The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-09-14
BULGARIA WANTS PEACE BUT WILL KEEP OWN GEAR
Claims the HarshneSs of the Entente Drove Her to
 KaiSer'S Side.

Stockholm, Sept. live elected our king despite all the European powers, and we intend to keep him. We are not only social democratic nation, but the most republican of the democratic nations of Europe. The common oppression of Turkish rule welded Bulgaria into democratic unity"
 The little, refined, elderly man, with the pointed Van Dyke beard, who spoke the above was a Bulgarian, Janko Sakasoff, member of the So- branie (the Bulgarian parlament) who came to me with a letter of in- troduction from Mime. Anastasoff, a daughter of the Bulgarian premier, Radoslavoff.
 Sakasoff, who is friend of the Bull garian premier, is Social Democratic delegate from Bulgaria to the Stock holm conference. Continuing, he said:
 You must realize how young our country is in order to understand us and get some idea of the struggle through which we have lived.
 ''war after war has swept over us. Our nation of simple peasants has had to fight continually to defend it's soil from Turks, Russians, Greekss and Serbians, who have swept over us. dividing our country, cutting 1t in pieces, and sometimes giving us back bit, but usually as a trade the last conner taking away another sacred corner of OUT land to compensate some other adversary.
 Our liberation has been won by ourselves at so high price that we are extremely jealous of our soil and our liberty.
 Other countries can hardly under stand. by what efforts and what in tense labor. we have won our homes. In 1873 we called together the rep resentatives of all our. people, with out outside interference to help or in fuence, and adopted constitution under which we have greater freedom than Belgium and a more democratic form of government than is possible under the Greek constitution. One of your statesmen has said, The coun- try that is capable of making such a constitution has a good chance of lasting.
 Prince Alexander of Battenburg suspended our constitution, but re- established it after disastrous exper- iment or two years.
 "Do you realize what it meant to our little nation when the Berlin con- gress of 1878 divided Bulgaria into three parts. Dobrudja being given to the Roumanians, Macedonia back to the Turks. and the beautiful strip of territory forming the southern boundary of Serbia to Serbia?
 "In 1885 northern Bulgaria coalesced with southern Bulgaria, which had been restored to Turkish sovereignty under autonomous form of govern ment, and thus erected a strong bar rier to the three nations that were seeking to absorb us.
 During the years since the restor- ation of Turkish rule to Macedonia, there has been a heavy immigration of Macedonians to Bulgaria, not only among the lower classes but among the intellectuals. many of whom en- tered our legislature and national ad- ministration, and influenced the peo> pie by always keeping us in mind of the duty of taking Macedonia and uniting its Bulgarian population with that of Bulgaria. .
 ''In 1887, Bulgaria, single handed. made it's declaration of independence in the face of all the European na- tions who were threatening to crush us.
 ..It was then that we chose our king, and subsequen- events have shown that we chose we'll. Czar Fer dinand has ruled us faithfully, has guided us through many difficulties.