Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-06-29
Geographic News
Bulletins BY the
National Geographic Society
The B~ulgarians

"A country largely OF peasants,
sccrnful of idleness and pretense.
yet producers of what Is perhaps
the worlds best known symbol of
a bulletin from the Washington, u.
c., headquarters of the National
Geographic Society. lis Bulgaria.
The country has recently come
into the public eye and Its agrarian
character has been more strongly
emphasized by the meeting in So
fla. the capital. of a congress- Of
small farmers to discuss the taking
of even more radical steps toward
making Bulgaria still more truly a
peasant state"
Little in Common With Neighbors
Bulgaria" continues the bulletin,
SIS often considered merely 'one of
the Balkan states But whatever
its faults and its virtues. 1t GER
tainly is not colorless, and 1t fully
deserves to stand on its W feet.
The differences between the Bulgars
and the Turks are obvious, and 500
years of domination by the latter
did not serve to eradicate them.
There is almost as much of a ra-
cial gulf between the Bulgars and
the Greeks: and their differences
are accumulated by an ancient en-
nifty dating from the time the Bull
CARS were a threatening spear-point
against the Greek Byzantine empire,
and later when for a space Bull
garia was tributary TO that same
Byzantium. The Roumanians to the
north are Latins and they too are
racially distinct from the Bulgars.
1t is only to the Serbs and other
Jugo-Slavs that the Bulgars are re-
lated. M that relationship is not
close enough to have brought about
friendship or lasting cooperation.
In . phrase, the Bulgars are 'Slavs
who are different
The very name 'Bulgar' is of
non-Slavic origin. 1t was brought
in by Tatar conquerors from south
ern Russia in 679. Relatively few
in number, the Bulgars merged
themselves with the Slavs and
adopted the Slavic language and
customs. They were but the spice
which has given the Slavic Bulgar-
ians of today the flavor that diff
ferentiates them from their brother
Slavs. Their contribution to Bulgar-
ian character seems to have been
GOODNESS, practicalness and ~tenacity.
Farms Kept Small By Law
Agriculture has always held first
place in the life of the B~ulgarians.
Turkish domination for half a mil
lennium made farming still more
general among the Bulgars, for
practically 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 act. vity. And now,
by legislation. the Bulgarians them
selves are emphasizing farming on
a small scale. A national law limits
the estates that an individual may
hold to a maximum of about sew
enty-four acres and most of the
holdings are much smaller. An
other law aims to abolish a leisure
class by requiring all adults between
certain ages to works. The peasants
are now almost completely in con-
troll of the political machinery, with
n of their number holding the
premiership and with a marked ma
jority in the cabinet and the ma
tlonal assembly.
Bulgaria long suffered not only
from the tyranny of the non-Chris-
tan Turk, but also from the diplo-
matte intrigues of the Christian pow
ers of Europe. Russia liberated the
country from the Turkish yoke in
the Russo-Turk War of 1S77-7S and
proposed to set it up as an in1e-
pendent nation with considerably
more territory than it has today.
But other powers fearful of a strong
state in the Balkans. compelled the
transfer of areas to adjacent states,
divided the territory that was left
into Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia,
n placed both back under the
~suzerainty of Turkey. Bulgaria, a
semi-independent principality, elect
ed a German prince for its ruler and
remained much as it was created for
seven years. Then by a coup d. etat
Eastern Rumelia was annexed to
the principality, as an Advancement
accepted by Turkey. Full indepen-
dence came only in 1908 when the
then Prince Ferdinand proclaimed
himself tsar like the Bulgarian
rulers of the country's ancient
golden age.
Poor Leadership During War
Poor leadership during the last
decade has given Bulgaria a bad
name with much of the outside
world. After the war in which Bull
CARA, Serbia and Greece defeated
turkey, in 1912. there was a war
over the spoils between Bulgaria
and the other former allies, with
Roumania finally intervening against
Bulgaria. The responsibility for
this conflict. whether rightly or
wrongly, has been generally laid at
the door of Bulgaria. During the
world war. perhaps largely because
OF the Hohenzollern blood in the
Bulgarian tsar. Bulgaria lined up
with Germany, Austria and Turkey.
But the present premier was OPP
posed to this step and was impris-
oned because of his opposition. His
attitude properly reflected that of
his party which 10 now overwhelm-
insly in power.
There is a temptation to con-
slider Bulgaria, touching Greece as
it does. a southern country. But
It's latitude is approximately that of
Iowa. Its area, incidentally Is some
l2,00O square miles less than that
of Iowa. The principal port Varna.
on the Black Sea. is farther north
than Boston. and its harbor is often
frozen in winter. The southern por-
ton of the country, however. be-
comes very hot in summer.
Though Bulgaria produces the
usual grains, fruits, tobacco and
live stock of its part of the word.
1t is best known for its extensive
culture of roses for the MANUFACTURES
OF the famous and valuable altar of
roses. The number of acres of
roses cultivated for this In
Bulgaria has approached 10000. An
acre produces about 1000 pounds
OF rose petals, but this great
bulk of petals yields only about
twenty ounces Of altar. The
salable product from a whole acre
Lis fharafara tff%Ia