lU'MIAKlA. 



71 



expulsion hud been made contrary to the capitula- 

 tions. Thru i In- Bulgarian Government, throoffb 

 i he ottoman commissioner, communicated to tin- 

 Porte an apology to be forwarded to tlie French 

 iiovernmeiit. expressing its regret at not having 

 complied with the capitulations and declaring 

 that in future it would communicate, in writing 

 to the I'Yeneh consular authority any decree of 

 expulsion which might be issued against a French 

 riti/en: hut should any such person not leave 

 Bulgarian territory within the time fixed in the 

 decree, the princely authorities would then pro- 

 ceed to expel him. The French Government ac- 

 cepted this note as satisfactory. It establishes 

 t lie right of the Bulgarian Government to give 

 effect to a decree of expulsion against a French 

 subject. The incident was regarded as closed, 

 and diplomatic relations were resumed. 



The Vulkovitoh Murder. The Bulgarian 

 diplomatic agent at Constantinople, Dr. Vulko- 

 vitch. was murdered on Feb. 24, 1892. In De- 

 cember, 1891, the Bulgarian Government for- 

 warded a letter to the Porte which had been in- 

 tercepted by the Servian authorities at Belgrade. 

 This letter revealed a conspiracy to kill Dr. Vul- 

 kovitch, and was written by Nicholas Tufekt- 

 chieff in Odessa, one of the supposed murderers 

 of Beltcheff, was addressed to Georghieff, and 

 implicated several others. After the murder the 

 authorities at Constantinople proceeded at once 

 to arrest the persons named in the letter, and 

 succeeded in apprehending a certain Christo, 

 who at his examination revealed the names of 

 Merdjau, Nicholas and Naum Tufektchieff, and 

 Shishmanoff as his confederates. Merdjau and 

 Shishmanoff were put into prison ; the latter, 

 however, was released on demand of the Russian 

 embassy, and was conveyed to Odessa, where the 

 Tufektchieffs were also staying. The release of 

 Shishmanoff and the refusal of the Porte to re- 

 quest the extradition of the Tufektchieffs from 

 Russia, created a bitter feeling among the Bul- 

 garians until the Government finally saw itself 

 forced to address a note to the Porte, which, 

 however, bore more the stamp of an appeal to 

 the civilized world against the actions and in- 

 terference of the Russian Government. The 

 note, dated April 12, recapitulates the facts of 

 the murder or Beltcheff, and characterizes that 

 crime as the result of revolutionary schemes 

 against the Government of the principality con- 

 ducted by committees abroad having Bidgarian 

 refugees in their pay, and reminds the Porte of 

 t he assurances given to proceed against all guilty 

 persons who were found plotting against the Bul- 

 garian Government on Ottoman territory. Com- 

 ing to the case of Dr. Vulkovitch, it refers to the 

 letter intercepted at Belgrade, and the deposition 

 of Christo, that this murder was also the work of 

 Bulgarian refugees supported by the Panslavist 

 committee at Odessa, and the testimony elicited 

 from the persons arrested in Constantinople go- 

 ing to prove the complicity of Shishmanoff in 

 the crime. It expresses the surprise of the 

 Princely Government at the liberation of Shish- 

 manoff and the protection afforded him by the 

 Russian embassy at Constantinople. The note 

 denies that Shishmanoff was a naturalized Rus- 

 sian subject, hut points out that, under the ca- 

 pitulations, foreign subjects implicated in crime 

 are answerable to the Ottoman tribunals. It 



then adverts to a letter addressed to Stanr- 

 hnloff by Bulgarian refugees holding commis- 

 sions in the Russian army, who informed the. 

 Premier that the murder of Belteheir having 

 been accomplished, they intruded to prepare new 

 attacks against the ministers; that the Russian 

 Government had been advised of this letter, but 

 instead of taking action, kept these men in the 

 army, and that one of them, Stantcheff, although 

 his extradition had been granted by the Porte 

 for his complicity in the Beltcheff murder, was 

 actually received in audience by M. deGiers, the 

 Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs. The note 

 next points out that Bulgarian refugees are fur- 

 nished with Russian passports, although not Rus- 

 sian subjects. The note then concludes in the 

 following terms : 



After having preserved order and tranquillity, and 

 after having fulfilled its duties to all foreign states, 

 the Bulgarian Government considers thut it has de- 

 scrvcd the confidence of the Porte and gained suffi- 

 cient title to the solicitude of the suzerain power to in- 

 duce the latter to take into its own hands the defense 

 of the interests of Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Govern- 

 ment can not doubt that the Porte will demand the 

 extradition of the men who devised the murder of Dr. 

 Vulkovitch namely, Nicholas and Naum Tufekt- 

 chieff and Shishmanoff. Further, it begs the Porte to 

 prohibit the stay of Bulgarian refugees in the vila- 

 yets of Turkey in Europe, and appeals to the Otto- 

 man Government to recognize the rights of the prin- 

 cipality by giving, from the international standpoint, 

 its sanction, in conformity with Article III of the 

 Treaty of Berlin, to the lawful order of things exist- 

 ing in Bulgaria. 



No formal acknowledgment or reply to the 

 note was given to the Bulgarian Government. 

 The two prisoners Merdjau and Christo and the 

 two Tufektchieffs were put on trial at Constanti- 

 nople. The two former were found guilty of 

 the willful murder of Dr. Vulkovitch and con- 

 demned to death. Nicholas and Naum Tufekt- 

 chieff were convicted of instigating the crime, 

 and were sentenced in their absence to fifteen 

 years' penal servitude. M. Dimitroff was ap- 

 pointed Bulgarian agent at Constantinople in 

 place of Dr. Vulkovitch. 



The Political Trial at Sofia.- A court-mar- 

 tial was held at Sofia from June 30 to July 19, to 

 try eighteen prisoners concerned in different 

 plots, which culminated last year in the murder 

 of the Bulgarian Minister Beltcheff. The more 

 conspicuous among them were Petko Karaveloff, 

 ex- Prime Minister and ex-Regent of Bulgaria; 

 Malnff, also a former Cabinet minister ; Milaroff, 

 who was concerned in the kidnapping of Prince 

 Alexander ; and Toma Georgieff. It was shown 

 that at the time of the Beltcheff murder plots 

 existed to overthrow the Government, and plans 

 to murder Prince Ferdinand and Stambuloff. 



The prisoner Milaroff was convicted of having 

 conspired with a hostile government namely, 

 that of Russia with having laid a plot for the 

 murder of Prince Ferdinand, and with arming 

 Bulgarian subjects with a view to sedition and 

 murder, and was condemned to death. Toma 

 ( Jeorgieff and another prisoner named Alexander 

 Karaguloff were convicted of participating in a 

 plot to overthrow the Government, the first act 

 of which was the attempt to murder Stambuloff ; 

 they were both sentenced to death. 



Karaveloff, who was accused of being the 



