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EASTERN ROUMELIA. 



E 



EASTERN" ROTJMELIA, an autonomous 

 province of Turkey ; area, 13,664 square miles ; 

 population, 751,000. The dissatisfaction in this 

 province with the division of Bulgaria contin- 

 ued in 1879, and led to serious excesses against 

 the International Commission and its agents. 

 Thus, in February the financial director Schmidt 

 was mobbed at Haskioi, Slivno, and other places. 

 Not even the presence of General Stolypine, 

 the Russian Governor, was sufficient to restore 

 order, and it was necessary to send for troops 

 for this purpose. The population elected dele- 

 gates to the Bulgarian Constituent Assembly, 

 which met in Tirnova on February 22d; but 

 these delegates were not admitted. The disor- 

 dered state of the country gave rise to a Rus- 

 sian note to the Powers, in which a mixed 

 occupation of the country was suggested. (See 

 RUSSIA.) The Russian note was immediately 

 followed by a Turkish note complaining of 

 the treatment the Mohammedans in Eastern 

 Roumelia received at the hands of the Bulga- 

 rians. It was as follows : 



The situation of the Mussulman population in Rou- 

 melia had never ceased to be precarious, full of dan- 

 gers and difficulties, but there was reason to believe 

 that with tune the exclusive and hostile spirit wliich 

 animates the Bulgarians would give way to juster and 

 more humane sentiments. This hope has not been re- 

 alized, and it is with the greatest pain that the Sublime 

 Porte finds itself obliged to observe that the condition 

 of the Mussulman inhabitants of Eastern Eoumelia 

 has become almost intolerable in every part of the 

 province, and especially at Bournar, Yamboli, and 

 Sagra. They are constantly subjected to acts of op- 

 pression and violence on the part of their Bulgarian 

 fellow countrymen. The latter seem to pursue a sys- 

 tem of extermination which the repeated measures of 

 our authorities have not been able to check. The vic- 

 tims, in despair, are leaving their homes and seeking 

 safety in expatriation. The emigration is considera- 

 ble. Adrianople has already received a great number 

 of emigrants within its walls, and their number, daily 

 increasing, is becoming a source of serious embarrass- 

 ment for our newly installed authorities there. Please 

 to call the serious attention of the Government to 

 which you are accredited to this situation. We appeal 

 to the humane feelings of the Powers to deliver the 

 Mussulman population of Eastern Eoumelia from the 

 persecution to which it is subjected, and to obtain se- 

 curity for their persons and property. You will not 

 fail to point out that the Treaty of Berlin, conforming 

 to the most elementary principles of justice, meant 

 that all sections of the population of Eastern Eou- 

 melia, without distinction of race or religion, should 

 be treated on the footing of the most perfect equality. 

 It is therefore impossible that the signatary Powers of 

 that treaty should allow a certain class of inhabitants 

 openly to seek the suppression or systematic exclusion 

 of another class, which has the same rights and which 

 should enjoy the same protection. 



The proposal for a mixed occupation at first 

 met with general approval, but was finally 

 abandoned, as no agreement could be reached 

 by the Powers in the settlement of the details. 

 In its stead a plan proposed by the Turkish 

 Government, of prolonging the supervising au- 



thority of the European Commission, was 

 adopted. On April 14th the Turkish Govern- 

 ment nominated Aleko Pasha, Prince Vogo- 

 rides, as Governor. (See ALEKO PASHA.) This 

 nomination was confirmed by all the Powers. 

 The time for the withdrawal of the Russian 

 troops from the province fixed by the Treaty 

 of Berlin was May 3d, the evacuation to be 

 completed within three months by August 

 3d. In accordance with this provision, the 

 Russians began to withdraw from the province 

 on May 2d. The organic statute for the prov- 

 ince was approved by the Porte. It provides 

 that the Governor shall be in full possession of 

 the executive powers in the province. He is to 

 have at his disposal military and gendarmerie, 

 and is to be allowed to call for Turkish troops 

 when necessary, to proclaim a state of siege, 

 to submit financial and other bills to the Pro- 

 vincial Assembly, and to open and close its ses- 

 sions. The Sultan has the right to occupy the 

 frontiers, to call the Governor-General to ac- 

 count, to nominate his General Secretary, to 

 sanction the laws voted by the Provincial As- 

 sembly, and to approve the officers of adminis- 

 tration and justice nominated by the Governor- 

 General. In the administration the Governor- 

 General is to be aided by a Senate, consisting 

 of the commander of the militia and gendar- 

 merie, and the heads of the departments of 

 Justice, Finance, Public Education, Agriculture, 

 Commerce, and Public Wofks. The making of 

 laws is vested in the Provincial Assembly. Be- 

 sides this, the province has to send deputies to 

 the Turkish Parliament at Constantinople. 

 The Provincial Assembly has besides the right 

 to modify all laws promulgated by the Porte 

 so far as they regard Eastern Roumelia. The 

 province is divided into six circles and twenty- 

 eight districts, the former having each a coun- 

 cil. The official language with the Porte is to 

 be the Turkish, but in the circles and districts 

 the language will be that of the majority of 

 the inhabitants, whether Bulgarian, Turkish, or 

 Greek. In respect to the financial obligations 

 of the country, the International Commission 

 estimated the yearly income at 800,000 Turkish 

 pounds. Three tenths of this amount, 240,- 

 000 Turkish, is to be paid to the Porte. Be- 

 sides this, Eastern Roumelia will share in pro- 

 portion to her income in Turkey's financial 

 burdens for the maintenance of order and 

 peace, as well as for the expenses of the na- 

 tional administration. The gendarmerie will, 

 when occasion requires, be helped by the conn- 

 try militia. The militia is based on the prin- 

 ciple of universal service ; that is to say, every 

 man is obliged to serve for four years on active 

 duty. The manner of putting this statute into 

 execution was a question of considerable diffi- 

 culty. The military and gendarmerie, com- 



