CORRESPONDENCE.
PRINCE VOGORIDES AND THE PORTE. maim A CORSESPONDZAT.3 Philippopolis, June- 12th, 1879. CONSIDERABLE excitement was caused the other day in Philip- popolis by news, which spread like wild-fire, that the Porte had addressed representations to the. Great Powers demanding the recall of Prince Vogorides, on account of his action anent the wearing of the kalpak instead of the fez, and his refusal to hoist the Ottoman flag. The rumour was eagerly believed by the Turks, who saw in it the possibility of their immediate return to power ; and also by the Greeks, whose ideas were that a new Governor-General might do more to favour their cause and am- bitious designs than Prince Vogorides was inclined to do. No class has been more woefully disappointed at the turn affairs have taken than the Turks who have of late weeks flocked into and around Philippopolis. They evidently believed that with the departure of the Russians and the arrival of Aleko Pasha the ancient rivinze would be at once restored, and they have therefore been furious that not only are the Christians still in the ascendant, but that the Sultan's supreme authority has been quietly ignored for the present. An incident happened yester- day which shows the temper in which the Turks are at this moment. A friend of mine paid a visit to Tatar Bazardjyk, and when desirous of returning, he missed his coachman, a Turk. Another servant was dispatched, to hunt up the coachman. This servant is a Wallachian, long resident in Turkey, and he found the coachman in a mosque. Now, the mosque contained about sixty Turks, but, strange to say, they were utterly neglectful of worship. Indeed they were holding a private discussion, the burden of which was that in a few months the Turkish troops would enter Eastern Roumelia, and that there would be a general rising against the Christians, not one of whom, it was determined, should be spared. All were to be exterminated. This is simply confirmative of what I have heard in the cafés and bazaars of Philippopolis, and while there -can be no immediate danger, it is well that the existence of this feeling should not be ignored.
To return, however, to the Governor-General and the rumours of his recall, I thought it well to wait upon his Excellency, and hear what he himself had got to say upon the matter. Accordingly I sought an interview, which was readily granted. The Prince received me in his bureau, and the numerous papers scattered about showed that he was not a man of indolent ease. He was dressed very simply, almost negligently ; tweed pan- taloons and vest, and a blue-cloth loose jacket. His manner -was frank and easy, his speech open, and his sentiments always directed straight to the point. After apologising for the dis- order in which everything was, he told me that he was having the Konak- thoroughly overhauled, indeed the internal arrange- ments almost reconstructed, so as to make it a comfortable resid- ence according to Western ideas. He was busy, he continued, perfecting and completing the administrative changes necessary from the departure of the Russians. He had a good set of men around him, and while there was much to do and think about, he anticipated no difficulty in not only establishing, but maintaining, perfect order and good government. There was no truth in the absurd tales that had been told about the reasons for the Princess's departure for Constantinople. It was said, among other things, that she had gone away previous to his departure ; that he was disgusted with his post, and wished to resign. It was also said that the Princess had gone to plead with the Sultan in favour of her husband, who had in- curred the Porte's displeasure by the manner in which he had taken possession of his government. As he had said, all these were absurd fabrications. The Princess had gone to Constanti- nople simply to be out of the way while the alterations were 'being made in the Kona,k, for while the house was occupied by -masons, and plasterers, and painters, there could be no comfort for a lady. "Then," said I, " there is no truth in the statement that your Excellency is about to leave Eastern Roumelia, and throw up the post of Governor-General ?"—" None what- - ever," he replied. "I don't intend to leave, and I don't wish to leave. The Porte can't dismiss me, for I am appointed for five years ; and as for asking the Powers to recall me, they can't do that. I might be tried, if I was stepping beyond the 'law laid down in the Statute Organique; but then there is no provision for a tribunal to try me. I did not," he went on, "at first desire the appointment of Governor-General of Eastern Roumelia. I was living very quietly in Paris, for I did not do well with the Sultan [sic for a long time. I did not visit Con- stantinople, although the Sultan asked me to go many times. When Rnstem Pasha was proposed as Governor-General of Eastern Roumelia, he was objected to very strongly by Russia, -who desired that a Governor-General of Bulgarian origin should be appointed. I suppose they wanted to establish a precedent from the first holder of the high office. I was then pressed to accept the office, and I did so, in the hope that I might contribute something to the peace of my country and of Europe. When I went to Vienna and saw Count Andrassy, the Count said to me, Above all things, we desire that the Russians should go away from Eastern Roumelia and Bulgaria ; and you must do everything that will expedite that and so secure the peace of Europe." We want peace,' added Count Andrassy, and not the outbreak of another war which would spread all over Europe.' Well, when I came to Constantinople, the Sultan gave me instructions that I was to wear the fez and to hoist the Ottoman flag, as a sign of his sovereign authority ; and that if I did not choose to wear the fez, I was to return to Constanti- nople. When I got to the frontier of Eastern Roumelia, up to which point I had worn the fez, I heard that powder and shot had been prepared for me, if I came wearing the fez. I had to decide, if I wished to continue to wear the fez, either to go on and be shot, or return to Constantinople. On the one hand, if I returned to Constantinople because of such a trivial thing as the wearing of a fez, the whole tranquillity of Europe might have been disturbed. Certainly all that has been accomplished by the Berlin Treaty might have been jeopardised. A new Governor-General would need to have been appointed; delays would have taken place. No matter who was proposed, there were certain to have been objections made by one or other of the Great Powers, and God knows when a Governor-General acceptable to all would have been found. In the mean- time, the Russian occupation of Eastern Roumelia would have been indefinitely prolonged. Now, it was the wish of all the Powers of Europe that the Russians should go away, and therefore it came practically to be a question with me whether I should obey the voice of Europe or the instructions of the Sultan, and by doing the latter, in all likeli- hood meeting my own death, and letting slip the dogs of war. In Europe they do not reason as they do at Constantinople, and I should have been very much blamed if I had run the risk of disturbing peace, and destroying all that had been done by the Treaty of Berlin, because of a childish dispute about a head-dress. I therefore put on the kalpak and came on to Philippopolis, where I was very well received indeed. I have no penchant for the kalpak, because I have worn the fez since I was a boy, but it was best that I should put on the Bulgarian head-dress. In the same way, I knew that the Bulgarians were not prepared to see the Ottoman flag, the symbol of the sovereignty of the Porte. I heard that they were prepared to tear it down, and there might have been disturbances which would have spread into a revolution, for in the then condition of the country one does not know where such a disturbance, once begun, would have ended. I consulted with the European Com- mission as to what should be done about hoisting the Turkish flag. They said to me, undoubtedly as a symbol of the sovereign authority of the Porte, it ought to be hoisted, but at the oppor- tune moment. It was, however,' the Commission further told me, a matter lying wholly between the Sultan and the Governor- General.' I began to think, and I saw that if I hoisted the flag when the Sultan's Firman was read, and if disturbances took place, the Commission would turn round and say, We only advised that the flag should be hoisted at the oppor- tune moment, and certainly that was not the opportune moment.' Again, the municipality and the heads of the religious bodies and the best representative men told me that if the flag was to be hoisted on the occasion, they would not appear at the ceremony. Therefore I determined not to hoist the flag, and everything passed off agreeably and tranquilly. If we must have peace, and must have the Russians out of the country, I must so act that both shall be secured, irrespective of childish questions about drapery or bonnets. I know that they are angry with me at Constantinople because of what I have done, or rather, because of what I have not done, but I cannot risk peace and good government for such childish matters. When the opportune moment arrives, I shall hoist the Ottoman flag."
"When does your Excellency think the opportune moment will come ?" I inquired. The Prince replied with an expressive shrug of the shoulders, "I don't know ; it may be some time. If the Porte wished to place so much stress on its sovereign authority, it ought not to have given up the right of garrison- ing the Balkans." But I said I thought the Porte had acted very wisely in its own interests, and also for the sake of Euro- pean peace and of humanity, in waiving his right of sending Turkish garrisons to the Balkans. From what I had seen all over the country in the way of preparation and from what I
knew of the sentiments of the people, I did not believe that the Turkish troops would have been allowed to take up a position in the Balkans without a long, severe, and bloody fight, in which the Bulgarians on both sides of the Balkans would have taken part against the Turkish troops. And I added that I could scarcely blame them, after I had seen what they had formerly suffered from the presence of Turkish troops. Prince Vogorides did not seem to attach much importance to the resistance which the Bulgarians would have made. What he dreaded was outside interference. "The Russians," said he, "would have stepped in, and prevented Turkish garrisons going to the Balkans. Then that would have involved Turkey in a new war with Russia and Austria, and England would cer- tainly also have joined in the war." I said I did not think the people of England would permit their Government to go to war in order that the Bulgarians should be oppressed by an army of Turkish soldiers, or have their dearly-bought liberties made a dead-letter ; to which Prince Vogorides said nothing, except, "The Government are supreme, and the people can't help themselves." Courteously turning the conversation, his Excel- lency began to talk in terms of high praise of the industry, thrift, and natural gifts of the Bulgarians. They were, from the effects of the war and the devastating raids of Bashi- Bazouks and Circassians, very poor just now, but he hoped that, with peace and good government, they would soon recover their prosperity. They were especially poor near the Balkans, where they had lost nearly all their cattle, and where, even in the spring, they had no seed-corn to sow, to raise crops. I told him of the generosity of the Russian Administration in giving away so many horses, and selling others at a low price, to the peasants, and he admitted that this good action would help the people considerably. The land was as fertile as a garden, and in a few years it would bloom as the Garden of Eden. He looked forward with hope to the future, and expressed his deter- mination to apply the laws of the Statute Organique honour- ably and honestly. He praised the statute, as a compendium of laws as liberal as was to be found in the world, and the nation was bound to prosper under it, if wisely governed and directed. As to the union of Eastern Roumelia with the Principality of Bulgaria, he did not look forward to that being accom- plished soon. "And," he said, "if it does not come soon, there will be the less likelihood of its ever coining." "Why so P " I asked. "Well," he answered, "the Bulgarians of Eastern Roumelia are much more intelli- gent than those north of the Balkans ; their country is much richer, and by-and-by they will see that it will be more to their advantage to remain an autonomous province, than to be united with the Principality. For they would, if united to the Princi- pality, be more heavily taxed, and be bound up with the for- tunes of a less civilised and less progressive people." There was some plausibility in this reasoning, and as one of his Secre- taries appeared in the room at this moment, I took the oppor- tunity of closing the interview, by thanking his Excellency for his frank and free expression of his views.
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