ROUMELIA, EASTERN. 



715 



bat received autonomy in administrative af- 

 fairs. The organic statute was elaborated by 

 a commission sitting in Philippopolis during 

 the Russian occupation, and became law- 

 through an imperial firman, issued May 17, 

 1879. The local administration was placed in 

 the hands of elected representatives. One 

 fifth of the members of the general councils in 

 the six departments were to be nominated by 

 the Governor-General, and the rest elected by 

 universal suffrage. Equal religious rights and 

 protection, freedom of the press, inviolability 

 of property and of the domicile, and the equal- 

 ity of the Bulgarian, Turkish, and Greek lan- 

 guages were guaranteed. The Governor-Gen- 

 eral, who must be a Christian, is named by the 

 Sublime Porte, with the assent of the powers, 

 for the period of five years. 



On the expiration of the term of Aleko Pa- 

 sha, the Porte appointed Gavril Pasha Chres- 

 tovich Governor-General, and he was installed 

 on July 3, 1884. The legislative power is ex- 

 ercised by a single chamber called the Provin- 

 cial Assembly. The chief judicial and ecclesi- 

 astical dignitaries are members ex officio, to the 

 number of ten, and the remaining thirty-six 

 members are elected by the people for four 

 years. The European commission fixed the 

 annual tribute to the Sultan at 240,000 Turkish 

 pounds, which was estimated to be three tenths 

 of the total revenue, the proportion assigned 

 to Turkey in the organic statute. Owing to 

 the ruined state of the country after the war, 

 the emigration of Mohammedans to Turkey, 

 and of Bulgarians to Bulgaria, the net revenue 

 did not exceed 600,000 Turkish pounds. In 

 1882 the Provincial Assembly passed an act 

 reducing the yearly tribute to 180,000 Turkish 

 pounds. This law was not ratified by the 

 Porte, but was carried out by Aleko Pasha as 

 an administrative regulation in the same way 

 as several other vetoed enactments. Two 

 thirds of the revenue is derived from direct 

 taxes. The budget for 1884-'85 estimated the 

 revenue at 643,650 Turkish pounds, and the 

 expenditure at 681,976. 



Area and Population. The area of Eastern 

 Roumelia is 13,500 square miles. The popula- 

 tion was officially computed in 1884 as 850,- 

 000. The Mohammedan and Greek-speaking 

 population constituted two fifths of the total 

 at the time of the creation of the autonomous 

 province, but in consequence of emigration the 

 proportion is diminished to one third. 



Productions. The chief occupation of the 

 people is agriculture. The area under culti- 

 vation is 1,663,000 acres ; the product in 1881 

 was 2,543,292 hectolitres, or about 7,000,000 

 bushels, of wheat, 1,365,609 hectolitres of bar- 

 ley, 1,242,533 of rye, 1,170,700 of maize, and 

 399,779 of oats. The production of ottar of 

 roses in 1881 was 1,422 okes (1 oke = 2'8326 

 pounds), which is sold in Eastern Roumelia at the 

 average price of $300 an oke. The production 

 of wine was 16,834,680 okes; of tobacco, 547,- 

 248; of cocoons, 67,154. Spelt, vetch, millet, 



anise-seed, and sesnmura are also grown. A 

 large number of sheep, goats, cattle, and swine 

 are raised. Woolen cloth and braid are manu- 

 factured and exported. 



Commerce. The imports in 1883 amounted to 

 $2,451,000, an increase of $860,000 over those 

 of the previous year. The total value of the 

 exports was $2,752,000, showing an increase 

 of $989,000. The leading articles of exporta- 

 tion are cereals, wood, wine, silk, and hides. 



The Revolutionary Movement. Under Aleko 

 Pasha's administration there were two politi- 

 cal parties, each of which had for its aim the 

 union of the province with Bulgaria. The 

 Liberal party was controlled by the Governor- 

 General, and had a large majority in the As- 

 sembly. The Conservatives depended on Rus- 

 sian influence to secure political independence 

 and the creation of a Great Bulgaria, while the 

 Liberals distrusted Russia and looked to the 

 Western powers for help. Karaveloff, who 

 was expelled from Bulgaria after the coup- 

 d'etat of Prince Alexander, became the leader 

 of the Liberal party, and organized a move- 

 ment for the union of the two Bulgarias under 

 Aleko Pasha.. The officers of the militia and 

 the gendarmerie sympathized with the Liberal 

 party and supported Aleko Pasha in his efforts 

 to supplant the authority of the military com- 

 manders - in - chief appointed by the Sultan. 

 Aleko's dubious attitude toward Russia ren- 

 dered futile his efforts to be appointed his 

 own successor. Gavril Pasha Chrestovich, who 

 secured the appointment, was Aleko Pasha's 

 Secretary-General and Director of the Inte- 

 rior. As the friend and protege of Russia and 

 Aleko's rival, he dismissed every Liberal from 

 office. The Liberal politicians, deprived of all 

 influence in public affairs, and many of them of 

 the means of livelihood, determined on striking 

 a blow. The situation in Bulgaria was propi- 

 tious. Karaveloff was now the Prime Minister 

 of Bulgaria. Several of the Roumelian Liberals 

 were appointed by him to office. While the 

 movement was set on foot in Eastern Roumelia 

 and Bulgaria, Europe was made familiar with 

 the economical and political arguments in favor 

 of the union. The Government in Eastern Rou- 

 melia rendered itself more and more unpopu- 

 lar. Some of its measures provoked resistance. 

 More arbitrary means were then resorted to, 

 in order to destroy the power of its opponents. 

 The Governor-General began to remove the 

 Liberal officers in the gendarmerie. Major 

 Ljoubovsky was suddenly dismissed. His com- 

 rades expected the same fate, and urged Kara- 

 veloff to hasten the movement and achieve the 

 union by means of a military revolution (see 

 BULGARIA). The Russians had laid their plans 

 for a revolution in the spring of 1886. It was 

 to have been preceded by an insurrection in 

 Sofia and the overthrow of Prince Alexander 

 in favor of Prince Peter Karageorgevich. That 

 would be the signal for an attempt to upset 

 King Milan in Servia. When Russian control 

 should be thus re-established in Bulgaria, and 



