries, for it has been drawn up specially to induce the investment of foreign capital, as well as to secure the interests of shareholders. The people of Bulgaria are not rich enough to exploit their mines themselves, and for that reason the mining industry of the country must of necessity be in the hands of the foreigner.

When making my inquiries, M. R. S. Kossef, Director of the Commercial Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was most particular that I should say nothing that was not absolutely true regarding the mines. “We do not wish to attract capitalists to Bulgaria by means of advertisement,” he said. “We wish them to know that they will here find a good return for their investments, and that if they exploit our mines, we, on our part, will treat them justly—even generously.”

Besides minerals, Bulgaria is extremely rich in mineral springs—the one at Banki, seventeen kilometres from Sofia, being about to be exploited this year, when a very handsome bath establishment and hotel are to be constructed. The source is situated in the valley beneath the Lubin mountain, and an automobile service is to be established with Sofia. This spring gives 1200 litres a minute, and has been pronounced by a number of first-class authorities in Germany and France to be a water almost unexcelled in Europe. Other springs abound all over the country, and so important are they, indeed, that the Government have issued a large coloured map of them.

In Sofia itself, close to the old mosque, are well-known sulphur baths. There is a project for building a bath establishment, but to do so it would mean the pulling down of the mosque in question. The Turks would not object so much if a new mosque could be built, but it seems that the difficulties of construction are very great, so for the present the matter remains in abeyance.

In the whole of Bulgaria over two hundred thermal and mineral springs are known, and they are situated in eighty different districts. The department of Sofia alone contains twenty-three, the warmest being at Dolna-Banja. The more important of the others are at Kniajevo, Gorva, Banja, and Pantcherevo. Then there are the renowned warm springs at Verschetz, in the department of Vratza, while in the department of Plovdiv (Philippopoli) there are more than forty springs, the principal of them being at Hissar. This, perhaps the most reputed in all the Orient, is situated in the valley of Tchepino, in the centre of the Rhodopes Mountains. At Lidji, near Bourgas, and at Sliven, there are establishments on the latest modern principle. Another which is being actively exploited is the waters of Meritchteri, in Stara-Zagora, which are declared by analysts to be quite equal to those of Carlsbad, and which are believed to have a great future before them. Dr. Ernst Hintz, of Wiesbaden, has written a book upon these particular waters, and has given exhaustive analyses.

Early Morning in Sofia.

On the road to the Shipka.

There are also minor waters in the town of Kustendil and in dozens of other villages and towns all over Bulgaria.

Again, to encourage intending pioneers of new branches of industry, it is interesting to note that the industries in actual existence are making great progress. The numerous spinning mills and cloth factories in Eastern Roumelia have been enlarged, while the Varna Cotton Mill, whose headquarters are in Manchester, employs nearly seven hundred hands, and in 1905 paid a dividend of 10 per cent.

As regards British trade in Bulgaria, the attention of the English manufacturer has been repeatedly drawn, in trade reports from the Consulate in Sofia, to the energetic measures adopted by foreign competitors to secure the Bulgarian market for themselves. As Germany’s rivalry is by far the most formidable, it may be well to briefly illustrate the methods by which that country is steadily absorbing the trade of the Near East, as explained to me by Mr. Toulmin, British Vice-Consul in Sofia. Not only do the principal German importers have capable agents established in the more important towns throughout Bulgaria to push the sale of their goods, but they also send at regular intervals experienced travellers who thoroughly investigate the commercial condition of the country in its various trade centres, take note of the wants and requirements of the population, and enter into direct relations with the retail trader. They are, moreover, instructed to do business at any cost, and are authorised to give credit for a year or even longer. By their readiness to accept the smallest order, by scrupulously adhering to conditions and specifications, and by strictly supplying goods according to sample approved, German importers are now reaping the fruits of a painstaking and methodical commercial policy, which menaces even Austria-Hungary’s hitherto unassailed supremacy. The importance, therefore, of sending out to Bulgaria representatives with some knowledge of French or German cannot be too strongly impressed on British manufacturers. It may be well to mention that a gentleman, representing a well-known Birmingham firm dealing in hardware, called at the Consulate at Sofia a few months ago, and expressed himself as highly satisfied with the result of his fortnight’s business tour in Bulgaria.

By the employment of commercial travellers, the translation of their catalogues, if not into Bulgarian, at any rate into French or German, the use of the metric system of weights and measures, the conversion of sterling into francs and centimes, and by giving longer credit—by these means only can British merchants hope to compete successfully with their foreign rivals.

The Bulgarian Sobranje.

CHAPTER III
WILL BULGARIA DECLARE WAR?

A sitting of the Sobranje—Declarations by the Prime Minister and Dr. Stancioff—The new Minister of Foreign Affairs—A sound progressive government—Strong army and firm policy—Will the deplorable state of Macedonia still be tolerated?—Ominous words.

It was a bitterly cold November evening when, accompanied by Sir George Buchanan, I entered the Sobranje, or Bulgarian Parliament, to hear the Ministerial statement upon the future policy of Bulgaria and her attitude towards Turkey.

A great high-roofed square chamber, enamelled entirely in white and picked out with gold. At one end a high, red-carpeted daïs with the throne, behind which hung a full-length portrait of Prince Ferdinand. Upon an escutcheon above, the Bulgarian lion on a crimson shield. Below the empty throne, a long red-covered table, where sat the President, a short, grey-haired little man, who from time to time rang a musical gong; and in the arena, on a scarlet carpet, rows of horse-shoe benches half filled by deputies. On the right, at a table placed at an angle, sat the Ministers. First was Monsieur Petkoff, the Prime Minister, the most prominent man in Bulgaria, and who has, alas! since shared the fate of his friend the late Stambouloff; next Dr. Stancioff, the newly appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs; the Minister of War in a dark blue uniform with a white cross at his throat; and the Ministers of Justice, Commerce, and Finance.

Above, around three sides of the huge white-and-gold hall, the galleries were crowded by the public, while over all big arc lamps shed their white brilliancy. With us in the diplomats’ gallery sat the Prince’s confidential secretary, M. Dobrovitch, the German Minister, the representatives of Turkey and Roumania, Colonel H. du Cane, the British military attaché, and numbers of other diplomats.

The House was silent. Every ear was strained to catch the Premier’s words, for it was he who was now speaking. A rather short, grey-bearded figure, just past the prime, whose left hand as he gesticulated only showed a stump. He lost it at the Shipka, and as patriot and politician he was leader of his party—a party of progress, that has been four years in power with an overwhelming majority.

For the past four hours he had been speaking fluently, easily, without interruption, forecasting the future policy of Bulgaria—the policy which is designed to lead the country to prosperity. Bulgaria had long waited for this, and every word was now being listened to with rapt attention.

On those benches below sat representatives of the people, men of every class—lawyers, shopkeepers, peasants in their white linen or brown homespun suits, and even Turks. Surely this Sobranje is essentially a representative gathering.

Now and then came a spontaneous outburst of applause, very marked when the Prime Minister dwelt upon the cordial relations with Roumania and their identical aims with regard to Macedonia. Everyone applauded—all save one little section of benches on the extreme left—a mere handful of men—the Opposition. So small are they that they really do not seem to count. Nobody took any notice of them. With their backs to the holy ikon of burnished gold and highly finished religious pictures, they sat facing the Ministers, who were, of course, ever confronted by the emblem of their faith.

Gen. Michael Savoff, Bulgarian Minister of War.

This speech, being in Bulgarian, was kindly translated to me by M. Dobrovitch, the Prince’s private secretary. He said—

“To-day neither the Macedonian people nor Bulgaria nor Turkey are the same states which they were fifteen years ago. In consideration of the solution of the Macedonian question, we have to reckon with several factors. The most important of them is that we ought to be ready at a moment’s notice. We have to be strong! Europe acts and reforms in Macedonia. No Bulgarian Government can foresee what to expect or how the events will develop themselves. We must try to be one of the arbitrary factors in the solution of the Macedonian question, and therefore we must be armed. We have no intention of annexing Macedonia, but we wish to better the positions of our compatriots. It is in the interest of Turkey to reform Macedonia and to shake off all exterior influence. When even Roumania arms herself for a few countrymen, ought we not also to arm? We are only a small nation, but in order to be safe we ought to have a strong army. It is said that such an army would be a luxury. That would be only the case, then, if we could not help ourselves without assistance. It is our duty to keep an army ready, for it is only in so doing that we shall be considered of any consequence when the solution of the Macedonian question arrives. A weak country is of no importance. Such a country only serves as a toy for others.

“With regard to her culture, agriculture, and her politics, Bulgaria is to-day in a different condition than heretofore. Though we do not acknowledge any progress, other countries see that Bulgaria has made in twenty years a very great progress and that she still is developing in large strides. We possess in the Balkan Peninsula a very important point, where many interests join. The most important, however, is to hope and to rely on our own strength.”

Dealing with the foreign policy of Bulgaria, the Prime Minister said—

“They tell us that Bulgaria has no friends. On the contrary, we possess the friendship of all States. Our relations with other nations are not at all the same as we found them in the beginning. No unimportant contretemps can disturb our relations with Russia. I am in the position to proclaim that Bulgaria possesses the sympathy of all other nations. The fact that our commercial contract with Austria-Hungary is not yet signed does not say that our relations with each other are not friendly. Even the two parties of that country are not on good terms, and they cannot decide the contract. M. Todoroff has said that our relations to Turkey are rather strained. That is not true: it is the most difficult thing to enter into any contracts with Turkey. In spite of those difficulties, we have signed some smaller contracts. It is also said that Servia has been playing with us, in not showing us the tariff unions of the Skupshtina. Now, Servia is under pressure from Austria-Hungary, and at the time that this proposition was brought before the Skupshtina it could not be carried by a majority of two votes. That was not sufficient for us. Servia began to export her goods viâ Varna, and up to to-day no fewer than 4000 waggons of corn have been exported viâ Varna. Is that no success for our railways?

“Our relations with our neighbours are formed on a purely economical basis. We mean to further our industry! But this economical basis has nothing to do with the great and pressing Macedonian question. We only wish to keep up friendly relations with Roumania. We try to keep our relations with our neighbours in order, and we count upon success. In which way shall we reach this success? That surely is our own affair! I have finished. You see that our policy is a policy of peace. However, remember that peace can only be protected with arms in the hand, therefore we wish to enlarge our army. In case we have to incur expenses for our army, we shall ask them from you without embarrassment. You may call that bravado on our part, but we shall still do our duty; for peace to-day means an armed peace. Led by a policy of peace, we shall try to keep up good relations with all the nations, and we shall do everything possible to render assistance to our brethren in Macedonia. We shall not court war, for that might cost us our liberty. You think we are ready to draw our swords, you believe we want to deliver Macedonia through a war? I tell you that we only want to continue our former policy and walk on with courage.”

The Prime Minister, with a final wave of his maimed hand, resumed his seat amid a loud outburst of applause from both deputies and the general public in the long galleries of the great white-and-gold Chamber. Only we, in the diplomats’ gallery, were silent—with the Opposition, of course.

His Excellency L. Payacoff,
Bulgarian Minister of Finance.

Sir George Buchanan,
British Minister at Sofia.
Photo] [Elliott & Fry.

The sitting was a historic one in the annals of Bulgaria, and ere the applause had died away, the President, on the red-carpeted platform, rang his gong violently, and called upon the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs to make his declaration upon Bulgaria’s future policy.

Dr. Stancioff, who until recently was Bulgarian diplomatic agent in St. Petersburg, rose from his seat at the Ministers’ table—a dark, good-looking, middle-aged man—a trifle nervous perhaps at addressing the Chamber for the first time in his new position.

A dead silence followed. Bulgaria awaited the statement with breathless eagerness. They had heard the Premier’s declaration regarding Macedonia. What would the Foreign Minister say?

The blue-uniformed attendants took up their positions against the dead white panelling of the Chamber, lending the necessary colour to complete the picturesqueness of the scene, while the great arc lamps hissed above as they shed their bright white light over the rows of deputies upon the horseshoe benches. On the wall, straight before the Ministers’ table, the burnished gold of the holy ikon shone to remind them of their duty to the Almighty and to the nation. For a few moments all was silent.

Then Dr. Stancioff, the new man of Bulgaria, cleared his throat, and in Bulgar made the following clear, deliberate, and concise statement, of which the following is a translation. It is, as will be seen, a direct pronunciation of foreign policy—a firm policy, which may very probably mean war with Turkey at a no distant date. Indeed, war is in the air in Bulgaria, and over the Macedonian question may come at any moment; therefore the Minister’s actual words may, with advantage to the future, be repeated here.

He said—

“Gentlemen, the Minister President has just given an ample exposition of the policy the Government has followed up to the present moment, and the course which it has marked out for itself for the future: on this point, therefore, there is but little left for me to say, as a member of this Government, and as one who is willing to bear the responsibility of his acts before this honourable Assembly.

“Under these circumstances, if I speak, it is chiefly that my silence may not give rise to misinterpretation, and in order to underline the words my colleague has said.

“Without doubt, you remember, gentlemen, that I have held the post of Foreign Minister only a few days, and I am under no obligation to enter into any explanation of the policy followed before my nomination, and on the debates, interpellations, and the opinions that it has called forth. Therefore I shall limit myself to saying a few words on the policy that we are going to follow for the future.

“There are two questions I wish to discuss. Firstly, our relations with the Great Powers; and secondly, what is to be our policy in regard to what I must call the question of questions—Macedonia.

“First of all, I am glad to be able to state that our relations with the Great Powers are of the best.

“This fact is always being confirmed by the notifications which we receive from abroad.

“By the line of peaceful development which she has traced for herself, and which she has never ceased to pursue, by the honourable manner in which she fulfils all her international engagements, and by the clear comprehension which she has of her position in the Balkans, Bulgaria is gaining more and more the sympathy and esteem of the Great Powers.

“It would be superfluous to mention in detail our relations with each separate State. Nevertheless, I wish to point out the happy fact that as to what concerns our relation with Russia—the Liberating Power—they are what they ought to be when one considers the ties which bind us to her, when one considers the ties which unite the two Slav people, and when one considers all that Bulgaria owes to Russia. Our relations with Russia are of the best, and it will always be the Government’s endeavour to render them even more cordial.

“Economic as well as political considerations bind us to Austria-Hungary. These interests compel us to maintain relations as cordial as possible with this Great Power.

“Our friendship with Germany, England, France, and Italy is dear to us. We greatly appreciate the sympathy of which these countries have given us so many proofs, and it will be our care, guided by the interests of our country, to consolidate and ameliorate these relations.

“As regards our relations with the neighbouring States, I assert that those with Roumania are, as they ought to be, the best and the most cordial. We appreciate at its true value our sincere friendship with Roumania, and it will be our task to preserve it.

“Our relations with Servia are good. We desire to cultivate a neighbourly policy with this State. It is a policy suited to two sister nations, and we shall cultivate it in accordance with the point of view that Bulgaria has cultivated for so long. I may add that, to gain this end, we shall do all that is in our power.

“As to our relations with Montenegro, it suffices to say that ancient sympathies, the reciprocity of which has never been denied, bind us to this State. Our sympathies perpetuate the nature of these relations with our valiant sister nation, and assure us that they can only be good and cordial.

“From a diplomatic point of view, our relations with Greece are good and normal; the regrettable incidents which took place last summer in certain portions of our country belong to the Department of the Interior. They are, so to speak, a family matter; they cannot, and must not, be allowed to darken relations between the two countries, who in their common interests will guard against a modification so undesirable.

“There only remains for me to speak of our relations with Turkey.

“I will be brief, though I could speak at great length upon this subject.

“Our relations can only be good, or sincerely good. At the present moment they are only ‘good.’ Before they can become ‘sincerely’ good it is necessary that the two countries should be convinced not only of the utility of friendly relations, but also that their interests, political and economic, demand other relations than those that exist at the moment. As regards ourselves, who take this matter at its true valuation, it will be our task to do our utmost to prove to Turkey that we justly estimate these interests, and are prepared to pursue a sincere policy, provided that, on her side, she gives us pledges of her reciprocity.

“You will be able to estimate what that policy is by the attitude that we have taken up regarding the Macedonian question. This is a European question, but that does not hinder it from being, at the same time, both a Bulgarian and a Turkish question. First of all, I declare that the Bulgarian Government is far from having conceived the idea of provoking or imposing a solution of the Macedonian question by violent means. But our Government recognises the significance of this vital question for our country, it justly estimates the violence with which this question reflects itself upon the inner life of the Principality, and this renders it necessary to closely observe its development and its solution.

“The Macedonian question is in the hands of the Great Powers, who have taken upon themselves the task of introducing into Macedonia reforms assuring to the population of this country a development at once more orderly and more free. It is true that in this respect up to the present an altogether satisfactory result has not yet been achieved, and that the Bulgarian population of Macedonia and the vilayet of Adrianople still have to face complications. But the Government hopes that the good work they have begun will make progress. The Government will take every measure to keep itself currently informed of the situation in Macedonia, and will do everything in its power to at all times assist the interested Governments, and insist with all its energy upon the amelioration of the condition of the people of this country. The Government think that the representation they are going to make to the Great Powers in regard to a prompter and more energetic carrying out of the essential reforms in Macedonia is not incompatible with having good and cordial relations with Turkey. On the contrary, they consider that action of this nature suggests a more normal conception of the reciprocal interests of the two countries, and that it will induce the Government of His Majesty the Sultan to adopt a totally different attitude in regard to the Bulgarian population of Macedonia—an attitude which will conduce to its peace, and which will be, at the same time, an important factor in the destinies of the Empire itself.

Military Manœuvres in Bulgaria.

“We make no mental reservations with regard to Turkey. We do not dream of conquest or annexation. But the Bulgarian nation cannot look coolly on while our blood-brothers (those of our own blood) are being subjected to such ordeals as those they are suffering in Turkey. In the name of reciprocity, in the name of justice and of humanity, the Bulgarian nation demands that the right of existence, and that the right of free development in their nationality, and its religion, be granted to the Bulgarians of Macedonia. She demands that their right of enjoying the fruits of their labour be recognised.

“The Government has the strongest convictions on the subject of the national duty, and will not waver in carrying them out. It is the fulfilling of this duty which must constitute the foundation of friendly relations with Turkey, and in this matter the Government will stand firm.

“The arming of our military forces must, of necessity, be a contradiction. We live in the era of armed peace, and we must not lose sight of the fact that the peace of Europe is due, if not entirely, at any rate in great part, to the formidable armament that each country keeps up. Bulgaria, though small, cannot evade this essential, if she wishes to live in peace.”

Dr. Stancioff resumed his seat amid thunders of applause.

Parliament shortly afterwards adjourned, and we went home to snatch a hasty dinner and put on our war-paint for the smart ball at the Military Club.

Will Bulgaria declare war against Turkey? That was that night, and still is, the question on everyone’s lips in Sofia.

CHAPTER IV
THE BULGARIAN EXARCHATE AND THE PORTE

A difficult and little-understood problem—Bulgaria the “dark horse” of the Peninsula—An explanation of the question between Bulgaria and Turkey—The Bulgarian Church and the Imperial Firman—The present position of the Exarchate—Europe should listen to the Bulgarian demand—Chats with Macedonian orphans—Their terrible stories.

The question of the Bulgarian Exarchate and the Porte is of paramount importance in Bulgaria at the present moment—a very difficult problem which the Government have to face.

So little is it understood in England, even by those professing to be au courant with the Balkan question, that I may perhaps be pardoned if I endeavour to render the situation intelligible. “What does Bulgaria want?” is the question so very often asked. What she really wants, and what are her aims, will, I hope, be shown in the following pages.

Bulgaria, it must always be remembered, is with Servia, the coming mistress of the Balkans. She is the “dark horse” of the Peninsula. Her power is admitted, but the extent of her force cannot be gauged. One thing is certain, that the present Government being an essentially strong one, and Dr. Stancioff, the Foreign Minister, a man of action, Bulgaria will no longer sit still and allow her people in Macedonia to be decimated as they now are daily.

In view of this, therefore, it will perhaps be of interest to explain impartially at some little length the question which it is feared must, ere long, bring Turkey and Bulgaria face to face.

Ever since the liberation of Bulgaria up to the present moment the Bulgarian Exarchate has led a perturbed existence.

As long ago as the Russo-Turkish War it had to undergo serious trials, the Exarch being obliged to recall the Bulgarian bishops from the Macedonian diocese. When, after the Treaty of Berlin, he attempted to restore them to their former sees and to complete the organisation of the Bulgarian Church—in accordance with the Imperial Firman of May 16, 1870—by establishing a Synod and a Mixed Council, the Exarch received in 1883 from the Turkish Minister of Justice the following significant answer:—

“When we determine to grant you a status in the vilayets, then only we shall consider the matter of your administration.”

So that, after an existence of only three years, the Bulgarian Exarchate found its right of having a status in the vilayets put in question. This, however, did not discourage the Exarch. On the contrary, he redoubled his efforts. Relying upon the Imperial Firman, and assisted by the Bulgarian Government, he succeeded in winning for the Exarchate an official status in Macedonia, insisting at the same time on the formation of a Synod and a Mixed Council, attached to the Exarchate.

At the present day the authority of the Exarchate in Macedonia extends over seven dioceses, namely, Uskub, Ochrida, Debr, Monastir, Veless, Nevrokop, and Stroumitza. In addition to these, there are still ten bishoprics which, contrary to the Firman, remain vacant, because the Sultan refuses to grant the indispensable berats. During the period referred to, the Exarchate was also deprived of its right of representation at Sketcha and Malgara (vilayet of Adrianople), whose religious communities were suspended in 1897 by the Grand Vizier Rifaat Pasha. The Bulgarian chapel at Sketcha remains to this day under seals placed by the Imperial authorities, and consequently inaccessible to the spiritual needs of the Bulgarian population in that place.

The question of the Mixed Council and the Synod still remains open. The solution of this question is of supreme moment to the Exarchate and to the Bulgarian Government. This is due to the position and importance of the religious communities in the Turkish Empire.

For the better understanding of the bearing of the issues involved, it will be perhaps necessary to refer to the history of the Turkish Empire and its attitude towards Bulgaria.

As is well known, instead of trying to assimilate the Christian nations which they had conquered, the Turks always considered themselves masters of those whom they had vanquished. Their system of government in this respect is, of course, in perfect agreement with the spirit of their religion. The Koran subdivides all countries into two distinct groups: first those belonging to Islam, and secondly those under the domination of the giaours (infidels), with whom Islam was in a state of permanent war. The true believers, the followers of the Prophet, were declared rulers of the infidels. These purely theocratic principles of State organisation form, until this day, the basis of the Ottoman Empire.

As exponents of these principles, the Osmanlis did not attempt, after the conquest of Byzantium, to impose on their new subjects the Turkish State institutions or civil laws. Although despised and humiliated, the rayas continued to enjoy privileges which, in many respects, remind one of those subsequently granted by the capitulations to the foreign Christians. The place of the rulers of the conquered nations was now occupied by the representatives of their Church. As an instance, Mohammed II., conqueror of Constantinople, conferred upon the Patriarch of Constantinople the title of Miletbashi (Chief of the Nation), and entrusted to him the administration of the secular and spiritual interests of his flock. These same prerogatives were also granted to the Bulgarian Patriarchs of Tirnovo and Ochrida, as representatives of the Bulgarian nation. The spiritual leaders of the conquered races delegated, in their turn, part of their attributes to their inferiors—bishops and priests.

Peasants at Vladaja: Bulgaria.

Bulgarian Military Types.

In this way, the clergy formed a body of functionaries invested with large administrative and judicial powers. Every religious community was entrusted with the repartition of the State taxes among the members of the community, and was responsible for their payment into the State Exchequer. In a word, the spiritual head of a Christian race was at the same time its civil representative before the Turkish authorities. As regards the Bulgarian nation, this mission was confided, down to the year 1770, to its Patriarchs—at first, to the Patriarchs of Tirnovo and Ochrida, and, later on, to that of the latter place—until the abolition of the Patriarchate of Ochrida, which was brought about by the intrigues of the Greeks.

The fact remains that during several centuries the Christians in the Turkish Empire—and among them the Bulgarians—have, owing to this peculiarity of the Turkish State policy, enjoyed a relative independence, and in this way have been able to preserve their nationality, language, and customs. These exceptional historical circumstances explain at the same time why, among these Christians, the sentiment of patriotism has been transformed into an attachment to their religious communities and their national Church.

This sentiment of patriotism and spiritual consciousness, which, owing to the oppression exercised by the Greek clergy, after the year 1770 had weakened to the extent of national self-forgetfulness and identification with the Greeks, awakened once more among the Bulgarians during the second half of last century. It acquired great force in the course of the struggle for the restoration of the ancient national Church. This new struggle began at the time of the Tanzimat, a period when the Porte had to fight against the growing omnipotence of the Patriarchate, which was threatening the very foundations of the State. It had, as its legal support, the Hatti-Houmayoun of 1856, which reverted to the historical rights of all religious communities. The second part of Section II. of this Act runs as follows:—

“Chaque communauté Chrétienne ou d’autre rite non-musulman sera tenue, dans un délai fixé et avec le concours d’une commission formée ad hoc dans son sein, de procéder, avec ma haute approbation et sous la surveillance de ma Sublime Porte, à l’examen de ses immunités et privilèges et d’y discuter et soumettre à ma Sublime Porte les réformes exigées par le progrès des lumières et du temps.”

Progress, as well as the State interests of the Empire at that time, required the administrative separation of the Bulgarian Church from the Patriarchate, and its endowment with a special chief and clergy. It is interesting to note that, in this struggle of the Sublime Porte with the Patriarchate for the denationalisation of the Christian communities—which had for its consequence the weakening of the Patriarchate and the restriction of its privileges—the Bulgarian nation acted as allies of the Empire, with “the high approval of the Sultan” and “under the control of the Sublime Porte.” Thanks mainly to this alliance and to this struggle against the Patriarchate in favour of the Bulgarian nation, the Patriarchate was considerably weakened through the Organic Statute of 1862, while the Bulgarian Church was restored in virtue of the Firman of 1870.

With the Bulgarian Church restored, it was necessary, in accordance with the Imperial Firman, that it should be organised after the pattern of the Eastern Orthodox Church, of which it formed a branch, without in any case departing from its canons. The Exarchate, as its highest administrative body, was organised on such close lines with the Patriarchate, that its Organic Statute is, in greater part, nothing but a reproduction of that of the Patriarchate in 1862, which, in its turn, is based on the principles laid down by the Hatti-Houmayoun.

Peasants near Tirnovo, Bulgaria.

In view of all this, it must be admitted that to-day the struggle—or rather the insistence of the Exarchate for the speedier organisation of a Synod and a Mixed Council, forming part of itself—is only a just and legal claim of the rights and privileges sanctioned by the Firman of 1870. It should be clearly understood that the Bulgarian Exarchate does not ask for any new privileges; all that it demands is the restoration of the Synod and the Mixed Council as they existed before the Russo-Turkish War. Surely this is but a very natural demand! The question concerns two administrative bodies, with attributes strictly defined by the canons of the Church, as well as by the statute of the Exarchate and the Imperial Firman, and which cannot be delegated to anyone else, but must be exercised by the Synod and the Mixed Council. To the Synod are reserved all questions of the forum ecclesiasticum, while the mission of the Mixed Council is to look after the schools, the civil administration, and the organisation of the Bulgarian nationality. The Mixed Council forms at the same time the highest judicial body in civil cases between Bulgarians—the mixed courts being reserved for civil cases between Mohammedans and Christians, as well as for commercial and criminal cases without any distinction of religion. This brief mention of the attributes of the Synod and of the Mixed Council is surely sufficient to show the very urgent need of their speedy restoration and organisation.

The needs of the Church and of the community have greatly increased; they are no longer what they used to be thirty years ago, and cannot be left disregarded. The requirements of the population and of the times give rise to fresh questions, while on the other hand the Imperial Ottoman Government comes every day with fresh demands to the Exarchate, which shares in the administration of the country, as an auxiliary organ.

In these present-day times of trial the Bulgarian population in Macedonia, broken up, persecuted, and outlawed as it is, turns for help and protection to its legal head and protector, the Exarch. The Exarch is, however, helpless, because personally he has no authority to decide such questions as fall within the competence of the Mixed Council. His only rôle in such matters is to act as an intermediary between the Council and the Sublime Porte.

The present position of the Exarchate is an abnormal one. According to the Firman, which has the force of law within the Empire, it has well-defined rights and obligations as regards the Porte and the Bulgarian nation in the vilayets, which, however, it cannot exercise or fulfil because of its imperfect and irregular organisation. This state of things provokes among the populations of the Empire complaints both against the Exarchate and the Imperial authorities. Failing to find help and protection at the hands of the legal authorities, the outraged population is naturally tempted to look for such in illegal quarters, and in its despair places its hopes in foreign intervention. This state of affairs explains and fully justifies such tendencies among the Macedonian population. The true interests of the Ottoman Empire demand the preservation of its Christian inhabitants from similar hopes and tendencies. The population ought to expect all improvements from Constantinople. In this respect the formation of a Synod and of a Mixed Council attached to the Exarchate is not only a just demand, admitted on every hand outside Turkey, but is highly desirable and indispensable for the pacification of public opinion both in the vilayets and in Bulgaria. By their very constitution, this Synod and the Mixed Council would act as legal interpreters of the needs of the Bulgarian population in Macedonia and the vilayet of Adrianople, and would form a strong link between the Bulgarians and the Sublime Porte.

It would surely be preferable both for the Powers and for Turkey if they had to deal with a legally organised and responsible body, such as the Bulgarian Exarchate. Indeed, this latter, if completed and fortified by the creation of the Synod and the Mixed Council, would no doubt succeed in attracting the attention of the Bulgarian population of the vilayets once more to Constantinople. The cause of the Macedonian reforms would benefit considerably from such an organisation, while the difficult task of the Powers would be greatly facilitated.

The just and legal measure I have outlined above would pacify public opinion in the Principality of Bulgaria. That something must be done is very plain. Matters in Macedonia cannot be allowed to remain as they are—a blot upon the civilisation of Europe. Bulgaria is, as far as I have been able to judge from personal inquiry, determined to take a strong and definite line. She cannot remain indifferent to the injustice of the Porte towards the Bulgarian Exarchate; neither can she overlook the burning question. Even if she were inclined to adopt such a course, she would not be in a position to do so. No Bulgarian Government could follow such a policy without being accused of violating the Constitution, according to which the Eastern Orthodox religion is the State religion of the country.

In ecclesiastical matters the Principality is, according to Article 39 of the Bulgarian Constitution, placed under the control of the highest spiritual authority of the Bulgarian Church, wherever that authority may be found. This authority is the Bulgarian Exarchate. It must be remembered, too, that this Constitution was ratified at the time, by the Powers signatory of the Treaty of Berlin. The right of the Principality to take an interest in the normal and regular working of the authority in question now became even more indisputable. Besides, political considerations of the very highest importance to the peace of Europe place upon the Bulgarian Government the duty of reminding the Great Powers, Turkey included, of the liabilities which they assumed towards the Christian population of the vilayets by virtue of Articles 25 and 62 of the Treaty of Berlin.

Only natural is it, and in the cause of humanity, that Bulgaria should seek to protect the Bulgarians in Macedonia. Never has the country been in a worse state than at the present time, and never has European interference been more needed than at this moment.

Europe should listen attentively to this Bulgarian complaint against Turkey, for it is surely a just one, crying loudly for remedy. The blood of the poor massacred thousands in Macedonia calls to-day to the Powers for mercy and justice, and yet to-morrow, and still to-morrow, a hundred more defenceless men and women and innocent children are put to the sword, mutilated and murdered, and we in England hear nothing about it. Macedonia is, alas! a country where God is high and Justice far away.

This question of the Bulgarian Exarchate and the Porte is, I know, an abstruse one, neglected by most writers on the subject. However, it is one of the highest importance—one which is inseparable from the future policy of Bulgaria.

Things cannot remain long in Macedonia as I myself saw them. Europe holds up her hands in virtuous horror at the so-called Congo scandals and seeks out every detail of maladministration, yet she turns a deaf ear to the piteous cry of the Macedonians, whose homes are daily burned and pillaged, and whose villages are often completely wiped out—both dwellings and inhabitants—in the course of a few hours by fiends filled with the lust of blood.

If you doubt that there are horrible atrocities daily committed in Macedonia by Greeks and Turks alike, you need go no farther than Sofia. Visit the Orphanage for Macedonian boys established three years ago by Mr. Pierce O’Mahony, an Irish philanthropist, of Grange Con, County Wicklow. This gentleman was living in Sofia, and hearing terrible stories of massacres across the frontier, established an institution for the education of orphans whose parents had been killed in the raids. When I visited the place, I found it neat, orderly, and doing a most charitable and excellent work under the care of two English nursing sisters. In a large commodious house on the outskirts of the capital were thirty lads ranging in age from seven to fifteen, all dressed in their white woollen and black-braided national costume of Macedonia.

When the boys were assembled in the large classroom, I heard some of their stories, and truly they were appalling, many of the details too terrible to be placed here on record. As an instance, one lad I saw, a bright, intelligent little fellow, was admitted to the Orphanage a few months ago. He lived in the district of Ochrida, and was one day tending his sheep as usual, when some Turkish soldiers came past.

“Have you seen a Bulgarian band pass along just now?” they inquired.

The lad declared that he had seen nobody. The soldiers doubted him, for the Bulgarian band in question was protecting the villages in that neighbourhood.

Tziganes on the Isker road.

They asked again, and the boy denied having seen anybody, which was the truth. Whereupon one of the Sultan’s soldiers smashed the little fellow’s skull in with the butt end of his rifle, while another took a knife and cut his throat from ear to ear. They then dug a rough hole in the ground and buried him. Some hours after, a shepherd passing noticed that his dog was scratching the earth, and on going to the spot, heard moans. The lad was quickly exhumed, and found to be still living. For many weeks he was in the hospital in Salonica, but was eventually admitted to Mr. O’Mahony’s Home. When I saw him, the wound in the head had only just healed, and the ugly scar across the throat was still red. I have his photograph, but it is too ghastly to here reproduce.

Another little lad described to me how his father and mother had been tortured by the Turks and afterwards burnt alive before his eyes, while another related how he had been captured by the Turks, taken into slavery, and afterwards escaped.

Each orphan boy had his own terrible story to tell, stories that were full of horror and inhuman butchery, stories that made one wonder whether such things could really happen in this enlightened century.

As to the institute and its general conduct, there is no doubt it is performing a most humane and charitable work. There are thousands of the homeless and fatherless in Macedonia, increasing thousands, and the institute, which is purely a piece of private philanthropy, cannot possibly admit one-tenth of the applicants for its charity. The founder hopes, if private subscribers or donors come forward, to extend his work, and Lady Buchanan of the British Legation, Sofia, who takes a great interest in it, told me that she would be very pleased to acknowledge any subscriptions sent to her.

Certainly it is most deserving of support, for already it has sent Macedonian lads into the Bulgarian Agricultural School at Kustendil; two others are in the Cadet School in Sofia, and will become officers; others have been taught trades and are earning their living; and one has been sent to England. Though the founder is a member of the Church of England, the lads are allowed to retain their own religion, the Orthodox.

Every right-minded man must, after investigating the complaint of Bulgaria against the Porte regarding the Exarchate, take the part of Bulgaria. Macedonia is to-day and every day being decimated by Greek bands who raid under the protection and with the connivance of the Turks, and assuredly Bulgaria has just cause for reprisals. At present, however, her bands are inactive, and she is endeavouring to adjust the difficulty by diplomatic channels. Bulgaria has no desire for war, neither has Turkey.

But the question must ere long be faced boldly and fearlessly, and a solution arrived at. Bulgaria has right on her side, and in the name of humanity it is the duty of the Powers to support her.

Where I spent a comfortless night in Bulgaria.

Bulgarian Laundresses.

CHAPTER V
AT A ROSE DISTILLERY

Tobacco growing in Bulgaria—The otto-of-rose industry—About adulteration—Difficulties of obtaining the pure extract—Corrupting the peasant—What Monsieur Shipkoff told me—Some tests to discover adulteration—Interesting facts about roses.

NO description of the present condition of Bulgaria would be complete without mention of the two principal industrial plants cultivated in the country—tobacco and roses.

Tobacco, I noticed, was particularly plentiful in the south and in the departments of Silistra and Kustendil. The department of Haskovo, it appears, produces 800,000 kilos of first quality tobacco, followed by Philippopoli with 300,000 kilos, Kustendil with 270,000 kilos, and Silistra with 210,000. Three-quarters of all this tobacco is consumed in the country, for Bulgarians are inveterate cigarette-smokers, and the remaining quarter exported. Tobacco in leaf is sold at an average price of 80 centimes to 1 fr. 50 c. per kilogramme. The Government give the peasants, in order to encourage tobacco cultivation, quantities of seed gratis.

As regards the cultivation of roses, the special species grown are the red rose (Rosa damascena) and various species of white rose, of which the Rosa moscata is the most used, the best and most extensive plantations being at Kazanlik, Karlovo, Klissoura, and Stara-Sagora.

I was afforded an opportunity of visiting one of the otto-of-rose distilleries, and the sweet, penetrating perfume of it clings still to the nostrils. Bulgarian otto-of-rose is famous the world over, and its production is carried on in 175 communes in the departments of Philippopoli and Stara-Sagora.

The chief manufacturers and exporters of otto-of-rose are Messrs. Shipkoff & Co. of Kazanlik, who export about two-thirds of the whole rose produce. This firm, as well as the others, make advances to the peasantry upon their growing crops of roses, and the peasant pays these advances in otto-of-rose already distilled. The firms make it a part of the contract that the extract must be pure, and can refuse to accept it if adulterated. As a check, all the exporters make it a point to themselves distil in the various rose-growing districts for the purpose of obtaining the proper standard of purity.

I had an opportunity of visiting Mr. Theodore Shipkoff, Deputy for Kazanlik, of the great firm of Shipkoff & Co. He showed me over the factory, and gave me a number of extremely interesting details regarding this unique industry.

It appears that nowadays it is not an easy matter to obtain pure otto-of-rose. Some forty years ago the entire rose industry was an ideal one. No farmers, small or big, adulterated their otto. They knew nothing about adulteration. In their primitive simplicity and honesty, it would have been altogether against their nature to falsify in any way their produce. The jobbers and dealers who used to come from Adrianople and Constantinople to buy it, and who at that time controlled the whole exportation, while buying it from the growers in its pure state, soon began to adulterate it with the Turkish geranium oil (Idris Yaghi). They found this way of adulterating the otto-of-rose so profitable that, in order to use a larger percentage of geranium oil and at the same time to render it less easily detected, they began to import from Constantinople the crude geranium oil, and in the presence of the growers to redistil and refine it in rose-flowers and rose-water, thus taking away its pungent and heavy vegetable odour. Some of the growers soon learned to do this themselves, and the peddling traders started regular factories for the express purpose of refining geranium oil and selling it afterwards to the peasants for purposes of adulteration. In this way many villages were gradually corrupted, and the otto-of-rose they produced was more or less adulterated with geranium oil; but most of the adulteration has always been done by the exporting jobbers and dealers. This, of course, brought much discredit to the rose industry, and the Government, some fifteen years ago, was compelled to prohibit the importation of geranium oil into the country. This measure was a most wholesome one, and checked, to some extent, the free and open importation of geranium, and saved many of the rose villages from further corruption. However, a great deal of geranium oil is still imported sub rosâ into Bulgaria by unscrupulous jobbers and exporters, and much of the otto-of-rose sold is largely adulterated with it.

Mr. Shipkoff, in course of his conversation with me when he showed me over his distillery at Kazanlik, said, “As our principle is to export only the genuine otto-of-rose, and sell only what we can guarantee as absolutely pure, our task has been, and is, a most difficult one. With the primitive system of distillation still in use in our country, it is actually impossible for us to distil all the otto-of-rose we export, and we still have to depend on our growers for the greater part of our stock. When the means of transportation and communication improve, it will then be possible to centralise the whole distillation in a few places, and establish large steam distilleries, such as those in Grasse, Cannes, and Leipzig. At present most of the rose-flowers are distilled in the villages where they are grown, and by the growers themselves, this method being by far the cheapest. Still, to guard ourselves from all possible adulteration on the part of our suppliers, and at the same time to be able to get as much otto-of-rose as possible of our own distillation, we ourselves have to distil in all the principal places in the eight rose counties of the rose district, and each year we increase our own distillations.

“It is by virtue of this extensive distillation that we are able to obtain pure otto. Besides this practical means, we have continually experimented to discover various tests, whereby we can readily distinguish the pure from the adulterated rose. It is quite impossible simply from the sense of smell to always recognise an adulteration from two to five per cent., and the following are the tests, which we possess and use in conducting our business: the freezing-point test, the specific gravity test, the density test, the spectrum test, the iodine test, and the nitric acid test.

“Otto-of-rose, when analysed, is found to consist of two ingredients: the oleoptene, which is the liquid and odoriferous part of the otto-of-rose, and the stereoptene, which is the solid and odourless part, and causes the crystallisation of the otto-of-rose. The proportion in which these two ingredients are combined in the pure otto-of-rose is more or less fixed, varying only from 10 to 15 per cent. according to the elevation of the localities in which the otto is produced. The highest proportion—15 per cent.—is found in otto-of-rose distilled in villages situated highest in the Balkans; while the villages down in the plains produce otto-of-rose containing only 10 to 11 per cent. of stereoptene. We have lately made experiments to distil these two ingredients separately, but they can best be separated from each other by a very simple physical process. The average proportion of these two ingredients in our stocks during the last five years has been about 12½ per cent. of stereoptene and 87½ per cent. of oleoptene.

“The oil usually employed for the adulteration of otto-of-rose is the geranium oil (Palagonium Radula[Palagonium Radula]) known to the trade as Turkish geranium oil. This oil is made in India and is sold in Constantinople. Formerly they used this oil as adulterant in its crude state, but now it is generally refined in rose-water or rose-flower before it is used. No matter how well refined, it is impossible to put 5 per cent. of it in otto-of-rose without changing the freezing point of the otto, its specific gravity, and the proportion in which the stereoptene and oleoptene are combined. Geranium oil contains no stereoptene, and in consequence does not crystallise. In the best refined geranium oil the specific gravity is fully ·880—a difference in weight of about eighteen points. All this helps to detect its presence in otto-of-rose. It can also be detected by means of the iodine as well as the nitric acid tests. The presence of geranium oil in otto-of-rose lowers its freezing point, renders its specific gravity heavier, and changes the proportion in which the oleoptene and stereoptene are combined.

The Rose-fields near Kazanlik.

“In order to rectify these defects, the use of spermaceti, paraffin, and alcohol have often been resorted to, but the presence of all these three substances can be discovered without any difficulty. The crystals of both spermaceti and paraffin are entirely different from the crystals of the stereoptene of otto-of-rose, and otto-of-rose containing any proportion of either will lose, when congealed, its sharp-pointed, needle-like crystals. Besides, paraffin and spermaceti being fatty oils, are much heavier, and in time will settle at the bottom. Furthermore, they are not volatile as stereoptene. The presence of alcohol is detected either by the use of double distilled water or of pure glycerine.”

By resorting to these various tests in the selection of supplies from growers, as well as by extensive distillation in all the principal localities, respectable firms are always able to procure the finest otto-of-rose and to export it in its absolute purity.

The whole rose district comprises in all 173 villages, devoted to rose culture, with about 15,500 acres of rose plantations. These yield annually from 20,000,000 to 25,000,000 pounds of rose-flowers, for the distillation of which some 13,000 native stills are used. The total yield of otto annually varies according to the year—from 90,000 to 150,000 ounces; the average crop being about 120,000 ounces of pure otto-of-rose. It generally takes from 160 to 250 pounds rose-flowers to make one ounce of otto—and there are about 300 roses to the pound.

Nearly all the otto produced in Bulgaria is exported for consumption abroad, and chiefly to New York, Paris, and London, its three largest markets, and from there it is distributed all over the world. Formerly the perfumers used to be supplied through the intermediary of Constantinople, Leipzig, and London, but now all large consumers buy their supply direct. The house of Shipkoff was the first to inaugurate this system of direct relations. It saves many extra charges, and in case of the goods delivered turning out badly, the guilty party is at once detected.

Shipkoffs do not believe in all sorts of grades, their motto being, “Only one quality—the best.”

The culture of roses in Bulgaria is not only the oldest and most attractive industry of the country, but also quite exclusively its own. While roses are found all over the world and are grown everywhere in garden-beds, in Bulgaria they are grown in extensive fields, as we grow the potato or corn. This industry, however, is confined only to one special district in Bulgaria, which is comprised in the eight counties above mentioned, with Kazanlik as their central town, called, in consequence, the capital of the rose district. The rose district extends along that portion of the southern slopes of the Balkan mountains, comprising in itself the branch range of the Little Balkans, which shoots out of the main Balkans and forms one of its chief arms. The average length of the rose district is about eighty miles, and its average width is about thirty miles. Its average elevation is about 1300 feet above the level of the sea. The average height of the Balkans along the rose district is about 5600 feet, while that of the Little Balkans is about 3700 feet.

Attempts have often been made to grow roses all over Bulgaria, but they have all proved a failure. It is true that roses have been grown, and are grown to this day, in Persia, India, Egypt, and China for this purpose, but they hardly produce any otto-of-rose. They produce almost exclusively rose-water, and it is chiefly used for local consumption. In the Maritime Alps of Southern France, and especially in Cannes and Grasse, they grow quite extensively the “Provence rose,” and they extract from it a peculiar otto-of-rose, but the quantity is very limited, and they chiefly use their flowers to make pomades and rose-water. In Leipzig they also grow roses, but with very little success. Almost in all the other places where the roses are grown, they lack the peculiar advantages of climate that Bulgaria possesses, and have in consequence to use twice and even thrice the quantity of flowers to make the same amount of otto. The hottest weather ever experienced in summer in this part of Bulgaria is 88° Fahr. and the coldest of winter is rarely under 15° Fahr. above zero. Then, during the harvest and distillation season, which is in the latter part of May and the first part of June, there we have regular showers of rain and in the mornings heavy falls of dew—both absolutely necessary for the otto-of-rose distillation.

After the Russo-Turkish War in 1877-78, when Bulgaria was separated from Turkey and constituted into an independent Principality, the Turkish Government spent thousands of pounds in trying to replant the Kazanlik rose in Asia Minor, and many scores of rose-gardens were planted around Broussa, but to no purpose. The gardens grew, thrived, and yielded plenty of flowers, but when distilled they got only rose-water and very little otto, so the work, in consequence, could not pay. It is the peculiarity of the soil, and chiefly that of the atmosphere of this special district in Bulgaria, caused by the peculiar formation of the mountain ranges surrounding it, which makes the roses thrive and yield sufficient otto-of-rose to pay for the very laborious work that the culture entails.

The red rose grown is a semi-double light red rose like the French rose du roi, having from thirty to thirty-six petals and possessing an extremely rich and fragrant odour. The growing of the rose is very much like the growth of the vine, and the planting of a rose-garden is similar to that of a vineyard. After the ground has been prepared by tilling and manuring, ditches are made in rows, about a foot and a half in depth and width, and a yard and a half apart. At the bottom of these ditches soft earth mixed with manure is spread, on which the roots forming the bushes of the new rose-garden and taken from old bushes are firmly stuck vertically, and then well covered up with the earth and manure. This is generally done in the spring, when the rain showers abound. The roses thus planted soon take root, and in less than two months send up soft, glossy green shoots, which in a year become about a foot high. In the second year they are over two feet high, and yield a few rose-flowers. The first crop worth gathering is in the third year, and in the fifth year they attain their full growth. They reach then a height of about six feet, the bushes forming thick rows of clustered rose-trees and continuing to yield rich crops of flowers for a period of twenty years, and in some localities twenty-five years, after the lapse of which time they become old, begin to die from the winter’s cold and frost, and yield but few flowers. Then the old rose-bushes are dug out and the garden is planted anew.

A rose-garden requires constant care. During the year it is hoed three times. In autumn the roots are covered up with earth to guard them from the winter’s cold. In spring that earth is thrown off and the bushes are pruned, and every other year the garden is manured.

The roses yield only one crop every year. The rose-harvest begins in the latter part of May, and as the weather is dry and hot or cool and rainy during the blossoming season, it may last from eighteen to thirty days. During the whole harvest the distillation of the crop is carried on. Morning after morning, hours before sunrise, groups of young maidens and boys, all dressed in their beautiful bright-coloured native costumes, proceed with songs to the rose-gardens to gather the newly opened buds while the heavy morning dew is still on the blossoms. Nothing can present a more captivating scene than a rose-garden in bloom, with its gaily attired peasant-girls gathering the roses, and its nightingales—those romantic lovers of the Regina florum—trying in most melodious songs to out-sing the maidens.

As soon as the roses are gathered they are taken to the distillery, spread in cool and shady rooms, and gradually distilled during the day. The alembics used for this purpose are of the simplest kind. They consist of a convex tinned copper boiler, narrowed at the top to a neck on which is fixed a spherical head-piece with a tube on one side, to which is attached the condensing tube, sloping down and passing through the condenser or refrigerator, a large vessel into which cold water is constantly running. The capacity of the boiler is about 250 pounds of water. In distilling the roses from twenty to twenty-five pounds of flowers are put in it, and from five to six times that much of water, thus nearly filling three-fourths of the boiler.

Gathering Roses at Kazanlik.

Testing Otto of Rose at Kazanlik.

This done, the head-piece and condensing tube are tightly attached, the fire started, and the distilling of its contents begun. This is carried on about forty-five minutes, until thirty to thirty-five pounds of rose-water are extracted from each boiler. The boilers are then emptied, cleansed with clear water, and the same process is repeated until all the morning-gathered flowers are distilled. The rose-water extracted from the first distillation is redistilled in the same way, only in this second distillation from 100 to 120 pounds of rose-water are used, and out of it they extract some thirty to thirty-five pounds of second rose-water. This double-distilled rose-water is very strong in odour and quite turbid in appearance; it is full of tiny yellow-white oily globules floating in it, and as the bottle is filled they rise up and gather on the top of the long-necked bottles in which the rose-water runs. These globules are the otto-of-rose, and when all the oil has settled on the tops of the bottles, it is skimmed and put in separate bottles by little conical spoons, with a little hole in the bottom, large enough to let the water run out but not the oil.

Thus collected, the otto is sent to London, Paris, and New York, where it is used in the manufacture of high-class perfumes and soaps, etc.

CHAPTER VI
THE FUTURE OF BULGARIA

Bulgaria’s future greatness—Her firm policy in Macedonia—An audience of Dr. Stancioff, Minister of Foreign Affairs—A chat with the Prime Minister—Turkey the enemy of Bulgaria—Balkan “news” in the London papers—How it is manufactured—Turkish dominion doomed.

The future of Bulgaria is assured.

Bulgaria, with Servia, is destined to become the power in the Balkans. Vigorous, strong, and fearless, under a Prince who has the courage of his own convictions, the country is one of progress, of great military strength and continual expansion. The Bulgar differs from the Roumanian inasmuch as he is more patriotic and far less extravagant; he is frugal, progressive, and active. His capital is not the weak imitation of Paris, as is Bucharest, nor are his officers gorgeously dressed and corseted. On the contrary, they are hardy, well trained, well equipped, and business-like to a degree.

Some interesting sidelights upon Bulgaria’s growing military strength have been revealed at the recent manœuvres, while an afternoon walk through Sofia will show how rapidly and firmly is the capital being established—the capital which is destined some day to be the capital of the Balkans.

Bulgarian Peasants dancing the “horo.”

On every hand I saw evidence of Bulgaria’s future greatness. The Ministry, without exception, is a strong one and incorruptible. There is a firmness and stability about everything, all betokening a great future. Ministerial crises are few, and the people do not neglect their affairs for politics, as is the case in some Balkan countries. Under Prince Ferdinand Bulgaria has progressed amazingly, and in the near future will assume a position of supreme importance in the Peninsula. Her policy towards Roumania is, however, a somewhat undecided one. While the Roumanians fondly think that Bulgaria cannot take decisive action in Macedonia without her consent, Bulgaria seems to calmly ignore Roumania’s existence. I have reason for believing that some satisfactory agreement will be arrived at in the course of the next month or two. Bulgaria, however, is wide awake and well aware that Roumania is desirous of a slice of her territory from the Danube down to the Black Sea. Only to obtain this would Roumania be party to any alliance regarding Macedonia.

One morning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sofia I had audience with the newly appointed Minister, His Excellency Dr. Dimitri Stancioff. He is the coming man of Bulgaria, at one time private secretary to the Prince, and afterwards, as already explained, diplomatic agent in St. Petersburg, where he had an extremely brilliant career.

Of middle height, slim of figure, with dark hair slightly silvered, a keen, rather aquiline face, and sharp eyes, he is a man full of eager activity, quick perception, and indomitable energy.

He had only been in office a few days, and was overwhelmed with work, yet he spared me half an hour for a chat, although certain chiefs of the foreign missions were waiting for audience. In his quiet, sombre, business-like cabinet, he sat behind his littered table, smiling affably and ready to answer any questions I put to him.

“You want to see Bulgaria? Very well, I will give orders that you have good guides, and that you are supplied with all the official information available. Only,” he laughed, “please do not flatter us. We prefer honest criticism.”

He took down a list of the heads of the information I wanted, gave me a cigarette, and then we discussed the future of Bulgaria.

“His Royal Highness the Prince has told me that he sent you an autographed portrait last night. Have you received it[it]?”

I replied in the affirmative.

“He will see you in Varna,” he went on. “His Highness particularly wishes to see you.”

Then I asked him to explain Bulgaria’s future policy in the Balkans.

“You heard my speech in the Sobranje. Well, that constitutes in brief the future policy of Bulgaria—peace. We are a young nation, and we do not desire any complications with our neighbours. You have seen Sofia. You have seen how in the past ten years it has risen. Yet there still remains very much to do. The city is in a state of construction, and so it is all through the country. All we desire is to be allowed peace, in order to develop our resources.”

“And your relations with Turkey?” I asked.

“Ah! those constant incidents in Macedonia are of course regrettable. The question is always with us. Yet since I assumed office I have received reports from our diplomatic agent in Constantinople which clearly show that Turkey has assumed a much more conciliatory attitude. We are hoping for the best. Our relations with Turkey are still friendly, and the friendship is becoming daily more firmly cemented. What we wish, however, to see is greater interest taken by the Powers in the Macedonian question. Neither Bulgaria nor Servia nor Roumania can solve the great problem—only joint action by the Powers. We hope that, ere long, an international council may be held to discuss and decide the question once and for all. The present state of affairs is intolerable. But you will see for yourself when you get into Macedonia.”

And assuredly, two months later, I did see—things that are incredible in Europe in this twentieth century.

Summit of the Shipka Pass.

Defile of the Isker.

I also had a pleasant chat with Monsieur D. Petkoff, the Prime Minister. We sat next each other at dinner one night at Sir George Buchanan’s, and I learnt that he had been responsible for the destruction of old Sofia, and the laying out of the new city. For six years of the reconstruction he had been Mayor of the capital, and, as I afterwards learnt, to his efforts the great progress had been due. Sofia may well be called Petkoffopolis. At any rate, it is hoped that one of the streets will be named after him. He struck me as an earnest, thoughtful man, the born leader of a party. Rather short of stature, dark-haired, with a small imperial just turning grey, his countenance was strong, open, and very pleasant. He spoke deliberately, with an air of conviction, and his conversation with me, which was of a private nature, was that of a man who believed in the future of his country and was an advocate of peace and progress.

As Austria is Servia’s sworn enemy, so is Turkey the enemy of Bulgaria. War would have been declared by Turkey against Bulgaria long ago, were it not for the personal veto of the Sultan, who is not only contrary to hostilities with his near neighbour, but views Bulgaria with increasing favour. His Majesty has, if the real truth be told, accurately gauged his neighbour’s military strength. The war party in Turkey have long been eager for an attack upon Bulgaria, but the Sultan is a far-seeing monarch, and no one knows better than he that Bulgaria is very strong in a military sense, and is a power to be reckoned with if ever the Macedonian question is solved by force of arms.

At present it is the Greeks who, by their unwarrantable attacks upon the Macedonian villages, are attempting to incite and provoke Bulgaria. Here is an instance. Not long ago the Bulgarian police received secret information, and searched the house of the Greek Bishop of Philippopolis, where they found many incriminating documents showing plainly that the Greek Church was actually collecting funds for armed raids upon the Bulgarians in Macedonia. Letters were found addressed to the various Greek priests giving the orders as to how they should act. These somehow got into the papers, whereupon a serious riot occurred in Philippopolis, and the Bulgarian soldiery were sent to quell it. Bulgaria’s enemies, mostly subsidised Press correspondents, declared that the riot against the Greeks was provoked by the Government itself, and such statements were published broadcast in the Press of Europe. These allegations, however, had absolutely no foundation, for the rising was purely a local one, prompted by the knowledge that the Bishop was fostering a conspiracy against their brothers in Macedonia. If ever the Bulgarian public was provoked to reprisals, it was on that historic day, and the Government’s action was perfectly justified in interfering, otherwise the demonstration against the Greeks would have spread all over the country, with very serious result.

Our English arm-chair critics—those who do not travel and see the country for themselves—do not understand the Balkans. They form their opinions from the incorrect and misleading statements made by journalists and by journals subsidised by the enemy. Some of the statements are so absurd as to be amusing, for they are utterly devoid of the slightest foundation of fact. Indeed, they are often mere tissues of plausible falsehoods.

While in the Balkans I read extraordinary accounts in the Zeit of things that, to my own personal knowledge, never happened. Each day, in fact, the latest brand-new intelligence from the Vienna factory is served up to Europe with sauce so piquant as to betray its origin.

The greater part of the so-called “news” concerning the Balkans appearing in the English Press is utterly unreliable. The correspondents, with few exceptions, are Austrians, and also act as correspondents of the anti-Servian or anti-Bulgarian papers printed in Vienna. From Austria these unscrupulous scribblers gain more than from England, and therefore we are allowed glimpses of the Balkans only through Austrian spectacles. Spend a week in any Balkan city, and you will in future heed none of the glib canards you read in your responsible London morning paper regarding Servia or Bulgaria.

Austria and Turkey are for ever conspiring in the Balkans. Austria has her eye on Servia, while Turkey intends, if possible, to put her foot into Bulgaria, or at least to prevent the formation of a “big Bulgaria.” As far as Turkey is concerned, as long as the Sultan lives there will be no declaration of war against Bulgaria. His Majesty’s death would, I fear, be the declaration of war between the two countries—and then the sallow-faced gentleman in fez and slippers will have an unhappy time. The day of the Sultan’s death will put the Balkans aflame, and then the map of the Peninsula will assuredly be very quickly altered.

But before then Bulgaria may declare war.