326 



EASTERN KOUMELIA. 



EATON, MARGARET L. 



tions, and submitted them to the Sultan for 

 approval: M. Christovitch, Secretary-General 

 and Minister of the Interior; M. Kessakoff, 

 Minister of Justice ; M. Vulcovitch, Minister of 

 Public Works; and M. Schmidt, Minister of 

 Finance. The International Commission on 

 the same day unanimously decided to transfer 

 immediately the financial administration of the 

 province to the Governor-General. The ac- 

 tion of Aleko Pasha brought upon him the 

 displeasure of the Turkish Government, and 

 it informed the Powers that the refusal of 

 Aleko to wear the fez was a violation of en- 

 gagements between him and the Porte. The 

 Government would wait until Eastern Rou- 

 melia was evacuated, when it would summon 

 Aleko Pasha to wear the fez and hoist the 

 Turkish flag. In fact, if the demand should 

 not be complied with, the Porte would request 

 the Powers to sanction Aleko's removal, and 

 would send a body of Turkish troops to occupy 

 the Balkans. In other respects also Aleko 

 Pasha was charged with acting contrary to the 

 wishes of the Porte, and contrary even to the 

 letter and spirit of the existing enactments. 

 Thus he appointed none but Bulgarian officials, 

 to the utter neglect of the Greek and Turkish 

 elements in the country. Of the Bulgarian 

 Ministers nominated by him, one, M. Kessa- 

 koff, the brother of General Kessakoff, late 

 commander of the Eastern Roumelian troops 

 until the arrival of General Obrutscheff, agi- 

 tated for the reunion of Eastern Roumelia and 

 Bulgaria by main force. The advocate of re- 

 bellion a few weeks before Aleko Pasha's ar- 

 riviil, he was at once made Minister of Jus- 

 tice. In the latter part of June the Porte ap- 

 proved the entire Ministry with the exception 

 of M. Kessakoff. To his non-confirmation by 

 the Porte Aleko Pasha replied that the organic 

 statute did not absolutely oblige him to obtain 

 the ratification of his nominees ; that he con- 

 sidered M. Kessakoff a fit person, and that he 

 (Aleko), having been elected for five years, 

 should not be interfered with during his term 

 of office. 



The Russian evacuation proceeded rapidly, 

 and on July 27th the last Russian troops em- 

 barked at Burgas, leaving the country in the 

 hands of the authorities. A tumult occurred 

 in Philippopolis as soon as General Stolypine 

 had left that town. A Bulgarian flag was 

 raised, which Aleko Pasha ordered to be low- 

 ered, adding that in the event of non-compli- 

 ance he would leave the country and return 

 to Constantinople. His demand was complied 

 with. Disorders continued to occur in various 

 parts of the country, caused both by Turks and 

 Bulgarians. In the beginning of September 

 the Mohammedans at Philippopolis presented 

 a petition to the representatives of the Euro- 

 pean Powers, complaining of the ill treatment 

 they were receiving at the hands of the Bul- 

 garians. They declared that they were insult- 

 ed, attacked, wounded, and assassinated by Bul- 

 garians. Should any of them repair to the 



Government konak to complain of these mis- 

 deeds, they were driven away with blows of 

 the whip by the officer on duty. They no 

 longer, they said, demanded restitution of their 

 property, but asked merely that their lives and 

 honor should be protected. They had, how- 

 ever, no hope of obtaining even this small 

 measure of justice so long as all the judges and 

 officials were Bulgarians. 



The relations of the Government with the 

 Porte also continued in an unsatisfactory state. 

 The Government of Eastern Roumelia having 

 delayed the restoration of returning Moham- 

 medan refugees, the Turkish Government sent 

 numbers of them back to their homes, where, 

 of course, no provision had been made for 

 them; and they would certainly have starved 

 if they had not been cared for by their co-re- 

 ligionists. 



The Provincial Assembly was opened No- 

 vember 3d by Aleko Pasha, who in his speech 

 recommended the impartial enforcement of 

 the organic statute and the strict administra- 

 tion of justice. He further asked the Assem- 

 bly to devote its attention to the budget, and 

 to discuss the best means of improving the 

 condition of the population. 



In November Aleko Pasha paid a visit to 

 Constantinople, after he had repeatedly refused 

 to do so when requested by the Porte. The 

 visit was productive of good results. Most of 

 the differences existing between Philippopolis 

 and Constantinople were removed, and an un- 

 derstanding was come to on the most impor- 

 tant point, that of the Mohammedan refugees. 

 All the European Powers had also taken steps 

 to urge upon Aleko Pasha the necessity of 

 something being done to remedy the existing 

 state of affairs. The principal difficulty in the 

 way of the repatriation of the fugitives having 

 been the preparation of the necessary means 

 of subsistence for them, the proposal formerly 

 made by M. Schmidt, of the International Com- 

 mission, to provide by a loan for these require- 

 ments, which had been rejected both by the 

 Porte and the Government of the province, 

 was now seriously entertained by both govern- 

 ments. After the return of Aleko Pasha from 

 Constantinople a gradual change occurred in 

 the public sentiment. The bearing of the 

 Bulgarians became very friendly toward the 

 Mohammedans, and even the Provincial As- 

 sembly refrained from touching any question 

 which might disturb the peace. 



EATON, MARGARET L., widow of Gen- 

 eral John Henry Eaton, Secretary of War in 

 the Administration of President Jackson, was 

 born in 1796, and died at Washington on 

 November 8, 1879. Her maiden name was 

 O'Neil. In her youth she possessed high per- 

 sonal beauty and a peculiar fascination of 

 manner, which, combined with a persistent 

 will and high ambition, enabled her to attain 

 a prominent position in society. Her first 

 husband, by whom she had several children, 

 was Mr. Timberlake, a purser in the United 



