New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-07-15
MS OUN CONSTITUTION J1EEP

Prince Alexander of Bulgaria, having sue
ceeded in imposing upon the nervous agitation
OF the constituencies and in wrenching from,
them an informal pebiscte after the manner
of Napoleon Ill, now assures the National
Assembly that it is his ambition to r,,le "A .
constitutional monarch. He insists upon hay
ing his own way in one respect-he must be
allowed to make the Constitution himself-but
in all other respects he disclaims absolutism
He seems to be willing to have the rcprescnto
tives OF the people meet once in a whilc-pot
too oftcn-and to talk over some minor mat
tiers, such as the budget but he cannot allow
them to presume upon his good nature. If
they are inqwsitive, or garulous, or disobe-
dieht, he may be obliged to send them home :;
ana, really, he cannot understand why they
should remain III session after he has told
them what they ought to do, and allowed
them IN afternoons leisure. They have only
to do what he says and be- quick about if. and
they will spare themselves much vexatjon and
annoyance. He assumes to be thorongblv inn
bued with modern ideas. He aims to cavern
in liberal and progressive spirit II, re-
serves for himself, however, the exclusive
privilege OF defining those modern ideas
liberalism and progress.
When the Prince assembled the throne two
years ago he was guilty of an indiscrct;on
He took the oath to govern the country in
| accordance with the Constitution He was in
experienced He bad been obliged to call unon
the Emperors Of Russia, Germany and Austro
Hungary, and to order some new unifor,ns and
tins press OF business had so fully occunied
ms tune that he had not found leisure to read
the Constitution. On the day after he vas
crowned he called for the Constitution and
read 1t very deliberately. He perceived mt once
that 1t would be utterly impossible for him to
govern bulgaria by the Constitution. II was
not III the Constitution; it was not in Bull
garia; and 1t was not in him. Yet for his
oaths sake he felt it to be his duty to mt nm
with the Constitution for ii time, lust for the
| sake of proving how badly it would ,vo,l,
| The first Chamber which he faced WAS NOT
only laxative but impcrtiucnt. 1t criticised
| some OF the favOritcs whom he had ,,atboroF
| about him and menaccd the country with loo
| islatOn on its own account. He dissolved the
! Chamber before it had chance To do apv
mischief but the people, not understanding
what was best for them, elected another
| Chamber that was more disputations and
otlcious than the first. The majority of thc
delegates insisted upon having a ministry that
was III accord with them, and the Prince WAS
not allowed to choose his own councillors
WV S'SHiVhS WtIc Hclt, eafn lasting
months The Deputies. persisted in internret-
ing the Constitution literally, asserted their
fundamental rights, and governed the country
without reference to the wishes of the sover-
| eign or to the convenience of his favorites A
| the Prince had been convinced in the BEGIN
| ming that it was impossible to have constitn
| tional government under the Constitution. and
as matters were only going from bad to worse.
he concluded that it was high time TO BRING
the farce to an end. SO he planned his conn
! dttdt, dismissed the constitutional ministry
and announced his intention of providing his
| subjects with Constitution of his own
! This Constitution has been received Nv tha
new National Assembly in the very spirit in
which it was framed. The Prince had taken
the precauton to have his own agents nomi-
mated and elected as Deputies, and to empower
a Royal Commissioner stationed at the doors
of the Legislative hall to examine the croden-
tails of the delegates who presented them
selves, and to exclude all who were unwilling
to give the new order of things loyal support.
In this way time was saved and the country