BULGAEIA. 



99 



the railway was to belong to the Provincial 

 Government, in order to facilitate their colo- 

 nization. As the lands were partly settled al- 

 ready, and all patents then granted had been 

 based upon the surveys of the Provincial Gov- 

 ernment, some of which surveys, made early 

 in the history of the colony, were admittedly 

 imperfect, much inconvenience and hardship 

 might have been caused had it been arranged 

 for the Dominion Government to assume the 

 control of the lands, and issue patents upon a 

 survey of its own. A number of applications 

 from actual settlers within the Island Railway 

 belt for patents for lands pre-empted by them 

 were transmitted by the Provincial Govern- 

 ment to the Dominion Government. For more 

 than a year no patents were issued by the lat- 

 ter, which demanded, before granting any, the 

 originals of all documents forming the basis of 

 title to the land, including the original applica- 

 tions for such patents that were made to the 

 Government of British Columbia, "as agents 

 in this matter of the Government of Canada." 

 Complaint was also made of insufficiency of 

 description of the lands. The Provincial Gov- 

 ernment pointed out that, although acting as 

 agents, they were the real principals in the 

 matter, insisted upon their right to administer 

 the lands, and protested against the Dominion 

 Government retarding settlement. Ultimately 

 the Dominion Government agreed to issue the 

 patents, if the Government of British Colum- 

 bia would, by order in Council, assume the re- 

 sponsibility for their issue upon applications 

 certified by the latter. The order in Council 

 was passed. 



The Island Railway was finished, and the 

 train service began, Oct. 1. 



BULGARIA, a principality in Eastern Europe. 

 By the Treaty of Berlin, signed July 13, 1878, 

 the Turkish province of Bulgaria, north of the 

 Balkan mountains, was created into an autono- 

 mous and tributary principality under the su- 

 zerainty of the Sultan, having a Christian gov- 

 ernment and a national militia, and ruled by a 

 prince elected by the people and confirmed by 

 the Sultan, with the consent of the treaty pow- 

 ers. In case of a vacancy, a new prince is to 

 be chosen in the same manner. No member 

 of any of the reigning houses of the great Eu- 

 ropean powers is eligible. 



Prince Alexander I, born April 5, 1857, son 

 of Prince Alexander of Battenberg, of the 

 grand-ducal house of Hesse, a branch of the 

 Hohenzollerns, was elected hereditary prince 

 by the Great Sobranje, or Constituent Assem- 

 bly, on April 29, 1879. He is a first cousin of 

 the Emperor of Russia, being nephew of the 

 late Empress. Before his elevation to the Bul- 

 garian throne, he was an active officer in the 

 Prussian army. On Sept. 7, 1886, he abdicat- 

 ed the throne, after nominating a regency, and 

 confiding to them the executive power during 

 the interregnum. 



The legislative power was vested by the 

 Constitution of 1879 in a single chamber, called 



the Sobranje, or National Assembly, the mem- 

 bers of which are elected directly, by universal 

 suffrage, in the proportion of one to every ten 

 thousand of the population. 



Area and Population. The area of the princi- 

 pality is 24,360 miles. The population in 1881 

 was 2,007,919, comprising 1,027,813 males and 

 980,116 females. Sofia, the capital, had a pop- 

 ulation of 20,501; Rustchuk, 26,163; Varna, 

 24,555; Shumla, 23,093; Widdin, 13,714; 

 Razgrad, Sistova, Plevna, and Tirnova, be- 

 tween 11,000 and 12,000. The Bulgarian lan- 

 guage, mingled in the northwest with the Ser- 

 vian, which is a dialectical variation, was spok- 

 en by 67 per cent, of the population ; 26'26 

 per cent, are Turks, 2-44 Wallachians, 1-87 

 gypsies, and the remainder Greeks, Jews, and 

 Tartars. The Orthodox Greek faith is pro- 

 fessed by 70 per cent, of the inhabitants, while 

 28 - 79 per cent, are Mohammedans. The popu- 

 lation depends almost entirely on agricultural 

 and pastoral pursuits. 



The Army. The military force consists of 8 

 regiments of infantry (each of 3 battalions), 9 

 squadrons of cavalry, 12 batteries of field artil- 

 lery (with 96 guns on the war footing and 48 

 in peace), 2 companies of fortress artillery, and 

 5 companies of engineers. The peace strength 

 of the army is 22,570, the war strength 62,370 

 men. Military service is obligatory on all who 

 are capable of bearing arms. 



Finances. The revenue for 1885 was esti- 

 mated at 34,899,900 lei, and the expenditure at 

 35,780,324 lei (1 lei = 1 franc, or 19-3 cents). 

 The Assembly before adjourning on July 23, 

 1886, authorized a loan of 33,000,000 lei for 

 completing the Zaribrod- Vakarel Railroad, and 

 purchasing the Rustchuk- Varna line. 



The Treaty of Berlin stipulated that the 

 share in the debt of Turkey to be assumed by 

 Bulgaria should be fixed by an agreement be- 

 tween the signatory powers, but the powers 

 have not yet acted. 



Commerce. The export of wheat is 1,500,000 

 tons. The other exports are wool, tallow, 

 butter, cheese, hides, flax, and prunes. The 

 principal imports are cotton manufactures, 

 iron, wine, timber, sugar, salt, and petroleum. 

 A duty of 8 per cent, is levied on imports. 

 Eastern Roumelia has been incorporated in the 

 Bulgarian customs district, though without the 

 sanction of the Porte. 



Railroads. There is in operation a line of 

 railroad, running from Rustchuk to the port of 

 Varna on the Black Sea, and having a length 

 of 140 miles. A line from Vakarel to Zaribrod, 

 passing through the capital, is expected to be 

 completed in the summer of 1887, joining the 

 Servian railroads to the system of eastern Tur- 

 key. A branch road, running from Vakarel 

 to Belova and Sarambey, was expected to be 

 finished before the close of 1886. Its con- 

 struction was hastened for administrative and 

 strategic reasons, since it will shorten the time 

 required in the journey between Sofia and 

 Philippopolis from twenty-four to twelve hours. 



