The sentence of death on Major Panitza, the Bulgarian officer
found guilty of treason under the instigation of Russian agents, was carried out on June 28th. The Court had recom- mended him to mercy, and Prince Ferdinand wished to com- mute the sentence to fifteen years' penal servitude ; but M. Stambouloff, the Premier, threatened, if the sentence were not carried out, to resign at once, and the Prince yielded. He, however, left the Principality for an Austrian health-resort before he signed the decree, an action attributed to cowardice, but more probably due to temper. Major Panitza was an un- usually brave and competent officer, who behaved admirably in the Servian War; but he hardly denied that he had plotted for foreign advantage against the Prince to whom he had sworn allegiance. If such offences are not punished, it will be impossible in Eastern Europe to create national armies, and the only deterrent punishment is death. Conspirators, if only imprisoned, imagine that when the excitement has blown over, their great foreign allies are sure to secure for them either pardon or the means of escape.
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