THE BALKANS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 250, 15 July 1908, Page 7

THE BALKANS.

BULGARIA WILL RESIST PARTITION OF j ' MACEDONIA. .. 3 (BY TELEGRAPH—PBESS ASSOC/ITIOK— COPTRIOnT.) Sofia, July 13. i The Premier, M. Malinoff, speaking in the i Sobraiijo, declared that Bulgaria, w'oiild employ force to prevent any partition of Macei douia. - •. ' ' 1 • .FOSTER FRASfeR'S ESTIMATE. . i - BULGARIA AS A WAR FORCE. . All the European' countries which were once undor Turkish rule, and which have .Christian populations ■ (including Bulgaria, ■ Servia, 1 . and Greece) liuve broken from Mussulman control, .except Macedonia. Macedonia has Bulgaria and • Sorvia on the north, and Greece on , the south. There is no distinct Macedonian:race. The people thero are mostly Bulgarians, though tho Greeks run them close, and there are'also a good many Servians and somo Roumanians ami some Tnrks., But in broad description (writes Mr.. Foster Fraser) it. may be said that Macedonia is occupied by Bulgarians on the Bulgarian Side, and by Greeks on- the Greek' side. They. aro Christian races, but belong to different churches, and hate each other with more_ bitterness than do Protestants 'and Catholics in Ireland. The Turks treated Greek Christians and Bulgarian. Christians'very badly; and in the beginning (-Jreek bands came over from the south and Bulgarian bands^ from the north' possibly with the honest intention of projecting their respective Christian compatriots from' tho Mussulman.' : But ,soon motives of territorial aggrandisement entered into the Bulgarian as -well as the Greek calculations, and they began to quarrel with each other as to their respective shares Of tho prospective (and, still prospective) prey. And, the Turk speedily saw tho wisdom of onoouraping Bulgarian against Greek and Greek against Bulgarian, so that they should not combine against himself. ARGUMENTS THAT CUT TWO WAYS. - ."Bulgaria proceeded to stake out what would be her portion—a very large slice, especially as the majority Of ,tho . people were ■ Bulgarians. Greek villages, spreading up from the 1 south, were in ■ tho Bulgarian area, 'ana many of them belonged to the' Bulgarian Church. 'We count you as Bnlgarian villages,'' said the Bulgars . . . . Greece proceeded to stake out her section—and it considerably overlapped the staked area of Bulgaria. 'Besides, there-were Bulgarian villages within .the. Greek', sphere, but . belonging to the Greek Church. 'You are Greeks,' proclaimed the Hellenes. When the' two countries,'with the' aid of officially unauthorised 'bands/ began to captnro each other's villages an the .'ground of religion, the fat was in the fire. ■ The Bulgarians-insisted that Bulgarian -speaking villages were Bnlgarian, whatever. their'Veligito:'.mig]ifc be, .but that Greek-,' speaking villages, being Bulgarian in were,-of course, Bulgarian! 'No,' said tlie Greeks, -'Greek' villages nre.-rbally Greek, never mind their: religion, bnt Bulgarian villages, which haye adopted the Greek faith, musr be reckoned Greeks'! So rival 'bands' went out to. convert and reconvert villages. Men who'resisted one side or, the other were killed. They are being killed to-day .... The Turk knows that, 1 while they are so bitter against each other, they have less time ,to ' devote to him. Besidos, jt delays tho dav when Bulgaria will force war on Turkey—Bulgaria being a sturdy little nation which has thought much recently of how Japan crippled I?,ussia iind has drawn a moral. And thore is always the possibility that . the Bulgarians, to precipitate! matters, believing the end justifies the means, will deliberately provoke tho Turks to a tremendous massacre of Bnlgar-Macedo-nian Christians, and force Europe to intervene and add most of Macedonia to Bulgaria. That is : the .internal ; moss. WHERE . GERMANY PROFITS. . "But the Powers, are worrying and'nagging the Sublime Porte to institute 'reforms.' The Sultan-docs not like to be told his business any more than the rest of us.; But Britain, Italy, Austria, and Russia lecture him. Germany" does not; and, as a consequence-Ger-many—the most far-seeing of all—is getting all tne commercial concessions within the. Turkish Empire."* • . ; Bulgaria is not likely to welcome any scheme of partition. of Macedonia but tho Bulgarian one. The present Government (formed by the Karavelist or Democratic party) came into power in February last, but though M. Malinoff, a.lawyer by profession, holds the Premiership, it. is said that Prince Ferdinand will continue to control - foreign policy, and' 1 that the Minister for Foreign Affairs (General Panrikoff,' formerly military attache at -St. Petersburg) is actually' tho > Prince's nomineo. ' The state' of tension between' Greece and Bulgaria was illustrated- recently by the' appointment of-M. Rizoff to represent Bulgaria at Athens. It is alleged that M. Rizoff wa3 formerly one of the chiefs of the propagandist movemenUin Macedonia, and suggested armed action, which'was chiefly directed against the Greek element. , The appointment' caused' an outburst, in the Athens press, and also an official communique, which, "while defending M. Rizoff from the charges brought against him, expressed: refn;et that the Bulgarian Government had appointed as its agents in Athens a porson .concerned ■in the Bulgarian propaganda iri Macedonia."