Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-20
Gar Ferdinand a
Ruler Who Rules
Bulgaria's Monarch Knows What He
Wants and Goes About
Getting It.

ST. PETERSBURG, Feb. 27.-Nicholas II.
Is showing a notable degree Of recognition
to his new brother car, Ferdinand Of Bull
Garia. Above the Winter palace the black
and gold double eagle worked on a pale
yellow ground, which Is the imperial stand
ard Of the Romanoffs. is not floating to-
day, for It is ~Ferdlnand's forty-ninth birth
day and he is living in the palace as Rus
sia's guest. In its place is rlgged a flag,
new and strange TO most people here, a
white and black dragon rampant on a red
ground, with a black and white diced
border. Rows of automobiles and carriages
wait outside the guest wing of the palace
while their owners pay their respects to
the Bulgarian ruler.
In the world of great affairs It is Fer
dinand that holds the stage. No magnate
in the governmental or diplomatic world
of st. Petersburg has escaped him in his
determination to let people know that he is
at last a full blown recognized monarch.
Ferdinand is here primarily to establish a
firm foothold for himself among the
European diplomats.
He has taken to the Il and my people"
style of speech as to the manner born. He
has given audience to the diplomatic corps,
receiving the personnel OF each mission
separately. and having a good memory Of
his old struggles for recognition by the
great ones of central Europe he took care
to spare nothing in kinsly condescension to
the German and Austrian ambassadors
when he came TO hope you're all we'll at
home"
Putting personal habits quite aside, Rus
slams see in this new junior czar a good
deal of elemental likeness TO the late Leo
pold Of the Belgians, especially in the
creditable characteristics. Ferdinand has
stood out from the members OF the Russian
imperial family as a man who knows very
definitely what he wants, who has the plain
mans contempt for u~nessentials.
When a newspaper artist was trying to
get a sitting from Leopold the old king
would not nave 1t and sent his secretary
with the message to draw a long man with
a long beard and a long nose" Something
like that would stand for Ferdinand, except
that the beard is quite moderate, and big"
would be a better adjective than long" for
his physical outlines. The Bulgarian ruler
likes, too, his incognito; he has taken to
shop window strolling these last days in
the uniform of a Russian colonel.
There nave been doubts among informed
Russians as to Ferdinand's reception by
the czarina, and more particularly by the
theologians Of the Orthodox church. He
has been a practical politician in his relig-
ion. Himself half Coburg, half Bourbon,
of Catholic upbringing, he has had his heir
made Greek Orthodox for politics sake. and
his second wife, Eleonore Of Reuss, a
Lutheran, was another choice for politics
sake; also he would himself now adopt
orthodoxy as a useful political bargain.
The devout among highly placed Rus
SLAMS, and there are many Of them, feel
uncomfortable when they think of him.
But his Queen Eleonore has proved a wise
choice. Before she married she was a
volunteer nurse with the Russian army in
Msnchuria and personally tended the Grand
Duke Kyrill after his immersion at the
up of Admiral Makaroff's flagship.
.Petropavlovsk. Kyrllrs mother, Grand
Duchess Marie Pavlova, widow Of Vladimir,
has not been sparing in her gratitude. and
as she is an energetic and hospitable
woman no parsonage in Russia dares now
cold shoulder Ferdinand socially any more
than politically.
Beyond being a demonstration of cordial
relations with Russia, there has not been
much definite diplomacy attached to his
conferences here. A Russo-Bulgarian con-
vention has been in existence for six
months whereby Russia backs Bulgaria's
bills for its financial requirements in the
near future. As Russia has for the first
time in twenty years got its own budget to
balance, its backing with the foreign pollti-
cal banks is Of great value to Bulgaria, IN
return Bulgaria becomes a strategic unit
with Russia as regards military defense In
southeastern Europe. The arrangement is
satisfactory TO the Russian nation.
F,