The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-08-25
bulgarian Village Laos Carrying Water.

appeared. Even the character of the
people seemed to change, and had
il not been for the priests and the
hrigands it is probable that the thread
Of Bulgarian national life would have
been definitely Sundered. But in their
mountain businesses this strange com
bination Of the monk and the ma.
rauder kept alive the national feeling,
Like Robin Hood, they are always rep
resented as the protectors of the poor
and the weak, and in addition as the
friend Of all Christians and the ruth
less scourge of the Ottoman oppressor.
Thousands Of legends and songs have
grown out Of their exploits; and had
they made war against the common
foe only instead, as they too often
did, among themselves, their fame
would rest upon q far tirmer founda.
ton.
Nevertheless, among all the agen.
cieS which contributed in the end to
the winning Of Bulgarian independ-
ence, the brigands were by far the
most continuously active; and the long
centuries of Turkish misrule were con
stantly broken by q series Of abOrtive
r~evolts, which were suppressed with
increasing cruelty, until the brutal
massacre in 1875 Inspired Mr.. Glad
stone 10 the famous Midlothian cam.
paign, gave to the czar a convenient
handle against the sultan, and brought
on the Russo-Turkish war.
Their Rapid Development.
That war was ended by the treaty
| Of San Stefano. which essayed to es-
tablish a big Bulgaria; but, thanks TO
Disraeli, British influence brought
| about the congress Of Berlin, and
II was Il little Bulgaria which finally
secured a place at the worlds council
| table.
A lowly place 1t was, but with splen-
did courage the BlSgarians set out to
make It better, and the story OF Bull
garian development in a single genera
ton finds few parallels among mod
ern nations. Except for the humiliat-
ing war with her one-time allies in
the Balkans and her subsequent sui
cidal eSpOusal Of pan-Germanism, Bull
garia's advance has been constant and
remarkable.
The country possesses great wheat
fields, extensive forests, rich mines
all of which have been made to re-
spond to that patient industry for
which the Bulgarian peasant Is the
model for all his Balkan neighbors.
A unique prOduct-and the most profit
able-is the altar Of roses, the worlds
supply of which comes from southern
Bulgaria, and which has enriched the
landed peasants Of that quarter be-
yond their widest dreams.
Nation Of Farmers.
Agriculture has always held first
place in the life Of the Bulgarians.
Turkish domination for half a mil
lennium made farming still more gen
eral among the Bulgars, for practi-
cally no other calling was left open
to them. BY wedding out the upper
classes. too, the Turks made Bulgarian
agriculture more and more a peasant
activity. And now, by legislation, the
| Bulgarlans themselves are emphasiz-
ing farming on a small scale. A ma
tional law limits the estate that an
individual may hold to a maximum OF
about n acres, and most Of the hold
ings are much smaller. Another law
aims 10 abolish n leisure class by re-
curing all adults between certain ages
10 work.
There is a temptation TO consider
Bulgaria, touching Greece as IL does,
n southern country. But Its latitude IS
approXlmately that OF Iowa. Its area,
Incidentally, is some $1,000 square
miles less than that Of Iowa. Tie
principal port, Narna, on the Black
sen. is farther north than Boston, and
IFS harbor is often frozen in wintrr.
The southern portion Of the country,
however. becomes very hot in summer.