STEPS TOWARD AUTONOMY

III

The form of persecution adopted was the same as that which prevailed in the earlier part of the year. Searches for arms continued, and were made the pretext for the grossest exactions. Each villager if unable or unwilling to give up a rifle, or to pay a ransom, was subjected to barbarous torture. Many were forced to buy rifles from their Mussulman neighbors in order to satisfy the demands of the authorities, and in some cases the rifles were sold again and again. This state of things instigated a constant stream of emigration into Bulgaria. Hundreds of fugitives arrived daily from the persecuted districts, although they obtained little protection from the bands of insurgents, and the cold weather added greatly to their hardships. While the mobilization of the Bulgarian reserves was relinquished, the regular army held all the strategical points to the end of the year.

Demands of the Revolutionists

The demands of the revolutionists published during the year in their official organ, the Autonomie, were as follows: (1) The formation of four provinces, Albania, Macedonia, Old Servia, and Thrace, which shall enjoy administrative autonomy and remain under the political and military authority of the Sultan. (2) A High European Commission to be nominated by the six grand Powers for a period of three years, which shall be charged with the maintenance of order in the four provinces. (3) A European Governor-General for each of these provinces, to be named by the Porte for five years with the consent of the powers. (4) A European Commission to be charged with organizing the four provinces, and a native delegation composed of elected representatives to assist in this work. (5) This commission to be charged with the autonomous administration of the four provinces until a new organization shall have been completed. (6) An international army of occupation composed of 45,000 men to be maintained in the country during the discussions of the committee, after which time it will be reduced one half, and then under the name of police will remain at the disposition of the commissioners.

II

To understand the claims and the aspirations of the revolutionists, their divisions, and the attitude of the related Balkan states toward them, it is necessary to understand the national complexion of Mace

donia. Its four or five races are totally different and intensely hostile. In religion its population of 2,200,000 is two-thirds Christian and onethird Moslem. The case against the Macedonians was presented by Mr. G. F. Abbott in the Nineteenth Century, who pointed out that Macedonians as a distinct and homogeneous ethnic group do not exist. "What actually exist are a Greek population in the south of the province, a Slavonic population in the north, a mixed and debatable congeries of nationalities and dialects in the middle, a few Wallachs here and there, and Mohammedans sprinkled everywhere. The whole thing strikes one as an ethnological experiment conceived by demons and carried out by maniacs-not devoid of a mad sort of humor. Add that the Slavs themselves do not always know whether they are Servians or Bulgarians, and if the latter, whether they are Schismatic or Orthodox, or if Schismatic whether they wish to see the country independent or part of the Bulgarian principality, and you have a fairly accurate picture of the state of things."

Bulgaria's Position

The Bulgarians claim that they predominate numerically, but the Greeks deny this statement. School statistics of the year showed that the Bulgarian element represented but a seventh of the total school attendance in the province of Salonica. It can readily be seen that if self-government had been granted to Macedonia, with predominance given to the Bulgarians, the Greek and Rumanian populations would have been engaged in the fiercest civil war. To such an autonomy the Greeks openly preferred Turkish rule, with financial reforms which would put an end to financial abuses. In fact, the attitude of the Greek Government was strongly antagonistic toward the insurrection. The Premier, M. Ralli, described the insurgents as "hordes of wolves making incursions into Macedonia,” and declared that to destroy them Greece would place herself on the side of Turkey or any other country. A little later, however, he requested the Powers to insist on the punishment of the Governor of Krushevo for excesses committed on the Greek population of that district by Turkish soldiers.

II

Bulgaria was placed in a difficult and uncomfortable position by the insurrection. The Macedonian refugees and emigrants within her

borders numbered over 100,000; nearly half the population of Sofia, the capital, was Macedonian; and 600 out of the 2,000 officers of the Bulgarian army were natives of Macedonia. It was from this population of refugees that new bands of insurgents were constantly being formed; the proportion of native-born Bulgarians among them was insignificant.

The discovery of a military conspiracy at Sofia with the object of provoking hostilities on the frontier led to the removal of 140 officers in October. The most important step taken by the Bulgarians was a movement to obtain a coalition of all the small nations surrounding Turkey. A large popular assembly was held at Sofia, and a resolution was voted calling upon the Servians and Rumanians to unite with the Bulgarians in forming a Balkan federation. The Servians replied with a curious series of resolutions, asking that it be left to the small Balkan states to establish order in Macedonia, since Turkey was powerless to grant the reforms required.

III

One cause of insurrection, as a writer in the London Fortnightly pointed out, was the Bulgarian school, which turned out numbers of educated young men who refused to return to the squalid homes for which they held Turkish rule responsible. The average peasant had a net yearly income of only about fifty dollars, of which nearly seventeen dollars went for taxes. It was a common incident for villages to cut down fruit trees to avoid paying the tax on them. The Turkish landlord got half the farmers' produce. Every village supported a number of Turkish policemen, who were really parasites, the average household paying $7.50 out of its annual income of $50.00 not for protection, but for a precarious immunity from outrage. This writer said that the average Macedonian peasant had no idea whether he was Bulgarian or Greek, but joined whichever party paid him most.

In view of the foregoing facts, it is not surprising to learn that the revolutionary organization was subject to frequent splits and schisms. The adherents of Sarafoff, who at the annual congress of the previous year refused to recognize Michailovski and Zontcheff as heads of the revolutionary committee had, on being excluded from the sittings, proceeded to form a committee of their own; but while they differed on the question of annexation versus independence, they

agreed as to their modus operandi, i.e., on inducing Europe to intervene by provoking a massacre. They also agreed upon issuing, during the year, postage stamps with the figure of Macedonia as a woman in chains, and the legend "Supreme Macedonia-Adrianopolis Committee.” These stamps were purchased by patriots and used in addition to ordinary stamps, the proceeds of the sale going to feed the insurrectionary The Macedonian Garibaldi

movement.

The soul of the revolutionary movement in 1903 was Damian Gruyeff. He, like the majority of the leaders of the agitation, was once a schoolmaster. He is thus described by Dr. Dillon: "Like Pompey of old, he has only to stamp on the ground to summon bodies of armed men to appear and follow him. His flow of eloquence is said to be as irresistible as were the magic sounds of the pipe of the Hamelin rat-catcher. He can lead his peasants to the jaws of death, and they march on blithely singing war songs. In this way, he has persuaded thousands of hard-headed men to leave their houses, their crops and their families, and to risk their lives in a supreme and desperate effort to shake off the yoke of the Turk. The 'Macedonian Garibaldi' is the nickname which this demagogue has received, and he certainly has not usurped it. He possesses the invaluable gift of making his hearers see things as he himself views them, and of communicating to them the fire that burns within him. His eloquence is thrilling, his enthusiasm infectious, his appeal irresistible. He is a sympathetic, fiery-eyed, brown-skinned man, of about thirty-three years, whose short career has been characterized by daring ventures and remarkable escapes. He knows his country and his people better than any of his fellow compatriots and is adored by the masses, who look up to him as their savior."

American Institutions Threatened by Moslem Fanaticism

Revolution in Macedonia had the effect of stirring up Mohammedan fanaticism in other parts of the Turkish Empire, not only against the Christian subjects of the Sultan but also against foreigners, and serious disturbances were reported from various parts of AsiaticTurkey. America was aroused by what seemed to be an authentic report that on August 27 a fatal assault had been made on the American