Untitled

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7771, 18 October 1886, Page 4

The various organs of the British Press, with their foreign correspondents, appear to favour the opinion that the policy of Russia achieved a complete success through the unexpected decision of Prince Alexander to voluntarily abdicate his recovered throne. In harmony with this view the conclusion seems also to have been arrived at that this latter event especially demonstrated the decline of British influence in the East, as it was well known that Britain had encouraged the Prince in maintaining his anti-Russian policy, and had endeavoured to dissuade him from resigning. There was no doubt a good deal in the events then transpiring that lent colour to the correctness of these opinions, but there is still more in the events which have since occurred that tends to discredit their soundness. For it has since been shown that the enthusiasm with which the restoration of the Prince was hailed by the great body of the population and the army was due, not solely to the personal devotion which his conduct both as a ruler and as a commander had awakened, but also to the tenacity with which they cling to the national aspiration, of which he was the representative. There certainly has been no disposition manifested by the people and authorities of Bulgaria to cringe before the minions of the Czar. On the contrary, they have revealed a determination to resist the offensive intermeddling of his agents with the affairs and institutions of their country, which is significant of a widespread antipathy to Russian assumption and dictation. Not only did the Regency refuse to comply with Russia's demand to suspend the judicial proceedings instituted against those of the pro-Russian party who were implicated in the arrest of Prince Alexander, and to postpone the elections for the National Assembly, but it also called the attention of all the European Powers to the treasonable conduct of General Kaulbars in his tour through the country, and sent a circular to the resident consuls threatening expulsion of any foreigner who attempted to influence the people in the exercise of their electoral privileges. The people, moreover, have not been behind the Regency in the resolute assertion of their will. For, though Russia's agents, despite the warning given them, did notoriously interfere with the elections, the nation yet polled all but unanimously in favour of the candidates prepared to uphold the Regency's action. The fact of 490 supporters of the Regency being returned, while Zankoff, the leader of the Russian party and author of the plot for Prince Alexander's arrest, secured only 21 followers, spoke volumes to all the Courts of Europe, and specially the Court of St. Petersburg, as to the current and force of the national feeling in Bulgaria. It was a complete endorsement, not merely of the attitude of the Regency, but also of the policy which Prince Alexander had pursued and for pursuing which he had incurred the implacable hatred of the Czar, the opposition of Berlin, and the indifference of Vienna. It was also a fulfilment of the prophetic words with which the Prince took farewell of his officers, and people when uttering an affectionate protest against his resignation, that it would be seen after he had gone whether it was his person or the cause he had championed that had kindled the ire of certain European Courts. Among the many weak motives attributed to him for the course he then resolved on, this at all events is one significant both of nobility and ioresight, and would seem, in the face of the general mystery that surrounds it to justify his sudden abdication. At any rate it has this merit, that it supplied to the Bulgarian people the opportunity of proclaiming to the world their allpervading desire for union and freedom, and their aversion to the interference, or even the protection, of Russia. It is moreover apparent, from the attitude taken by the Regency subsequent to the election, that whether or not it has been divined at St. Petersburg and Berlin, the members of that body at least have thoroughly comprehended the significance of the national vote. To the formal notice so presumptuously sent by the Russian Consul at Sophia, .that his Government would treat the elections to the Assembly as illegal and valueless, the Regency replied with incisive logic, that the Assembly was the sole judge of that point, and at the same time declared that the rioting which occurred at Sophia over the election was wholly attributable to that official's own misconduct. And the information contained in to-day's messages only tend to further disclose the firmness with which the national authorities are prepared to maintain their position. The arrest of the commandant at Rustchuk, who obeyed the orders of General Kaulbars, shows that they are bent on suppressing the spirit of disloyalty and marking their disapprobation of Russia's interference with the internal government of the country. Acts such as these reveal on the part of the Regency a consciousness of strength, derived from a conviction not only that they have the support of the people, but also the sym* pathy of all civilised nations, despite the obsequiousness of some of their Governments, and, moreover, the assurance that one or more of the Great Powers of Europe are prepared materially to aid their cause. They have not failed to interpret the cordial fe""Vig which has manifested itself bo unmistakably, not merely in the adjacent nationalities and in England, but also among the populations of the Austrian and even of the German Empire. And they infer that this power behind all the thrones will cause conspirators against the freedom of their country either to refrain from the execution of their designs or confront them with powerful forces on whose presumed inactivity they have mistakenly founded their calculations, la a word,

the situation in Bulgaria at the present moment indicates , that the policy of Britain in the „ East is rather in the ascendant than otherwise, and that the policy -of Russia, even though aided by Bismarck, is being seriously thwarted. This of course may and will tend to precipitate the invasion of _ Bulgaria, which Russia' meditates, but it' will also render, it a much more formidable business than she had recently been led to reckon on. • : ; •