IE. 1 GUE ŒP 1TA TIOlTa
0.471*1926 *11 F .312.
Geneva,
August 24th., 1926
QKE ES?A ELISEM T 07 HJLCARIAIT REMIGESS,
Ilote by the S e creta ry-Genc-r a 1
The S e cre t a ry~C-en e r al hr. s the honour to c irc u la te to the Council a note verbale which he has received from the Royal Government of Rournania, and also two letters, from, the Minister of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes'at Berne and the Greek Chargés d'Affaires at Berne, on the subject of a proposed loan for the es tab lis Ment of Bulgarian refuge es .
I. Note verbale from the; Rnval.Government of Roumania dated August '6th , 1926 .
^♦M inistry for foreign Affairs,
tiyV s Bucharest, August 5 th ,1926
Ir^ns 1 at io n .
The Royal Roumanian Government, whilst entirely
approving the reasons of humanity and international solidarity
which actu ated the Council of the League of N ations in enabling
Bulgaria to raise a loan for refugees, ventures to draw the
Council1 s attention to the necessity of instituting a system of
control to afford every guarantee that the loan will he devoted
entirely to the humanitarian ends for which it was granted.
The Council of the league, in its resolution of June 10th last,
recognised the necessity for such control, and the Royal
Roumanian Government, in the interests of the development of
friendly relations between Bulgaria arid her neighbours and the
maintenance of peace in the Balkans, merely desires to emphasise
this ne cessity. Ths Royal Government fears that without a strict
and effective Gy stem of control the raising of the loan nay create a political atmosphere in Bulgaria likely to
endanger in that part cf Lu rope the c ans oli dation of peace, rhich the Royal Government has done its "utmost to promote*
It fully realises the necessity for furnishing material help
to refugees in Bulgaria for the purpose of effecting their
permanent settlement, but it considers that the sms placed at Bulgaria's disposal are far in excess of the needs to which they have been allocated.
The Royal Government in no way desires to discuss the amount of expenditure necessary for the establishment of refugee families , but it considers that this might be achieved at less einpense as has been the case, for example, in Greece , where the total sum allocated to refugees amounts proportionate ly to only a nuaÿter of that contemplated for Bulgarian re fu g e e s.
An important point which the Royal Government is particularly anxious to clear up is the total number of re fug g o s to be helped by the loan.
The Bulgarian Government has on various occasions given different figures , as earn be proved from the results
of the Charron enquiry.
Further, the figures in the Statistical Bulletin
of the Kingdom of Bulgaria (ITo • 9, September 1925), supplemented by the emigration figures at the end of 1925, amount to a maximum total of:
119,602 B ulgarian refugees be tween 1912 and 1920.
49,739 emigrants from Greece, as t. result of the Emigre, t i on G v n von t i on
giving a total of -
109,341, i.e., 52,000 (or 25)') less than is shovm in the
fib res furnished by the Bulgarians to Monsieur Charron. The Toyal Government considers it necessary to
set forth these considerations in order to justify its
"belief that the anount of the loan far exceeds the actual
requirements, and it is precisely because the loan is so
large that the Royal Government thinks it essential to
establish a system of control which will restrict expendi
ture to the suns really necessary for the settlement of
the refugees and prevent the surplus from going to beneficiaries other than those who really deserve help.
Without such control, the loan might have the effect of encouraging the disorderly elements in Bulgaria and might give rise to further c cmplications =
The continual frontier incidents resulting from
the frequent incurs ions of bands of c omitad jis and the crimes they commit upon Roumanian terri tory, together with the groat national manifestations which have been organised not only at Sofia but also close to the Roumanian frontier, and in which moreover, Bulgarian officials have taken part, unhappily
confirm the apprehensions of the Royal Roumanian Government =
In view of these facts the Royal Government has
the honour to request the Council of the League of Fat ions :
1) to decide that the representatives of the neighbouring
Powers c oncerncd „ which are Ilembers of the League of
ITations, should be asked to be present as members
whenever the Council discusses the Bulgarian Loan „
2) to decide upon the formation of a Committee of control
holding the same powers as the Committee of control
of the Hungarian Loan and including as members re p re
sentatives of the Kingdom of Roumania, the kingdom of
the SGrbs, Greats and Slovenes and the Greek Republic » ~A~
II.
LETTER ¥ 1( 0,1 TEE' MDTEiTER CE? TELS KHïGDCM
OB' TEE SERBS, CROATS AITD S lOTERES .TO TES SECREl'AHY-GSU fRLL ,
Legation of the Kingdom of the Sorbs , Croats and Slovenes.
Borne, August 20th, 1926 » si at i on 0
Sir,
I am instructed "by ay Government to communicate
t o y ou t he f o i l or/ ing note :
The Royal Government, respecting the reasons of
humanity and international solidarity which actuated the
Council of the league of Hâtions in its decision to enable
Bulgaria to obtain a loan for refugees, has abstained from
taking any steps which might have hindered the work of the
Council, How that the loan has been granted, however, the
Eo3ral Government feels obliged to draw the attention of the
Council to the need for a system of control which will afford
every guarantee that the yield of the lnan will be exclusively
used for the humanitarian aims for which it was authorised.
The Council of the League itself recognised the necessity
for such control in its resolution dated J-une 10th last, and
the Royal Government desires to emphasise this need, which is
vital to the development of friendly relations between Bulgaria
and her neighbours and to the maintenance of peace in the
Balkans. The Royal G0vernment fears that, without a strict
and effective system of control the loan, might create in
Bulgaria a political atmosphere likely to endanger in that part
of Europe the consolidation of peace which the Royal Government
has done i t s utmost t ) promote ; to th is end i t even made - 5 -
c one re te proposals to Bulgaria which, unhappily, prcved fruitless. The Royal Government fully realises the need for giving practical help to enable refugees to settle permanently in Bulgaria, but it considers that the amount of the loan granted to Bulgaria is far in excess of the needs which it was intended to neet. It does not desire to discuss the suns contemplated for the settlement of each family,
"but it considers that the same result night have "boon obtained with much smaller amounts , ©specially as, according to the
10th Quarterly Egport of the Refugee Settlement Commission.
622,685 persons were established in Greece for £7,439,7 00} a sum which is practically only a quarter of that contemplated fcr
Bulgarian emigrants, and the settlement was effected under far more difficult economic conditions,, The Royal Government des ires to draw the G orme i l :B attention to the number of emigrants for whom the loan is intended.
The Bulgarian Government, has, on various occasions, given statistics concerning emigrants which have not always been consistente The last, given to M, Charron during his enquiry in Bulgaria in Hay last, fixed the number of immigrants at
221,191, the majority of whom are already settled,
The number of emigrants still to be settled appears to be :
60,360 persons to be settled on the land.
10 t00Q persons to be settled in the towns »
It is plain that both the total figure of emigrants and the number quoted of thsse who have still ti be helped far exceed the real number, and we find proof of this in the
Bulgarian official statistics themselves. According to the Statistical Bulletin of the General Statistical B0ard - 6 ~ of the Kingdom of B ulgaria, ( Annex 14, Hoe 9, September 1925, ) the t o t a l number of em igrants coming frcm Greece, Boumania, and the Kingdom of the S erb s, Croats and Slovenes from 1918 to the end of 1920 was
119,602» 13,218 of whom cane in 1913 from the Kingdom of the S erb s? Croats and Slovenes).
This number has only been increased by the ara ival of fresh emigrants from Greece under the terms of the Convention on the Exchange of Populationsc Up to the end of October,
49,730 persons came from Greece in virtue of that Convention.
Part of these later emigrants have been established on the property of Greeks who had left Bulgaria (30,000 in number), a large proportion of whom - ana this is an important point - had left behind them in Bulgaria both land and houses„ It is also important to note that emigrants who came to Bulgaria in virtue of this Convention, and who had abandoned their property in Greece ( and this was most frequently the case) received, under the terms of the Convention itself, an indemnity for their landed property, and so were not destitute on arrival in
Bulgariac Theoretically, the maximum number of emigrants amounts to ;
119,602 (emigrants to Bulgaria from 1912 till the end of 1920).
49,739 (emigrants to Bulgaria up to the end of October 1925, in virtue of the Convention on the Exchange of Populations).
That is to say, 52,050, or 25fo less than the figure quoted by Lhe Bulgarians at M, Charron7s enquiry. Even that figure, however, which is obtained from the official State statistics and those of the Commission on the Jixchange of Populations, exceeds the actual number. Indeed, there are certain
nervations which must be made in regard to the Bulgarian official statistics. - 7 -
(a) "bho only poisons who can be considered as emigrants
are those who entered Bulgaria after the European War »
Their number (according to the Bulgarian official statistics)
is 42,993, for it must be borne in mind that almost the whole
of Macedonia was occupied b- Bulgaria for three years ( 1915 -
1918) and that refugees who had emigrated into Bulgaria before
1915 had thus an opportunity of returning to their homes ; if
they did not do so, it was because they preferred to remain
in Bulgaria, having succeeded in finding a means of livelihood
there. And not only did those who came before 1915 fail to
re tu rn to th e ir homes, but a large number - 9,756, 2,592 of
whom came frcm our territory - entered Bulgaria during the
occupation of "1916 - 1918* Bulgarian official statistics,
however , count even these persons as emigrants»
(b ) Prom the to ta l number of em igrants who entered
Bulgaria after the war (42,993), at least 5,000 must bo
deducted who according to the reports of our competent
a u th o ritie s retu rn ed to the Sorb-Croat-3 love no Kingdom.
Consequently, the maxirum number of emigrants must be
fixed a t:
37,993 (entered Bulgaria from the end of the war to the end of 1920, less those who returned to the ocrb-C roat-3lcvene Kingdom.
49,739 (entered Bulgaria under the Convention on the ______on the Exchange of Populations )
total 87,732,
and this figure does not even amount to half the last official
Bulgarian figure (221,191).
It is very certain that the official figure given for
emigrants who have yet to be established is as incorrect as
that of the total number of emigrants to which wo have just
referred, especially if the: rematks made regarding emigrants
coming into Bulgaria in virtue of the Convention on the Exchange - 8 -
of Populations and those who left Bulgaria for Greece arc-
taken into account. According to our estim ate, the number of
emigrants still to be settled does not exceed 3C,000o
The Hoyal Government also desires to point out that the
Bulgarian Government contemplates spreading a sun of £400,000
on the construction of two railway lines intended to serve
districts where emigrants are to be established» The two
lines in question ( Lad jena-Bevr okop and Bakovski-iiaustanba) have a definite strategic character and their construction -
particularly that of the first - was contemplated long before
the loan was applied forc
The Royal Government considers it necessary to bring these
facts to light in order to justify its conviction that the
amount o f the loan is out of p ro p o rtio n to the actu al nced^„
It feels that a strict system of control should be established,
in order that the loan nay not be diverted from its original), humanitarian purpose and that its use may only be authorised ' for the establishment of emigrants and for the bene,fit of those who really deserve helpÏ
The Hoy al Government is absolutely convinced that without such a system of control not only will the Council1 s aim fail / vf achievement, but the hune and foreign policy of Bulgaria may' be dangerously affected « Indeed without such control the
/loan nay provide large fresh resources for the disorderly > elements in Bulgaria, who already fee 1 morally encouraged by the more announcement that the Council has granted a loan, and have renewed their activities, which are solely directed towards providing fresh conflicts. we have proof of this in the fre
quent frontier incidents in the incursions of bands of
comitadjis and in the crimes committed by the agents of these
people on our territory (at Strumitza and Bitol j ) ; in the great
z - 9 -
Chauvinist manifestations which take place not only at Sofia
but on our very frontier and in which the highly-placed
Bulgarian officials and dignitaries take part; in the
revolutionary Pressr which daily contains incitements against
Bulgaria's neighbours; and in many other directions.
xor these reasons the Royal Government has the honour to request the Council of the League
1. to adopt a resolution in virtue of Article 4 of the
Covenant, to the effect that the representatives of
neighbouring Powers which are Members of the League of
Hâtions, should be invited to be present as menburs
whenever the Council discusses the Bulgarian Loan; ana
2. to décidé upon the formation of a committee of control
holding the same powers as the Comnittee of Control of
the Hungarian Loan, and including as members rep re se n ta
tiv e s of the Kingdom of Roumania, the Kingdom of the
Serbs, Croats anti Slovenes and the Greek Republic.
The Royal Government is convinced that its requests are in the interest not only of the States neighbouring on Bulgaria, but also in the interest of Bulgaria herself and of peace in general. It sincerely desires, by developing friendly relations, to croate an atmosphere calculated to bring about - with the help of the League of IJations - the conclusion of a
Balkan Pact inspired by the spirit of Locarno.
I would ask you to be good enough to communicate th is Note no the Members of the Council of the League of nations and zo the ïinancial Committee.
(Signed) M. Iovanovitch.
M inister of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Cioats & Slovenes. permanent Do legate accredited to the League of IJations. -ÎO-
III.
Letter ..from the Greek Chargé dT affaires to the
Se-orotary General-
Greek Legation.
Berno, August 21st, 1926. Translatione
S ir,
I am instructed by my Government to communioate to
you the follow ing note:
The Government of the Greek Republic, whilst entirely
approving the reasons of humanity and international solidarity
which actuated the Council of the League of Hâtions in enabling
Bulgaria to raise a loan for refugees, ventures tc draw the
Council* s attention to the necessity cf institutinh a system of
control calculated to afford every guarantee that the loan will
be devoted entirely to the humanitarian ends for which it was
granted. The Council of the Leagues in its Besolution of June 10th
last, recognised the necessity for such control, and the Greek
Government, having in view the development of friendly relations
between Bulgaria and her neighbours and the maintenance of peace
in the Balkans, merely desires to emphasise this necessity.
The Greek Government fears that without a strict end effective
system of oontrol the raising of the loan may create a political
atmosphere in Bulgaria likely to endanger, in that part of Europe, the consolidation of peace which the Greek Government has done its utmost to promote.
The Greek Government in no way desires to discuss the expenditure necessary for the establishment of refugee families, but it considers that this aim might be achieved at less expense, as has been the case, for example, in Greeoe, where the total - 11-
sura allocated to refugees is much less than that contemplated for
Bulgarian refugees.
ün important point which the Greek Government is particularly anxious to clear up is the total number of refugees to be helped by the loan.
The Bulgarian Government has on vcrious occasions gaven different figures, as can be proved from the results of the
Charron enquiry.
Further, the figures in the Statistical Bulletin of the
Kingdom of Bulgaria flic. 9, September 19 25 ) , supplemented by the em igration fig u re s at the end of 1925, amount to a maximum total of:
119,602 B ulgarian refugees between 1912 and 19 20
49,739 emigrants from Greece in application cf the
Emigration Convention, giving a total of:
169,341, i.e. 52,000 (or 25fo less than is shown in the figures furnished by the Bulgarians to il. Charron).
The Greek Government considers it necessary to set forth these considerations in order to justify its belief that the umount cf the loan far exceeds the actual requirements, and it is precisely because the lean is so large that the Greek Government thinks it essential to establish a system of control which will restrict expenditure to the sums really necessary for the settlement of the refugees und prevent the surplus from going to beneficiaries other thun those who really deserve help.
Without such control, the loan might have the effect of oneouraging the disorderly elements in Bulgaria und might give rise to further complications.
The continual frontier incidents resulting from frequent
Incursions of bands of comitadjis, and the crimes they commit on the territory of the neighbouring countries, unhappily confirm the - 12 - the apprehensions of the Greek Government.
In view of these facts, the ^reok Government has the honour to request the C0unoil of the League of Mations:
1) to deoi.de that the representatives of tho neighbouring
Powers concerned which are Members of the League of Set io n si should "be asked to he present as nombers whenever the 0 on no 11 discusses tho Bulgarian loon;
2) to decide upon the formation of a Committee of control holding the same powers as the Committee of Control cf the
Hungarian loan, end including as members representatives cf the
Kingdom of Roumanie, the Kingdom of the Serbs, Grouts and Slovenes and tho Greek Republie »
The Greek Government is convinced that these requests are in the interest not only of tho States neighbouring on Bulgaria, but also in the interest of Bulgaria herself and of peace in general.. It sincerely desires, by developing friendly relations, to create an atmosphere calculated to bring about - with the hoi of the League of Estions, the conclusion of a Balkan Pact inspired by the spirit of Locarno.
I would ask you to be good enough to communicate this note to the members cf tho Council of the League and to the Financial
Commit te e ,
(Signed) Y» IBBIRAMIS .
Greek Charge dTAffaires*