Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-11-12
czAR OF THE BALKANS.
Something About the Man Who Has
Made Bulgaria.


Something About the Man Who Has
Made Bulgaria.
1t seems quite possible that when
Ferdinand Of Bulgaria ceases his ac-
tivities in the field as commander-in-
chief Of the allied Balkan forces he will
by common consent, become the actu-
al. If not the titular, sovereign of q
wider demesne than his present king
dom, Of three-fourths Of Pennsylva-
MAS size, in the northeastern part or
the Balkan peninsula on the Black
Sea.
The "superman of the Balkans" as
ne mas been called, might have been
content to remain Prince Ferdinand OF
Sake Coburg Gotha and to shine by
dimly reflected glory as the maternal
grandson of King Louis Philippe. But
the young lieutenant in the Austrian
army-at the age Of 2s-eagerly ac-
cepted the election at the hands of the
Grand Sobranje to the sovereignty of
Bulgaria on July z, 1887. Russia had
proposed candidate in the person of
the Prince Of Mingrelia, and Bulgaria
had actually offered the crown TO
Prince Yaldemar, Of Denmark, broth
er-in-law Of the czar, but Bulgaria re-
pudiated the Russian candidate. and
Valdemar declined the honor, and
Prince Ferdinand upon his accession
on August IA faced Russian hostility
which declared him a usurper, while
the other Powers, taking their cue from
st. Petersburg. declined to recognize
him. Anarchists were as active at
home as the enemies of the principal
ity were busy abroad. Under the
strong hand Of Stamboloff the domes-
tic opposition was kept under, and
friendly relations with Turkey and
Roumania were cultivated, while for
eign loans were negotiated on favor
able terms. But Stambo!ofps success
made him over-bearing, inevitably
then was created a dissension between
the prime minister and the sovereign,
and a year after Stamboloff resigned,
on July Is, 1895, he was assasinated on
the streets Of Sofia as the result of
plot Of his numerous enemies. The re-
suit Of Ferdinand's desperate attempt
to cultivate the good win Of Russia
was seen at last in the consent of the
Powers to his nomination by the sui
tan as prince of Bulgaria and govern
or general of eastern Rumelia, on
March IA, 1895.
Ferdinand had long sought an ex-
cuse for declaring Bulgaria indepen-
dent, regarding with Jealous eye the
autonomy Of Servia. His people re-
sented the payment Of tribute to Tur-
key. On the 18th of September, 1908,
Tewfik Pasha, the Ottoman minister of
foreign affairs. gave dinner to the d.
plomatic corps at Constantinople, and
purposely overlooked In the list of in
vitations M. Geshon, the Bulgarian
agent. That gave Ferdinand the ex-
cuse he wanted. Geshoff was recalled
Within two weeks there was strike
on railways in eastern Rumelia owned
by Turkey. Turkish soldiers were per-
mitted to :, travel. during the strike;
Bulgarian troops were not. This add
ed fuel to the flames Of Bulgarian re-
sentiment Prince Ferdinand defled
European opinion and seized the rail-
ways. The sequel Of this action was
his proclamation, on October s, that
Bulgaria was an independent kingdom
Ferdinand himself reading the Bull
garian declaration Of independence in
the historic Church Of the Forty Mar
tyrs at Trnovo, ancient capital Of the
so-styled czars of Bulgaria.
This bold, high-handed action was:
characteristic of the man who now.
pitted against the Triple Alliance. re-
fuses to let his country and the Ball
kan coalition be robbed of the fruits Of
victory.
Ferdinand has made his country as,
truly as Diaz made Mexico. So crude,
almost barbaric, was his environments
when he first came to Sofia that, as ie'
frankly confessed, after the luxury and
culture Of the Austrian court, 1t SEEM.
ed "a hell" to him. A thorough demo-
crat In his own character toward for
eigners, he set to work to create an
aristocracy, in order to have q court
that would command the respect Of his
own people and that of the European
Powers. In Bulgaria he Is the car.
autocratic, absolute. He Is almost as
distinctly impersonal as the emperor OF
Japan. His reign is one Of pomp and
circumstance; he delights in the elab-
crate mummery Of ceremonial. He is
like king In an Elizabethan dramas
he dresses and acts the part, and the
stage management Is consummate. Out
Of his own land he unbends and Is COR
dial and gracious. He loves to travel
and to converse with many men Of di-
verse minds in every field Of science,
Of art and culture. He deeply. cares
for books and pictures; he delights in
the nodded and eloquent periods Of the
orator; he Is himself speaker Of dis
tinction. He knows how to effect the
lightning transition from the man Of
action to the sedentary scholar. Noth-
ing pleases him better than to put on
coarse blouse and take the fireman's
place on a French locomotive He has
miniature railroad laidTout in his
palace in Sofia and plays with 1t like
child In the nursery. On the walls are
pictures that he has painted, birds that
he has shot, the books he loves to read.
Yet the militarist in him is every ready
to sound the call Of boots and saddles,
He delights in surprising the garrison
by an incursion at dawn into the bar
racks, with commands that they must
instantly obey, like firemen who spring
to their posts at the alarm. He Is
bound to make calvarymen out Of those
whose weakest point is equitation, and
to this end he has brought In special
breed of horses from a Hungarian es-
tate.
Such is the man who, after passing
the half-century mark, aspires to rule
not one nation but a coalition-to be