New-York tribune., 1917-12-17
AS to Bulgaria"
No Credulily on the Part of s.,h,.-
Statesmen
To the Editor Of The Tribune.


.he position Of Bulgaria and Ia. r,..,
states there is one slight error lti,a,,.,.
"France. Britain and, above all. poor seyE.
have paid in life for the oredulity Of a..
statesmen Who dealt with rerdinand.s
This is not correct. as FAR at lsss. a, s.,s.
- concerned. N. Pashi.ca, the Serbian psn.
Minister. never rad any illusions a, % D.,
earian policy So convinced was b, ar
Serbia was going 70 Be attacked sin.,.
taneously BIZ overwhelming Austro-Ger-,,
and Bulgarian forces that in The esry So.
mer OF 1915 ". Boskoyi,eh, the Serbia
Minister in London, asked the Allies 10 81,
troops TO defend the Danube front
This they declined 20 do, refusing 70 y.
lleve that NJ. Pashitch was correctly r.
formed. Viscount (then Sir Edward Gre,
preferred 20 trust the opinion Of General s.,
Arthur Paget, who IN the spring o. 1915 Ax
been sent on a mission % Russia and q,
Balkans. After arriving in the psniassl, !.
telegraphed to his government;
"The operations in the Dardans., ksr.
made a deep impression; all possibility
Bulgaria attacking any Balkan state ,hr
nigh. side with the Entente is nov oy,,
and there is some reason 70 think tia. "a,
Bulgarian army viii shortly raOye ssairr
Turkey 70 cooperate in the Dardanellss Oy,7
ton"
II was on such erroneous osiesl repor,
and the assurances Of the brothers Buxisss
Mr.. Boucher, Sofia correspondent Of IN.
London Times" and other notorious pro-s.,
aarians. that tho British Foreign Mins,,
based his policy yis-a-yis Bulgaria.
Balkan Statesmen Not Deceived
Rr. there was no "credulity" on the psne
Palta, statesmen. When was IN Rome
August. 1915, en- route for Serbia, 20 sssn ni
Tribune war correspondent, bad r.,
hours conversation with ". Coronilas. i'
Minister OF Greece to the Quirinsl, on ia'
situation.
found him aghast at the policy being q.
lowed BIZ the Allies. ave know" he tol! Ne
Chat Bulgaria has signed an offensive al
defensive alliance with Germany. has n.
ceived loan Of 25O,0O0,OO0 francs ia sVa
from the Berlin banks and Is preparing rsii
and dav for war. She has signed ir,i,J
with Turkey, the very power the Allies e.
meet her TO attack, and has received from hei
the cession of valuable territory. Athsts
Nice and Bucharest arc sending telesrsr
after telegram, dispatch after dispatch, 10 Il.
Entente governments, but 20 all our wsrninsi
the Allies turn a deaf ear and assure Us lhn
Bulgaria is tn, most loyal and upright nate;
IN the world, and that there is not 'he slight
est doubt that she is coming in on their sd,
Il is the most extraordinary situation have
ever known. and if the Allies persist IN ,ksi
present policy it can only end in disaster
Ten DAYS later I saw ". Venizelos, hsr
Prime Minister Of Greece, In Athens Ne
homologated every word that ". Coronlr
had said. and was in despair at the pclley o.
the Allies. Gt was the errors committed b.
them which undoubtedly rendered Il sasis:
for King Constantine to repudiatc later ,ah
treaty with Serbia and take up the stttsd'
hostile TO the Entente he afterwsrd did,
When the Serbians saw that they could e.
pect no military aid from the Allies 'AT
took steps to deal with the military sitssls,
themselves. Field Marshal Putnik, the Serb
ian chief of staff, bit by bit Accumulated
force Of $4,000 men az Prot, the Ssrsn
frontier town facing Sofa. II was his ini's'
tion, as soon as King Ferdinand signed "
decree Of mobilization Of the Bulgarian sruI
20 hurl this force across the frontier. MART
on Sofia and break up the Bulgarian eonet'
tration. lie undertook to be in Sofia on tie
fifth day. The assembling Of the Bulsarm
army being thus prevented, Serbia could Ia"
turned her full strength 20 meet the eonli'
rush OF the Austro-German forces msssirg
Hungary.
King Ferdinand signed the decree OF MOB
ilization. The Serbian government inne
diately telegraphed TO the governments .
the Entente, demanding permission to marc
its troops at once. Not only was this pi'
mission refused, but Serbia was peremp'onF
forbidden to break the Balkan pesee and ..
formed that if she did so the Allies Se'i'
leave her to her fate.
Cir Edxard Crews Blindness