Bulgaria - Palgrave Connect

1144 TURKEY AXD TRIBUTARY STATES:—BULGARIA
Teachers , Pupils
Description of Schools Schools — - -- ,
Male Female Male ' Female
Gvimiasia . . 17 439 120
Lower Middle Class . 170 1,149 328
Special and Technical 45 236 19
■ Elementary . . ; 4,589 6,332 1,670
8,620 4.892
22,540 11,211
4,024 580
233,023 I 112,864
Of the lower middle-class schools 81 were for boys, 52 for girls, and 37
for both sexes ; of the special and technical schools 36 were for boys, 8 for
girls, and 1 for both sexes : of the elementary schools, 450 were for boys, 76
for girls, and 4,063 for pupils of both sexes.
For education the State grants a yearly subvention which provides for half
the cost (two-thirds in the case of the elementary schools), the remainder
being provided in towns by the municipalities and in villages by the com -
nmnal authorities. Education is free and nominally obligatory for a period
of four years (8-12). The richer parents are, however, required to pay 20
leva (16s.) a year for each of their children attending the higher schools.
There are free public libraries at Sofia, Philippopolis, Varna, and Rustchuk.
Finance.
For 1900 the budget estimates were : revenue, 83,827,863 francs ; expenditure,
83,270,370 francs. For 1900 the chief sources of revenue are:
directtaxes, 35,294,900 leva ; indirect taxes, 29,901,000. The chief branches
of expenditure were: Public Debt, 24,646,849; War, 20,773,432 ; Interior,
7,238,880 ; Instruction, 8,114,526 ; Public Works, 5,863,176. The public
debt (October, 1900) consists of a loan of 46,777,500 leva, raised in 1888, at
6 per cent, for the purchase of the Varna and Rustchuk railway (39,188,000
outstanding) ; a loan of 30,000,000 leva at 6 per cent, raised in 1889
(25,420,000 outstanding) ; a loan of 142,780,000 leva at 6 per cent, raised in
1892, of which 126,480,000 have been issued to date (116,967,000 outstanding),
an advance of 7,000,000 having also been received on account of a
further issue of this loan ; on January 1, 1900, a loan of 25,000,000 leva
was effected at 6 per cent, against Treasury bonds repayable in 5 years
(December 31,1904) secured on the tobacco tax ; the Russian occupation debt,
of which the outstanding balance is 9,700,000 ; the East Rumelian tribute
of 2,951,000 leva per annum, for which no capital value has yet been
fixed ; and arrears to December 31, 1887, amounting to 5,243,600 leva, and
payable in yearly instalments of 500,000 leva each. The Bulgarian tribute
and the share of the Turkish debt, have never been determined. In June,
1899, the government was authorised to convert the whole national debt
into a 5 per cent, debt by means of a new loan of the nominal amount of
260,000,000 leva.
Defence.
The northern frontier of Bulgaria is formed by the Danube, which, except
on the east (bordering on the Dobruja), separates it from Rumania ;
here are the fortresses of Vidin and Silistria. Varna is a fortress on the Black
Sea, and Shumla westward in the interior. Sofia, Shumla, and Vidin are
each defended by a circle of modern forts. On the west Bulgaria is bordered
by Servia, and on the south-west and south by Turkey Proper.
Military service is obligatory from the age of 20, but Mussulmans may buy
themselves oil'. Persons exempted on account of bodily infirmity pay a
10.1057/9780230270305 - The Statesman's Year-Book, Edited by John Scott-Keltie
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