LAND AND 5V.ATEE, 
September 25, 1915. 
habited by peoi'iv' of her own race*, in the west, 
the south-east, and the south-west of her present 
boundaries. The districts in question became hers 
by right of conquest in the year 1912, and were 
forfeited to her ex-allies at the Conference of 
Bucharest through her own fault and the uncon- 
cern of the Great Powers. Between the behaviour 
of Austriaatthat Conference and Bulgaria's atti- 
tude towards the Allies since the opening of the 
present war there is a causal nexus which has been 
lost sight of by many politicians and publicists. 
lYet it is obvious enough. For, as it was to 
Austria's interests to weaken, not to strengthen, 
Serbia, she strove hard and perseveringly at 
Bucharest to preserve Macedonia to Bulgaria. 
And when, in spite of her exertions, the fateful 
treaty was ratified, she made a definite promise to 
King Ferdinand not to rest until she had restored 
to his country what that diplomatic instrument 
had taken away. And it was comparatively much. 
According to statistics which I have received from 
Sofia, Serbia then annexed a Bulgarian population 
of 604,344 souls and 596 schools; Greece incor- 
porated 428,744 and 340 schools; Roumania 
147,000 and 189 schools; while the Turks retained 
135,656 Bulgarians and 59 schools. And all the 
schools, with the exception of those in Turkey, 
have since, it is alleged, been suppressed by the 
new masters. 
ARGUMENTS PRESENT AND PAST. 
Bulgaria now argues that before the Balkan 
Coalition can be revived the lands thus wrested 
from her grasp must be given back, and that that 
group of belligerents which effects this restitution 
will deserve and receive her gratitude. That was 
the task to which the Allied Governments and also 
the Central Empires addressed themselves from 
the beginning of the war, the former relying upon 
argument, suasion, and promises to be redeemed 
in case of victory, and the latter operating by 
means of bribery, blandishments, and extravagant 
offers of dynastic, as well as national, import, t 
But, so far as we know, neither side has as yet 
accoiriDlished the feat. It is much less easy for 
the Allies, whose aim is to induce the various 
fetates to offer up heavy sacrifices and keep cheer- 
tul and good-natured withal, than for the Teutons 
who can afford to crush Serbia and enrich the 
wulgars at her expense. 
The sequestered lands have a value for Bul- 
pria which they cannot possess for any other Bal- 
kan btate. Not only are they inhabited by people 
ot Bulgarian speech, but they constitute the only 
directions m which the frontiers of the Bulgarian 
Kingdom can be extended in virtue of the prin- 
fi? TJ^^^^T^^"^ ^y ^^® ^"ied Powers. On the 
east the Black Sea, to the south the JE^ean render 
expansion impossible. Northwards, "beyond the 
Danube extension is equally eliminated. ^ Only in 
the west south-west, and south-east can BuleJr a 
" tne Ames contrive to mould the futurfl nf 
^ff^^P^ The other Balkan States are much better 
off for they have grounded hopes that huge terrl- 
?ay beErrt '°'"?" do'mination. fill one 
aa} De theirs. Roumania expects Transvlvani-i 
• ?ir:; ^ ^r^'-' ^''^'^^ l««ks confidently ?oi' 
Bnlgara have a strong case ^ ^^' *'*® ^'*^^'' sP^ken, the 
a.,u4''IL^:Sv/of wrES Ts.'r of ^^ ""'"' ^r'"'^' *'- 
this caso 
I ansexa- 
JA 
ward to the possession of Bosnia, Herzegovina, 
Croatia, and part of Albania; the Hellenic King- 
dom hopes for the Islands, a portion of Albania, 
and a large slice of Asia Minor. . 
Moreover, all these peoples can afford to wait 
because the populations which they are eager to 
assimilate will meanwhile lose nothing of their 
national aims, strivings, or traditions, whereas 
unredeemed Bulgaria is becoming denationalised. 
It is further worth calling to mind that the lands 
now claimed by the Bulgarians were theirs in 
virtue of a number of treaties, including the alli- 
ance with Greece and Serbia (1912-1913) and the 
London Peace Treaty (1913). Lastly, it is urged 
that Serbia's argument in favour of the present 
redistribution of the conquered lands was drawn 
from the hindrances unexpectedly raised by the 
Austrians to her advance to the Adriatic. To-day 
that argument has lost its force, inasmuch as 
Serbia will now have an outlet of her own on the 
Albanian coast. 
But for these considerations at first neither 
Serbia nor Greece displayed any understanding. 
Fascinated by the present, they were unable to 
concentrate their gaze on what lay beyond. Their 
two statesmen whom political vision and moral 
courage qualified to lead their respective 
countries— Pasitch and Venizelos— saw their 
efforts thwarted by influential parties which there 
was no constitutional way of paralysing. One of 
the stipulations in vigour between Serbia and 
Greece provides that the former country shall make 
no concessions to Bulgaria without the previous 
knowledge and assent of the latter, inasmuch as • 
one of the contentious districts would, if conceded 
to Bulgaria, cut off Greece from Serbia. And M. 
Venizelos, questioned as to the consent of his 
Government to certain concessions, signified his 
acquiescence. He was even ready to go further 
m order to enable the Entente to offer Bulgaria an 
adequate inducement to forgive, forget and fra- 
ternise with her neighbours. That was the criti- 
calmoment in the progress of the negotiations, and 
Venizelos s statesmanlike decision represented 
the most valuable se rvice tliat Greece has yet had 
nnW^f % f"^r^ ^*'"^' ^^ ^- ^'>''S^^' Newton, just 
pub ished by Messrs Jarrold and Sons (6s.), is the reprint 
of the author 8 articles on the work of the British ArnTy in 
France up to November 15, 1914. The narrative is vivid and 
the sto^r ,s fairly complete; the author liaa specialised more 
on the deeds of units and men than on the tactical value of 
actions, and has been more concerned with events than with 
their causes and results. His book will be of interest to the 
multitude whose interest in the war is personal, and it aho 
contains much that will be of value to the intending historian 
— in spite of the Copyright Act. 
A feature of the recent Bakers' and Confectioners' Ex- 
hibition, in the Eoyal Agricultural Hall, Islington, was the 
stand on which were displayed the exhibits from Messrs. John 
fhl^'^iTrt ••' ^''^^"'it"^ High-street, who have won 
the Starkey cup and the exhibition gold medal. In 
accordance with the specification of the competition certain 
cakes were prepared. They were beautifully finished. A 
wedding cake, costing £1 Is., was the first specimen. A 
decorated Christmas cake, weighing 61b., took second place: 
and there were many others which are bound to be popular. 
9f^T^* ^"^"''^ Commercial Gas Association, of 47, Victoria 
Street, a co-operative and advisory body representing the 
chief gas undertakings of the Uni^d Kingdom, Ts".^s\ach 
month a pubhcation entitled A Thoumnd Ind On. Uses for 
Gas, dealing with the practical application of gas in busi- 
ness and in the home. This month's issue describes the 
vanous possibilities of gas for the purpose of domestic hot 
water supply from the point of view of the workin.. man no 
ess than of the dweller in Mayf air or of the ■' middle class '' 
suburbanite; while folk m the country are not forgotten. 
