Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1918-10-09
Ferdinand the Fallen.

There should be world Of meaning to
William the Damned, sitting in his palace
ut Potsdam, with black rage in his heart,
at the failure of his mad, hearts-desire
| plans for the conquest of the universe, in
the fate which has overtaken Ferdinand of
Bulgaria, 'thc old fox OF the Balkans. the
second Teutonic prince to lose his throne
as a result of the Great War.
First il was Constantine. the King of
the Hellenes, incontinently pitched out by
the Greeks Now it is the willy Ferdinand,
his army crushed, his people hungry for
peace. who finds il advisable 10 abdicate,
losing his crown in preference to losing
his life. II may very well be that William
feels anxiety as to where the monarch
destroying lightning vii! strike next II
NAV not be upon his head. because the
bolts would seem just now to be nearer the
vicinity of Charles of AustTia-Hungary.
but that eventually he will fall victim
must be somewhere in the back Of Will
hams mind.
After all. Fate has been kind to Fcrdl
nand. Simple retirement TO private life,
where he still may plot and scheme, and
enjoy the wealth he is said 10 have stolen,
.cally does not constitute his just deserts.
Nor is IL unlikely the Allies will deem II adj
visable TO shut him up somewhere, that
he NAV not dabhle his wretched old
fingers further in Bulgarian affairs, TO the
undoing of the Bulgar people and the
plans the civilized world may have for
their rehabilitation
Ferdinand IL a victim OF 6vcrweening
ambition One, he was petty princcllng
of the line OF Saxc-Coburg and Gotha.
Even when he was raised to throne he
was but mere general officer IN the
Austrian Army, possessing the rank he
cause of his royal station and not be-
cause he was good soldier. He might
have attained some eminence as a botanist
and scholar. but he never would have /
risen by merit 10 high military command.
But he was a clever intrlguer. n resource
full politician. and perfectly conscicnceless
where his own pet plans and his own vast
ambitions were concerned.
When he assembled the throne as Prince
Of Bulgaria he found good deal OF oppo-
sltion among his royal and imperial
cousins Of the Continent against HIM In
PLAIN English they knew him Foxily he
lived down their d,staste of him. but once
firmly seated on the throne he entered
upon that career of eyalting Ferdinand OF
Bulgaria which led inevitably 10 hisp cs
cnt end He meant ono day Ia r,Ilc ~
car Of southeastern Europe Serbia
Rumania, t,rcecr. Turkey. he intended
should come under his rule Theft. COO
quest. diplomacy, any way At all would bc
his means 81 long a. his end was achieved
Russia saw through him always, and SO did
Stamhuloff. his great Premier who tolerst-
cd hun as long IS h. could Md when
Stambuloif baked ana quit Ferdinand
well Stamb,ilof was menace 10 hum.
and Stamhulof was suddenlA, and swiftly |
assassinatcd. and was no longer a menace +!
Then came the succession Of Balkan
wars, the history OF which, when fully
TOLD will show Ferdinand 20 have been the
evil genius OF the whole wret chcd and
bloody business. But an ambtionIkYen
greater than his existed for AT Berlin sat |
the German KAISER, waiting and watching |
for der Tag When the storm broke. /
the ambition which sat in Sofia thought ii |
saw its chance 10 improve its position. !,
and cast It's lot IN with the Teutonic |
States Blood and race may have had |
IA do with II, but il was not i
much. for Ferdinand would have foresworn |
hIs own soul 10 have benefited his personal |
vcll-bcing Had Germany won he would |
have been found scheming in some way or
other Ia detach the near East from the
German string Of conquests and make
them his own, nor would he have stopped
3t anything 10 attain his ends But
ali, that fateful word fateful indeed in the
ives Of such men-these things never
we're 10 be
And 80 IT Is that the "old fox Of the
Balkans has been run TO has hole at last
Germany's Loan Failure.