Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1901-10-18
SPIRIT OF THE PRESS
FACTS AND OPINIONS GATHERED
FROM CONTEMPORARY
BULGARIAN RRloANpAoE.

bOIShhiRN bHiSRNbhoG'
Gladstone's famous phrase of a
quarter of century ago to-day takes on
new and sinister meaning. The
"Horrors In Bulgaria." or, as the public
more commonly expressed 1t, Bulgarian
atrocities" of those days, which were
exposed with appalling force by Eugene
Schuyler and S. A. MacGahan, were in
flicted by Moslem Bashi-Bazouks on
Christian villagers. The "unspeakable
Turk" was the aggessor, Bulgarian
Christians were the victims. AT the
present time Bulgarian Christians are
the aggressors, and an American Chris
tian missionary, is the victim. At first
the abductors of Miss Stone were spoken
of as lawless brigands. Perhaps they
are such. But evidence is now said to be
at hand positively identifying them with
the notorious Macedonian Committee" of
Bulgaria, an organization composed of
prominent and representative Bulgarians,
and tolerated, If not sanctioned, by the
government at Sofia. Not long ago the
outrages of this committee provoked
Rumania almostto the point of war, and
the Sublime Porte was constrained to ad
most energetic demand for the suppress
ion of the committee, or at least for its
restraint within lawful bounds. The
Bulgarian government appears not to
have done anything of practical effect,
however, and, as this latest outrage
shows, the committee is still exercising its
detestable activities unrestrained.
The brigandish seizure of an American
missionary Is, from sentimental point
of view, peculiarly offensive and un-
grateful. Bulgaria owes much to
America; more, in some respects, than
to any other land, for American interest
in Bulgaria's welfare has been purely
unselfsh, and not tainted with greed for
annexation. 1t was at an American
institution, Robert College, that Bulgar
ian youths were educated and aspirations
for freedom were engendered in the
Bulgarian people. That noble institu-
ton has well been called the cradle Of
Bulgarian independence. Moreover,
they were two Americans, MacGahan
and Schuyler, who at risk of their lives
went into that land of woe and revealed
to the world the extent of Turkish
=
sympathy and wrath which did not
wane until the last vestiges of Turkish
absolutism had been swept out of the
Balkan States. If any one in the world
should command the respect of the
entire Bulgarian people it is an Ameri-
can. Yet here is great popular and
semi-official organization in Bulgaria
deliberately committing one of the most
abominable outrages upon an American
who has been engaged in extending
the very work which Robert College so
we'll began.
The fact is, this Macedonian comttee
Is about as criminal body as ever were
the Thugs and head hunters. Its printed
Negotiations" openly declare that it is
to work through terrorism and violence.
Its members are to commit political
crimes"-that is, they are to murder men
who stand in the way of their prop
uganda. No murder is, however, to be
committed except by order Of the COM
mittee and under written order of its
president. These bloodthirsty precepts
are given with the frankness and cool
ness with which the qualifications of
mtIlDtTS VI lllc ClCCbiOu VI OlllSClS arc
prescribed in club. 1t is not, of course,
to be suggested that the Bulgarian
government approves such criminality.
What is undeniable is that it has not
suppressed it, and has not appar-
emily made any serious attempt to do
so. Such inaction, since 1t cannot be
attributed to sympathy with the com
mittee, must be attributed to the power
lessness or the cowardice of the govern
ment. That is to say, the Bulgarian peo-
pie, trained to violence and lawlessness
through centuries of Turkish despotism,
are so generally In sympathy with the
conduct of the Macedonian Committee
that the government, under menace OF
revolution, does not dare to suppress the
committee. That seems to be the most
reasonable explanation of the case,
though it cannot be regarded as a salts
factory or reassuring explanation.-|
New York Tribune.
1000
THE ANCIENT DISCOVERIES OF AMERICA.
An important work whose publication
is announced for today at Paris is the
"Dscovery of America" by Henry Wig
maud, first secretary of the United States
embassy and long an official of the
Americanist society there. Its purpose
as he states it in an interview is to show
that for the last four centuries we have
been deceived by fraud which hides the
real beginnings of Columbus's project,
that the famous chart and documents as
cribed to Tosanelliti, the learned Floren-
tine astronomer, were fabricated and that
Columbus's design was not founded on
any scientific basis but on positive infor-
nation as to the existence of land to the
westward. He may have some fresh
proofs to offer, but if so they can be only
confirmatory of what was well estab-
lished before. There was a plenty of
record evidence even in that age of
ignorance of the existence of America,
which Columbus was likely to have come
across In his travels about Europe-not
l.