116 



BULGARIA. 



ful consequences, we have wished to warn those who 

 are destined to endure them. 



The Metropolitan Clement was tried, in July, 

 on the charge of inciting the people against 

 the Prince and Government. The incriminating 

 passage in his sermon was : " The people will 

 punish persons in high places for any injury 

 done to our faith." This was adjudged to be se- 

 ditious, and he was sentenced to perpetual exile. 

 The Russian Government, after the adoption of 

 the constitutional amendment, presented a de- 

 mand for the payment of 2,000,000 rubles due 

 from Bulgaria, on account of the Russian oc- 

 cupation in 1878-'79. If this was paid, there 

 would remain due, under the treaty of June 28, 

 1883, the sum of 3,018,250 rubles, besides a small- 

 er amount for arms furnished to Bulgarians. 

 When a similar demand was made by Russia in 

 1889 the Bulgarian Government had the money 

 already deposited to meet it, but this time it was 

 prepared to present claims for money intrusted 

 by Bulgarians to the Russian legations or banks 

 or left with the Russian Government to aid the 

 war of liberation, which more than offset the 

 amount still due to Russia. 



Marriage of Prince Ferdinand. Before 

 the Great Sobran je had met to ratify the constitu- 

 tional revision, the Prince, accompanied by his 

 chief minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs 

 Grekoff, free from all apprehension of political 

 disorder, paid a visit to the Court of Vienna, 

 The attentions paid to the Prince and the con- 

 ferences of Stambuloff with the Emperor and 

 Count Kalnoky gave proof of the determination 

 of Austria to prevent, by armed force if neces- 

 sary, the interference of any foreign power in 

 Bulgaria. The raising of a loan of 26,000,000 

 francs for Bulgaria in Berlin afforded a fresh 

 indication of the policy of the triple alliance 

 to preserve the status quo in the Balkans. The 

 princess that Ferdinand had chosen was related 

 to the Austrian imperial family. It was Marie 

 Louise, the eldest daughter of the Duke of 

 Parma, a Bourbon of the Spanish line, whose 

 mother, a princess of Bourbon- A rtois, protested 

 as regent against the annexation of the duchy to 

 Sardinia in 1859, when the duke was eleven years 

 old. The mother of the Princess Marie Louise 

 was likewise a Bourbon, of the house of the Two 

 Sicilies. His marriage into a family whose for- 

 tunes were peculiarly connected with the Roman 

 Church absolved Ferdinand of the odium of in- 

 sisting that his prospective heir should be reared 

 as a Catholic, and his own descent on the ma- 

 ternal side from the Orleans Bourbons was an 

 additional reason. The princess was born in 

 Rome, Jan. 17, 1870. The marriage took place 

 at the residence of the Duke of Parma at Via- 

 reggio, Italy, April 20. 



Revision of the Constitution. The Great 

 Sobranje met May 15 to act upon several amend- 

 ments of the Constitution proposed by the Gov- 

 ernment, for the consideration of which the 

 ordinary Sobranje had authorized the convening 

 of a Grand National Assembly, the fourth one 

 held since the foundation of the principality. 

 The Assembly was called not merely for the pur- 

 pose of modifying the statute relating to the 

 religion of the Prince's successor, but also for 

 introducing changes in the system of representa- 



tive government that might be considered suit- 

 able to Bulgarian conditions, though undemo- 

 cratic, if Bulgaria was not ruled by a dictator 

 whose powers they enlarge. These changes con- 

 sist in the extension of the duration of the ordi- 

 nary Sobranje from three to five years, and the 

 reduction of the number of its members from 320 

 to 161, with a corresponding diminution of 

 members in the Great Sobranje, which had twice 

 as many as the ordinary Chamber. The propor- 

 tion to population was 1 to 10,000 for the regular 

 Chamber, and 1 to 5,000 for the Constitutional 

 Congress, whereas the amended law makes it 

 1 to 20,000 and 1 to 10,000 respectively. The 

 necessary quorum in the Sobranje for the enact- 

 ment of any measure is henceforth to be fixed 

 at a third of the total number of Deputies. The 

 voting is to be open, but the Chamber may decide 

 on secret voting at the demand of 10 or more 

 Deputies. In addition to these amendments it 

 was proposed to change the title of highness, be- 

 stowed on the Prince by the Constitution as 

 originally made under the direction of Prince 

 Dondukoff Korsakoff, to that of royal highness. 

 Prince Ferdinand's desire to assume the title of 

 king was vetoed, probably by the friendly powers 

 which have not yet been able to obtain the legal- 

 ization of his position as Prince of Bulgaria. 

 Another amendment, while continuing to pro- 

 hibit the creation of hereditary titles in Bulga- 

 ria, empowers the Prince to bestow orders and 

 decorations for merit, thus giving legal sanction 

 to the order of civil merit introduced by Prince 

 Ferdinand and that of St. Alexander which his 

 predecessor established. Under special circum- 

 stances the Prince is empowered to raise a loan 

 of 3,000,000 francs, or to make an expenditure of 

 1,000,000 francs without previous authorization 

 from the Chamber, but subject to its subsequent 

 approval. An increase in the number of Cabi- 

 net ministers is authorized by a special enact- 

 ment of the ordinary Sobranj'e. The object of 

 this proposal was to legalize the intended ap- 

 pointment of a minister of agriculture and a 

 minister of public works. The various consti- 

 tutional amendments were embodied in a bill, 

 which was passed unanimously on May 28, and on 

 the following day the Great Sobranje was closed 

 with an address by the Prince, in which he said : 



The unanimous consent with which my people 

 have accepted the law for the change of the Constitu- 

 tion is a fact patent to all, and a clear proof of the un- 

 bounded love of the Bulgarians for their beautiful 

 country, as well as of the tact and wisdom with which 

 they know how to protect their rights and their free- 

 dom, and to preserve their political independence. 



Elections. The elections for the Sobranje 

 took place on July 30. In the new house of 161 

 members the Government secured 152 seats. 

 This enormous majority, taken in connection 

 with the fact that nearly four fifths of the elec- 

 tors abstained from voting, reveals the arbitrary 

 nature of the Stambuloff regime, and indicates 

 what are the causes of revolutionary uprisings, 

 military conspiracies, and ecclesiastical incendi- 

 arism, and the motives that led to the flight of 

 Zankoff, the imprisonment of Karaveloff, the 

 court-martial and execution of Panitza, the re- 

 tirement of Radoslavoff, and the violent removal 

 of the Metropolitan Clement. 



