opposition, had led to expect different treatment at their hands. || On the 7th instant placards summoning a public meeting to protest against the arrest of the Committee were posted in Sophia, and were torn down by the police. In one instance a gendarme endeavouring to prevent the posting of a placard, was threatened with revolvers. He summoned assistance, and some persons were arrested, but the mob became so menacing that they were released by the Prefect of Police, who, however, has since been dismissed. The meeting was held in an inclosed place, and passed off without special incident. F. Elliot.

Nr. 12775. GROSSBRITANNIEN. - Der Gesandte in Sofia an den Minister des Ausw. Provozierende Haltung

des mazedonischen Kongresses.

Sophia, April 24, 1901. (April 29.)

My Lord, The proceedings of the Macedonian Congress terminated on the 21st instant with the election of a provisional Committee to carry on the Administration until the ordinary meeting of the Congress in July. The persons elected were: Professor Mikhailovsky, President; Dr. Vladoff, Vice-President; Messrs. Kepoff, Secretary; Dimitroff, Minkoff, and Petroff, Treasurer; the two latter being members of the old Committee who have not been arrested. They are all said to belong to the party of action, excepting the President, who is reported to hold moderate views. He has, however, in conjunction with General Tsoncheff, another candidate for the presidency, lately published a pamphlet in which he admits that dislike of Bulgaria is now general in Europe, and ascribes it to the mistaken foreign policy pursued by successive Bulgarian Governments, the responsibility for which he ascribes entirely to the Prince. The unfriendly attitude of Russia, he says, is due to their dislike of the Prince; as they cannot get rid of him themselves, ,,they beat the horse to make him unseat the rider". || The Macedonian Congress deputed Professor Mikhailovsky, General Tsoncheff and another to visit Sarafoff and his companions in prison and thank them for their services. The further proceedings of the Congress have not been divulged. || Professor Mikhailovsky is one of several teachers in public schools who attended the Congress notwithstanding the formal prohibition of their doing so on pain of dismissal. The Minister for Foreign Affairs has assured one of my colleagues that the penalty will be enforced. || The Minister of the Interior has issued a Circular confirming an Order of his predecessor forbidding the collection

of subscriptions in favour of the Macedonian Societies, except among members of those Societies, and giving instructions that this Order is to be strictly observed.

F. Elliot.

Nr. 12776. GROSSBRITANNIEN. — Derselbe an Denselben. Ansichten der bulgarischen Regierung über den Kongreß.

Sophia, May 8, 1901. (May 13.)

My Lord, The last time I saw M. Daneff, the Bulgarian Minister for Foreign Affairs, I asked him what he thought of the composition of the new Macedonian Committee. He replied that Mikhailovsky, the President, was a poet and an idealist, liable to vary his opinions from day to day according to the nature of his latest impressions, but quite incapable of sanctioning the criminal methods adopted by Sarafoff. The other members of the Committee were young men, but most of them of fairly moderate views. The important result of the Congress, he said, was the condemnation expressed of the methods of Sarafoff by a large majority. || I asked his Excellency how he reconciled this alleged condemnation of the methods of Sarafoff with the dispatch of a deputation to express to him the sympathy and thanks of the Congress. He replied that it was one of those illogical proceedings which often took place in this country, and that he supposed the idea was to express appreciation of the good intentions of Sarafoff, but not of the manner in which he had attempted to carry them out. | The Ottoman Commissioner does not think that the policy of the Macedonian Committee will be much affected by the change in the composition of it. He does not believe in the efficacity or sincerity of any of the measures taken by the Government except as regards the collection of funds, which he admits has been stopped, to such good purpose that he understands the chest of the Committee now only contains 30 000 fr. F. Elliot.

Nr. 12777. GROSSBRITANNIEN.

Der Gesandte in Belgrad an den Minister des Ausw. Unruhen an der SerbischTürkischen Grenze. Die Pforte kann die Christen nicht schützen.

Belgrade, May 10, 1901. (May 15.)

My Lord, || With reference to my despatch of the 7th instant, I have the honour to report that the disturbances in Old Servia, alluded to therein as having obliged forty families of Servian origin to take refuge in

Servian territory, are of greater importance than at first appeared. As explained to me yesterday by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, it is not a frontier dispute of the ordinary type arising out of an attempt at smuggling, nor has it occurred in a district subject to the influence of the Macedonian Committee, in which severe measures are doubtless justifiable, but it is rather an outbreak of turbulence among the Albanians in the Sandjak of Novi Bazar, which the Porte is apparently quite unable to repress. || The murder, under somewhat aggravated circumstances, of two unoffending Notables near Sienitza, and the fact that the Christian. population is not being allowed to possess fire-arms or defend itself, has, of course, given rise to energetic protests on the part of the Servian Government, who have strongly urged the Porte in its own interests to maintain order in the district. || It appears, however, that although professing the best intentions, the Porte is unable to do so; and that the manifestation of her authority against the band of brigands near Ipek, reported in my despatch of the 14th March, has not been followed with the results which were hoped for. || The state of affairs in Albania is too notorious to require further description now, and when it is remembered that it is a district in which the Government has been unable to put in force its own Regulations for a tobacco monopoly, it is not surprising that it is unable to carry out its duty of protecting the Christian population. || Sienitza, I am informed, is a place where there is an Austrian garrison which gives rise to the danger of a possible intervention.

G. F. Bonham.

Nr. 12778. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Der Gesandte in Sofia an den Minister des Ausw. Bericht über eine Programmrede des Vorsitzenden des mazedonischen Kongresses.

Sophia, June 26, 1901. (July 1.)

My Lord, || Professor Mikhailovsky, the new President of the Macedonian Committee, on the 22nd instant gave a lecture, of which the following is a summary. || The Macedonian movement must place restraint upon itself and avoid trials of strength which might easily lead to a catastrophe. The endeavour of the Macedonians must be to show the whole world that they have no Pan-Bulgarian aspirations, and that they are striving simply and solely for the autonomy stipulated by Article XXIII of the Treaty of Berlin. The Bulgarian Macedonians must work in complete accord with the other races in the province, and convince them that the future autonomy of Macedonia will rest upon the principle of

complete equality of all its inhabitants. This is the only way to gain the sympathy of European public opinion for the Macedonian movement and to insure the triumph of the sacred cause. No aspirations towards union with Bulgaria; complete equality of rights of all inhabitants of Macedonia; political autonomy, with the eventual prospect of a federation of all the Balkan States" - such must be the political creed of all Macedonians. The cause of failure, both in Bulgaria and in Macedonia, has been the endless internal party warfare in Bulgaria. In future, a sharp line must be drawn between Bulgarian and Macedonian affairs. A Macedonian who mixes in Bulgarian party politics must keep aloof from the struggle for the freedom of Macedonia, and a Bulgarian who devotes himself to the Macedonian cause must turn his back upon the internal and external aspirations of Bulgaria. || M. Mikhailovsky is said to intend to undertake a lecturing tour in Europe.

F. Elliot.

Nr. 12779. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Der Botschafter in Konstantinopel an den Minister des Ausw. Die Pforte will eine Untersuchungskommission ernennen.

Therapia, July 2, 1901. (July 8.)

My Lord, || I inquired of the Minister for Foreign Affairs yesterday what truth there was in a statement I had seen in a foreign newspaper to the effect that, at the instance of the Russian Ambassador, a Commission was about to be sent into Macedonia to inquire into the condition of affairs in that province. | Tewfik Pasha repled that, owing to several complaints received at the Palace from the officials and inhabitants of various districts, the idea of appointing a Commission of Inquiry had originated with the Sultan, but that it was in no way due to any representations made by M. Zinovieff, whose only recent references to Macedonia had been to urge the Imperial Government to keep within the law and the bounds of humanity in repressing any insurrectionary attempts directed against the Government. || His Imperial Majesty had instructed the Council of Ministers to select and recommend members of three Commissions the one administrative, the second financial, and the third judicial with a view to the careful examination of the mode and manner in which these several functionaries were exercising their authority, and to the redress of such abuses as were shown to exist. The members of each Commission had accordingly been chosen and recommended to the Palace, but the Imperial Iradé had not yet been

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promulgated, and his Excellency was unable to say when the Commissions would begin their labours. || I said that the execution of this project would give general satisfaction, provided the members of the Commission inspired confidence. I added that the measures seemed highly expedient in the interests both of His Majesty the Sultan and the Ottoman Government, and that I hoped that his Excellency would give it all the support he possibly could. N. R. O'Conor.

Nr. 12780. GROSSBRITANNIEN.

Der Minister des Ausw. an den Botschafter in Konstantinopel. Die Lage ist nicht bedenklich. Soll sich mit den übrigen Botschaftern verständigen.

Foreign Office, July 13, 1901.

Sir, The Greek Chargé d'Affaires called some days ago and stated that his Government were alarmed at the state of affairs in Macedonia, and would be glad if your Excellency could be instructed to join in representations to the Porte as to the necessity of taking measures for the preservation of order. || The most recent reports received from you on the condition of Macedonia have not indicated the existence of any urgent cause for alarm, and although disturbances have been reported. from Albania and Novi Bazar, the first accounts appear to have been exaggerated, and order has been restored without much difficulty. I note also from your Excellency's despatch of the 2nd instant that the Sultan has appointed a Commission to investigate the situation on the spot. || Your Excellency is, however, authorized to join in any representations on the necessity of adequate measures for maintaining order which the Ambassadors of the other Powers may be instructed to make. Lansdowne.

Nr. 12781. GROSSBRITANNIEN. — Bericht des Generalkonsuls in Saloniki an den Botschafter in Konstantinopel über die bulgarischen Komitees in Mazedonien. Salonica, July 5, 1901.

Sir, Though there is apparently a momentary lull in the proceedings of the Bulgarian Committees in Macedonia, it should not be supposed that the recent measures taken by the Turkish Government have to any appreciable degree discouraged them from pursuing their course of active intrigue. Indeed, they boast that of all the men arrested and condemn