Evening star., 1905-05-14
THE BALKAN FIREBRAND.


way upon the approval of the intermediate
commanders and Gen. Sherman, but with
out specifying In the orders the purpose for
which granted. The record simply shows
that Gen. Sherman approved without COM
ment."
The writer submits that the reply is cate
goric. The incident is cited to show Gen.
Shefman's absolute independence of char
acter and that when he dared to do a
| thing he did 1t regardless of consequences.
which, in this case, If known, might have
caused an inquiry at the State Department
either by Turkey or by Great Britain, or
both.
The American mission. it may be added.
was not permitted to accomplish it's purpose
| In Egypt. the secret was disclosed. Turkey
seized the yiceroys ships and the report
was thai Great Britain threatened the too
strenuous viceroy.
Gen. Sherman visited Egypt in 1872. when
the writer was detached to serve on his
! staff during his stay The general was ac-
companied by Col. Audenreid, his chief of
staff. and Lieut.. Fred Grant (now brigadier
generaD. Gen. Sherman was frequently ac-
corded private audiences with the viceroy,
who had assumed the title of khedive. and
In taking feave received in recognition of
his generous sympathy and support a pres
ent of diamonds valued at the minimum OF
| s6a. 600.
Aside from the services which these Amer
| lean officers rendered science and Egypt.
the United States government profited
| largely thereby in increased prestige and
dignity to its name and credit. The writer
reiterates that Gen. Sherman's interference
was in favor of an enlightened and pro-
| gressive ruler in Egypt and against the
Turk. Neither Bulgarian atrocities" nor
'.n assacfes in Armenia would have hap
pened later had Gen. Sherman's generous
inspiration been allowed to accomplish its
| object.
Bulgaria was the principal theater of the
Russo-Turkish war. 1S75-1S7S. Russia
tlav tla Cfox
Fero1nano'S peoples OF the Balkans under
a~h,4;., her hegemony. The treaty
of San Stefano made Bull
garia an autonomous state, prncipality
tributary to Turkey. Prince Ferdinand is
ambitious to merge Macedonia and the en-
| tir, peninsula indeed into Bulgarian mon
archy. The difficulty is to merge into one
the ten or more irreconcilable races which
| make of Macedonia an almost hopeless
| salmigondis or MacedOlne in fact.
Macedonia corresponds to what is entitled
| in the cables .'Vilayet of Saloniki.' The
population consists mainly of Greeks.
! Turks, Bulgarians and the Serb element.
Albanians and Zingars. The agitation OF
| the Christian subjects of the porte and the
| ambitions of Greece, Bulgaria and Servia
| to annex the territory have created the So
called Macedonian question in eastern Eu-
ropean politics The Turk is ''bon bougre,"
| but bad paymaster, and this, for fact
| is the cause of discomfort and brigandage-
Unpaid officials oppress their people and
squeeze their subordinates. great part
J OF Turkish misgovernment in Macedonia
and elsewhere is due to the disposition to
exact backshish. 1t is characteristic in
herited from the Huns, who call it squeeze
or its equivalent.
Servia was overrun by Huns, Ostrogoths
| and Lombards in the fifth century. The
Servians were converted to Christianity In
| the ninth century. In the eleventh century
! they threw off the Byzantine rule and pro-
claimed Michael king The tide of Turkish
invasion swept over the peninsula and the
battle Of Kossovo Q3S9) placed Servia under
Ottoman rule. Partial autonomy was OBJ
| tanned under Kara George, aided by Rus
| sfa. in 1904. Prince Milan was proclaimed in
| 1871, and in July Of the same year, Joined
| by Montenegro, Servia declared war against
Turkey. The RuSso-TurkiSh war occurred
| in 1877, and the prncipality was pro-
claimed kingdom in 1852. In 1885 war was
| declared with Bulgaria, and King Milan
| abdicated March 6. 1889, in favor of his son,
Alexander l.
The extraordinary career of Alexander.
ending in a palace assassination. is of too
recent date to require more
Serv1an than brief mention. The ex-
King Milan.c who had been
separated from Queen Ma
\ thalie was recalled by the son in 1894.
| Draga Mashin woman many years the
| viously dismissed from service at the PAL
! ace, obtained great influence over the de-
generate youth, and, despite the entreaties
of his father and mother and the oppo-
sition of the public, he married her. Draga
| installed two of her brothers in the palace,
but the attempt to impose upon the people
the fiction that she was the mother of an
heir to the throne created a storm of popu-
| lar rage Officers of the army decided to
| end the scandal, and June II, 1903 en-
| tered the palace and killed king, queen and
georgevitch, the rivals of the Obrenovitch,
was restored in the person Of Peter, who
succeeded.
Crete is an autonomous state under the
| suzerainty of the porte The island was
| first settled by the Phoenicians and Egyp-
! tians, and tradition places it as the king
| dom of Minos, the companion of Zeus. The
| Latin empire replaced Byzantine rule in
1923, when Crete was given to Boniface de
| Montferrat, one of the leaders of the fourth
| crusade. Since 1715 Crete has become a
| part of the Turkish empire. An insurrec-
| ton in 1S66-6S extorted from the porte the
promise of reforms. The revolts of 1889 and
! 1896 led to the Intervention of the powers
when Greece declared war against Turkey
In accord with the constitution of 1899
| the executive authority in Crete is vested
| in high commissioner, post occupied by
| Prince George, the son of the king of
| Greece. The prince is popular and favors
autonomy and annexation to the mother
country.
| The Macedonian as well as the Cretan
problem is now in the hands of the powers,
heretofore cited. for adjustment The Balk-
an problem, which is the same, is more than
political question; it is a question of JUS
! tice and humanity
CHARLES cHAILLE-LoNG. .