The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-06-24
EURoPE's CHECKER BOARD.

According to the cable reports Prince
Ferdinand of Bulgaria has asked for the
hand of Princess Maud of Wales and has
been refused it by her royal papa.
Happily for the young sutton, however,
this refusal is not absolute but is said to
stand only against the formal recognition
of his title to the throne of Bulgaria.
Thus does this old question of
Ferdinand's status appear again on the
political horizon of Europe
1t will be FIVE years in August since
Prince Ferdinand went to Sofia to take
charge of the Government of that State.
his predecessor had been hurried out of
the country by the Russians and every
thing was in a condition of disruption
and disorganization, Ferdinand was
given to understand by Turkey at that
time that just as soon as he had estab-
lished himself his position would be
recognized by the Sultan and the Powers
of Europe in accordance with the terms
of the Berlin agreement. Ferdinand has
fulfilled his part of the contract, but his
recognition is as far off, apparently, as
ever During those five years two
formal attempts have been made to get
the Sultan to keep his promise-or better,
TO perform his duty, for that is 1T. In
uuO, lCOO, dlldllo III OllSllleb "OAO III eth
exceedingly critical condition. The
Bulgarian clergy in Macedonia, too, were
deprived of their position and common
rights, and loud complaints were coming
to Sofia from every direction. 1t was
then that the ever-vigorous Stambouloff
drew up a note to the Porte in which he
demanded the recognition of Prince
Ferdinand and the restoration of the
Bulgarian Bishops in Macedonia to their
rightful status. This note was couched
in no uncertain words. Its concluding
expression was: IF, after this appeal,
the Sublime Porte refuses to listen to the
wishes of the principality and to grant
its legitimate demands, the Princely
Government will, to its deep regret, find
itself obliged to seek in its own resources
the means of escaping from a position
replete with uncertainty and danger"
And yet the Sultan deity eluded the first
demand and granted the second, while
the treat of revolt expired like Fourth
of July rocket. The second demand was
made only three month ago and was
coupled with an appeal against the har-
boring of Bulgarian refugees and Russian
conspirators at Constantinople. This
time it was accompanied by no treat of
impending violence, and Turkeys answer
was that it would attend to the matter at
some more convenient season. The truth
is that for all practical purposes the po-
sition of Ferdinand is determined. The
attention which he has received during
his visit iii england shows the attitude
of that country toward him, The rub
comes with Turkey, which with It's pres
ent Russian affiliations dislikes to do any
thing that may irritate the Gear. But if
that is the only obstacle which stands in
the way of marriage which the nation
demands, the Sultan will have to yield
and make his peace as best he can with
his royal friend at st. Petersburg.
But with the heir to the throne of Rou-
mania betrothed to Princess Marie of
Edinburgh and the ruler of Bulgaria wed
to the daughter of the future King of
England, an unexpected turn will be
given to the situation in the East. There
in lies the interest in the wooings of
Prince Ferdinand. For good or ill the
Balkan States have been and must con-
tinue to be the checker board of Euro
pean diplomatists. 1t is there that the
fight between the East and
the West has got to come. When Ferdi-
nand went to Sofia Russian influences
were predominant thel o, but through lin
and his Minister, Stamboulotf, Western
Europe has come to be regarded as the
friend of Bulgaria and the Triple Alliance
held in favor. With these marriages
England would come to the front in the
struggles against Russian advancement.
Indeed, its interests would exceed those
Of the Triple Alliance, for in Roumania
and Bulgaria it would hold good part of
the road to ConstantinOple,