¦YAIUE-,VKniVEI»Sffinr- • iLRIBIR&I&ir • 1921 I.D. 1204 A HANDBOOK OF ROU MANIA Prepared by the Geographical Section of the Naval Intelligence Division, Naval Staff, Admiralty GrtBrii. Ad^mWlty LONDON: PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. To be purchased through any Bookseller or directly from H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses : Imperial House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2, and 28 Abingdon Street, London, S.W. 1 ; 37 Peter Street, Manchester ; 1 St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff; 23 Forth Street, Edinburgh ; or from E. PONSONBY, Ltd., 116 Grafton Street, Dublin. 1920 Price 5s. net Printed under the authority of His Majesty's Stationery Office By Frederick Hall at the University Press, Oxford. NOTE The first object of this volume is to retain a record of Roumania, in its geographical and allied aspects, as it wa3 before the war, which has temporarily obscured or obliterated its economic importance, its normal social conditions, and other features. An attempt has been made to superpose upon the description of the country on these lines an indication of some of the more marked effects of the war upon it, and by these means, to point to some of the more urgent problems , of reconstruction and the direction in which, judging from previous conditions, such reconstruction may lead. But in view of the upheaval of the past two years, it is obvious that the information contained in this book in its present form must be in many respects partial and incomplete. The Admiralty will be glad to receive additions or cor rections. * CONTENTS CHAP. PAQE I. Geographical Outlines ....... 9 General outlines — Carpathian Mountains — Region of the Hills — Wallachian Plain — Valley of the Danube — — Rivers — The Dobruja — Coast — Geology — Local time, calendar, and magnetic variation. II. Climate 37 III. Vegetation and Animals 49 IV. Inhabitants 55 Origins and composition of population — Population statistics of the Kingdom of Roumania — Distribution of population — Characteristics and social conditions — Health conditions — Religion — Education — Language — Literature — Roumanians outside Roumania — Foreigners in Roumania. V. Government and Administration 101 Central government — Local government — Judiciary. VI. History 113 Dacia — Slavs and Magyars — Principalities of Walla- chia and Moldavia — Turkish suzerainty — Phanariot regime — Russian influence — Union of Wallaohia and Moldavia — Principality of Roumania — Roumanian in dependence — Balkan War and Treaty of Bucharest, 1913 — Roumania and the War, 1914-1918. VII. Resources, Trade, and Finance . . . . 136 Agriculture — Livestock — Land tenure — Forestry — ¦ Fishing — Minerals — Manufactures — Imports and Ex ports—Shipping — Finance — Money. VIII. Topography and Communications .... 173 Towns and Villages — Roads — Railways — Telephones and telegraphs — -Coast, harbours and anchorages — Lighthouses — Navigation of the Roumanian Danube. NOTE ON MAPS 199 INDEX 201 NOTE ON THE SPELLING OF PLACE-NAMES A few well-known names of cities have been spelled accord ing to their conventional form : such are Bucharest, Jassy, Galatz. Other names are spelled according to Dictionarul Statistic al Romdnei (1915). This work was initiated by the Director of General Statistics, Dr. L. Colescu. Its effect has been to make the spelling of place-names uniform throughout Roumania. The most extensive reform has been to change i into a, e.g. Tirgu Jiu has become Targu Jiu. CHAPTER I GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES Genoral outlines— Carpathian Mountains — Region of the Hills — Wallachian Plain — Valley of the Danube — Rivers— The Dobruja — Coast — Geology — Local time, calendar, and magnetic variation. General Outlines The name of Roumania is taken to cover the kingdom within the boundaries determined in 1913. Bessarabia was politically united to Roumania in 1918, and a large area outside the kingdom is inhabited, as will be seen, by Rou manians, but it is not proposed to deal in detail with these territories in this volume. Roumania, which has an area of 53,489 square miles, lies between 43° 18' and 48° 20' north latitude, that is, roughly within the same parallels as France south of Paris, and between 22° 28' and 29° 45' east longitude. The outlines of its physical features are on the whole comparatively simple. The Car pathian mountains, which extend in the form of an arc along the north and west of the country, are broad and high in the north of Moldavia and in the west of Wallaohia ; narrow and low in the central region which points towards the mouth of the Danube. Bordering the mountains is a hill country which in Moldavia extends as far as the Pruth, but in Wal laohia passes without discontinuity into the plain farther to the south. There is only one break, or rather constriction. in this stretch of hills, and that is where the Carpathian chain has undergone its greatest change of direction, between Ploesti and Focsani. The plain which occupies the greater part of the remainder of Wallaohia, rises somewhat steeply above the valley of the Danube in the south, but merges almost insensibly into the hill country in the north, except in the east, where the Sereth forms its northern boundary. The valley of the 10 GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES Danube is a depression of no great breadth, bordered north and west by the plain, and east by the Dobruja, which lies between it and the Black Sea, and includes the delta of the river, a land of very recent formation, consisting mainly of swarnps and lagoons. Traditionally and popularly Wallachia is divided into two parts, Oltenia or Little Wallachia west of the Olt, and Mun- tenia or Great Wallachia east of that river. These form a convenient division, which will be used in the descriptive sections below. Carpathian Mountains The following account of the Carpathians is confined to that part of the system which lies within the Roumanian frontier. In the extreme west of Wallachia several ranges which border the river Cerna run from the Danube in a NNE. direction. The Carpathians as a whole then bear more to the east, and the next group of mountains — called the mountains of Vulcan from the name of the chief pass across them — has a trend from WSW. to ENE. They are separated from the third group — the mountains of Paringu — by the wild gorge in which the Jiu makes its way through the Carpathian range. Farther east come the mountains of the Lotru, which extend as far as the Olt, a river which, like the Jiu, has a transmontane source. The Fagaras, which lie between the Olt and the Dambovita, are one of the most important groups in the whole range and constitute a formidable barrier between north and south. The next link in the chain is taken up by the moun tains of Bucegi, which lie between the Dambovita and the Prahova and contain the most easterly extension of the crystalline massif in Wallachia. East of the Prahova and south of the Milcov (which separates Wallachia from Moldavia) the Carpathians make their great bend towards the north. The character of the range changes in other respects, and the region, which may be called the mountains of Buzau, is one of transition between the Wallachian and Moldavian Carpathians. CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS 11 To the north of the Milcov it is less easy to distinguish between different parts of the Carpathian range. Three prin cipal groups may, however, be noted south of Ceahlau. The mountains of Vrancea lie between the Milcov and the Oituz ; the mountains of Oituz between the Oituz and the Trotu§ ; and the mountains of Tarcau between the Trotus, the Bistrita, and the Bicaz. To the north of the Bicaz the character of the Carpathian range again changes. The mountains of Ceahlau are formed of ancient rock and accordingly differ in many respects from the sandstone ranges farther south. North of Ceahlau the Roumanian share of the Carpathian country extends more to the west, and many high peaks lie on either side of the Bistritsa in the mountains to which that river gives its name. Wallachian Carpathians The mountains of the Cerna lie mainly to the east of the river of that name. In the north the picturesque Piatra Closani (4,681 ft.) stands in the middle of a plateau which is connected with the Vulcan mountains and varies in height from 1,600 to 2,000 ft. Another range commences in the north with the Oslea, descends the left bank of the Cerna and continues to .the Danube. Both regions are of limestone, and their topography is essentially that of a limestone country. The Motru has cut a savage gorge in the eastern flank of Piatra Closani. Its valley, which is full of huge stones, contains many caves, and a tributary, the Dry Motru, pursues an underground course for several miles. The Oslea and its continuations are cut up by the Cerna into a series of im practicable gorges, and the whole region is one of savage beauty. In the lower part of the valley the limestone stands out in magnificent escarpments. The small spa of Herculesbad recalls one of the common traditions that a dragon was slain by Hercules in a neighbouring cave. The high chain of Godeanu borders the right bank of the Cerna and frequently attains a height of 7,000 ft. It is formed of crystalline rock. Taken as a whole, the mountains of the Cerna are less massive 12 GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES and present less of a barrier to communication than any other part of the Transylvanian Alps. The mountains of Vulcan extend eastward as far as the valley of the Jiu. Topographically they have the appearance of a high plateau sloping gently towards the south, but falling by an abrupt slope of over 3,000 ft. towards the valley of the Roumanian Jiu. The range rises to no great height, the highest summits, Straja, Siglau, and others, being about 6,000 ft., but it everywhere forms a serious barrier to com munication. Owing to the slope of the land the drainage is to the south, and the tributaries of the Jiu have cut many deep valleys in the plateau. The massif as a whole consists of crystalline rocks, but some of the summits along the crest are of limestone formation. The most frequented route across the range in former times was by the Vulcan pass, which, not withstanding its height (over 5,000 ft.), was preferred to the impracticable gorge of the Jiu. But during more recent years all traffic has gone by the magnificent high road which has been constructed through the Jiu valley. The mountains of Paringu lie between the valley of the Jiu in the west and the valley and pass of Oltetu in the east. The main range runs from Paringu to Varfu Papusa without falling more than three times below 6,500 ft. To the south the secondary ranges have a gentle slope, but to the north they fall away in escarpments varying in height from 600 to 1,200 or 1,300 ft. As seen from the south, the range appears as a great rounded mass, with few peaks or depressions in the general level of its crest-fine. On the northern slope, on the other hand, the great cirques of Rosiile, Scliveiu, and Galcescu, with their splendid escarpments and innumerable lakes, show the effect which glacial action has had upon the region. In these districts the scenery has a savage beauty somewhat similar to that found in the Pyrenees. With the exception of the Mandra (8,297 ft.), none of the peaks exceeds 8,000 ft. The range is not an impassable one, and a good road leads from Novaci to the slopes of Papusa, whence the muleteers can go by the Urda pass to the valley of the Lotru. This CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS 13 route is also used by the shepherds who take their sheep in summer to the pasture lands on the upper slopes of the Paringu. The mountains of Lotru extend eastward as far as the valley of the Olt. Two ranges, which seldom exceed 6,000 ft. in height, run eastward, enclosing between them the longitudinal valley of the Lotru. The southern range is the higher and contains the peaks of Balota (7,000 ft.) and Breota (6,434 ft.). Most of the region consists of crystalline schists, and the hills have the regular outline usually associated with such rocks. In the west, near the Paringu, there are masses of limestone, which give a picturesque appearance to such districts as the valleys of the Latorita and Repedea, where the white lime stone escarpments rise above the green fir woods. The valley of the Lotru itself is the centre of a considerable timber -industry, but is one of the most isolated districts in the whole country. The mountains of ihe Fdgdras, which lie between the Olt and the Dambovita, are a formidable barrier to communica tion. Their general character is that of a system of two chains forming an angle of 20° to 30° enclosing a depression with an average height of 3,600 to 3,900 ft. The northern chain is the higher, but it falls towards its eastern extremity, where it is joined to the southern chain by the elevated peak of Iezeru. The former chain is called from its highest point (8,333 ft.) the chain of Negoi, and frOm whatever side it is viewed always presents an Alpine aspect. Both sides are cut up by wild cirques whose floors are covered with lakes arid encumbered with morainic debris. The crest-line is serrated, scarped on both sides, and runs zig zag from peak to peak and from col to col. From Berevoescu to Cocuriciu it seldom falls below 6,500 ft., and the average height of the cols is only about 1,000 ft. below that of the summits. The southern range has nowhere the wild grandeur of the northern. In the massif of Iezeru it rises to 7,900 ft., but apart from that peak, the Cozia, and the sister peaks of 14 GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES Frunta and Ghitu, it is of no great importance. Nevertheless, it forms a barrier which renders access to the central depres sion difficult, and the muleteers climb crests of nearly 5,000 ft. in height to avoid the wild gorges in which the rivers flow. Perhaps nothing better illustrates the significance of the Fagara§ as a barrier to communication than the fact that here more than anywhere else all the summits have two names. In every case the Transylvanian name is quite different from the Roumanian. The mountains of Bucegi, which lie between the Dambovita and the Prahova, may be regarded as a transition zone between the Wallachian and Moldavian Carpathians, and it is impossible to give any general description of their surface features which would apply to all parts of the region. North of Rucaru, in the valley of the Dambovita, the rivers cut their way through the plateau in almost impenetrable gorges, known to the inhabitants as Cheile. Where there are depressions in the plateau the streams broaden, and small areas of fertile soil are found. Frequently the rivers disappear in smaller holes, to reappear in caves lower down. One of the most remarkable of these caves is that of Schitu Ialomita in the valley of the Ialomita. The Piatra Prisloapele and the Piatra Craiului both belong to this type of country, to which the name of Karst is frequently applied. The huge mass of Bucegi, from which the whole district takes its name, presents another type of topography. The conglomerates of which this mass is formed have resisted erosion and stand out in huge escarpments, though in places where they have been much affected by glaciation there are many cirques separated by ridges with almost vertical sides. Omu, which is the highest summit of the region (8,235 ft.), is typical of the Buceg-. The massif of Leota, farther to the south-west, presents a third type of country. The hills have the same rounded forms as in the country farther west, and this is accounted for by the fact that the Leota is the last extension eastward of the crystalline massif of Wallachia. CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS 15. Because of this diversity in their structure the mountains of Bucegi do not offer the same formidable barrier to com munication as much of the country farther to the west. Two important routes — one by the Torzburger pass and the other by Predeal — lead across the Carpathian range to Kronstadt. The mountains of Buzau present all the characteristics of the Moldavian Carpathians. They seldom exceed 5,000 ft. above sea-level, and they generally appear as lines of rounded crests, all of which reach nearly the same height. A few massifs stand out in relief, such as the Czukas, Taturu, Siriu, and Penteleu, and on their slopes there are frequently steep escarpments. From the top of any one of them the remainder of the Carpathians appear as a great undulating plateau, deeply dissected by steep-sided valleys, of which those of the Buzau, Doftana, and Teleajenu provide facilities for natural routes into the mountain zone. The region as a whole does not possess the same variety as the country to the west of Predeal, but it is more diversified than the Moldavian part of the range south of Ceahlau. On the higher slopes of such mountains as Siriu and Penteleu the grass-lands are much utilized for pasturage. Moldavian Carpathians South of the Ceahlau the Carpathians in Moldavia present great uniformity in outline, and there is an almost entire absence of orographic individuality. The mountains consist of sandstone, and the crystalline rocks of Wallachia are entirely wanting It is to this difference in geological struc ture that are due the variety of outline in the one region and the monotony of the other. Several distinct divisions may, however, be recognized, of which the following are the most important. The mountains of Vrancea lie between the Milcov and t]?e Oituz. South of the Putna the general character of the region is that of an undulating plateau. Its height varies as a rule from 2,000 to 4,000 ft., but in the west it rises to about 5,000 ft. Only in the valleys of the more important rivers 16 GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES does it fall much below 2,000 ft. In the whole of this region there is no well-marked central range, but among the principal heights are Odobesti (3,284 ft.) in the east and Coza (5,357 ft.) in the west. To the north of the Putna and as far as the Oituz the Roumanian part of the Carpathians becomes narrower and lower. The greater part of the region lies between 2,000 and 3,500 ft. in height, and only in comparatively few places does it exceed 3,500 ft. North of the river Casin the land rises to 3,828 ft. in Magura Casinului, and the various ranges radiating from this peak form the chief heights in that part of the country. The mountains of Oituz lie between the river of that name and the Trotus. The chief point of difference from the country farther south lies in the slope of the land, which is decidedly greater. In the west the land rises to heights of about 5,000 ft., while in the east it falls to between 2,000 and 2,500 ft. In the basin of the Trotus it is much less. To the east of the Trotus — flowing from north to south — the land rises to a well-marked ridge, Mount Berzuntu, which runs parallel to the river at an average height of about 3,000 ft. The mountains of Tarcdu lie between the Bicaz, the Bis- trita, and the Trotus. In the southern part of this area the general trend of the rivers is from north to south, while in the northern part it is rather from west to east. As a result, there are in the south several well-defined ranges with a meri dional trend and a height varying as a rule from 3,600 to 4,250 ft. Farther to the north the topography is less well defined and the country is on the whole somewhat lower. To the east of the lower part of the Tarcau the land is generally below 3,300 ft., but in the west many heights are over 3,300 and some over 4,000 ft. In all this region between the Milcov and 'the Bicaz the general appearance of the country is almost everywhere the same. Hill and valley succeed one another with monotonous regularity. Superficial differences in the form of the land are all but concealed by the forests, which almost everywhere CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS 17 cover the soil. The valleys of the larger rivers are more deeply cut into the surface and alone tend to break up the uniformity of the region. The mountains of the Ceahlau, which lie to the north of the Bicaz and the great bend of the Bistrita, differ essentially from the southern part of the Moldavian Carpathians. A massif of ancient rock extends from Bukovina into Moldavia and terminates in the mass of Ceahlau, which has a height of 6,247 ft. From its summit the land falls away in all directions to the Bicaz, the Bistrita, and the Bistricioara, which limit the region. The rivers everywhere lie in deep valleys, and the slope downward is generally steep. The Ceahlau with its isolated position and rugged contour stands in marked contrast with the country farther south. Mountains of the Bistrita. — To the north of the Ceahlau the Roumanian section of the Carpathians becomes much broader, because the frontier has been drawn to the west of the mountain country. The whole of the region is highly mountainous, and many peaks reach heights varying from 4,500 to 5,500 ft. Through it the Bistrita cuts its way in a deep valley. In all directions the country is deeply ravined, and in its generally rugged character resembles the Ceahlau. Region of the Hills A belt of hills surrounds the whole of the Carpathian arc in Roumania, though it is much narrower in the part between Ploesti and Focsani than elsewhere. In appearance it is rather like an immense plateau which has been much cut up by the rivers that traverse it. In Wallachia it slopes towards the south and varies in height from 650 to 2,000 ft. above sea-level, while its greatest breadth, which is attained in the neighbourhood of the Olt, is about 50 miles ; in Moldavia it extends as far as the Pruth. Several important subdivisions may be recognized. Sub-Carpathian Depressions In places, more especially in Oltenia and in parts of Moldavia, this belt of hills is separated from the Carpathians by a series 18 GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES of relative depressions, which are of considerable importance, especially from the economic point of view. In Oltenia they are particularly well marked between the Motru and the Jiu, where there are the depressions of Tismana, Bradiceni, and Targu Jiu. These are separated from one another by narrow ridges of land, 100 to 260 ft. high, so that the whole zone con sists of a continuous series of ascents over wooded heights and of descents into flat-bottomed plains. The region is therefore in marked contrast with the hill country farther to the south, where the valleys are narrow and are separated from one another by broad masses of upland. The plains have been built up by the alluvial material deposited by the rivers, and even yet where they debouch from the mountains the rivers in this area tend to divide into several branches. Their beds are not deep, and in times of flood the surrounding area is often marshy. To the east of the Jiu the zone has the charac teristics of a terrace rather than of a depression ; the plains are relatively small, and are barely separated from one another by almost imperceptible ridges. Moreover, the rivers which flow across it, such as the Oltetu at Polovragi and the Lun- covi^a at Vaideeni, have deeply entrenched valleys and some times flow upon the underlying rock. Farther to the east, the plain of Campulung marks the last extension of the sub- Carpathian depressions in Wallachia. In Moldavia they are found along the borders of the Carpathians proper, the most striking examples being the depressions of the Trotus at Targu Ocna, of the Sufita at Soveja, and of the Putna at Negrile§ti. High Plateau of Mehedinfi The high plateau of Mehedinti, to use the name applied by a Roumanian geologist to the country east of the mountains of the Cerna and west of the Motru, differs considerably from the remainder of the hill region. Its general appearance is that of a basin with an average height of about 1,450 ft., slightly concave, and tilted towards the south. In the north thSre are considerable areas of limestone, and the country round the town of Ponoarele is famous for its caverns, lakes, REGION OF THE HILLS 19 • and natural bridges. Dolines (a kind of swallow-hole) are so numerous that they have given their name to the town (ponor = doline). In their vicinity there are often patches of fertile soil. Away from the limestone the land has been deeply dissected by the rivers, and steep ravines and rounded ridges are the characteristic features of the country. The crystalline rocks have weathered down into a poor soil, and the region is one of the least inviting in Roumania. Hills of Oltenia The hills of Oltenia, lying between the Motru and the Jiu, are the remains of a plateau which has been much dissected by the rivers that flow across it. In passing along the valleys of any of these rivers the traveller sees high hills rising on either hand. These are frequently deeply ravined, and some times they are more or less detached from the surrounding uplands. On leaving the valley and climbing the neighbouring hills he will find himself on an undulating plateau usually forested to such an extent that the view on all sides is inter rupted. The only breaks in this plateau are caused by valleys of varying depth, which continually compel the traveller to descend and ascend. Certain contrasts may, however, be noted between the northern and southern margins of the region. In the former the land is more hilly and rises to between 1,600 and 2,000 ft., while the river-valleys are only about 600 ft. above sea-level ; in the latter the elevation does not exceed 1,000 ft., and the valleys are broader and more important. There are two well-marked terraces on the slopes of the valleys throughout the region, which are of considerable importance from the economic point of view. The lower terrace is usually between 65 and 160 ft. above the bottom of the valley. As the valley extends southward the terrace broadens out and gradually unites with the great Wallachian plain. It consists of gravels covered over with alluvial soil, and is more or less deeply cut into by the rivers. Both terraces are well marked in the valleys of the Jiu, the Gilort, B 2 20 GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES and the Oltetu, where they provide practically the whole of the cultivable land. On the lower one also the main roads and railways are built. Hills of Muntenia From the Olt to the Milcov the region of the hills stretches for a distance of over 125 miles. In the west the belt is broader than in the east, and the valley of the Dambovita marks the line of demarcation between two very different regions west and east of the Dambovita. W est of the Ddmbovifi.— The belt of hills is still 30 to 50 miles broad, and the last trace of the sub -Carpathian depressions at Campulung marks it off to some extent from the Carpathian range. The hills in the neighbourhood of the mountains are much higher than those which border the plain. In the north the country drained by the Topolog and the Arges with its tributaries presents an almost mountainous appearance. The slopes of the valleys are often steep, ihe difference between the beds of the rivers and the summits of the adjoining hills being about 650 ft. The number of parallel valleys is such that the intervening uplands are reduced to comparatively narrow strips, and the difficulties of communi cation between east and west are consequently considerable. This part of the hill region is much more cut up by rivers and is much more irregular in outline than the corresponding part of Oltenia. The valleys are bordered by terraces similar to those which exist in Oltenia and provide the greater part of the cultivable land, the intervening ridges being almost always wooded. To the south of this region of high hills comes one of much lower elevation, which gradually passes into the Wallachian plain ; it is triangular in form, the base resting along a line drawn from Pitesti to the mouth of the Topolog, while the apex lies in the neighbourhood of Slatina. It has the general appearance of a plateau sloping gently towards the south-east. The hills are low and the valleys, of which there are many, are not so deeply cut as farther to the north. The alluvial REGION OF THE HILLS 21 soils with which this region is covered, especially in the south, give it considerable importance for agriculture. East of the Ddmbovifa.— To the east of the Dambovita a marked change occurs. The breadth of the hills is reduced to less than 30 miles, and they are so much more closely attached to the Carpathians that it is frequently difficult to distinguish between them. A change in structure also begins to manifest itseK. West of the Dambovita the hills owed their relief to erosion by the rivers alone, but in this region they have been involved in the folding of the rocks which led to the formation of the Carpathians. This has had important results, as it has brought much mineral wealth within reach of man. In the valleys of the Prahova and Teleajenu large quantities of salt and petroleum are found. On the whole the appearance of the country is much the same as in other parts of the hill region. In the valley of the Prahova, how ever, the land has been imprudently deforested and the sides of the hills have been deeply 'ravined. In places, as in the valley of Slanic, rocks of salt glittering in the sun add variety to the landscape. Farther to the south, in the country round Ploesti, the hill country seems to disappear except for occasional swellings in the general level of the land. With the exception of these swellings, the district has the appearance of a plain which passes into the terraces of the river-valleys on the one hand and into the Wallachian plain on the other. Alluvial soils cover all but the highest parts of the land. Farther to the east, in the region drained by the Buzau and its tributaries, the most striking feature is the abrupt slope by which the hills overlook the Wallachian plain. A number of summits rise to heights between 2,000 and 2,500 ft. (lstrrjia 2,486 ft.), and fall away rapidly to the plain. Seen from a distance they have all the appearance of mountains. To the north of the Buzau the slope is more gentle and the hills unite almost imperceptibly with the plain. This type of country extends as far north as Focsani ; much of it is covered with alluvial soil, and it is generally fertile. 22 GEOGRAPHICAL- OUTLINES Hills of Moldavia In Moldavia the hills cover the whole country between the Carpathians and the Pruth. They seldom rise above 2,300 ft. in height except in the vicinity of the mountains, but on the other hand the land which falls below 650 ft. does not exceed 15 per cent, of the whole area, while that below 300 ft. occurs only in the valleys of the Sereth and the Pruth. The whole region is in reality a plateau which has been much dissected by the rivers flowing across it. West of the Sereth it is higher than to the east and frequently lies between 1,500 and 2,500 ft. above sea-level. Between the Sereth and the Pruth, on the other hand, it seldom exceeds 1,500 ft. and is generally considerably below it, the mean height probably being just under 1,000 ft. The Sereth and the Pruth, with their principal tributaries the Barlad, the Moldova, and the Bistrita, have a general trend from NNW. to SSE. These rivers flow as a rule in broad marshy valleys, the slopes of which rise, often by terraces, several hundred feet above the river. As in other parts of the hill country, the slopes are of considerable value both for settlement and communication. To the west of the Sereth" many of the smaller rivers flow from west to east, and the hills which lie between their valleys have the same general direction. East of the Sereth many tributaries of the Sereth and the Pruth and of their affluents, the Barlad and the Bahluiu, have a southerly trend, and the crests of the hills run as a rule from north to south. The country between the Sereth and the Pruth is thus an immense region of hills and plateaus, between which there is no great difference of height. The higher parts of the country are still under forest ; the lower lands have been cleared to a considerable extent and are cultivated ; the larger valleys are generally swampy, while the adjoining terraces are suit able for settlement. The loess with which the greater part of the surface is covered adds to the fertility of the region, but quickly absorbs all water which falls upon it. Springs WALLACHIAN PLAIN 23 are found as a rule on the slopes of the valleys where the loess comes in contact with the underlying and less permeable rocks. It is here, accordingly, that villages and towns are generally found. Wallachian Plain The Wallachian plain lies between the hill region and the valley of the Danube. In the south it rises abruptly above the latter, sometimes in cliffs 160 to 260 ft. high, while in the north it merges more or less insensibly with the hill country. Although termed a plain, it varies in height ; in the neigh bourhood of Craiova its surface is 650 ft. above sea- level, at Ploesti 300 ft., north of the Ialomita less than 150 ft. It is narrow in Oltenia and reaches its greatest breadth — 80 miles — in the east of Wallachia. The region has on the whole the appearance of a monotonous plain on which one may wander for hours without seeing any more prominent feature than a clump of dusty acacias. The land is fertile and is well cultivated, but human habitations are usually confined to the river-valleys, which are more or less deeply cut into the surface of the plain. The rivers them selves are small relatively to the valleys in which they flow, and some of them entirely disappear during the summer months. In order to understand the general character of the region and the causes which determine the distribution and economic activities of its inhabitants, some reference must be made to its geological structure. It consists in the main of a great mass of gravels covered over by alluvial soils and loess. As a general rule these soils are thicker in the south than in the north, in the east than in the west. In the west they are too sandy and too much mixed with gravel to form loess. Between the Jiu and the Olt they become more loess-like in appearance, while farther to the east they pass into true loess similar to that found in the greater part of the hill country of Moldavia. Water on the surface sinks rapidly and joins the underlying water, which lies on the clays below the gravels, impregnates 24 GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES the gravels at the base of the loess, and rises through the loess itself to a height varying according to the level of the under lying clays and the actual configuration of the surface. It flows out in springs in all the great valleys and in every depression, and it can also be obtained from wells of varying depth. The number, varying locally, of the valleys, and the varying thickness of the covering of alluvial soil or loess, are thus facts of great geographical importance, and exercise an important control upon human activities within the region. To the west of the Jiu the geographical conditions are different. The average height of the plain is less than 350 ft., but it is covered by small ridges which, towards the west, become more and more definitely aligned in a direction run ning from north-west to south-east. The region presents many of the characteristics of a sand-dune country, and the ridges consist of fine sands which have only been partially consolidated. The surface is treeless, and the vegetation consists of thistles, scabious, and similar plants. Between the Jiu and the Olt the country is a monotonous plain in which there is very little timber or water. Even the larger valleys, such as that of the Teslui, are sometimes dry. Near the Danube these characteristics are more pronounced than they are north of Craiova, where the steppe is occasion ally interrupted by clumps of trees. East of the Olt, steppe conditions become still more marked, but a distinction may be drawn between those parts which border the hills and those which border the Danubian valley. In the Baragan, which is the extreme type of the latter region, tumuli are the only elevations which break the dead monotony of the plains. In a few places clumps of acacias maybe seen, but elsewhere jungles of thistles alternate with the cultivated land. In the neighbourhood of Bucharest, on the other hand, the country becomes more varied. The surface is slightly undulating, rivers are more numerous, here and there a lake may be seen upon the plain. The vegetation is also more varied, and dumps of oak appear in places and obstruct the view. The whole country east of the Olt belongs to one or WALLACHIAN PLAIN 25 other of these types. To the west of the Arges the northern part of the plain is fairly well dissected by rivers, though it has the disadvantage of possessing no mountain stream, and the valleys accordingly are neither so broad nor so deep as they are farther to the east. The vegetation is scanty, but oaks and other trees appear in the valleys. To the south the land becomes lower, but the valleys of the Calmatuiu, Vedea, and Teleorman are fairly deeply cut into it. That part of the plain which is drained by the Arge? and its tributaries is in its northern parts one of the richest in Roumania. The slope of the land is considerable, and numerous streams flow across it and cut somewhat deeply into it. Conditions are very Similar in the country drained by the Ialomita and its tributaries. In both districts the water-supply from rivers and springs is greater than else where. South of Bucharest the plain decreases in height, but in other respects it is a continuation of the region farther to the north. In the Baragan, the appearance of which has already been indicated, conditions are very different, and everything com bines to make that region, which lies between the Ialomita and the Danube, an almost perfect steppe. Nowhere is the thickness of the loess and of the underlying gravels so great. At MarCulesti, for example, they have a thickness of 231 ft. The rainfall is low ; the water-table does not come within less than 65 ft. of the surface, and deep wells are necessary to reach it. The Baragan is not perfectly horizontal ; it is higher in the east and in the west, while the centre offers a slight concavity, running along a line from Calarasi to Ciulnita, where water i§ more easily obtained. The valley of the Mostistea is large, but contains only a series of small lakes which communicate with one another after heavy rains. On the slopes, however, where the loess comes into contact with the underlying clay, there are numerous springs and the water-supply is consequently "abundant. North of the Ialomita the plain is lower than elsewhere, more than half of it being less than 150 ft. above sea-level. 26 GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES In former times, when precipitation was evidently much greater than at present, numerous valleys were cut^ in the loess, but, with the exception of the Buzau and the Ramnicu, the rivers which made them have been reduced in volume to such an extent that a continuous flow no longer exists. The valley of the Calmatuiu, for example, is little more than a succession of deep marshes connected by a mere thread of running water. Other valleys, of which there are a consider able number, are occupied by lakes, the waters of which are frequently salt. These depressions in the surface of the loess are, as will be seen later, of considerable economic importance for whether they are occupied by rivers or lakes they offer facilities for sinking shallow wells, from which a good supply of water may be obtained. This is particularly the case in fhe more elevated districts near the hills, where the valleys are more numerous and where water is everywhere near the surface. Valley oe the Danube The valley of the Danube is bordered on the Bulgarian side by the escarpment of the Balkan foreland, which is frequently of considerable height, and on the Roumanian side by the cliffs of the Wallachian plain. As a rule its breadth varies from 6 to 16 miles. Between the Iron Gates and Calafat the valley is relatively narrow, and little deposition is taking place. Below Calafat the character of the valley changes ; it becomes broader and the river wanders widely within it. The Danube itself is full of small islands and banks of sand, while in the valley the abandoned arms of the rivers become lagoons, and the intervening islands change into marshes at times of high water. In many places also a dense covering of willows helps to obscure the features of the land. So confused is the general appearance of the region with its islands and fluvial arms, that it is almost impossible to detect from the river the points ,at which some of its most important tributaries enter. Below Giurgiu the islands increase in number, while many small channels spread the flood waters of the river over VALLEY OF THE DANUBE 27 a marshy plain. Lateral lakes become larger and broader. Lacu Grecilor, Lacu Boiana, and Lacu Calarasi are large sheets of water which have almost completely lost the elon gated form characteristic of dead arms of the river. At Calarasi begins what is properly known as the Balta — a great stretch of fluvial arms, marshes, islands, and channels, which covers the ten or twelve miles of valley lying between the heights of the Dobruja on the one side and the loess cliffs of Baragan on the other. In all this region there are only two places where the river narrows to a single channel ; one is at Harsova, where the heights of the Dobruja push westward, and the other is between Braila and Galatz. The river is described in the Handbook of the River Danube, LD. 01020, and in Chapter VIII of this volume some further particulars will be found. The delta is described in the section on the Dobruja near the end of the present chapter. Rivers The river systems of Wallachia and Moldavia present some striking differences. In Wallachia the drainage is effected by a number of rivers which flow more or less parallel one to another. The main streams follow the general lie of the land from north to south or south-east, and their tributaries which flow in the same general direction join at an oblique angle. Few rivers of any importance flow parallel to the general direction of the Carpathians. In Moldavia it is otherwise. The main rivers, the Pruth and the Sereth, with their great tributaries, the Barlad, Moldova, and Bistrita, run in a direc tion more or less parallel to the general trend of the mountains, while a number of important tributaries, including the Bah- luiu, the Jijia, and the upper Barlad, are transverse and flow from west to east. As a result, the valley of the Sereth forms in Moldavia a great line of communication parallel to the Carpathians, while in Wallachia longitudinal movement is much more difficult and communications tend to run at right angles and not parallel to the mountain axis. 28 GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES Rivers of Wallachia # The principal rivers of Wallachia are the Jiu, the Olt, the Vedea, the Arges, the Ialomita, and the Buzau. Of these the Jiu, Olt, and Buzau rise beyond the principal crests of the Carpathians, while the Vedea has its source in the region of the hills. The Jiu has its origin in the basin of Petroseny in Transyl vania, where it is formed by the confluence of several mountain torrents, and it is already a stream of some importance when it enters the Surduk or gorge of Lainici, by which it makes its ' way through the Carpathian range. In this defile, which is about 15 miles long, the river flows in an almost continuous series of cataracts, the average gradient being about 45 ft. per mile. The sides of the valley rise on either hand to heights of 1,500 ft. or more, while the bed of the river is sometimes not more than 30 to 50 ft. in breadth. When it opens out into the most important of the sub-Carpathian depressions at Targu Jiu it is joined by a number of important tributaries from the Carpathians, including the Susita, Bistrita, and Tismana upon its right bank, and the Amaradia Seaca upon its left. It is now an important river with a bed over half a mile broad, while the valley, in which it follows a winding course, is about six miles wide. The valley becomes narrower, while the river is passing through the hill region, but expands again in the stretch between Filiasu and Craiova. In this stretch three important tributaries join the main river, the Gilort from the Paringu, the Motru from the mountains of Vulcan, and the Amaradia from the hill region. Below Craiova the Jiu winds in a valley which is about five miles broad and in which there are numerous dead arms overgrown with reeds. No further tributary joins the river, and it decreases in volume on its way to the Danube. The Olt rises in Hungary on the western slope of the Moldavian Carpathians, and has run nearly half its course when it enters Roumania by the defile of the Red Tower, 35 miles long. Its valley is narrow when passing through the first chain of the RIVERS ' 29 Fagaras, but broadens out in the depression of Titesti, where the Lotru flows in. The latter river with its tributaries comes from the high mountains of the Paringu and, during the period of melting snow, adds considerably to the volume of the Olt. The valley in which the Olt then makes its way through the Cozia is a gorge of the wildest description, and there are numerous rapids in the course of the river. During its passage through the Red Tower defile, between Boicza and Calimanesti, the river has an average fall of about 13 ft. per mile. Below the latter town the Olt is nearly 1,600 ft. broad and from 10 to 16 ft. deep. The valley rapidly becomes broader, and several important tributaries such as the Bistrita, the Lun- covita, and the Oltetu (with the Cuna) join the river on the right bank, while the Topolog flows in on the left. In this part of its course the river frequently divides and encloses low wooded islands. Below Slatina these characteristics become more marked ; the valley of the river is not less than 6 miles in breadth, and a great number of small streams branch off and sometimes do not rejoin the river. The volume of the river is so great that notwithstanding its losses by evaporation and infiltration it is the only Wallachian river which retains its importance when it reaches the Danube. The Arges is an entirely Roumanian river. Its head- streams flow from the cirque in the northern heights of the Fagaras and unite to cut through the southern chain. Below Curtea de Arges its direction is from north-west to south east, and it receives the Rau Doamnei, which drains the eastern part of the Fagaras and the massif of Iezeru, and flows in at Pitesti. The Dambovita, another tributary which also rises in the Iezeru, flows across the hills in a narrow valley, and after leaving them pursues a course parallel to the Arges, which it does not join till it reaches Budesti. Few rivers lose so much by evaporation and infiltration, and the river at Bucharest is much smaller than it is farther north. The Ialomita rises in the Bucegi and at first flows from north to south, but at Targoviste it begins to bend towards the east and flows across the Wallachian plain in an easterly 30 GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES direction, forming the northern border of the Baragan. The Prahova, with its tributaries the Doftana and the Teleajenu, and the Cricov are the only tributaries which it receives, and when it reaches the Danube its volume is considerably diminished. For the greater part of its course the Ialomita has a gentle slope across the Wallachian plain, and the terraces by which it is bordered are thickly populated. The Wallachian rivers do not all possess the same regime, but in general low water occurs in winter when precipitation is least abundant in Wallachia, and frequently takes place in the form of snow. High water commences at the end of winter if not earlier, the first thaws bringing down water from the hills and causing the lower courses of the rivers to rise. A little later the snow on the mountains begins to melt. Many of the rivers reach their maximum in March, but they remain high as a result of the abundant precipitation in spring and early summer. June, July, and August are generally marked by abrupt oscillations due to the tendency of the rivers to lose water by eyaporation on the one hand and to rise as the result of sudden storms on the other. The average monthly maximum is in spring, except in the case of the Olt, whose regime is formed before it enters Roumania and which has its maximum in June and July. At the end of summer and at the beginning of autumn low water begins. Rivers of Moldavia The Sereth rises in Bukovina and flows in a broad valley throughout the greater part of its course. Within this valley the river meanders to a great extent, and its flood-plain is exceedingly marshy. It constantly ramifies, and there are numberless low islands and dead arms along its course. The slope is regular and gentle throughout. Among the principal tributaries of the Sereth are the Moldova, which rises in Buko vina and joins the main stream at Roman; the Bistrita, with its affluents, Dorna, Neagra, and Bistricioara, which flows in at Bacau ; and the Trotus, which comes in near Adjud. RIVERS 31 These rivers, which reproduce to some extent the character istics of the Sereth, drain the Moldavian Carpathians and bring vast quantities of water into the main stream in the spring when the snows are melting, and there is in addition considerable rainfall. While crossing the Wallachian plain, where most rivers suffer from drought and infiltration, the Sereth receives the Buzau and the Ramnicu on the right bank, and the Barlad on the left. The Barlad, like the Sereth, flows in a relatively broad and marshy valley and drains most of the country between the Sereth and the Pruth south of Jassy. The Buzau rises in the high plain of Bodzafalu in Transylvania, traverses the Carpathians by a single defile run ning from north-west to south-east, and after entering the Wallachian plain turns towards the north-east. It loses very considerably by infiltration during the latter part of its course. The Pruth is already a considerable stream when it touches Roumanian territory. It flows in a broad and marshy valley separating Bessarabia from Roumania. In breadth it varies from 650 to 1,000 ft., and in depth from 13 to 20 ft. It has a regular slope and a much less capricious regime than the Wallachian rivers. Of the Roumanian tributaries the most important is the Jijia. The chief crossing is at Ungheni, where the railway from Jassy to Kishinev crosses the river by a great iron bridge. Between Galatz and Ungheni there are only chain ferries at the following points : (1) Galatz (to Reni) a little more than 1 \ mile west of the mouth (2) Oancea ; (3) Bumbata ; (4) Zberoaia ; (5) Dranceni. Galatz and Reni are connected by rail. Above Ungheni crossing is effected generally by ford except at Czernowitz, where the chain ferry railway crosses the river. North of Sculeni, the Pruth can be forded practically anywhere in summer. Communications along the banks are very restricted, there being in general no roads except those between the villages on the banks. These are most frequent well up-stream ; many of those in the lower reaches and along the valley-plain higher up disappear entirely in the flood season. The river is navigable for up- 32 GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES and down-stream traffic as far as Husi. According to another authority boats drawing 3 ft. can ascend at all seasons as far as Sculeni (about 188 miles). Above Leova there is a good deal of down-stream traffic by raft. Timber from the forests of Bukovina is floated right down to Galatz. The navigation of the river has in the past been regulated by an international commission composed of Russian, Roumanian, and Austrian representatives with head-quarters at Galatz. The river brings down with it a great deal of sand which in many places forms banks. The chief islands thus formed begin at Ser- penita, between which point and Galatz there are none. Floods take place three times a year : in spring up to the breaking of the ice in March ; in summer after the melting of the snows in the Carpathians ; and in autumn before the river freezes in December. The breaking up of the ice usually takes place during the middle or end of March ; freezing occurs in early or middle December, but in some places where the current is specially swift the river remains free from ice the whole year through. After each flood the channel changes more or less. During the last part of its course the Pruth forms small emissary streamlets which convey its surplus water to the low-lying land of the shore ; this surplus water recedes again into the Pruth when the high water subsides. The results of analysis are not very favourable with regard to the use of the Pruth water locally for drinking purposes ; a large part of the Galatz water-supply, however, is taken from Pruth water, which is passed through the extensive filter-beds north of the city. In the higher reaches the bed of the river is chiefly stony ; in the lower it is of clay. At first there is no gravel, later it shows a layer of fine mud mixed with sand of a bluish colour. The Dobruja The political unit known as the Dobruja has a conventional boundary which runs from the Danube west of Turtucaia to Ekrene on the Black Sea. Before 1913 the frontier ran from the Danube east of Silistra to the Black Sea 6£ miles south THE DOBRUJA 33 of Mangalia, at an average distance of about 30 miles north of the frontier of 1913. Geographically, however, the Dobruja is the whole plain which lies between the eastern Balkans and the Danube mouths. This plain detaches itself from the foothills of the eastern Balkans north of Varna and inclines gently down towards the Danube Delta. It is a country of easy gradients and low undulations ; taken as a whole it forms a natural broad passage between the Danube and the Black Sea. All the races which from the earliest times invaded the Balkans from the Russian steppes entered by way of the Dobruja. A convenient natural boundary from which to start, in considering the Dobruja, is the Deli Orman (' Wild Wood '), the barren hilly region which closes Bulgaria, along the line Rustchuk-Varna. The Deli Orman is a limestone region, where the water percolates away. It is consequently almost waterless, and the trees have largely disappeared. The highest point is near Voivoda, a village about 9 miles NNW. of Novi Pazar. This height is 1,624 ft. From this point the hills become lower, until they come to an end in the low and slightly wooded ground which skirts the south bank of the Danube between Rustchuk and Silistra. The Deli Orman therefore may be taken as the base of the irregular triangle formed between the Lower Danube and Black Sea coast. This triangle is geographically the Dobruja. The Dobruja consists of four divisions. The south is a plateau, a great part of which is steppe ; in the north is •a rather more broken district, which presents a picturesque and hilly aspect ; the east is marshy, with large tracts given up to lagoons. To these three parts should be added a fourth, the delta of the Danube, which consists of extensive mud flats and alluvial deposits, with many water-channels, and picturesque beds of reeds and alders. The first portion, the southern plain, falls into two districts. One runs from the Deli Orman north-eastwards nearly as far as Medgidia. This is a fertile district, where corn is grown. Its undulations are not strongly marked, and run from 860 ft. iiorraiANiA C 34 GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES to under 500 ft. The second part of the plateau, the district of Medgidia, is less fertile. It is an actual steppe -country. The surface of it is composed of a calcareous loam. The northern portion is the hilly district between Babadag and the angle which the Danube forms near Macin. These hills are fairly thickly wooded, and many of them rise from 1,000 to 1,500 ft. The rainfall is not heavy, and everywhere outside the delta there is a scarcity of water, though wells can be sunk at almost any point. The delta of the Danube is a triangle of alluvial mud, 40 miles broad at its base between the Kilia and St. George mouths. The triangle is bisected by the Sulina arm of the river. The area of the delta is about 1,000 square miles. There is no cultivation on it except around the few villages. It lies very low, being only 2 ft. above sea-level at the Sulina mouth. In the north, about the Kilia mouth, are dunes running up to an elevation of 40 or 50 ft. There are many swamps and fresh-water lakes, and in flood-time practically the whole area is liable to be overflowed. The delta gains 10 to 15 ft. towards the sea every year, and is gradually consolidating. Coast The Roumanian coast of the Dobruja on the Black Sea is low, and broken by lagoons towards the north. Consequently there is no really good port except at Constanta, where an outcrop of hard rock has permitted a considerable town to grow up. The Bessarabian coast, moreover, offers no facilities for a first-class port, and the principal outlet for that district has hitherto been Odessa. The political connexion of Bessarabia with Roumania does not, therefore, affect the importance of Constanta to Roumania, which will be further discussed in Chapter VIII. Geology In the Carpathians there is no continuous zone of crystalline rock such as there is in the Alps. The greater part of the GEOLOGY 35 Wallachian range is, it is true, formed by a massif of primitive schists which extends from the Iron Gates to the Ialomita, but beyond that river no trace of crystalline rock is found till the Ceahlau is reached in the northern part of Moldavia. Lying upon these ancient rocks, however, there are in places great masses of limestone, fragments of a more extensive covering which has been removed by erosion. Examples of this formation are to be found in the valley of the Jiu, in the couritry round Predeal, and in the north of Moldavia. The most continuous zone in the mountain area is that of the flysch, which almost exclusively forms the Carpathian are from the Ceahlau to the Bodza pass, but west of the Olt this belt disappears, and the later Tertiary rocks lie directly on the primitive massif. The region of the hills both in Wallachia and Moldavia is almost entirely formed of Tertiary rocks, among which sand stones predominate. Over almost the whole of the latter province, however, as well as over the eastern parts of the former, they are partly concealed beneath a covering of loess, and in many places come to the surface only on the slopes of the river -valleys. The Wallachian plain is almost completely overlain by recent and unconsolidated formations. In the east the loess is everywhere found, often to a considerable depth, but in the west it is wanting, and its place is taken by alluvial soils which contain varying amounts of sand or gravel. The valley of the Danube is overlain by recent alluvium, and in the valleys of some of its tributaries a similar formation is found. Local Time, Calendar, and Magnetic Variation Standard time of Roumania is Eastern European time, or that of 30° E# longitude, two hours fast of Greenwich mean time. Roumania formerly used the Russian or old style calendar, according to which a date in the Gregorian or new style calendar (of English usage) is ascertained by adding 13 days C.2 36 GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES to the old style date. The Gregorian calendar was introduced in Moldavia and Bessarabia (Wallachia being at the time in German occupation) as from July 1 old style, i. e. July 14 new style, 1918. The magnetic variation on the Roumanian coast is about 2° 70' W. (1918), decreasing 5' annually. CHAPTER II CLIMATE From the climatic point of view Roumania occupies an intermediate position between Russia on the one hand and the Mediterranean area on the other, and in consequence it has affinities with both. The continental aspects of its climate are particularly well marked in the changes which take place in its temperature in the course of the year, while the distri bution of rainfall is to some extent controlled by the atmo spheric conditions which prevail over the Mediterranean area. Temperature The summers are very hot and it is not unusual for the thermometer to rise to 95° F., while the winters are exceed ingly cold, and temperatures of — 10° F. are not infrequently registered. Extremes which have been noted include a maxi mum of 109° F. at Giurgiu, and a minimum of - 32° F. at Bucharest. On an average there is frost for 136 days each year, on 36 of which the thermometer remains below freezing- point during the twenty -four hours. On the other hand there are 66 days on an average during which the summer tem perature remains above 77° F. The figures given for Bucharest in Table II are characteristic of the whole Wallachian plain with its hot summers and cold winters. In Moldavia the range is not so great. The winters are not as a rule colder, while the summers are not so warm. In the Carpathians climatic conditions are less known, as few meteorological stations exist. In comparing different stations it is found that the mean annual temperature decreases by 0-38° F. for every 100 feet of vertical ascent. In summer the rate of fall is much greater, being about 0-60° F. in July, while in winter it is much less, and in January is about 0-16° F. 38 CLIMATE In parts of Roumania, indeed, an inversion of temperature may be noted during the winter months. Calimanesti, with an altitude of 918 ft., has a January temperature of 27-7° F., while Striharet, which is only 525 ft. above sea-level, has one of 25-7° F. It may therefore be said that as a general rule the annual range of temperature on the mountains is less than on the plains. , A feature of some interest is the rapid fall of temperature which occurs during the autumn months. In September the temperature is still relatively high, in November it approxi mates to winter conditions. Everything undergoes a complete change in little over a month. Winds The temperature of Roumania is to a great extent controlled by the winds, of which the two known as the Crivef and the Austru are the most important. The former blows at all seasons, but it reaches its maximum in winter and early spring, when a high-pressure system extends over Russia and cyclonic depressions make their way eastward along the Mediterranean area of low pressure. Under these conditions the wind blows from NE., ENE., or E. according to the posi tion of the depression, and coming from the continental interior, frequently causes intense cold over the greater part of Roumania. A fall of 30° F. has sometimes been noted after the Crivet has begun to blow. Notwithstanding this, however, the periods of greatest cold do not coincide with the Crivet, but occur during calms or when westerly winds are blowing. The hot easterly winds which occur in summer are due to other causes, but are commonly known by the same name. The mean annual rate of the Crivet is about 10 miles per hour, but it varies from a monthly mean of about 16| miles per hour in January to one of about 7 miles per hour in July. If the depression over the Mediterranean happens to be deep, the Crive£ blows with great strength and causes large waves to rise on the Danube. CLIMATE 39 During spring and early summer the winds when blowing from ENE. arrive from the Black Sea heavily charged with vapour, and coming into contact with the Carpathians bring abundant rainfall. Most of the rain which falls in spring and some of that in summer is due to these conditions. It has been calculated that at Bucharest 28 per cent, of the annual precipitation is brought by northerly winds, 48 per cent, by easterly, 14 per cent, by southerly, 9 per cent, by westerly, while 1 per cent, falls during periods of calm. The Austru generally blows between west and south-west and is not quite so strong a wind as the Crivet, its mean annual rate being about 8 miles per hour. In winter its monthly mean rises to over 10 miles per hour in January, and in summer falls to about 5 J miles per hour in July. It usually blows when an eastward-moving depression, instead of follow ing the Mediterranean route, takes its way more to the north by Central Italy, Hungary, and the north of Moldavia, to lose itself in Russia or round the Black Sea. This is possible only when the high-pressure area has abandoned eastern Europe, and is most common when the oceanic high-pressure system spreads over the British Isles and north-west Europe. The Austru is on the whole rather a dry wind, and when it blows for several days in succession the relative humidity not infre quently falls below 40 per cent. The clear atmosphere may then lead to intense radiation, and in winter some low tem peratures, which equal or even surpass those due to the Crivet, are registered. In summer it brings a cooler air than the Crivet, and is accordingly welcomed. At Bucharest the Crivet blows from ENE. and the Austru from WSW. Statistics compiled from the 105,192 hourly observations made during the twelve years 1885-96 show that the wind was ENE. at 21,459 observations, or 204 times in every 1,000, while it was WSW. at 12,444 observations, or 118 times in every 1,000. Calms prevailed at 40 out of every 1,000 observations. The remaining winds were fairly evenly distributed in other directions. The Crivet is most frequent in April, when it blows at 253 per 1,000 observations, least' 40 CLIMATE so in June with 148 per 1,000. For the summer as a whole the frequency is 163 per 1,000. The following table shows the average velocity of both winds in miles per hour at different seasons of the year : Crivef Austru Winter . . . 13| 9 Spring .... 12£ 8 Summer ... 7^ 7| Autumn . . . 9| 7\ Taking the year as a whole and considering all winds, the following figures have been obtained for Bucharest : Miles per hour 127 days, maximum hourly velocity, below 11 172 „ „ „ " „ between 11 and 22£ 52 „ „ „ „ „ 22| and 34 12 „ „ „ „ „ 34 and 44 2 „ „ „ „ above 44 In the mountain regions the direction both of the Crivet and the Austru is affected by local topographical conditions. Valleys running north and south, for example, generally receive their winds from one or other of these directions. In addition to the cold spells induced by the Crivet and the Austru, very low temperatures also occur when the Russian high-pressure system expands, as it does on an average twice in each month, and lies over the Wallachian plain. Rainfall The figures in Table V indicate that Roumania has on the whole a low rainfall. Its distribution is of course much affected by the topography of the country, and varies from one region to another according to the exposure of each to the rain-bearing winds. The mountain areas have the heaviest precipitation, and the greater part of the Carpathians in Wal lachia has between 30 and 35 inches per year. In Moldavia CLIMATE 41 the region which receives a similar amount is confined to the country round the massif of Ceahlau and to some districts in the south. The central part of the hill region in Wallachia has as much as the Carpathians, but elsewhere it is less, ranging as a rule from 23 to 27 inches. In the western part of the hills of Moldavia the precipitation is between 20 and 25 inches, but to the east of the Sereth it is usually less than 20 inches. The western part of the Wallachian plain has over 20 inches, but in the east there are considerable areas where less than 20 and in places less than 15 inches of rain fall. The influence of Mediterranean conditions is seen to some extent in the distribution of rainfall throughout the year. There is usually a minimum in January or February, after which the monthly means increase until June, which is the month of heaviest rainfall throughout the greater part of Roumania. About September a second but less marked minimum is reached in Wallachia, after which the precipita tion again increases to a low maximum attained during the early winter. In Moldavia, where the Mediterranean influence is least felt, the rainfall as a rule decreases from June till January. Snowfall On the plains snow begins to fall about the month of November and lies on an average about three months. In the mountains it has a longer duration. The Fagara§, which remain at an almost uniform height throughout their course, are usually covered from October till May. At the end of September there is often a slight snowfall, which is, however, frequently followed by a short spell of fine weather. For the climate of the Danube valley see also Handbook of the River Danube, LD. 01020, pp. 22-7. 42 CLIMATE TABLE I Position and Height above Sea-level of the Chief Meteorological Stations in Roumania Height above Station. Latitude o / Longitude. O I sea-level. ft. 230 TurnuSeverin . . 44 38 N. 20 33 E. Strehaia . 44 37 23 12 459 Craiova . 44 19 23 48 361 Tumu Magurele 43 45 24 53 131 Caracal 44 7 24 21 311 !Strihare^ 44 26 24 22 525 Calimanefti 44 15 24 21 918 Campulung 45 17 24 57 1,952 Sinaia 45 21 25 34 2,821 Bucharest . 44 25 26 6 269 Arma$e$ti . 44 35 27 9 230 Braila 45 16 27 58 82 Foojani 45 41 27 12 197 Targu Ocna 46 17 26 37 896 Pance^ti 1 46 55 26 56 623 Botofani 47 51 26 41 590 Dorohoi 47 59 26 25 597 CLIMATE 43 u l ' * t Lr t* ^ ^ ? ^ M h in ¦* ^ ° ^ ° ^*£^cj©Cicqio*9coO'7i<:? Jt2^®0;3^g6iffOMffp,lf|OCpinCSl(0 §^I>l^^r^(NCqiOl>-^o05,Ml^-lL>^^©©<©apCS<<#lr- CO ra rt S -1 ra > -i n -a o ri 3 s* ra u HOJOE-I ~t§J-l'f ¦ 3 £ « i>i^©cb©d5^cbcowcp^OJfH©i>t--coqiir-cDt^ ?° c»codscot><»ixi^cbobcoir:-c6t:-M(cb n O a ti ci o o x r. h i( ;, i lo « o ^obiocoeacbiocbNcoi^-i^-^t^cocsi^H _2 »ocot;-i>^-^©Go--Hioc6M"<*fAds© "^ OOOOCOOOOOCOOOt-fOOOOCOCOOOC-CO ^^^©COCp-^©COF-(iOM5(N©CpCS© H ©^coi>ib^r^abAi6<&^'<#©©A >^ 0OQO»cocOGOGOi>tr-.aooOGOo0o0ir-a0 2 fg fffiHiob.aomHiNi-oi)»t-rtM ^ t~c~aoaot~r-t~r~coc-r-c-t-£-"t^ir-> Ph ^^M^r--tf3©©ioco©w^>coiocooocpx©©©oo»-H &? ^QffiOiOJ«o6oHcbi>ccJ)i>H»o •** "V ^ CO CO CO CO Tj< Tj< CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO g fficp©iocp©©Ncoior-cscooor^c»ooinpHW5 ^2? GO Ml CO CO M< CO CO A hmcomn co©qsMirHcoepiocpcp >2 ^^COCOi^C^C^t>I>NAcod5c53«)CO rq cococococococoweMcococoeqcNCMc^ ^ cpcoqsioi^-»acoNi^iw5©iocp©os»o (§ cbco©t^iocoAd5c»cbcb»ocsjcMasA ^¦' Ml M' Ml Ml Ml Ml M* CO CO Ml Ml M' M' M^ CO M< l?^t^NMicN©©iocoA©«©coi^c© CQ !QMItf5lOH3lQiaM«M<»Q»QlC51]3Mi-'Cpl^"COcNCpGplO H codbcsi mi ©cbdscsi A © © co 6S co o go ^ coiacoocoiomiowsco^ocotfsiQioo i— i fr iocj»(SNMOiowHWiono>oo 5 HobrtmoAobAHoiMiitjA ^3 NHOt-NOOOSHfliCOOt-cpcpH ,o-*oo-*>7i:P-*?i:?T5P r" '*c»i~'r!SSS£SS2!C! «1 arH«o^l5SI-fOCpI7lp-*in a ss)tomi35obA<3si>®t--?5r-'5 5^S5 46 CLIMATE ^ iOCOC0©MC& _g iOCNli0^lO©©lO,*t^9>SCOcpi>'7*0 © ioi^i>©Acoi>©Anc6c6comicocn £^ MC>l(LN^CNi-HGN|fiS|COCSi-li-HGN|CNi^CN co^©©r^r-cp©F-iFHr-icNco Ki o)AeNAAAAAAAAAAAArH • Ot*OOJHI>^HOI>Ol>!OOOOWN tS ©MII^WCCpcp'^C^^lT'CNIOSCN©^ O ing^wAc^Acncsics)i-i©Ac>iAAfh ¦» 0300l>Ci>QlOP3HHt-IOHHTjlO S^t-UOi— l©l— !>-4lOr-iFHCNl^©t~»»0©MI (iOiniOi-iCMMtMl©M<©©i-HGO©^WC3SiOCNCO©GSlCOI>'C»I>©i-l£--^-icN SSs©M©CO©©©©COCO©© C3 C1hhoOI>i©COi- !©M©C»I^©F^GpCp©WCO^*FHlOCS| %. Ml © i— i i— l WS i-H t* © 00 © r- r- r*- r- t> t- "S,F-H©COM'©©iO©MiCM©Milr-l>©© M,©©iO©©W»0.©I>©©©©©©t^ >©©©©rncNiCOMt©l>-©©^H©MIM' U3©M<©©»0»ai©r^iO»Q»0©©©© 3>©eo©©cNM'M*o^H©-Heq(Ncocooo § tfi©M<©©iOiOiQIr*.©©©©©© ¦*»--. * (D ffl CD to CO h. -r. •- -^ .-i .- « i. cocococDcocococor-:c:o:o-.2r^cDco £ (OiowcieDOt-HHioi-r-iQXiflo ss,snoiotpooiatot-cp»sSSo° ¦^1 >g I>cocor-l>t~co®t~r~i>i>i?.rit2£: £ i> r- 1> co oo co co r~ r- oo oo ao £ F- ™ S3 ,8 «>ooi>oooo»r-i>»Soo=cooSt£oo H35 CHAPTER III VEGETATION AND ANIMALS Vegetation Each of the main physical regions of Roumania has a characteristic flora determined by its climate and soil. In the Danubian valley the plants are mainly those which grow in marshy districts. The Wallachian plain, with its permeable soils, early summer rain, and autumn drought, has a vegeta tion approximating closely to that of the steppe. On the hills and lower mountains the deciduous forest of central Europe predominates, while the upper slopes of the Car pathians are covered with coniferous trees to the limit of tree growth, beyond which the grass-lands gradually pass into an Arctic type of flora. Valley of the Danube In the upper part of the valley of the Danube in Roumania conditions are not favourable to the growth "of plants of any description, and it is not until Calafat is passed that the willows and reeds which are so characteristic of the lower part of the valley begin to appear. All the islands and bluffs are covered with a dense growth of willows which to a great extent conceals the contour of the country. Sand-banks which appear above the surface at times of low water are often destitute of vegetation, but even on them, if they remain in existence long enough and are free from flood, an aquatic vegetation soon grows. Tamarisks with silvery leaves prepare the way for the willow, which soon invades any region where the conditions are favourable. In the Balta the reed predominates and is found every where, except in the deeper lakes and on certain areas which it has been found possible to convert into pasture. The SO VEGETATION AND ANIMALS plumed variety, known in Roumania as treslia (Phragmites communis), is the most abundant and grows to a height vary ing from five to ten feet. It surrounds all the lagoons, fills the dead arms of the river, and covers wide areas between the lateral branches. Other varieties include the papurd (Typha latifolia), with large flat leaves, and the pipirig (Scirpus lacustris), which has a slender and serrated stem, narrow leaves, and clusters of reddish flowers. These grow in almost impenetrable thickets, especially at the bends of the channels. Reeds and willows are of special value in a country almost wholly deprived of timber. Osiers are used in various kinds of basket-making ; the plumed reed is cut and dried for fuel ; the papurd is woven into mats or used as thatch. It is almost impossible to distinguish other types of vegeta tion in a region where reeds and willows are so widespread, but among them may be noted varieties of the water-lily, water-milfoil, spurge, mint, and crowfoot. In the lower valleys of some of the larger tributaries of the Danube a similar type of vegetation prevails. Wallachian Plain The flora of the Wallachian plain partly resembles that of the Russian steppe, partly that of the Mediterranean region. As a result of the high summer temperature a con siderable number of plants common to the Balkans and to the Caucasus have been able to establish themselves in the region, and in some of the depressions where water is a little more abundant a number of Mediterranean plants are found. On the whole, however, the vegetation is that of a region with a continental climate. The thick covering of loess, the scanty rainfall, and the storms of snow in winter and of dust in summer are all hostile to the growth of trees. In the northern part of the plain where the land is more dissected by rivers and where water is consequently more abundant, there are occasional clumps of oak (Quercus pubescens and Quercus conferta), together with elms, maples, and thickets of hazel, privet, and elder, all of which are probably the VEGETATION 51 remains of a forest that was formerly much more extensive. The region nearer the Danube has always been a steppe, arid in it various kinds of grasses predominate. Of these, the most important (Triticum cristatum and Phlomis pungens) cover large areas. They grow to a considerable height during the rains of spring and early summer, but dry up rapidly during the autumn drought. Other characteristic plants of the region are Knautia macedonica and Centaurea orientalis. Bulbous plants of various kinds are also common. In places, more especially in the east, great thickets of giant thistles cover considerable areas. Region of the Hills This is the region which in Roumania is known as the podgoria. Formerly a vast forest, much of it has been cleared and devoted to agriculture. On the uplands between the river - valleys the oak still covers considerable areas. Several varieties of this tree are found, including Quercus pedunculata, Q. sessiliflora, Q. conferta, and Q. pubescens. Among other trees are the elm, the maple, and the horn beam. The walnut and the chestnut are confined to the western districts of the region. Towards the mountains the beech and a variety of birch (Betula verrucosa) appear, and are in almost exclusive possession of the woods in the sub- Carpathian depressions. In the great valleys of Moldavia a more humid type of forest exists, in which the oak (Quercus pubescens) and a variety of black poplar are the chief trees. The undergrowth in these forests includes buckthorn (Rha- mnus frangula), spindle-tree (Euonymus verrucosa), and privet (Ligustrum vulgare). The wild plum, the hazel-nut, the dog- berry, and similar plants grow upon the outskirts of the woods. In the inundated meadows the ranunculus, marsh-mallow, mint, and valerian are common. These various plants all more or less belong to the central European flora. The bril liant colouring of the flowers is, however, a striking feature, and is characteristic of southern rather than of central Europe. 52 VEGETATION AND ANIMALS Carpathians In these mountains an important distinction may be drawn between the forested and the unforested regions. In the forested or sub-Alpine zone two subdivisions may be recognized — a lower zone lying between 2,000 and 4,000 ft. above sea-level, and an upper lying between 4,000 and 5,000 ft. In the former subdivision the beech is the charac teristic tree, though up to a height of about 2,500 ft. several varieties of the oak are also found. With the beech is asso ciated the birch, the elm, and the maple. On stony slopes the birch is frequently the only tree which will thrive, while along the side of the mountain streams the willow, the alder, and the tamarind grow in considerable quantities. In the beech forest flowers are generally wanting, except in the early spring, and their place is taken by a great variety of mosses, lichens, and ferns. . In the clearings, on the other hand, flowers are numerous, and the ranunculus, marguerite, scabious, milk-wort, sweet trefoil, and many others are found. Towards the upper limit of the lower sub-Alpine zone the beech begins to disappear, and its place is taken by the spruce, one variety of which is Picea excelsa. In the lower districts the maple is sometimes found, in the upper the larch. Every where, however, the spruce is the characteristic tree of the upper sub- Alpine zone. The underwood is even poorer than lower down, but wherever there is a clearing the ground is carpeted with ferns, ranunculus, myosotis, valerian, wild sorrel, the Carpathian campanula, and the telekia (Telekia speciosa), which is a very characteristic plant of the Carpathians in Wallachia. Towards the upper limit of this zone the larkspur, the columbine, the gentian, and the violet indicate the near approach of the Alpine prairie. Tbe limit between the beech and the spruce is seldom very clearly defined, and the transition zone is often of consider able breadth. Similarly at the upper limit of tree growth the spruce forest does not finish abruptly, but gradually becomes VEGETATION 53 more and more attenuated. Clear spaces are more frequent, and a variety of pine (Pinus Mughus) and juniper (Juniperus nana) form a brushwood amidst which a few spruce-trees are still able to grow. In places where the junipers are wanting, the spruce becomes bushy. Elsewhere the alders form a thick covering on the surface. Above the tree-line come the Alpine pastures, in which the grasses Poa ovina and Poa disticha are the most prominent features. Along with them are associated many Alpine plants with bright flowers such as the primula (Primula longiflora), bell-flowers (Scilla bifolia), campanulas, anemones, &c. Above a height of 6,500 ft. the rhododendron (Rhododendron myrtifolium) and a variety of heath (Bruckenthalia spiculifolia) are the only woody plants which are found. The grasses (Phleum alpinum, Poa alpina, Poa hybrida, &c.) are inter mingled with a great variety of flowering plants, of which the most important are campanulas (Campanula alpina, C. Car- patica, C. rotundifolia), mountain avens (Dryas octopetala), violets (Viola declinata, V. biflora), gentians (Gentiana acaulis), and primulas (P. longiflora). At heights of 7,000 ft. and over, there are very few plants, the most important being Alpine varieties of the viola, pink, veronica, and primrose. On the limestone the flora is generally more prominent than on the rocks of crystalline formation. Upon the escarpments of Piatra Craiului and of Bucegi a considerable number of bright-coloured flowers grow everywhere in the crevices of the rocks. In the marshy bottoms of the cirques, dwarf willows, bil berries (Vaccinium Myrtillus), azaleas (Azalea Bruckenthalia), and sedges are all found. Animals The fauna of Roumania also varies according to the geo graphical character of the country. Among the more impor tant animals found in the Carpathians or in the more inac cessible parts of the hill country the following may be noted. The chamois, which is becoming very rare, was, until recently 54 VEGETATION AND ANIMALS at least, found in the more inaccessible cirques of the Fagaras and Paringu. The wild boar and the wolf live in the forests, but are sometimes found in the plains. The bear is occasionally met with, but is seldom dangerous. The lynx, the deer and the common goat also find a home in this region. Among the birds are the grouse, the capercailzie, the wall- creeper, and the water-ouzel. Two varieties of the eagle (the imperial eagle and the booted eagle) and two varieties of the vulture (the tawny vulture and the cinereous vulture) are also found. In the plains the animals are generally small. The dor mouse, the hamster, and the ground-squirrel are confined to this region. As in the mountains, the fox, the badger, the hedgehog, and the polecat are common, and the wild boar and the wolf are sometimes found. The birds characteristic of the plain include the great bustard, the little bustard, the calandra, the partridge, and the quail. In the marshes of the Danube valley a great variety of birds is found. Wild duck, wild geese, pelican, coot, heron, the stork, and the plover are only a few of the more important. Fish are numerous in most of the rivers. In the mountain streams trout and salmon are of common occurrence ; the rivers in the region of the hills contain barbel and other fish ; the more tranquil waters of the Wallachian plain are the home of carp and sandre. The Danube fisheries are of con siderable value. Among the chief fish caught there are sturgeon, sandre, salmon, and pike (see p. 148). The species of fish found in Roumanian waters number upwards of 70. CHAPTER IV INHABITANTS Origins and composition of population — Population statistics of the King dom of Roumania — Distribution of population — Characteristics and social conditions — Health conditions — Religion — Education — Language ¦ — literature — Roumanians outside Roumania — Foreigners in Rou mania. Origins and Composition of Population The origins and composition of the Roumanian people have not yet been determined with any certainty or exactitude, lt is known that the present kingdom of Roumania includes the major part of the area which, under the name of Dacia, was conquered by Trajan in A. D. 106. Large number of colonists came from all parts of the Roman Empire, and through inter marriage with the native ' Dacians ' gave rise to a romanized population, speaking ' rustic ' Latin. For a long time after the withdrawal of the Roman legions in the third century, little is known regarding the fate of the Daco-Roman people. When it again emerges into the light of history, its speech is found to have been profoundly modified by Slav, Bulgarian, and Albanian influences. Even its place-names have become more Slav than Latin. The Roumanian people, meantime, is found to be in occupation of both sides of the Carpathians, and south of the Danube in Macedonia. Until 1873 it was assumed by all writers upon Roumania that when the Emperor Aurelian withdrew his forces, the Daco-Romans preserved their independence by retiring into the mountainous regions north of the Danube, in Oltenia and the Banat. It was also believed that they then adopted a nomad pastoral mode of life, but that in course of time they became a conquering race and settled in the adjoining plains over "the wide area which is now occupied by Roumanian- speaking peoples. 56 INHABITANTS This theory explains in a sufficiently plausible manner the present geographical distribution ; but it fails to account for the Slav place-names of the Transylvanian Alps and of the plains, or for the existence of so great a proportion of Slav roots and of numerous Bulgarian and Albanian idioms in the Rou manian language, or for the many evidences in the Roumanian physical types, costumes, customs, and popular beliefs of Slav, Bulgarian, Albanian, and Greek influences. Another view is that in a. d. 270-75 the whole body of Roman settlers withdrew to the south of the Danube, and were there subject to Slav and other influences ; and that Wallachia and Transylvania have been roumanized by a slow immigration, beginning about the close of the thirteenth century, of Macedo- Roumanians. More recent investigations favour a compromise between these two views. 'The Roumanian language would seem to have been formed not in the mountains , but in the plains south as well as north of the Danube ; on any other view it would be difficult to account for the Bulgarian and Albanian idioms which have passed into the general structure of the language. But this may be admitted without our requiring to hold that there has been a complete lack of continuity in the population of Trajan's Dacia. It seems more reasonable to suppose that on the retreat of the legions a considerable number of Daco- Romans remained in the mountain regions of Oltenia and the Banat, and that it is from this centre that Wallachia and Transylvania have been roumanized. The Roumanians are an essentially mountain people. Until recently the population of Wallachia was more dense in the hill region than in the plains ; and south of the Danube Roumanians are found chiefly in the mountain regions. The migratory character of their primitive pastoral life, while helping to preserve the unity of their speech, may also account for the various foreign influences. As the flocks and herds, whenever possible, were led on to the plains for winter pasture, the shepherds, in course of time, would come to adopt the agricultural life of the lowland peoples (Roumanian agricultural terms are mostly Slav) and ORIGINS AND COMPOSITION 57 would thus give rise to the mixed population of the various Roumanian provinces. The Banat, it may also be observed, bffers a natural line of migration from the Carpathians to the Balkan ranges. History seems to confirm these suppositions. The first independent Roumanian States were in the mountains : Maramures, the country of Lityre on the Olt, the Banat, and Oltenia. Also, the capitals have progressively descended towards the plains : Turnu Severin, Strehaia, Craiova in Oltenia ; Campulung and Bucharest in Muntenia. Muntenia, a region in which the plains occupy three-quarters of the surface, owes its name to the fact that for long only the moun tains and hills were populated. The Carpathians would thus appear to be the true original home of the Roumanian people. They have not been a barrier separating them from other peoples, but the centre from which their civilization has spread. Conjecture apart, it is clear that the Roumanian people is the outcome of many diverse elements. To the original Dacian strain is due the nomad pastoral mode of life. There is ample evidence of a strong Slav element. More than half the roots in the Roumanian language are of Slav origin ; the place-names are two-thirds Slav; many customs and popular beliefs are con nected with those in Russia ; the Roumanian religion long used Slav as its official language ; and lastly, the traditional Roumanian law is also Slav in origin. This Slav element was introduced by the Slav invaders who appeared on the Danube in the fifth century. The Bulgarian and Albanian influences are also such as indicate intermarriage and fusion. During the Middle Ages Wallachia and Bulgaria were very closely related. There may also have been some Albanian population north of the Danube . The Greek influence is less easy to determine ; but most authorities recognize the existence of a Greek type in the Roumanian population. It is, of course, still more pronounced among the Macedo-Roumanians. Physical Types.— Quite different physical types are to be found in Wallachia : (1) The most frequent type is of slow and dignified carriage but alert expression, of good stature, 58 INHABITANTS with broad shoulders, black or dark hair, regular features, grey or brown eyes. This type is fairly general in the inter mediate hill region. (2) In the mountains a somewhat similar type has prominent cheek-bones, a more rigid bearing, and much smaller stature. (3) In the plains and certain parts of the hill country we find a blonde type, with fair or chestnut hair. These are sometimes of much reduced stature, sometimes also very slender with sloping shoulders. (4) In the larger towns and along the Danube many families which are Roumanian in sentiment and language are quite Greek in type. Persistence of the Latin Element. — When all is said, we have still to recognize the astonishing vitality of the original Latin element. It has been sufficiently strong to preserve the general grammatical structure and a very large proportion of the vocabulary of the ' rustic ' Latin ; and has rendered the Roumanian peasants, especially as found in Wallachia, very different in character from their Slav and Bulgarian neigh bours. All observers agree that the Wallachians have many Italian or Gallic traits. Notwithstanding the slow and some what Oriental dignity of their bearing, and the depression caused by centuries of subjection and by the hardness of their present way of life, they exhibit in their social ceremonies and festivals an alertness and gaiety, a love of fine phrases and of oratory, which show genuine kinship with the Latin peoples. Their own unshakable conviction that they are the direct descendants of Trajan's colonists tends also to strengthen these affinities, and has exercised a profound moral influence upon their political and intellectual development. In addition to this, owing to various circumstances, it has been France, not Russia or Austria, that has exercised the main formative influence in the most crucial period (1723 to 1870) of their modern history. For good or for ill Roumania has identified itself with the Latin tradition. Its government is modelled upon French institutions ; its political and intellectual leaders have, with few exceptions, been educated in Paris ; and in the important task of remodelling their language to suit the needs POPULATION STATISTICS OF ROUMANIA 59 of literature and science, the Roumanians have invariably looked for inspiration to Latin sources. Population Statistics of the Kingdom of Roumania The total number of inhabitants in the kingdom of Rou mania, as recorded by the census of December 1912, was 7,234,919. These figures do not include the population of the territory annexed by the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913. According to Bulgarian statistics of 1910 the annexed region had a population of 273,090. The population of the kingdom, augmented by that of the annexed territory and by the excess of births over deaths for the year 1913, had.therefore increased by the beginning of 1914 to 7,626,000. This total includes 250,000 Gipsies and Bulgarians who have become Roumanian subjects, and 240,000 Jews, only a small number of whom are naturalized; about 5,000 of the Jews are subjects of other countries, the others, though not naturalized, are under Roumanian protection. In addition, the above total includes about 200,000 subjects of foreign States, comprising 100,000 Austro-Hungarian subjects (almost all of whom are Roumanians of Transylvania), 20,000 Turks (especially in the harbours of the Danube), 20,000 Greeks, and about 8,000 from the German Empire, who with the German- Austrians and the ' Siebenbiirger ' Saxons form a considerable colony in Bucharest. The non-naturalized Bulgarians in Roumania, mosttif whom are market-gardeners, are about 8,000 in number. These latter, however, are not included in the above statistics, as they return to Bulgaria for the winter months. In central Moldavia there are thousands of Magyar descent (Changos and Szeklers) ; the communes along the Danube have many inhabitants of Serbian origin. For details concerning the foreign population see below, p. 90. Since the census of 1899 the population had increased by 21.-5 per cent, to 1914 : 22-3 per cent.in the rural communes and 18-1 per cent, in the towns. The increase would have been still greater but for the Balkan war of 1913 and the cholera 60 INHABITANTS epidemic which followed it. The war also caused a great emigration of Bulgarians, Serbs, Albanians, Turks, &c. The average annual increase by excess of births over deaths in the period 1903-12 was 103,968. The excess of births in 1912 was 148,474. Departments and Capital Towns. — The following table gives the area and population of departments, and the population of their capitals, according to the census of December 1912. Wallachia and Moldavia Department. *Arge? . Bacau . Boto$ani *Braila . *Buzau . Covurlui ?Dambovita fDoljiu . DorohoiFalciu . tGorjiu . 'Ialomifa *Ilfov . tMehedinfi *Muscel . Neamtu . *01t . . *Prahova Putna . *Ramnicu Silrat Roman . | Romana.fi Suceava . Tecuci . *Teleorman Tutova . •(•Valcea . Vaslui . *Vla§ca . Area ' (sq. miles). 1,7101,5401,2201,6801,8801,140 .1,340 2,540 1,090 850 1,810 2,6202,230 1,210 1,9101,140 1,5401,0901,8001,250 1,260 810 1,7701,320 980 1,810 920 1,640 840 1,730 Total Population. 242,917232,954 197,404 181,534 277,977 171,799 258,318 436,449 184,382 108,396 200,371242,848 681,759 212,669 295,474 135,216 169,849 171,086 389,914 181,38* 163,937128,165 248,600 151,147 142,384 297,470 129,189 232,011 128,804 259,395 Capital Town. Pite?ti . . Bacau . Boto$ani . Braila . Buzau . Galatz Targovi^tc Craiova Dorohoi Hum . Targu Jiu CalarasiBucharest Jassy . Turnu Severin Campulung Piatra . Slatina PloejtiFoc$aniRamnicu Sara t RomanCaracalFalticeni . Tecuci Turnu Magurele BarladRamnicu Valcea Vaslui . Giurgiu Population of Capital. 19,722 18,846 32,57465,053 28,807 71,641 13,041 51,404 13,951 15,652 9,763 12,995 341,321 75,22923,643 16,09018,965 9,825 56,46025,066 14,49618,128 15,048 8,637 14,927 10,169 25,288 9,628 10,397 20,629 * Wallachian departments marked * are in Muntenia or Great Wal lachia; those marked 't are in Oltenia or Little Wallaohia. Moldavian departments aro unmarked. POPULATION STATISTICS OF ROUMANIA 61 Department. Caliacra . Constanfa DurostorTuloea Area (sg. miles). 2,100 2,670 870 3,330 Dobruja Total Population. 143,355 209,571 130,735170,859 Capital Town. Dobrich . ConstantaSilistra Tulcea Population of Capital. 17,102 27,201 11,646 21,727 Urban and Rural Population. — The urban population in 1912 was 18-4 per cent., and the rural population 81-6 per cent., of the total population. This is practically the same proportion as in 1899. The proportion of the urban popula tion in the Dobruja was much greater, being 25 per cent, of its total population. On the other hand the urban per centage was only 10 per cent, in Oltenia. In Moldavia it approached that of the whole country, being 18-2 per cent. In Muntenia the urban population represented a proportion of 21-2 per cent. Bucharest was the only city with more than 100,000 inhabitants : in December 1912 it had 341,321, an increase of 65,143 since 1899. There were fourteen towns of more than 20,Q00 inhabitants. In November 1916, the capital was removed from Bucharest to Jassy, and the population of this town, which in 1914 was about 65,000, was thereupon in creased by an irruption of officials, banking and mercantile personnel, refugees from invaded territories, and, a little later, the Roumanian and Russian head-quarters staffs, so that the total number of inhabitants was estimated in January 1917 at 200,000 or more, and this movement brought, with it all the evils of overcrowding, inflation of prices, shortage of supplies, and disease. Mortality and Birth Rates. — In 1913, owing to war and the resulting epidemic of cholera, the number of deaths was 191,689, i. e. 261 per 1,000. 1,259 soldiers lost their lives in Bulgaria, the majority from cholera ; 5,094 died of the epi demic in Roumania. The rate of mortality, even in ordinary years, is among the highest in Europe. For the period 1891- 1900 it was 29-2, and for the period 1901-10, 25-8. 62 INHABITANTS The death-rate for children up to 5 years of age is about 50 per cent, of the total death-rate. About one-fifth of the infants born die in their first year ; at the end of the fifth year only one-third survive. . The annual number of births was 314,090 in 1912, and 309,625 in 1913. The birth-rate is 43 per 1,000, which places Roumania, among European countries, very high — imme diately after Russia and Bulgaria. Distribution of Population In 1912 the distribution of population in the historical divisions of the country was as follows : Moldavia .... 2,139,154 = 29-5 per cent. Muntenia .... 3,302,430 = 45-6 Oltenia . . . 1,412,905 = 19-6 Dobruja .... 380,430= 5-3 For the whole country the density of the population in 1912 was 144 inhabitants per square mile. The distribution varies in the historical divisions : Inhabitants per square mile. Urban and rural Rural populations together. population. Moldavia ... 144 113 Muntenia . . 162 126 Oltenia ... 151 134 Dobruja (12 46 In general the population is denser in the industrial and com mercial departments : it is also denser in the plains than in the hill districts and in the regions adjoining the marshes. Only two-thirds of the Dobruja are habitable. The upheaval of the population consequent upon the war had its principal, and a disastrous, effect in a concentration in Moldavia. Here, in the winter of 1916-17, there was an accretion of population — refugees, Roumanian and Russian soldiery, &c. — which has been estimated at much over a million : the territory was unable adequately to accommodate or supply them, and a hard winter aggravated the situation. As at Jassy, so elsewhere, the ravages of typhus and other epidemics were very serious. DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION 63 We shall nevertheless review in the following paragraphs the distribution of the population under normal conditions, principally in regard to its control by natural geographical factors. Carpathian Region The Roumanian part of the Carpathian range is one of the least densely populated mountain regions in Europe, and the upper limit of permanently occupied habitations does not rise above the 2,500-ft. contour line. The rivers are in the main transverse, often cutting their way through the moun tains in narrow gorges, and there are few well developed longi tudinal valleys such as exist in the Alps. Arable land is consequently limited in extent, and the cultivation of the soil is only possible in specially favoured localities. The most striking feature of the mountains are the large areas of com paratively level pasture land at high elevations. These plaiuri or paths, dotted at the beginning of summer with the most beautiful alpine flowers, form the domain of the Rou manian shepherds (see Chapter VII). Region of the Hills The geographical factors which control the distribution and economic activities of the inhabitants of this region are by no means the same throughout. In the sub-Carpathian depressions there is much fertile soil which, except in the areas subject to flooding, is devoted to cultivation or pasture. The ridges which separate the depressions from one another are frequently covered with oak and beech, remnants of the ancient forest which once extended over the whole region.. The population, which is relatively dense, finds an additional source of wealth in the pasture lands lying on the lower slopes of the mountains and in the forests higher up. Large towns and isolated houses are few, and the bulk of the people live in small villages situated at the openings of the mountain- valleys or upon the flanks of the ridges which separate the depressions. In the west of Oltenia the hill region proper consists of the 64 INHABITANTS high plateau of Mehidinti, which is a poor land with but a scanty population. Except in the limestone districts, where good arable land occurs in the dolines, the soil is infertile, the rainfall heavy,' and the temperature relatively low. . Farther to the east conditions are generally much more favourable. The two terraces which lie on the slopes of the valleys (see p. 19) are usually covered with fertile alluvial soil and are devoted to agriculture. The population is more widely scattered than in many other parts of the region and every fold of the land contains a small group of houses. In Muntenia a somewhat similar state of affairs exists. In the valleys and on the- terraces where the soil is fertile the land is culti vated and the population fairly dense. The intervening uplands, on the other hand, are generally forested and almost uninhabited. The districts drained by the Arges and its tributaries (including the sub-Carpathian depression round Campulung) afford a particularly favourable example of the hill country. River-valleys are numerous, and on the terraces there is much fertile soil. Few parts of Roumania are better suited to agriculture. Between Targoviste and Focsani, farther to the east, the hill country contracts in breadth, and economic conditions become more complex. The bulk of the population is still concentrated in the valleys, but its distribution is affected by the mineral wealth of the region. There has been intense alluviation in the valleys of the Ialo mita, the Prahova, and the Teleajenu, and the terraces are extremely fertile. Towards the south and south-east indeed, where the hill country has sunk, they have a great extension, ajid only the summits of the hills appear above the level of the alluvial soil. In addition to these facilities for agriculture, the mineral wealth of the region — consisting of petroleum and salt— has led to a great increase in the population. The villages are situated either at the foot of the upper terrace or along the course of the rivers. In the basin of the Buzau there is also much fertile soil, and the lower slopes of the hills are covered with orchards, vineyards, and plum plantations, while the villages are established at the foot of each valley. Farther DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION 65 to the. north agricultural conditions become less favourable and the population less dense. In Moldavia the geographical factors which control the distribution of the population are somewhat different. The land has been dissected by rivers to a much greater extent, while its surface has been covered by a thick mantle of loess. The loess is fertile but it absorbs water easily and, as a rule, springs are found only on the slopes of the valleys where the loess comes in contact with the underlying rocks. It is here accordingly that settlement has taken place, and it is in the neighbourhood of such, settlement that the agricultural lands are found. The intervening uplands are generally un inhabited and are still, to a considerable extent, covered with forest. In the flood-plains of the larger rivers, on the other hand, the land is marshy and incapable of cultivation, and towns and villages are situated on the marginal slopes. On account of the differences which exist it will be advisable to distinguish between Wallachia and Moldavia when discussing agriculture in the region of the hills. Wallachian Plain The geographical conditions which control the distribution .of, the population of this region are somewhat similar to those which exist in Moldavia. The chief factor is the position of accessible supplies of water, and this depends in the main upon the thickness of the covering of alluvial soil (in the west) or loess (in the east) and the level of the underground water-table. As a rule therefore the people are grouped in the river -valleys, where water can be obtained either from springs or by sinking wells, and scattered habitations are necessarily few. In Oltenia, for example, the villages have an average population of between 800 and 1,000, and those with 3,000 or 4,000 are not rare. To the east of the Olt a dis tinction may be drawn between the upper and lower slopes of the region. The former districts are more dissected by rivers and have a thinner covering of loess, so that valleys with springs upon their slopes are numerous. Favourable KOUMANIA E 66 INHABITANTS conditions of this nature prevail in the valleys of the Arges and its tributaries as far south as Bucharest ; and in the valleys of the Ialomita, and of the rivers which flow into it, the water is also everywhere near the surface. These districts are accordingly among the most densely populated in the region, and the habitations of the people are well distributed. In the basins of the Vedea and the Teleorman the rivers do not rise in the mountains, and, as a result, are almost dry in summer, but springs flow out along their slopes and mark the sites of many small villages The lower parts of the terrace are less favourably situated as regards water, and the population is accordingly more con centrated In the departments of Teleoiman, Vlasca, and Ilfov much of the land is fertile, but the greater part of the population is grouped in large villages along the sources of the Teleorman, the Arges, and the Dambovita. In the Baragan conditions are worse, and for long the region was almost en tirely uninhabited except by wandering herdsmen. Since the construction of the railway from Bucharest to Cernavoda matters have improved. The fertility of the soil has been recognized, and, although attempts to obtain water by artesian wells have failed, ordinary wells have been sunk in the dry valleys, and round these agricultural villages have grown up. The most favoured districts lie along the line of depression followed by the railway fjjpm Calarasi to Ciulnita, and in the valley of the Mostistea, where springs occur along the line of contact between the loess and the Tertiary clays. To the north of the valley of the Ialomita, which is also well populated, especially upon its southern slopes, the terrace is lower than elsewhere. There are, however, numerous valleys, and in them water can be obtained at no great distance from the surface. The region is therefore more populous than the Baragan and a greater proportion of the land is cultivated. There are many villages in this depression. CHARACTERISTICS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 67 Characteristics and Soctal Conditions The Peasantry Roumania is, in the main, a peasant State. Though com merce and industry have greatly increased in the past genera. tion, the rural population in 1913 was still 81-6 per cent, of the total. The peasants show traces of past centuries of oppression, and the present conditions of their life are hard and exacting. Though their glance is keen, it is in striking contrast to their apathetic bearing. Their songs are plaintive ; their dances are never boisterous ; their voices are rarely loud. Towards strangers they are distrustful and unresponsive. There are signs, however, that their native traits of character are very different, and only await favouring conditions. They are self-respecting and independent. They delight in colour and ornament. There is a suppressed passion in many of then bongs. On Sundays and festivals they exhibit a social care free spirit which is genuinely akin to that of the Latin races. The Roumanians are a very artistic people. This is shown in their handicrafts, in their brightly coloured national cos tumes, in their songs and legends, and in their dehght in the elaborate ritual of their baptism, betrothal, marriage, and funeral ceremonies. The richness of the oral tradition of the peasants explains the gift for public speaking which is so general in the educated classes. The economic position of the Roumanian peasant is far from satisfactory. He is underfed and, though industrious, works hi a somewhat listless manner. Observers have fre quently remarked that he is more capable of a vigorous burst of energy than of continuous steady effort. Also„ probably owing to the habits induced during centuries of Turkish misrule, the Roumanian is seldom thrifty or provident. To what causes the evils of rural life are chiefly due, whether to the smallness of the holdings and the conditions of tenure, or to lack of banking and transport facilities, or to short sighted management on the part of the great proprietors, or E 2 68 INHABITANTS to inherited apatliy and lack of skill and initiative on the part of the peasants themselves, is a controversial question. Probably all of these causes in some degree contribute to the continuance of the present unsatisfactory state of affairs. Educational faculties of an eminently practical character are steadily improving ; and since the outbreak of the European War, proposals for a new and comprehensive division of land, b\' purchase from the larger proprietors, have been accepted by the Government. The sanitary conditions of village life are extremely backward ; together with the lack of proper feeding, they account for the high infant death-rate, i Pellagra is very prevalent. Peasant Types. — The peasants vary in type in the various divisions of the country. The Wallachian peasant is, by general admission, superior to the Moldavian. The former has great natural dignity, and approaches the boier and the Btranger on terms of equality. The Moldavian, even if pros perous, has more humble ways ; he also exhibits greater lethargy and depression. It is said that the Wallachian allows his hair to grow long ; the Moldavian merely does not cut his '. The land is indeed better cultivated in Moldavia than in Wallachia ; but this is due to the large proprietors who introduce new methods. The Moldavian peasant does not even own the agricultural implements which he uses, and remains in a state of subjection, from which his brothers on the Danube and in Oltenia begin to emerge. On the lands of the large proprietors he generally works under the direction of Jewish foremen. There are a certain number of " peasant nobles ' (mosneni), who have held their freeholds for three or four centuries. They live as peasants, though in a superior style, and wear the national costume. Also in every village there are certain peasants who are more prosperous than the others, or who through personal qualities have acquired a certain authority. These are called fruntasi. At table, in all social ceremonies, a special place is reserved for them. Sec 62. CHARACTERISTICS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 69 Women. — The women are slender, with small hands and small feet : a stout peasant is quite a rare sight. The good looks of the Roumanian peasant women are generally acknow ledged, but owing to the scorching summer sun and the severity of the winters, as well as the poorness of their food and the hardness of their life, their beauty fades at a very early age. The standard of sexual morality among the Roumanian peasantry is extremely high. Dress. — There is no single national costume or ordinary dress. The costumes vary in the different regions, and often differ, markedly even in adjoining villages. The dress of the men is more uniform than that of the women, and also plainer. It is always white, and consists of two main garments : (a) trousers of woollen or hemp tissue, of various cuts, the most characteristic being the itari, very long trousers, about twice the length of the leg, and gathered up in thin folds all along the leg, to which they tightly fit ; (6) the shirt, of flax, hemp, cotton, or even of rough silk white tissue, hanging like a smock over the trousers and fastened at the waist with a broad, long, red woollen sash or by a leather belt. The headgear in winter is the cdciuld, a lambskin cap, and in summer a black felt hat (pdldrie), with broad brim, trimmed round the top with ribbons. On the feet are worn sandals (opinci), shoes, or boots, of cattle and pig hide. Sandals are worn because of their lightness and cheapness. Boots are the favourite footgear : they have heavy heels, indispensable for marking time in the dances. There is a great variety of coats, the most common being the sheepskin (cojoc), worn with the wool turned inwards. The pieptar, a vest worn both by men and by women, is also made from sheepskin. Only old men wear beards. The young men shave, but always wear moustaches. A man with an entirely clean shaven face is very distasteful to them. A span (a beardless, moustacheless man) is looked upon as a very doubtful char acter, and so is a red-haired man. In popular tales both are set down as peculiar beings, sure to work mischief wherever they come. 70 INHABITANTS The women's costume also consists of two main garments : (a) a robe, reaching to the ankle, with embroideries, on all the upper part, in coloured cotton, chiefly red and black ; (6) over this is a petticoat, varying in type in the different valleys and in the various regions of the plains. On the head they wear the stergar, a kind of veil (of cotton tissue with silk stripes, or of silk with cotton designs), or else a small round felt hat (pdldrie). Around the neck, or on the hair, they wear necklaces of coins and beads. Their coats are similar to those of the men. Usually they go barefoot, but with their festive clothes they wear shoes. The material situation of the peasant must not be judged by the magnificence of his festival clothes. As among most primitive peoples, luxury is sought at the expense of the necessary. The costume may be worth hundreds of francs. Women and young girls wear their whole fortune in their necklaces of gold pieces. Cleanliness. — As already indicated, the women are very competent and skilled, and are almost universally attentive to their home duties. On Saturday afternoon every house wife washes the linen, cleans and scrubs the house ; and in the evening all members of the household have a thorough washing. In preparation also for Easter the house is cleaned from top to bottom, and is whitewashed outside. On the; whole, however, in the ordinary conditions of their life, a scrupulous cleanliness can hardly be counted among the virtues of the Roumanian peasants. ' A httle dirt brings luck to a man's house ' expresses the popular sentiment. Decaying refuse of all kinds is thrown into the yard around the houses. The sanitary arrangements are of the most primitive and careless character. Food. — The national dish is mdmdligd, a very thick porridge or polenta of maize flour. It takes the place of bread. It is made fresh for each meal, and eaten warm. It is turned out from the round kettle on the carefully scrubbed table, and the family sits round on stools or other available supports. All make the sign of the Cross, and the men uncover : to eat CHARACTERISTICS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 71 covered is regarded as a sin. The mdmaliga is cut into slices. Frequently it is eaten with cheese (brdnzd). The supple mentary fare is a soup, or a chicken or fish stew. Meat is rarely used. On fast-days the soup is prepared with vege tables (beans, peas, lentils, beetroot, cabbage), of which stews are also made. In the poorest households fast-day fare gener ally consists merely of mdmdligd and of bruised garlic, with salt and water. Fruit is eaten with mdmaliga, or is used in stews. There is a vessel with water in a corner of the room, from which every one helps himself with a small pot. Before drinking, some drops are blown over the edge of the pot for the spirits of the dead. In summer, meals are carried to the fields. Nobility and Upper Classes The ancient nobility of Roumania still survives in about 1,000 boier families. They enjoy, however, no special privi leges. Though in many cases they still own large landed estates, power has largely passed from their hands into those of the official and professional classes. Their prestige is mainly supported by the very large proportion of prominent citizens that are recruited from their ranks. The absence of a native commercial class of large or petty merchants further contributes to the homogeneity of educated Roumanian society. The only definitely marked cleavage is between the peasants and the governing classes. The same love of ornament which the peasants show in their costumes has led the upper classes to adopt a luxurious and expensive mode of life. They usually live up to, if they do not exceed, the limit of their income. The lethargy of the peasant is conspicuously absent. They are energetic and sanguine, always ready for new enterprises, enjoying the present, but confidently basing their plans of life, individual and national, upon the harvest of the future. Health Conditions The hygienic conditions of Roumania are in many respects like those of central Europe. There are, however, two 72 INHABITANTS diseases which are especially prevalent in Roumania — malaria and pellagra. Malaria exists all along the Danube in Roumania. It is prevalent between Calarasi and Galatz, and in the Dobruja, where conditions are particularly bad in winter. Pellagra is common among the peasants. The origin of this disease is obscure ; it seems, however, to be most common in countries where maize is the chief food of the people. Other authorities' incline to the view that it is caused by the sandfly. Pellagra is a chronic disease, which results in the death of the patient after a few years. Unlike malaria, it does not attack strangers to the country. The Roumanians are not especially subject to other diseases, under normal conditions, though, as indicated in an earlier paragraph, the overcrowding of Moldavia during the war was accompanied by terrible outbreaks of disease. Epidemics of small-pox are fairly frequent, and cholera and typhus have visited the country. Strangers should exercise care, owing to the variations in climate. Religion The census of 1899 divides the po2iulation, according to religion, as follows : Total. Per cent. Orthodox Jewish . Roman Catholic Protestant MohammedanLipovans ArmeniansNot known 5,956,690 100 Orthodox Church The State Church of Roumania is a branch of the Orthodox Eastern Church. Until 1864 the Roumanian Church was under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople. In that year it was declared independent of ' alien prelates ' ; and in 1872 laws were passed establishing a Holy Synod as . 5,451,787 91-5 266.651; 4-5 149,667 2-5 22,74(1 0-4 44,732 0-7 15,094 0-3 5,787 01 '222 0-0 RELIGION 73 tho supreme authority in all ecclesiastical matters. The Synod consists of the two metropolitan archbishops — the Arclibishop of Hungary- Wallachia, with the additional title, Primate of Roumania, and the Archbishop of Moldavia and Suceava — the six diocesan bishops, and eight bishops in partibus. Appointment of metropolitans and bishops is by an electoral college, constituted by the metropolitans, the diocesan bishops, the bishops in partibus, and the members of the two Chambers, except those who are not Orthodox. The election is by a majority in secret ballot. The conflict which arose with the Patriarch in consequence of the rejection of his jurisdiction in 1872 was settled by a compromise in 1885. The independence of the Roumanian Church was recognized, and at the same time the Patriarch of Constantinople was allowed the rank of highest dignitary of the Orthodox Church. In 1904 there were 367 urban parishes and 3,306 rural parishes, each with its church. There were also 223 auxiliary churches in the urban communes, and 2,782 in the rural communes. The total of churches for the whole country at this date was thus 6,678, with 4,498 officiating priests. The clergy was formerly supported by voluntary offerings and by small allowances from the communes. Since 1893 the State has taken over the entire support of all members of the Orthodox clergy. The priesthood is recruited from the peasantry ; its intel lectual level is still very low. Secular priests must be married, but only the unmarried (i.e. monastic) or the widowed can aspire to the higher dignities. • The priests are respected by the villagers. But the Roumanian peasants, though strict observers of the fast or festival days — it is asserted that they work only 115 days in the year — are not greatly under priests' influence. The power of the Church extends only to the external proprieties and to the formal discharge of religious rites. The peasants are seldom present at the ordinary Church services ; they are content that the priests should attend to their punctual performance. Even the simple 74 INHABITANTS domestic prayers, which have been handed down for genera tions, are ritualistic — for instance, ' Cross in the house, Cross on the table, Cross in the four corners of the house ! ' The clergy have little influence over the cultivated classes. The Greek monasteries, which had come into possession of about a fifth of the Roumanian land, were dissolved and their property confiscated by the State in 1867. In 1904 there were 20 large and 26 small Roumanian monasteries sup ported by the State. The monks and brothers numbered 861. There were also 21 large and 23 small convents, with 2,220 nuns and sisters. Each monastery has a guest-house, where travellers are received and very comfortably lodged. In addition to the religious houses thus maintained by the State, there were 23 small convents privately supported. The Government does not now encourage the monastic hfe. Women are not permitted to take full vows until the age of forty, or men until the age of sixty. Fasts. — The underfeeding of the peasants is accentuated by the numerous fasts prescribed by the Church, to which reference has been made above. Eating flesh on a pro hibited day is superstitiously regarded as the greatest sin possible. The fast-periods are : seven weeks before Easter, as many before Christmas ; four weeks in June before St. Peter's Day, and two in August before St. Mary's, besides the three days of the week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. During Lent the Roumanian peasant becomes vegetarian, with no milk, butter, or eggs, not even olive-oil, which together with fish is allowed on certain fast-days — never on a Friday or Wednesday. Monday fasting is not quite so universal. Very few members of the educated classes observe these fasts. The rigour with which the peasants observe all the fastings and external requirements of the Church seems to be closely bound up with their extremely superstitious cast of mind. The belief in evil spirits is quite as strong as the belief in God, and fear of them is even greater. Only incense and the Cross can keep them away. The devil and his hosts are RELIGION 75 hardly ever spoken of without the addition of the protecting formula : ' Golden Cross with us ! ' Ghosts (strafii) of deceased men and animals, vampires (strigoi), air and wind divinities (iele), &c, are guarded against by making the sign of the Cross with the finger. But there are also many other precautions, such as throwing shreds on the place where one has sat, or not looking behind when walking, and, above all, keeping indoors after dark until the fateful hour of mid night is passed. The view taken of the festival of the Holy Trinity is a very typical mingling of orthodoxy and superstition. That day is also the day of the Rusalii, hostile powers who frequent the fields and woods from Trinity to St. Peter's Day (June 29), raising wind and storms, and also being especially dangerous to children, whom they snatch even from their mother's arms. No peasant can be induced, by any reward, to work on Holy Trinity Day. On its eve twigs of worm wood should be placed under one's pillow ; otherwise, the Rusalii may unroof the house and snatch away the inmates. On the day itself a bunch of wormwood ought to be worn at the belt. There is an almost endless number of such superstitious practices, some more strictly, and some less strictly, observed. The women, in Roumania as elsewhere, are 'more anxious observers of them than the men. The religious teaching in the State schools is spreading a more enlightened view of the beliefs and ideals represented by the Church. The seminaries for the training of the clergy are also being improved. Such endeavours have hitherto been largely nullified by the absoluteness of the breach between the Church and the cultivated classes. Other Churches All Churches in Roumania, not excepting the Mohammedans and the Russian sects, enjoy complete religious freedom. This is guaranteed by the provisions of the Constitution. The fact of belonging to a foreign faith is not a barrier to the 76 INHABITANTS possession of full civil and political rights nor to appointments under the State. The Roman Catholic Church. — Members of the Roman Catholic Church are almost invariably aliens, except in some villages of the Sereth (Siret) valley (districts of Roman and Bacau), in which there is a population of Hungarian origin, established since the fifteenth century, and still preserving its original Catholic religion. The Church is administered in two dioceses : an arch bishop, resident at Bucharest, administers the diocese of Wallachia ; a bishop, resident at Jassy, administers the diocese of Moldavia. There are eight convents, established in the large towns. Most of these conduct schools for girls. Protestant Churches. — The Lutheran confession is the most largely represented of the Protestant Churches in Roumania. In 1899 it had 16 churches, with 13,490 adherents, the majority of whom were in the rural communes of the Dobruja. Calvinism had in 1904 only 5 churches, with 6,743 adherents. Anglicanism had 2 churches, with 290 adherents. In Moldavia there is a Scottish-Protestant Mission, of old standing and small success. Its activities are directed to the conversion of the Jews. The Armenian Church. — The adherents of the Armenian Church are mainly in the large towns. The Armenian priests depend directly upon the Gregorian Patriarch of Constantinople, who nominates them. Lipovans. — The Lipovans or Roscolnitschi are Christian sects who have migrated from Russia in order to escape persecution. They are established in the north of the Dobruja, in the larger towns of Moldavia, and in Bucharest. There are 4 sects of Lipovans : (1) the Popovitsi have priests ; (2) the Bezpopovitsi have no priests ; (3) the Molokani drink milk in their fasts ; (4) the Skoptsi are the eunuchs. Jews. — The Jewish religious communities are directed by committees, elected by them from among their own members. The religious head of a community is the Rabbi, RELIGION 77 nominated by the committee, and chosen from among those who have the necessary education. There are no higher religious authorities charged with the supervision of the various communities. In 1899 there were 603 synagogues and houses of prayer, of which 439 were in the urban com munes and 164 in the rural communes. At Constanta and elsewhere there are groups of Jews called Karaites. They form a separate confession, holding to the Old Testament, but rejecting the Talmud. Mohammedans. — The Mohammedans, for religious pur poses, form communities in the towns and villages. Ea°b religious community supports one or more mosques with their officials. • Certain urban mosques are maintained by the Roumanian Government. The spiritual head of the various communes is the Mufti, directly nominated by the Sheikh el-Islam at Constantinople. In addition to ecclesiastical powers, the Mufti has jurisdiction in regard to marriage, divorce, and inheritance of property. In 1899 there were in the Dobruja 31 urban mosques (of which 11 were maintained by the State) and 183 rural mosques. For the education of the mosque officials the Roumanian Government supports a Mohammedan seminary in the town of Medgidia. In 1899 it had 3 professors and 61 students. Education By the Constitution of 1866 it was provided that all educa tion, whether primary, secondary, or at the universities, should be free ; and that primary education should be obligatory. This latter provision comes into force for each locality immediately a State school is established within it. The earliest trustworthy statistics of illiteracy are those of 1899, and the degree of progress made since that date can be determined by comparison with the census results of 1912. In 1899 78 per cent, of the population over 7 years of age were illiterate ; in 1912 the percentage had fallen to 60-7 per cent. Illiteracy is more common among women than 78 INHABITANTS among men. Tn 1912 45-2 per cent, of men and 76-8 per cent, of women were illiterate. In 1912 about 40 per cent, of the children of school age were receiving no education. This is not entirely due to the lack of schools. The peasants offer considerable passive resistance to the educational endeavours of the State. Yet even as matters now stand, there is in Roumania 1 State school for every 13,000 inhabitants, against 1 for 18,000 in Bulgaria, and 1 for 22,000 in Serbia. In 1912-13 there were 370 urban and 4,686 rural primary State schools, with 8,240 teachers and 995,457 pupils. In the Dobruja there is a smaller proportion of illiteracy than in any other part of Roumania, viz. 54-8 per cent. The school-teacher is usually a person of more education than the priest, and he plays an increasingly important part in the life of the village. The policy of the Govern ment has been to preserve his peasant simplicity. He dresses and lives like the other villagers. Attached to the school-house is a piece of land of 2 \ to 5 acres, part of which he uses as a school-garden for instruction in agriculture and gardening ; the rest he works himself in the intervals of teach ing. Recently his duties have multiplied in connexion with the rural banks and co-operative organizations, which have been established by the State for the purpose of freeing the peasants from subjection to Jewish and foreign control. There is no antagonism between the teacher and the priest. In some villages the priest is also the school-teacher. There are two main types of secondary school, the lyceum and gymnasium on the one hand, and schools with a more directly practical aim on the other. The lyceum gives an eight years' course in both intermediate and higher studies ; the gymnasium gives only a four years' course of intermediate standard. In addition to the State schools, above enumerated, there is in Roumania a fairly large number of private schools. In more recent years the most important of the private institu tions has been the Evangelische Knaben- und Real-schvle at EDUCATION 79 Bucharest. It was under the control of the German Govern ment, and prior to the war was attended by more pupils than any other school in the capital. There are two universities with faculties in law, philo sophy, science and medicine, and theology ; one at Bucharest (120 professors and lecturers, and 3,422 students), and the other at Jassy (60 professors and lecturers, and 534 students). There is also at Bucharest an engineering college for instruc tion in the building of roads and bridges. Since, as already stated, all education, even in the secondary schools and universities, is free, and as there are charitable endowments for aiding the poorer students, the children of the peasants, when they show special ability and force of character, can easily procure the diplomas that open the way to all the State services. The result has been a genuine democratizing of Roumanian public life. Though a con siderable proportion of the most prominent citizens still come from the ancient noble families, the great bulk of the directing classes are of humble origin. The universities are now in a position to supply native training for all the professions ; and the country no longer suffers to the same degree as in the past from the aloofness and doctrinaire views of a younger generation that has been expatriated for a prolonged period during the most impres sionable years. Foreign residence is now a supplement to, not a substitute for, home training. The universities, as national institutions, play a twofold part. They exercise .a very considerable influence through the training which they give to the higher public servants, nearly all of whom are university graduates ; and they strengthen and direct the patriotic consciousness through the study of Roumanian history, national institutions, and literature. In both respects they supply a needed counterpoise to the illiberal tendencies of political intrigue, in which, as observed below, the whole pivil service tends to participate. The Roumanian Academy was founded in 1887, chiefly in order that it might, prepare a uniform Grammar and Etymo- 80 INHABITANTS logical Dictionary of the Roumanian language. Of the latter at least three volumes have been published. The Academy is also editing the original sources of Roumanian history : thirty -five volumes have already appeared. The Geographical Society, which was founded in 1875, has pub lished a Geographical Dictionary in five handsome volumes, and has also published similar dictionaries for the provinces of Bessarabia and Bukovina. State Service and ihe Professions Educated Roumanians, with very few exceptions, either practise a liberal profession (combined generally with politics), or enter the Government service in some of its many branches. The following figures were given in 1904 : State officials 102,560 Ecclesiastics (priests and monks) . . 12,000 Teachers 6,000 Army officers ..... 4,000 Advocates 1,700 Judicial magistrates and officials . 963 They are disinclined for an 'independent commercial or industrial career. This is the reason why the factories of cloth, sugar, glass, &c, the exploitation of the oil-fields, the banks, the large businesses of import and export, the shops in the towns are almost entirely in the hands of Jews and aliens. A criticism often passed upon present-day Roumania is that the Roumanians tend to rely too exclusively upon Government initiative : the Government may be reasonably effective, but it is not supplemented by individual enterprise. This concentration of the educated Roumanians on politics and a State career, coupled, as it is, with the acceptance of the ' spoils ' system in the State appointments, has had the further effect of rendering party strife extremely violent. The' press, too, is very personal in its controversial methods. There is, however, absolute freedom of speech, press, and assembly. King Carol, notwithstanding repeated provoca tion, consistently throughout his whole reign refused to permit LANGUAGE 81 prosecutions for lese-majeste. The constitutional safeguards of poUtical liberty have in these matters been respected in spirit and in letter, alike by the executive and by the Chambers. Language The speech of the Roumanians is descended from ' rustic ' Latin which was spoken by the Roman colonists of Moesia and Dacia. About the sixth century these colonists were cut off from the rest of the Roman world, and for over a thousand years have been surrounded by Slavonic or Magyar speaking peoples. That numerous Slavonic words should have been adopted into the Roumanian vocabulary was only natural. The proportion of Slavonic to Latin words in Roumanian to-day is about three to two. Nevertheless Roumanian is a genuinely Latin or rather ' Romance ' tongue, in the same degree as modern English is a ' Germanic ' tongue in spite of its large Romance vocabulary. In the course of the last century the Roumanians regained consciousness of their Latin origin ; they applied themselves to the study of the classics, and endeavoured to assimilate; Italian and especially French civilization. They discarded the Cyrillic alphabet and adopted in its place twenty-three Latin characters. The letters are the same as in the English alphabet, with the omission of g, w, and y. In order to provide .equivalents for each of the thirty-eight Cyrillic characters, diacritical marks or accents were freely introduced. The spelling is a mere transliteration of the Cyrillic writing and consequently archaic. For example a, e and 6 are all pro nounced like the vowel sound in French. ' feu ' ; I is almost mute, and at the end of a word merely modifies the preceding consonant, e. g. bdrbaf, man ; barbati, men (pronounced bar- batsh) ; u is not pronounced at all ; a, e, i, and u, retained on purely etymological grounds, all represent the same obscure sound, resembling ; u ' in English ' cur ', pronounced well down in the throat. During the last twenty years, however, a movement for the introduction of a more phonetic spelling 82 INHABITANTS has made much progress, and recent Roumanian books use a almost exclusively. The vowels without diacritics are pronounced practically as in Italian, i.e., a as in English ' far ', e as the vowel sound in ' late ', i as that in ' team ', o as that in ' note ' and u as that in ' pool ', but without the slight diphthongization peculiar to English pronunciation. E before another vowel is palatalized, ea, for example, being pronounced like ya in English ' yard '. Among consonants, c is the only one which presents any difficulty. It follows the same rules as in Italian, i. e. it is pronounced like k except before e and i, where it has the sound of English ch in ' church ', e. g., luncd, meadow (pro nounced loonker), but cer, sky (pronounced chare). When c is to be pronounced k before e or i it is written ch, e. g. chebe (pronounced caber ), a cloak as worn in Moldavia, d is a variant way of writing z, but is now practically obsolete ; h is always strongly aspirated like ch in Scottish ' loch ' ; j is like j in French ' jour ', or s in English ' measure ' ; s and t are pro nounced like sh and ts, e. g. Jasi, in English known as Jassy, is pronounced ' Jash ', Husi is pronounced Hoosh ; (apas is pronounced ' tsepos '. Roumanian grammar, as already stated, is derived from Latin, and presents, on the whole, the same characteristics as any other Romance language, the most important difference being that in Roumania the definite article is placed at the end of the word and added to it, e. g. om, man ; omul, the man ; oamenii, the men. It is worth noticing that the Albanians also use the definite article as a suffix, and that their language is descended from the ancient Thraco-Hlyrian tongue, which was spoken all over the Balkan peninsula, and in what is now Roumania, before the coming of the Romans. The definite article is, however, occasionally found as al before a genitive or possessive, especially before a numeral, e. g. catul al doilea, the second floor. It is found as eel before an adjective following the noun, e. g. omul eel negru, the black man. Proper names also, if in the genitive or dative case, are used with the definite article in front of them. e. g. Traiamd, the Trajan ; valul lui LANGUAGE 83 Traian, Trajan's wall. The indefinite article un (masc), o (fern.) precedes its noun as a separate word. In the matter of declension Roumanian resembles Italian very closely, except that it has preserved traces of the Latin dative (chiefly used as genitive), and has added a non-Latin vocative case to names of persons, e. g., Anico, vocative of Anica. The presence of the agglutinative article gives, how ever, a peculiar character to the declension of the noun. The two principal types of declensions are illustrated by the following examples : Type I (socru, father-in-law) Type II (mama, mother) Sing. Nom. Ace. socrul mama Dat. (Genitive) socrului mamel Plur. Nom. Ace. socrii mamele Dative (Genitive) socrilor mamelor The genders in Roumanian are masculine and feminine. There is also a so-called neuter gender, consisting of words which are declined like socru in the singular and like mama in the plural. They are chiefly derived from neuter Latin words. There are three conjugations in Roumanian and very few irregular verbs. Peculiar to this language is the formation of the future by means of the auxiliary * will ' and not by agglutination of ' have ' as in most of the other Romance languages, e. g. vol jura corresponds to French (je) jurerai, I shall swear. The varieties of dialect between Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania are insignificant. But the small Roumanian communities scattered over Macedonia, especially to the east of Yanina, speak a peculiar dialect. Literature Roumanian literature has taken shape under Slav and Hellenic influences. The written language was Roumanian, but the style was foreign. There are three well-marked periods in its development : (1) the Slav period, from the middle of the sixteenth century to 1710 ; (2) the Greek 84 INHABITANTS period, from 1710 to about 1830 ; (3) the modern period, from 1830 to the present. The modern period opens with writers of latinizing ten dencies, Lazar, Eliade, Bolintineanu, Alexandrescu, Alec- sandri, and Eminescu. All of these devoted their talents to strengthening the patriotic movement. This movement was reinforced by the historians Balcescu and Odobescu. The last-named also created the Roumanian historical novel. The best history of Roumania is the Geschichte des Rumdnischen Volkes, by N. Jorga, an eminent politician, and professor at the University of Bucharest, published in 1905. Alecsandri, the poet, was the first to collect (in the middle of the nineteenth century) the Roumanian popular songs and ballads. The Roumanian folk-literature, both religious and secular, is large and varied. In spite, however, of official encouragement, Roumanian literature has in the last few decades declined both in quantity and in quality. This is probably in large part due to the popularity of French literary works. As the latter have an established prestige and create a very exacting standard of excellence, they are apt to discourage native talent. The writer in Roumanian has also to resist the appeal of the wider audience, to which use of the French language gives him access. On the other hand, public speaking, for which the Rou manians have a natural gift, plays a very important part in the public life of the country. The historical and natural sciences are also very successfully cultivated. The effect of the fall of Bucharest upon the press in 1916 was serious for a time, and many newspapers were forced to susjiend jmblication, but later some of these reappeared, and also a considerable number of new journals. According to a list dated September 1917, the following were published at Jassy : Monitorul Oficial, an official gazette ; Desbaterile Parlamentare, an official report of parliamentary debates ; L' Independence Roumaine (previously of Bucharest), a moder ate Liberal organ, the principal medium for the conveyance of Roumanian opinion to foreign countries ; Miscarea, a LITERATURE 85 liberal-governmental organ, belonging to Jassy ; Evenimentul, conservative and conservative-democratic ; Actsiunea Ro- mdnd, conservative-democratic ; Opinia, a journal of no very steady political bias ; Romania, nationalist ; Neamul Ro- mdnesc, nationalist and anti-Semitic. The Conservative Epoca reappeared in the following month. In Bucharest at the same time were appearing Agrarul, an organ of the Con servative landed proprietors ; Bukarester Tageblatt, an organ of the Germans in Bucharest before the war, and Gazeta Bucureshtilor and Saptdmdna Illustratd, both new pro-German journals. To this last group may be added Ranasteria and Momentul, but there is no evidence to show how their policy, or indeed their existence, may have been affected by the collapse of Germany. Other journals mentioned as appearing more recently are Steagul, a Government organ, of Bucharest ; Indreptarea and Gazeta Poporului, supporters of General Avarescu's ' People's League ' ; Muncitorul and Social- Democratsia, both social-democratic organs, the latter a recent creation as the official organ of the Socialist Congress ; Timpul ; Lumina ; and Iashul, the accredited organ of the Government in Jassy (September 1918). Roumanians outside Roumania Though almost half its members are outside the limits of the kingdom, the Roumanian people as a whole is remarkably unified both geographically and linguistically. With the sole exception of the Kutso Vlachs (Macedo-Roumanians or Arumani), they are all in immediate contact in the area enclosed by the Danube, the Theiss, and the Dneister ; and they all speak one and the same language- with only slight differences of dialect. In round numbers the distribution of the Roumanian race is as follows : Kingdom of Roumania (total population T,600,000) . 6,500,000 Transylvania l'£™»™2 Other parts of Hungary Bukovina .... Bessarabia . . . ¦ Serbia and Bulgaria Macedonia (Kutso Vlachs) .... 1,500,000 250,000 2,000,000 200,000 500,000 12,450,000 86 • INHABITANTS Allowing for the probable underestimates of the Hungarian and Austrian provinces, the Roumanians total about thirteen millions They inhabit a compact block of territory in which they form three-quarters of the population ; of the nonr Roumanians nearly a million are Magyars, the Szeklers who form a linguistic enclave on the west side of the Eastern Car pathians. The Roumanians are more numerous than other peoples in the Balkan and Danubian systems : the Yugo-Slavs (Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes) taken together number eleven millions ; the Magyars, even at their own estimate, are only about ten millions ; and the Bulgarians number less than six millions. Roumanians in Hungary The districts of Hungary which have a large Roumanian population are Transylvania, and the eastern portion of the Alfold. The Roumanians of these areas number more than 2,900,000, a little over 46 per cent, of the total population. In Transylvania the proportion of Roumanians to the total population is 55 per cent. One result of the battle of Koniggratz in 1866 was that the Magyar element in Hungary secured political supremacy which it used to attempt to magyarize all the other peoples. The Ausgleich (Compromise) of 1867 gave Transylvania to Hungary, and a law guaranteeing equal rights to the various nationalities of Hungary was passed in 1868. This law remained a dead letter. Section 7 states that every inhabi tant of the country can employ his mother tongue before his communal or district court. In 1870 the old county courts were abolished and the rights of the nationalities were not extended to the" new courts established. Section 17 pledges the State to give instruction in their mother tongue to all pupils in the primary and secondary schools. So far from carrying out this agreement the Hungarian Parliament on various occasions passed measures for the magyarization of Roumanian schools. The latest of these was the Apponyi Law of 1907, which was rigorously enforced. The rights of association granted by Section 26 were disregarded. Church ROUMANIANS OUTSIDE ROUMANIA 87 autonomy was on the whole respected, though the Congress of the Roumanian Orthodox Church was on six occasions prevented from meeting, and on one occasion the election of a Roumanian metropolitan was annulled. Repeated demands of the Roumanian population for the recognition of their nationality either had no effect or resulted •in systematic repression. Between 1886 and 1908 no less than 114 Roumanian political trials took place on various charges, the commonest apparently being ' instigation against Magyar nationality '. Only 3-2 per cent, of the population of Transylvania had full citizen rights as compared with 6-1 per cent, for Hungary as a whole, and the qualification was from three to six times higher in the rural districts, where the Roumanians are in a large majority, than it was in the urban. The constituencies were in many cases so delimited as to make it difficult for the non-Magyar population to vote. It frequently happened at election time that bridges were broken down or declared unsafe for traffic in order to render it impossible for opposition votes to be recorded. The use of vehicles for the conveyance of voters was frequently for bidden, and every opportunity was taken, legal or otherwise, of disqualifying non-Magyar votes. When all other methods failed intimidation by the military was employed and fre quently resulted in bloodshed. Despite all these facts it must be recorded that the Magyar yoke fell less heavily upon the Roumanians than upon the Slav ' subject races ' of Hungary. Because the Roumanians inhabited a distant and compara tively inaccessible mountainous portion of Hungary the Magyar ruling caste tended on the whole to neglect the Roumanian at the same time as it actively oppressed the Slovaks. The Roumanian peasant in Transylvania suffered for many decades at the hands of the Germans (Saxons) who were settled in the better portions of the Transylvanian plateau. The Roumanians in Hungary are in conflict with the Yugo slavs for the possession of the eastern third — the mountainous portion — of the Banat between the Maros and the Danube. Before the outbreak of war the Roumanians of Hungary 88 INHABITANTS . could count on the sympathy of their free kinsmen over the frontier, but political reunion was regarded as impracticable. During the life of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, an advocate of ' Home Rule ' for the nationalities of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, they continued to hope for reform from within on his accession. The inevitable result of bis assassination was . to make them realize that help could come only from outside. During the war the Roumanians in the Habsburg armies were used without mercy. Trials for treason were frequent, and many of the civilian refugees fled to Roumania, where, in spite of invitations to return, they preferred to remain. At last, in November 1918, the way seemed open to reunion. On November 20 delegates of the National Council of Tran sylvania arrived at Jassy to notify the Roumanian Government their decision to proclaim union with Roumania as soon as protection against Hungarian troops could be insured, and on November 29 a delegation from the National Council of Bukovina arrived with a similar purpose. Roumanians in the Bukovina Before the annexation of the province by Austria in 1775 (cf. Chapter VI), it belonged, to Moldavia. The metropolitan of Jassy still bears the title of ' Primate of Moldavia and Suceava '. The population is mainly Ruthenian and Roumanian, of whom the "former occupy roughly the north and centre, the latter the south-west and south-east parts. According to the latest available census (1910) there were 273,284 inhabitants of Roumanian speech out of a total population of 794,929. The administration has been generally lenient. German is the official language, as is only natural in view of the great mixture of races. The Germans have done much for the people by introducing western ideas to an eastern people. Of late there have been some attempts to suppress the Roumanian Orthodox Church by introducing Ruthenian Uniate clergy and schools. ROUMANIANS OUTSIDE ROUMANIA 89 Roumanians in Bessarabia After the cession of Bessarabia in 1878 (see Chapter VI) considerable attempts were made to russianize the Roumanian inhabitants. Many of the boiers were absorbed by the Russian nobility. The large Roumanian population is in tho main illiterate. Repressive measures were somewhat relaxed of later years, and the use of the Roumanian language was permitted in the churches. The consistory of 'the Bessarabian Church was completely nationalized in 1918, and it was decreed that its deliberations should be in the Roumanian language. This took place, of course, after the reunion of Bessarabia with Roumania (see Chapter VI), a process effected without much difficulty on national questions, although it was necessary to remove a number of agitators against Roumania. Roumanians in Macedonia One of the results of the Slav invasions of the seventh century was that the romanized inhabitants north of the Danube became separated from those of the hill country to the south. The descendants of the latter still call themselves Arumani. They are generally referred to by outsiders as Kutso Vlachs. This southern popidation, whose numbers are variously estimated by the best authorities at from 373,520 to 500,000, is found scattered in small settlements from Bulgaria and Serbia in the north to Acarnania in the south. It is in the main pastoral and semi-nomadic, spending the summer in the hills and migrating to the plains for the winter. The migratory habits of the Kutso Vlachs, and the fact that they do not occupy completely any large area, have pre vented the growth of national feeling, and apparently they are being gradually assimilated by the neighbouring races. The Roumanians, however, preserve a sense of the common origin of Roumanian and Arumanian, which led to an arrangement with Turkey in 1905, whereby the Porte recognized the Kutso Vlachs as a separate nationality. 90 INHABITANTS Ill-treatment of the Arumanian population by Greeks caused a rupture of diplomatic relations between Roumania and Greece in 1905, 1906, and 1910. Foreigners in Roumania Roughly one-eighth of the population of Roumania consists of foreigners. The totals showing nationalities of the census of 1912 have notyet been published. The figures for 1899 (including the Old Dobruja) are as follows : Roumanians Subjects of other States : Austro-Hungarians Turks . Greeks .... ItaliansBulgariansGermans RussiansSerbians French . Various . Jews : Subjects of other States . Under Roumanian protection Others of foreign extraction under Roumanian protection ... . 5,489,296 104,108 22,98920,057 8,8417,9647,636 4,2013,989 1,564 1,626 5,859 256,588 22,072 5,956,790 The Old Dobruja. — In the Old Dobruja the Roumanian population extends through all parts. It forms the predomi nant element along the whole right bank of the Danube, but thins out as the coast is approached. On the coast itself the Roumanians are most numerous in the region S. of Constanta ; to the N. they predominate in the district of Enisala, in the area E. of Tulcea and Kataloi, and at Kara Orman, Sulina and Kilia. Bulgars predominate along the southern boundary of the Old Dobruja and in the northern coast region between Tulcea and Kapu Midia. There is also a small Bulgar area around Tuzla FOREIGNERS IN ROUMANIA 91 Turks and Tatars are distributed throughout the whole of the Old Dobruja, but chiefly in the middle and southern regions. ... German areas are found in various parts, the largest being around Cogalac, Atmagea, and Cogea Ali. Russians are chiefly found in the delta of the Danube ; but they have also settled to the SE. of Braila and SW, of Babadag. The Jews, Greeks, and Armenians, here as elsewhere, are found almost exclusively in the towns. The Dobruja villages are, as a rule, homogeneous in popu lation, the various races segregating to form separate villages. They do so even when they appear to inhabit the same town. Thus, 1,000 Roumanians, 1,000 Bulgarians, 1,000 Turks, 1,000 Gipsies do not compose a town of 4,000 ; they form only four juxtaposed villages, each of 1,000 souls. This is true of such towns as Mangalia, Babadag, and Medgidia. As the figures showing nationalities at the census of 1912 have not yet been issued, the only available statistics of foreign elements in the Old Dobruja date from 1903 : Roumanians ...... 245,742 Subjects of other States : Turks 15,974 Greeks . 4,219 Austro-Hungari ans . 3,117 Italians . 1,603 Russians 1,339 Bulgarians 1,105 Germans 399 French . 120 Serbians . 59 Various . 220 Jews : Subjects of other States 242 Under Roumanian protection 977 Others of foreign extraction under Roumanian protection (Gipsies, naturalized Bulga rians, &c.) 2,762 277,878 The New Dobruja. — In the area annexed in 1913, Turks and Bulgarians form the great bulk of the population. The Turks 92 INHABITANTS are in a more or less compact body in the central region, con tinuous with the region which they occupy in northern Bul garia. The Bulgarians are mainly found along the right bank of the Danube, along the boundary line of the Old Dobruja, and in the coast region. There are no recent statistics procurable of the foreign elements in the New Dobruja. The following figures, on a language basis, are from Bulgarian statistics of 1905 : Turks . . ... 123,848 Bulgarians . 121,925 Tatars . 11,876 Gipsies . 11,010 Roumanians . 6,602 Russians 2,111 Armenians 1,910 Greeks . 1,171 Jews 868 Germans 605 Serbians 315 French . 3 Various 4,975 287,219 Since 1913 there has been an extensive emigration of Bul garians and Turks, and a very considerable immigration of Roumanians. The Turks and Bulgarians still, however, form the great majority of the population. A few brief notes may be added in regard to the character of the various foreign races in Roumania. Jews. — The Roumanian Jews have nearly all come from Austria and the Polish provinces of Russia ; and they speak a bastard German, the idiom of the Galician and Polish Jews. There has been an immigration into Roumania from early times, but it became considerable in Moldavia only in the nineteenth century, especially in the period 1831 to 1838, when the number of Jews doubled. The migration of Jews from Moldavia into Wallachia commenced after 1860. At that date there were in Wallachia 9,234 inhabitants of Jewish religion : forty years later there were 65,000. The immense majority of the present generation of Jews have been born in Roumania ; and in addition to their own language, they speak Roumanian, though with a distinct accent. FOREIGNERS IN ROUMANIA 93 Together with foreigners, especially Greeks and Armenians, the Jews constitute about two-thirds of the commercial and industrial classes of Roumania : in certain localities of Mol davia the Jews form, by themselves, 90 per cent, of these classes. They practise all trades. In Moldavia they also act as foremen on the large estates. They are found, however, chiefly in the towns ; restrictive laws prevent their settling, in any numbers, in the rural communes. More recently it has become illegal for Jews to sell alcohol or any of the State monopolies ; and the profession of inn-keeping (previously practised by them in Moldavia) has passed into the hands of Roumanians. The majority of the Jews of the Dobruja, and perhaps a certain number of those in Moldavia are probSbly descended from Germans, Slavs, or Tatars judaized in the sixth to the ninth century. This is especially true of the group of the so-called Karaites, found at Constanta and elsewhere. Number and Distribution of Jews. — The following figures, taken from the 1912 census, < give the number of Jews professing the Jewish religion, and therefore include (1) Jews who have become naturalized Roumanian citizens, (2) Jews who are subjects of other countries, (3) Jews who enjoy no foreign protection. The total is given as 239,967 (this is apart from the New Dobruja), i. e. 33 Jews per 1,000 inhabitants. This is the fourth highest percentage in Europe, and places Roumania immediately after Austria, Hungary, and Russia. The distribution in the historical divisions is as follows : Total of population. Jews. Per cent. Moldavia Muntenia Oltenia Dobruja. . 2,139,154 . 3,302,430 1,412,905 380,430 167,590 63,191 5,062 4,124 7-8 1-9 0-4 1-P 7,234,919 239,967 3-3 The proportion of Jews in the rural communes (45,486) to the rest of the rural inhabitants is only 0-77 per cent., distri- 1 Apart from the New Dobruja. 94 INHABITANTS buted very unequally in the different divisions. The number of Jews in the rural communes of Muntenia (910), Oltenia (226), and Dobruja (247) is insignificant ; while in rural Mol davia there are 44,103, representing 2-52 per cent, of the total of the rural inhabitants. The distribution of the Jews in the towns is : Total of town inhabitants. Jews. Per cent. Moldavia 390,201 123,487 31-64 Muntenia . . 702,084 62,281 8-89 Oltenia . 139,538 4,830 3-47 Dobruja . 98,249 3,877 3-95 1,330,132 194,481 14-62 In four Moldavian towns the Jews represent more than 50 per cent, of the total population ; and in ten towns 25 to 50 per cent. Outside Moldavia the proportion of Jews exceeds 10 per cent, in only two towns — Braila (14-25 per cent.) and Bucharest (12-79 per cent.). The number of Jews in Bucharest is 43,652, in Jassy 31,843. Botosani and Galatz come next with 14,828 and 12,120 respectively. Since 1900 the number of Jews has decreased. In 1899 the number was 266,652, in 1912 239,967, showing a decrease of 26,685, i. e. 10 per cent. If we further allow for the excess of Jewish births over Jewish deaths in the intervening 12 years the total diminution in the number of Jews must be 70,000, i. e. 26 per cent. The decline is due to the extensive emigra tion caused by anti-Jewish legislation which began in 1900 and continued with intensity till 1908. The diminution has, however, occurred almost entirely in Moldavia. In Muntenia and Oltenia, owing to the migration of Jews from Moldavia, the number of Jews has increased. The Jewish Question. — Feeling against the Jews runs very high in Roumania ; and the Jewish question is complex and controversial. The question may be summarized here, as its influence cannot be expected speedily to disappear, although one of the first measures of reconstruction after the war dealt (though its thoroughness was doubted) with Jewish emancipa- FOREIGNERS IN ROUMANIA 95 tion, and a law was promulgated in September 1918. The Roumanians maintain that the Jews remain foreigners, refusing to participate in the national life or even to learn the Roumanian language. Families, it is contended, which have been resident in Roumania for several generations, still speak Roumanian with a foreign accent. Before they claim citizenship they ought to show that they have adopted the national ideals and have ceased to represent German or other foreign influences. The Jews are also accused of exercising a malign influence upon the peasants, taking advantage of their lack of thrift, and in general of exploiting their various weaknesses. A third accusation is that they support one another in acquiring a monopoly of commerce and industry. On these grounds the Roumanians defend the present law which requires a special vote of the Chambers on each application for naturalization. Although for the most part not naturalized, the Jews are all subject to the law of military service. The Jews urge, in reply, that they are ostracized, and that only through naturalization can they acquire the opportunity for identifying themselves with the national life. The inferior conditions of peasant life in Moldavia, compared with other parts of the country, are not due, they maintain, to the larger proportion of Jews in this region, but to old-time political influences that have generated an inferior type of peasant, and hindered the improvement of social conditions. They deny that they exact excessive rates of interest, and claim that their monopolization of industry and commerce is due to the Roumanian's own preference for State service and the pro fessions. They also point to the fact that when anti- Jewish legislation led to an extensive emigration of Jews in 1900-8, the resulting disorganization of the general life compelled the Roumanians to recognize the value and beneficence of Jewish industry, and in consequence virtually to withdraw many bf the laws, by not enforcing them. Gipsies.-— The Gipsies seem to be of the same race as the ' Bohemians ' of other countries. Their number is difficult to 96 INHABITANTS estimate : probably it is about 200,000. They were in a state of slavery until 1843 ; and their blood is now very mixed. They are almost incorrigible nomads, and still for the most part live in a parasitic manner, exhibiting all the usual qualities and defects of the Gipsy race. Many of them, however, have settled in the towns and villages, and are being slowly assimi lated. When they thus become sedentary, they generally prove intelligent and industrious artisans. Those who have performed their term of military service regard themselves as rehabilitated, and resent being called Gipsies. As musicians, and in other callings, a number have passed into the middle class, and are received on terms of social equality. The Gipsies tend to monopolize the handicrafts in which skill and ingenuity are necessary. In the villages it is always a Gipsy who is the smith and tinker. In the towns they are also carpenters and masons. Under all circumstances they preserve their inbred love of music. Bulgarians. — Apart from those Bulgarians who have perma nently settled in Roumania and have become naturalized Roumanian citizens, there has hitherto been a large number of immigrant Bulgarians in all parts of Roumania, especially in the neighbourhood of the towns and large villages of the plains. They were chiefly occupied in market-gardening, and generally returned to their own country after a few years. Turks and Tatars. — The Turks make excellent colonists. They are trustworthy, energetic, and sober. This is also true of the Tatars. They are allowed complete freedom in the practice of the Moslem faith. Those who have permanently settled have the reputation of being loyal Roumanian citizens. Greeks and Armenians. — The Greeks and Armenians, like the Jews, are chiefly found in the towns, especially in those on the Danube and on the coast. Both are engaged in commerce ; the former also devote themselves to navigation. The Greeks, on making a competency, frequently emigrate ; the Armenians are more stable residents. Germans. — There are three distinct groups of Germans in Roumania : (1) those who have immigrated from the old FOREIGNERS IN ROUMANIA 97 Saxon settlements in Transylvania ; (2) the German colonists of the Dobruja ; (3) Germans who have come more recently. The Transylvanian Germans are chiefly artisans, merchants, and members of the liberal professions. The Dobruja colonists, on the other hand, are exclusively agricultural. They estab lished themselves ^in the Dobruja in the sixties, while it was still a province of the Turkish empire. They possess the German virtues of efficiency, order, and cleanliness. They preserve their German custqms and ways of living, but have hitherto been loyal and devoted citizens of Roumania. The more recently arrived German residents are considered in the following section. Russians. — The Russians, as a rule, belong to one or other of the Lipovan sects.1 When they are of the Skoptsi sect, they act as coachmen in Bucharest and in all the larger towns. They marry, but after the birth of the first, or at most of the second child, the men, and sometimes also the women, sexually mutilate themselves. The other Lipovans in Roumania are usually fishermen. Their villages are scattered throughout the delta of the Danube. Foreign Influences Foreign countries, especially France and Germany, have profoundly influenced even the strictly national life of the upper classes ; and to understand the parts which they have played, a brief historical survey is indispensable. French Influence. — French influence has acted through the French language, which since the eighteenth century has come more and more to be the language used by all educated Roumanians in their intercourse with one another. This did not come about owing to any consciousness of community with the Latin races ; it was due to a more or less accidental combination of circumstances in the period of the Phanariot regime. French was the language of diplomacy ; and the Greek residents of the Phanar were compelled to master the French language in order to obtain office under the Turkish » a. p. 76. EOTOIANIA G 98 INHABITANTS Government. They offered themselves as interpreters, and' passed, by way of the office of Grand Dragoman, to a throne in Roumania. As hospodars they brought a French escort in their train ; and the Roumanian boiers soon found that if they were to hold their own at Court they must also acquire a thorough knowledge of the French tongue. It was in this way that the French influence first became established in Roumania. French was long the only language ordinarily employed by educated Roumanians in their social intercourse ; it is also the language of the Court. Roumanian is used only in speaking with the uneducated and, as required by law, in the schools, the Chambers, and the courts. Several of the Bucharest newspapers, including the official organs of each of the three chief poUtical parties, were printed in French ; and there are several French reviews. Almost the only light literature that is read consists of books imported from France. Roumania was thus prepared, upon the rise of a national consciousness in the period subsequent to the French Revo lution, at once to imbibe democratic principles and to recog nize and welcome the ancient ties which bind them to the Latin race. French institutions and law have been built into the fabric of the Roumanian Constitution, and French ideas form the staple factors in the general thought and ideals of the cultivated classes. The great majority (until 1870, the overwhelming majority) of their political leaders, jurists, engineers, and scholars have been trained in Paris. In 1913, out of nine members of the Roumanian Cabinet, six were Paris graduates. The Roumanian colony in Paris is, propor tionately to population, the largest foreign colony in France. National feeling first appeared, not in Roumania itself, but among the Transylvanians, who were then, and still are, without any general acquaintance with French. For this, and for other easily understandable reasons, there has been a reaction against the excessive employment of a foreign tongue ; and under the leadership of the Roumanian Academy much has been done in rendering the mother tongue suitable FOREIGNERS IN ROUMANIA 99 for modern needs. It has been freed of many of its Slav, Turkish, and Magyar accretions, and has been enriched by the adoption of terms from Latin and French. The latter process has been facilitated by the general knowledge of French. Ancient texts, popular idioms, and the special vocabularies of the different provinces have also been drawn upon. Should the Roumanians of Transylvania be emanci pated from Magyar rule and united with the present kingdom, the native speech would probably again come into universal use. German Influence. — After 1870 German interests steadily increased in prestige and influence. This was aided by the German affiliations of the Court and by political circum stances emphasizing the need for closer association with the Central Powers. But the chief cause has been the influx of German trade and of German capital. Both France and England seemed to forget the importance of Roumanian friendship and markets. Many army officers also passed yearly through the German military academies : they had no access to those of France. The German universities attracted an increased number of Roumanian students ; and already in 1906 the importation of German books actually exceeded, in weight avoirdupois, that of French books — the former being chiefly scientific works, and the latter literature of more general interest. Considerable influence was also exer cised by the German schools scattered over the country. They have been supervised and subsidized by the German and Austrian Governments. The Junimea (Youth), a literary association, was founded in Jassy in 1865 by a group of young men educated in Germany. From it sprang the advanced conservative party, whose members are known as Junimisti. Attitude to Foreigners. — The attitude of the Roumanian peasant towards foreigners is chiefly determined by external differences. As the Turks, Tatars, and Armenians eat fat on Fridays, and do not make the sign of the Cross, the Roumanians regard themselves as having nothing in common with them. Towards foreigners of other Christian faiths feelings are * ¦ Q2 100 INHABITANTS regulated by the same principle. If they eat fat on a Friday, they are unclean (spurcati) ; if not, they are possible friends. On the whole the Roumanian peasant, with all his super stitions, is tolerant and large-minded. He tends indeed to look down upon strangers, and has very definite traditional prejudices against the Russians, the Bulgarians, and the Turks. The Greek, too, is frequently spoken of in Roumanian folklore with contemptuous epithets. But their antagonism is always more passive than active. They do not persecute, and are ready to acknowledge good qualities. Thus the cleanliness of the Armenian houses and the careful eating of the Jews are done justice to in the proverb : ' Sleep with the Armenian, eat with the Jew.' CHAPTER V GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION Central government — Local government — Judiciary. Central Government The kingdom of Roumania is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy, with a national representation consisting of two Chambers. The Constitution was voted (June 30, 1866) by a Constituent Assembly, elected by universal suffrage. This Constitution, as modified in 1879, 1884, and 1917, is still in force. It guarantees to all Roumanian citizens equality of civil rights, and also freedom of conscience and religious worship, of education, and of the press, and the right of peaceful assembly. The State religion is that of the Orthodox Church. By a law of 1893 the maintenance of the Church and of the clergy is included in the general budget of the country, the priests being State officials. The powers which the Constitution assigns to the King, Legislative Chambers, Ministers of State, and Judiciary are as follows ; Prerogatives of the Grown (1) The Crown is hereditary, descending in the direct male line. (2) The executive power belongs to the Crown. All . administrative officials act in the name of the King, and under his supreme control. He appoints and dismisses all State officials, including the Mnisters of State. He cannot, however, create any new functions not previously provided for by law. (3) The King is the head of the army in time of peace, and its commander-in-chief in time of war. (4) The King has the right of pardon, that is, of remitting, in whole or part, punishments imposed by the criminal courts. He has also the right of amnesty, except in the 102 GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION ease of Ministers of State' who have been condemned for acts done in their official capacity. (5) The King con vokes the legislative Chambers annually, on November 15, in ordinary session which lasts till February 15. Should the King fail to summon the Chambers, they meet of their own initiative on the usual date. The King may, when necessity arises, convoke the Assemblies in extraordinary session. (6) The King can prorogue the sessions of the Chambers once in the course of each session, for a period not exceeding a month. He has also the right of dissolving one or more of the two Chambers, or both simultaneously. The decree of dissolution must contain the date of the new elections ; and that date must be within two months of the dissolution. (7) The King, through his Ministers of State, has the right of initiating legislation. (8) All laws passed by the two Chambers must be sanctioned by the King. (9) The King has the right to conclude treaties of commerce and of naviga tion with the neighbouring States, but these must receive the approval of the Chambers. (10) No act of the King can take effect until it is countersigned by a Minister of State, who thereby assumes the entire responsibility. (11) The person of the King is sacred and inviolable. Legislative Chambers The nation is represented in the government by two Chambers — the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The following statement indicates the system of election hitherto in force. As will be seen below, reforms are in hand, but it does not appear that they have been brought into operation. Chamber of Deputies. — All male citizens over twenty-five years of age who pay taxes, however small, are electors. The only exceptions are domestic servants, and those who have been convicted of criminal offences. The electors are divided into three electoral colleges. The first college includes all who are in possession of landed property bringing in £48 or upwards per annum. In 1905 there were 15,973 electors CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 103 inscribed in this college. The second college includes all who have gone through the primary course of education, and all who have their domicile in an urban community and pay direct annual taxes of at least 16s. The number of electors in this college in 1905 was 37,742. All other electors vote in the third college. Those who own rural land bringing in £12 of annual income, or who pay £40 in rent, vote directly. So also do the village priests and schoolmasters. All the others vote indirectly, every fifty indirect electors choosing a delegate who votes along with the direct electors of the college. Over two-fifths of the 183 deputies who constitute the Chamber were chosen by the first college, almost two-fifths by the second college, and only about one-fifth by the third college. This shows very clearly the extremely undemocratic character of the Government hitherto. The power was almost entirely in the hands of the King, the politicians, and the State officials. Among the various reforms taken in hand in 1917-18, however, electoral reform was one of the first in importance. A bill to amend the constitution was carried in June 1917, according to which Article 57 now declares that ' the Chamber of Deputies is composed of deputies elected by Roumanian citizens who are of age, by universal, equal, direct, and com pulsory suffrage, by means of secret ballot, on the basis of proportional representation ', and it was provided that a new electoral law should determine the composition of the Chamber. Each deputy receives 16s. for each day of actual attendance, besides free railway passes. Senate. — Under the regime hitherto existing, the electors who nominate the Senate are divided into two colleges. The first college consists of those citizens having landed property yielding annually at least £80 ; present and former higher State officials, and army officers with the grade of general or colonel ; those who have represented the nation during two parliaments ; present and former plenipotentiary ministers ; those who possess licentiate or doctorate diplomas 104 GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION and have exercised a profession for six years ; and members of the Roumanian Academy. In 1905 the number of elector^ inscribed in this college was 10,659. The second college includes those whose annual income from landed property is from £32 to £80 ; all who possess a licentiate or doctorate diploma ; all magistrates ; all engineers, architects, and physicians who have diplomas ; teachers in all urban and secondary State schools. The number of electors in this college in 1905 was 13,912. Each of the two universities also sends a representative to the Senate ; and the Orthodox State Church is represented by the two metropolitan and the six diocesan bishops. The heir to the throne, on attaining the age of 18, becomes a member ex officio. The number of members in the Senate is 120. Of the 110 elected senators, 60 are chosen by the first college, and 50 by the second college. These arrangements, like those for the other Chamber out lined above, were made by revision of the Constitution in 1884. They were designed (in the case of the Senate chiefly by enlargement of the first college) to diminish the powers possessed by the boiers (the rich landed proprietors) under the older scheme of election, and to increase the power of the political and official classes. The revision of the Constitution already referred to provides (Article 67) that the Senate is composed of elected senators, and of senators by right (ex officio), that the electoral law shall determine the composition of the Senate, and that the principles of the electoral law referring to the constitution of the Senate, as of that of the Chamber of Deputies, are to be considered as constitutional dispositions. The amendment of the Constitution, as regards the Senate, is avowedly vague in expression, but it does exclude the system of electoral bodies constituted by a property qualification. Prerogatives of the two Chambers. — (1) Both Chambers have the right to modify and to amend all laws proposed od the initiative of the executive power. (2) Both Chambers have the right of formally questioning Ministers of State in CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 105 regard to their administrative acts. They have also the right to appoint commissions of inquiry in regard to govern ment matters. (3) Both Chambers have the right of inde pendently initiating legislative proposals, when these pro posals are supported by at least fifteen Deputies or Senators. (4) All laws require the assent of both Chambers, as well as of the King. This also applies to all treaties with foreign powers (the King was, however, even more influential in foreign than in home politics). (5) Change can be made in the Constitution only if favoured by a two-thirds majority vote in each of the Chambers, and sanctioned by the King. (6) The Budget must be presented annually, prior to its enforcement, to the Chamber of Deputies. It must be voted by the Chamber of Deputies, and sanctioned by the King. (The expenditures of the various State departments are supervised by a specially appointed High Court of Accounts, which ranks as a branch of the Judiciary.) Council of Ministers The King confides the general direction of political and administrative affairs to a Council of Ministers, nominated by him for this purpose. There are eight Ministers, including a Minister of Foreign Affairs and a Minister of War. The President of the Council can be a Minister without a portfolio. The members of the royal family are not eligible as Ministers. The Ministers are responsible to the King and to the Chambers for their acts. Their responsibility is individual when it concerns the action of some one Ministerial depart ment ; it is collective when it refers to decisions taken by the Council as a whole. As already stated, no act of the King can take effect until it is countersigned by a Minister, who thereby assumes the entire responsibility. Each of the two Chambers and the King have the right to impeach a Minister of State, who must then defend himself before the Court of Cassation. Ministers have a deliberative voice in either of the Chambers only when they are members. One Minister, at least, must 106 GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION assist in the deliberations of each Chamber. The Chambers can request the presence of Ministers. Practical Working of ihe Government As already stated, political power has been almost entirely in the hands of the King, th<5 politicians, and the State officials. The King has been much the most influential of all the political forces. The changes made in the Constitution in 1884 were designed to diminish the power of the rich landed proprietors ; but in so doing they indirectly contributed to the increase of the royal power. The Ministry in office when elections were held never failed to secure the return of the great proportion of its nominees. This was made possible by the imperfect representation and by the poUtical ignorance of the masses, and was effected through the powers of patron age and of intimidation at the disposal of the centralized administration. Accordingly the King, by nominating a Ministry of the required complexion, and by dissolving the Chambers, could always rely on obtaining a majority in support of his policy. The Government was absolute master of the elections, and the King was master of the Government. Most writers upon Roumania agree that in view of the personal character of its poUtical life, and also of the extent to which its politics are dominated by international issues, some such method of government has been more or less necessary. They also agree that in the hands of King Carol and of King Ferdinand it was reasonably successful. But the task which it imposes on the sovereign, namely, that of correctly interpreting the significance of political and popular movements, is much too deUcate for any one man, however able and however disinterested. Past successes have been due, in considerable part, to good fortune as well as to good guidance. Education of the masses, coupled with serious tackling of the land question, increase in the repre sentation of the non-official classes, and abolition of the ' spoils ' system are the lines of reform upon which its most enlightened statesmen were working, even before the war CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 107 brought these questions to a head. These reforms will strengthen the more disinterested elements in the community, and will place them in a position to share with the King the responsibilities of government. Meantime we must bear in mind that Roumania is still in its political infancy ; it is less than a century since it was rescued from Turkish misrule ; and it is only sixty . years since it began, under far from favourable conditions, its education in the art of parliamentary government. It is for this reason that it has seemed pertinent to deal in some detail in preceding paragraphs with the system of government before the present reform movement had gathered strength, for it is not to be supposed that the influence of the older regime will immediately disappear. Local Government Departments For purposes of local government the country is divided into Departments. There are 17 Departments in Wallachia, 13 in Moldavia, and 4 in the Dobruja '(see Table on pp. 60, 61). The administration of each Department is entrusted to a Prefect, nominated by the King, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Interior. The Prefect represents the Central Government and supervises the enforcement of the laws. He also has a great variety of special functions, drawing up the list of jurymen, inspecting the rural Com munes, assisting in the recruiting of the army, &c. In these duties he is aided by Sub-Prefects, each of whom is responsible for maintaining order in a certain number of rural Communes. A General Council is attached to each Prefecture. It is elected by the inhabitants of the Department, divided into three electoral colleges, as in the election of Deputies. The Council assembles in ordinary session annually, on October 15, for twenty days. It can also, when necessity arises, be con voked in extraordinary session. The General Council authorizes the budget of the Depart ment, creates, maintains, and improves the Departmental 108 GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION organizations, and supervises the public works executed iri the Department, such as roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, &c. In the intervals between its sessions the General Council is represented by three of its members, who form a Depart mental Commission. They deliberate with the Prefect on the measures to be taken for the good administration of the Department. On certain questions the Prefect is obliged to consult them. In July 1918 a scheme of reform of local government was brought in under which Wallachia and Moldavia were to be divided into 12 instead of 30 departments (judetse). Communes Each Department is divided into Communes. In 1912 there were 2,664 Communes, 72 urban and 2,592 rural. In the rural Communes there were 8,487 villages and 1,048 hamlets. The appeUations " urban ' and ' rural ' do not depend on the number of inhabitants, but are given by law. Each Roumanian subject must be on the register of some Commune : vagrancy is not permitted. The Commune is governed by a Municipal Council, elected by the inhabitants of the Commune, for a period of four years. In the urban Communes the electors are divided into two coUeges, and in the rural Communes form a single coUege. The number of Municipal Councillors varies, according to the importance of the Communes, from 7 to 31. In those villages and hamlets which are not the seats of Municipal Councils, there exists a Village Council which occupies itself with the immediate needs of the viUage, and sends a delegate to the Municipal Council of the larger area. Each Commune is supposed to enjoy autonomy. The Central Government must not interfere with it save in the interests of public order and the general good. This latter proviso is, however, so indefinite as to afford justification for almost any degree of control. And as a matter of fact, ' the Council would appear to have only such independence as the Central Government may, from time to time consider LOCAL GOVERNMENT 109 harmless. All the more important decisions of the Municipal Councils have, according to the degree of their importance, to be approved either by the General Council of the Depart ment, or by the Minister of the Interior, or by the King, or by the Legislature. The political importance of the Com munes probably consists in the opportunities they afford for the formation of independent centres of opinion. The duties of the Municipal Council are very varied. They create and maintain the schools, the hospitals, a fire-brigade, watch over the public health, take measures to improve the breeding of farm-stock and to guard against animal diseases, &c. In each Commune there is a Mayor, who is elected by the Municipal Council, and confirmed in his office by the King. The Mayor thus represents both the Commune and the Central Government. In the former capacity he presides over the Municipal Council and executes its decisions ; in the latter capacity he is responsible for the maintenance of public order and for the enforcement of the laws of the country. The Mayor has two assistants. A Secretary of the Commune has charge of the Mayor's office and signs all Communal documents. He is nominated by the Mayor. Secondly, there is a Treasurer who manages the finances. In the smaller Communes the Treasurer is usually the State teacher. The reform scheme of July 1918 referred to above provides for the division of departments into districts (pldshi), each under a pretor. It also foreshadows the independent municipal government of the more important towns. Bucharest, with neighbouring communes,' was to be divided into five arron- dissements, each with a mayor nominated by the minister of the interior, and there were to be also a chief mayor and a central town hall. The Dobruja and Bessarabia The organization of the Dobruja is somewhat different from that of the rest of the country. This has been necessitated 110 GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION by the fact that a considerable proportion of the population is of alien stock. Each of the four Departments into which the Dobruja is divided is under the direction of a Prefect, nominated by the Central Government. He has the same powers as the other Prefects, and is assisted by a General Council. Part of this Council is elected by the chief citizens of the Department and by the Councillors of its various Communes. The other part is nominated directly by the Minister of the Interior from a list of twelve names presented by the Prefect. The decisions of the Councils are valid only when they receive the approval of the Prefect. Also the Councils are not represented, in the intervals between their sessions, by Departmental Commissions : the Prefect is then the sole executive authority. The Communes within each Department are administered by Municipal Councils. These are elected and constituted in the same manner as in the rest of the country, save in the following respects : (1) In the urban Communes of Tulcea and of Constanta the Central Government reserves to itself the right to nominate directly three of the nine Municipal Councillors. In the other urban Communes the Prefect has the right to nominate two of the Municipal Councillors. (2) In the villages in which there are a number of different religious bodies the Prefect determines, prior to the municipal election, how many Councillors each body may have. (3) The Mayor, instead of being elected by the Councillors, is in the rural Communes nominated directly by the Prefect, and in the urban Communes by the Minister of the Interior. When Bessarabia was reunited in 1918 to Roumania, the autonomous Council of Bessarabia remained in power, Roumania, at the outset, merely appointing a General Com mission. Judiciary The Constitution of 1866 made the Judiciary independent of the Executive ; and this has been further ensured by a law passed in 1890 which gives permanence of tenure to all Judges JUDICIARY 111 of the Appeal Courts and to all Presidents of the Tribunals of First Instance. They may not even be transferred, or advanced in rank, without their consent. The main provisions of Roumanian law are drawn from the codes of western countries, especially the Code Napoleon. There are five kinds of Courts : the Communal Courts, the District Courts, the Departmental Courts, the Appeal Courts, and the High Court of Justice and of Cassation. The Communal Courts are presided over by the local Mayor, aided by two jurymen, elected by the inhabitants of the Commune. The Secretary of the Commune acts as Clerk. These Courts endeavour to reconcile the parties to the dispute ; and proceed to judgement only when mutual agreement proves impossible of attainment. They also act as Police Courts for small contraventions of the rural police law. There are 131 District Courts, distributed among the various Departments proportionately to the population and to, the extent of the territory covered. Each is composed of a Judge and a Deputy- Judge. The jurisdiction of these Courts extends in civil matters to all disputes regarding personal and property rights of a value from £2 to £8 without appeal, and up to £60 with right of appeal. In criminal matters they deal with infractions of police regulations, with minor thefts, &c. A Departmental Tribunal is located in the capital of every Department, and consists of several sections, according to the number of the population. In each section there are a President, two Judges, and a Deputy-Judge. These Tribunals deal with all actions which do not come within the competence of the lower Courts, and which are not expressly reserved by law for jury-trial or for Special Courts. In the capital of each Department a Court of Assizes also sits four times each year, to pass judgement upon the more serious criminal offences, upon press prosecutions, and upon political crimes. It is composed of a President, who is a Judge of a Court of Appeal, of two Judges taken from the Tribunal of the Department, and of a jury of twelve citizens. 112 GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION There are four Courts of Appeal, located at Bucharest, Jassy, Galatz, and Craiova. The High Court of Justice and of Cassation, consisting of a President and seven Councillors, keeps watch upon the sentences pronounced in all the other Courts, and secures that they are in accordance with the laws and with the rules of legal procedure. When a sentence is abrogated by the Court of Cassation, the case is referred for retrial to the Court of the same degree which is nearest in location to that in which it was originally decided. The High Court also has jurisdiction, and passes direct judgement, in all proceedings against Ministers of State. Military and religious tribunals rank as Special Courts. The Courts Martial are located at the head-quarters of each army corps. Five members are nominated for each Court by the commander of the corps, one of them acting as Presi dent. In addition there is a Government official, acting as representative of the King. The Permanent Council of Revision holds its sittings at Bucharest. It is composed' in the same manner as the Courts Martial, but of officers higher in rank, nominated directly by the Minister of War. The Council does not enter into questions of evidence ; it is concerned to decide only the formal legality of the decisions which come before it for revision. Certain of its decisions have to be submitted to the Court of Cassation. Diocesan Consistories, each composed of three secular priests, deal with all questions of ecclesiastical discipline. There are also Consistories of Appeal, composed in the same manner. The special Consular Courts were abolished when the independence of the kingdom was declared in 1884. It is said that notwithstanding the permanence of tenure which has been secured by the law of 1890 for Judges of the Appeal Courts and Presidents of Tribunals of First Instance, the Courts are not always equitably administered. CHAPTER VI HISTORY Dacia — Slavs and Magyars — Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia — Turkish suzerainty — Phanariot regime — Russian influence — Union of Wallachia and Moldavia — Principality of Roumania — Roumanian independence — Balkan War and Treaty of Bucharest, 1913 — Roumania and the War, 1914-1S. Dacia The area occupied by the Roumanian people to-day was, in the earliest times of which we have record, inhabited by a people who had already attained a comparatively high standard of civilization. The Greeks called them the Getae, and they reappear as the Daci in the time of Julius Caesar. At this period they were organized into a kingdom under a strong ruler, Burebista. For the greater part of the first century a. d. the province of Moesia, established in a. d. 6, remained exposed to incur sions of the Daci. Punitive expeditions were undertaken against them, but,, the submission made by their rulers was merely nominal. In a. d. 101 the Emperor Trajan took Dacian affairs in hand. The reigning king, Decebalus, was forced to sue for terms. As the conditions of the treaty were not being carried out, Trajan determined to reduce the country once for all. The remains of the bridge which was then thrown across the Danube are still to be seen near Turnu Severin, and a road, still known as Calea lui Traian, was constructed along the line of the river Olt and through the Red Tower pass. After a strenuous campaign in A. D. 106 Trajan captured the Dacian capital Sarmizegetusa (near Hatszeg in Transylvania). Dece balus preferred death by his own sword to falling into the hands of the enemy. BOUMANIA J£ 114 HISTORY The Roman province of Dacia was now constituted. Legion ary camps were stationed at strategic points and linked up by military roads. Colonists were brought from different parts of the Empire, and the adoption of Latin (to which are traceable about two-fifths of the words in the Roumanian language) is one among many proofs that romanization was complete. The province seems to have included the eastern Banat, the mountain country of Transylvania, and Oltenia. The plains of Muntenia and Moldavia apparently remained out side the Empire, but were no doubt gradually romanized. The peaceful development of the country was first broken by the Marcomannic War in the reign of Marcus Aurelius (a.d. 161-80). Under the Emperor Commodus (a.d. 180-92) conflicts took place with the Dacians outside the province, with the result that 12,000 who had hitherto been free were transported within the Roman boundaries. In the reign of Caracalla (211-17) began the series of wars culminating in the invasions of the Goths. The pressure of these became so strong about the middle of the third century that the Emperor Aurelian in the year A. d. 271 determined to withdraw the Roman frontier to the Danube. The autho rities at Rome had for years been seeking a more defensible line. It seems probable that no attempt was made, at any rate on a large scale, to deport the romanized inhabitants of the province. Slavs and Magyars There is no connected history of the country for the cen turies following the Roman occupation. Gothic influence is said to be traceable in some place-names, and the famous gold treasure found in 1837 near Mt. Istrita is believed to have been buried there by Athanaric, king of the Visigoths. Later invaders, such as the Huns, Gepidae, and Avars, seem to have left no permanent mark. The descendants of the romanized population had probably not yet spread far beyond the Carpathian foot-hills and would therefore be little affected SLAVS AND MAGYARS 115 by the successive waves of nomads which rolled along the plains. In the meantime Slavonic tribes had occupied most of the area between the Balkans and the Carpathians (see Handbook of Bulgaria, pp. 52-4). Fusion between the Slav and the Daco-Roman population seems to have been easy, but little can be affirmed with confidence regarding the history of the country for several hundred years. About the beginning of the tenth century the Magyars entered the lands which they now occupy, to become before long overlords of most of the adjoining territory. The earliest historical documents of Transylvania show the country as organized in a kind of feudal system which may have been developed much earlier. At the head of the scale were the Voivozi or Bani. Under them in rank, though later their equals, were the Knezi. Then came the Boieri (Knights), who might owe their nobility either to birth or to their tenure of some administrative office. All these nobles were free from direct taxation, but had to provide military service. Principalities op Wallachia and Moldavia In course of time the development in the power of the feudal lords led them to make attempts to secure complete independence. Thus it is believed that as the result of the increasing importance of one of the great families, the Basarab, the principality of Wallachia, or Muntenia, to give it its Roumanian name, was founded by a Basarab prince after a victory over the Hungarians during the first quarter of the fourteenth century. Some years later another member of the same family, Bogdan, Voivod of Maramures in Transylvania, crossed the mountains with his followers and founded the principality of Moldavia. The history of the two States which were destined to be united in the nineteenth century into the kingdom of Rou mania is for the next five hundred years largely a chronicle , of civil and foreign wars. The succession to the office of Voivod (Prince) depended partly on heredity, partly on the h 2 116 HISTORY choice of the nobiUty, acclaimed by a general assembly of the people. Naturally there were often rival claimants to the throne. Enemies from without had also to be met, for the Ottoman Turks were now rising to the height of their power in Europe. Amid all the turmoil of wars the names of one or two rulers stand out pre-eminently. One of these is Mircea eel Mare (Mircea the Great), Voivod of Wallachia, whose reign was spent in almost incessant and generally successful conflict with the Turks. Documents of the period call him ' Master and Prince of Hungary, of the Duchies of Fagaras and Amias beyond the mountains, Duke of the Banat of Severin and Master of both banks of the Danube as far as the Great Sea ; Lord of the fortress of Durostor (i. e. Silistra) '. Before his death in 1418 Mircea made terms with his chief enemies. His treaty with the Sultan Mahomet I remained the basis of Ottoman suzerainty over Roumania till 1877. In Moldavia the greatest figure is that of Stefan eel Mare (Stephen the Great), who ascended the throne in 1457. He came to be recognized as far as Persia as the chief opponent of the Moslem in Europe, and his chivalrous spirit led him to make several attempts to unite the Christian nations against the common enemy. The rival ambitions of neighbouring princes, however, frustrated all such endeavours. During Stephen's reign Moldavia included the Bukovina ; the boundary to the east was the Dniester, while the river Milcov separated it from Wallachia on the west. The capital was at Jassy, to which Stephen transferred the seat of government from Suceava. Before his death in 1504 the Moldavian prince advised his son Bogdan to submit to the Turks. As the suggestion was duly carried out, both Wallachia and Moldavia paid tribute to Constantinople. Turkish Suzerainty The sixteenth century saw a gradual strengthening of the Turkish hold on the principalities. The ever-reeurring feuds TURKISH SUZERAINTY 117 of rival pretenders to the throne were of great service to the Ottoman power. Candidates for the office of Hospodar (a Slavonic title = Lord), as the position of prince had come to be called from about the time of Mircea the Great, found it increasingly necessary to resort to bribery at Constantinople. Besides, the weakening of the two States by internal conflicts enabled the Porte to increase the amount of the tribute. The natural wealth of the country, however, was such that even the heavy burdens it had to bear could not im- poverish it beyond recovery. It is interesting also to note that in 1588 Petru Schiopul (Peter the Lame)^ Hospodar of Moldavia, concluded a commercial treaty with Queen Eliza beth of England. This agreement gave permission to all English subjects to settle in Moldavia for purposes of trade on payment of a customs-rate of only 3 per cent. Under Mihai Viteazul (Michael the Brave) it seemed for a time that a new era had been inaugurated for the princi palities. Michael came to the throne of WaUachia in 1593, In 1599 he was able to establish himself as ruler of Transyl vania. He then turned his attention to Moldavia, expelled the reigning prince Jeremia Movila, and seized the throne, thus for the first time establishing a united Roumanian kingdom. It would be wrong, however, to regard Michael's actions as inspired by any statesmanlike belief in the unity of the States occupied by men of Roumanian blood. Personal ambition was the chief motive, and his work was not destined to be permanent. He was defeated in battle in the year 1600 and assassinated in 1601. On Mchael's death the .former condition of affairs was restored. The possession of power still remained the prize of the highest bidder at Constantinople, and for the next hundred years only two princes were able to retain their thrones for any length of time. These were Matei (Matthew) Basarab in Wallachia (1633-54), and in Moldavia Vasile Lupul (Basil the Wolf, 1634-53). Both owed their positions to a national revolt against Greek influence which had been 118 HISTORY gradually filtering into the country, chiefly through the religious houses. Both, however, realized that Greek sup port at Constantinople was essential to their remaining in power, and their reigns therefore show an increase in Greek influence. This was specially marked in Moldavia, as Basil himself was thoroughly Greek by education, and may not even have been Roumanian by birth. The reigns of both these princes were distinguished by reforms which were carried further by Serban Cantacuzino, a member of a Greek family which had migrated from Con stantinople to Moldavia early in the sixteenth century. This prince became Hospodar of Wallachia in 1679. The country had been suffering not merely from the ravages of war but also from famine and pestilence. In Moldavia many of the common people sold themselves and their children as slaves to the Tatars in order to procure food. Serban Cantacuzino introduced the maize crop, which yields to-day the staple food of the Roumanian peasant. He also reorganized the iniUtary system and finances, established a regular system of weights and measures, founded schools and set up printing-presses. The reign of this enlightened ruler was brought to an untimely end by .poison in 1688. In 1698, during the reign of Serban Cantacuzino's successor, Constantin Brancovanu, the capital of Wallachia was trans ferred from Targoviste to Bucharest in order to be the more easily controlled by the Turkish Government. The growing power of Russia under Peter the Great was probably causing the Turks some anxiety, and in order to counteract Russian' influence in the principalities a new system of election to the throne was instituted. In 1709 the reigning prince of Mol davia, Mchael Racovija, was deposed for intriguing with Russia, and the dragoman Nicholas, son of Alexander Mavro- gordato, was sent to administer its affairs. Phanariot Regime This was the beginning of what is known as the Phanariot regime, which before very long was extended to Wallachia as PHANARIOT REGIME 119 well. For more than a hundred years the thrones of the two principalities were to be occupied mainly by Greeks from the Phanar quarter in Constantinople. The hospodar was now appointed directly by the Porte, without reference to the nobility or people. It was to the pecuniary interest of the Turkish authorities to have as many changes of rulers as possible, for no prince was elected without a liberal dis tribution of bribes. Since at certain periods, however, the choice of election was limited to one or two families whom the Turks could trust, the loss of baksheesh implied in the prolonged tenure of office by one individual had to be over come. This was done by making the rulers of the two princi palities change places from time to time. And as Wallachia was the better prize, its prince for the time being was always as ready to spend money in order to maintain his position as his colleague in Moldavia was willing to use similar means of securing his own transference to the neighbouring State. No private fortune was equal to the continual demands made on the ruler. Resort was inevitably had to taxation, the chief burden of which fell upon the peasantry. The tax- gatherers were mostly Greeks, whose intolerable exactions forced many of the inhabitants to emigrate to Russia, Austria, Serbia, and Bulgaria. Much of the country went out of culti vation, while a parvenu class of nobility sprang up which owed its position simply to the wealth wrung from the toil of the people. The interchange of rulers under the Phanariot regime, how ever, implied a certain similarity in the administration of the two States. It also helped to make it generally recognized that they were destined one day to be united. Russian Influence The defenceless state of the country during this period gave neighbouring powers frequent opportunities of interference. In 1769 Russia assumed a protectorate over the principalities, a position confirmed by the Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji in 1774. The articles of the treaty which affected the two States 120 HISTORY conceded the abolition of the gifts hitherto payable to Turkey in addition to the ordinary tribute, the free exercise of the Christian religion, and a general amnesty for all Roumanians whose actions had compromised them with the Porte. In 1775 Austria, helped not a little by dishonest diplomacy, was able to annex the Bukovina from Moldavia. In 1802 the treaty of 1774 was modified in some points, and it was stipulated that the princes of Wallachia and Moldavia should hold office for at least seven years. Further, they were not to be deposed without the consent of Russia. This agreement was broken by Turkey in 1806 when Constantin Ipsilanti and Alexandru Morusi, both friends of Russia, were deposed in furtherance of Napoleon's schemes in eastern Europe. In spite of this check, however, Russia gained ground steadily during the next twenty years at the expense of the nominal suzerain. In 1822 the Porte was obliged to yield to the demand of the boiers for native princes. The Phanariot regime thus finally came to an end with the election of loan Sturdza to the throne of Moldavia and Grigore Ghica to that of Wallachia. In 1 829 the Treaty of Adrianople between Russia and Turkey gave the former an indemnity of £5,000,000 for the war which had just ended, with the right to occupy Moldavia and WaUachia till the money had been paid in full. A separate treaty stipulated that the hospodars should hence forth be elected for life, that the principalities should be allowed to raise a miUtia for the maintenance of pubUc order, and that Turkey should retain no fortified place on the left bank of the Danube. By this treaty clearly the real suzerainty over the two States was transferred to Russia, all that was left to Turkey being the right to collect an annual tribute, and to invest the rulers in their office. The commander-in-chief of the Russian army of occupation was Count Kiselev, whose energy and capacity were of immense service to the country in the years which followed. He dealt successfully with outbreaks of plague, cholera, and famine. His chief work, however, was the drafting of the regulations RUSSIAN INFLUENCE 121 known as the Organic Law, which the Porte ratified. This code did not attempt to introduce sweeping reforms, but simply by regulating the various branches of administration to give the country some opportunity for development. It also limited the power of the princes by setting up an assembly of thirty-nine boiers under the presidency of the Metropolitan. That it did not do enough for the peasantry was due, not to Kiselevand Russian influence, but to the stubborn opposition of the boiers. This opposition was the chief problem with which the rulers of the principalities had to deal. The old rivalry for the office of hospodar, if less likely now to result in civil war, made the disappointed candidates determined to obstruct every legis lative measure of the reigning prince. Almost equally serious as a bar to the work of government was the attitude of the younger generation of politicians. Most of these had been educated abroad, mainly in Paris. All were inspired with French ideas of liberty which their rather unbalanced enthu siasm prompted them to apply to their own country. Most of them had been out of touch with the conditions of their native land for several years, and were not easily persuaded that the political formulae current in western Europe were hardly yet applicable to Wallachia and Moldavia. Naturally, too, nearly all of the younger men saw in Russia, the supporter of the regime then in existence, a despot resolved to prevent the spread of liberal ideas. The two States could hardly fail to be influenced by the movements of 1848. An attempt at revolution in Moldavia was promptly suppressed. Many of the boiers were relegated to their estates. The younger revolutionaries were sent into exile, and a Russian army occupied the country. In WaUachia a rising met with greater success. The reigning prince, Gheorghe Bibescu, was obliged to abdicate, and order was not finally restored till a Turkish army crossed the Danube and encamped outside Bucharest. 122 HISTORY Union of Wallachia and Moldavia The next few years were devoted to peaceful organization. During the past generation much had been done for education, largely through the enthusiasm of individuals. A spirit of nationaUsm, fostered by a similar spirit among the Rou manians of Transylvania, was springing up. A more general interest began to be taken in the possibility of a union between the two States. A great step in the direction of union had been taken in 1847 when the customs-dues between Wallachia and Moldavia were abolished. During the years of reorganization which succeeded 1848 the movement gained strength. A proposal for union was definitely brought forward in 1856 at the Treaty of Paris which brought the Crimean War to a close. A Euro pean commission was appointed to order the affairs of the principalities. In 1857 the meetings of representatives at Jassy and Bucharest voted in favour of union. The united principality was to be called Romania and its ruler chosen from one of the European ruling famines, in order to obviate local jealousies. Though the European convention at Paris in 1858 refused its consent to the Roumanian proposals, the representatives of the principalities at Jassy and Bucharest decided to elect Colonel Cuza, who had been one of the young boiers sent into exile in 1848. Principality of Roumania The union of Wallachia and Moldavia into the principality of Roumania was thus accomplished. After a fresh conference in Paris had considered the question, Prince Cuza's position was definitely recognized by the European Powers and Turkey in 1861. In 1862 a single assembly met at Bucharest and a single ministry was formed. Cuza, however, was a native prince, and the old opposition of the other families continued. Even the great ability of the Premier, the Moldavian Cogalniceanu, eould not surmount the obstacles put in his way. One important measure only PRINCIPALITY OF ROUMANIA 123 was passed, the secularizing of the revenues of the monasteries, which had begun to be a menace to the civil power. By a law of December 1863 the superiors were expelled and most of the monasteries converted into hospitals or prisons. Over £1,000,000 was offered as compensation, but refused, and the money finally went into the Treasury. In 1864 Cuza, finding, all his measures blocked by the Assembly, had it dissolved and appealed to a plebiscite, which supported him by an overwhelming majority. An Agrarian Law was then passed, for which Prince Cuza is still remem bered by the Roumanian peasant. In 1864 an educational measure was carried which gave an opportunity for university education to the very poorest in the state. Cuza's neglect of the Constitution resulted in a coalition against him of the Conservatives and advanced Liberals. A secret society was formed and a paper founded called La Revue du Danube. One of the leading members of the society, M. loan Bratianu, set himself in Paris to gain French support by representing Cuza as the tool of Russia. In the meantime the Roumanian prince was regarded at Petrograd as the tool of France. The coalition eventually secured the support of the army, and in February 1866 Cuza was forced to abdicate. Philip, Count of Flanders, father of the present King of Belgium, was proclaimed prince, but refused the office, which was then offered to Prince Karl of the elder branch of the House of Hohenzollern (Sig- maringen). Prince Carol (as he was to be called) accepted, on the advice of Bismarck, with the tacit consent of King William of Prussia and with the complete approval of Napoleon III. Austria and Prussia were at this moment on the brink of war, so the new ruler traveUed in disguise down the Danube to meet with a briUiant reception at Turnu Severin. The year 1866 marks the beginning of a new era for Roumania. On July 11, 1867, a new Constitution was drawn up providing for an Upper and a Lower House of Repre sentatives and giving the prince an absolute veto on legis- 124 HISTORY lation. In October Prince Carol received his firman of office from his suzerain at Constantinople. At this time Roumania had no railways and few good roads. The natural wealth of the country therefore could not be exploited. Prince Carol was determined that the means of communication should be supplied, and a concession for the construction of the first Roumanian railway, from Bucharest to Giurgiu, was granted in 1867. In 1869 the army was reorganized under German instructors, a rural police was formed, and an important railway concession granted to a Prussian firm. In the same year the prince married Elizabeth of Wied, an ideal consort by reason of her devotion to the welfare of her adopted people and the literary powers by which she was to make their aspirations known to Europe. Prince Carol had to suffer a period of extreme unpopularity during the Franco-Prussian War. The Latin sympathies of his people were altogether on the side of the French. Further, at the end of 1870 the Prussian firm which had received the railway concession of 1869 refused to pay the coupons of the bonds due on the 1st of January. The prince offered to abdicate, but the crisis passed. Feeling against Germany again reached a serious pitch when, through Bismarck's influence, the Prussian Government announced its intention of holding Roumania responsible for payment of the interest on the bonds. The Prussian demands were finally accepted, but left considerable bitterness behind. Germany had, however, no really serious competitor in the economic field. Great Britain as yet remained largely in different, and France after the war with Prussia was not in a position to challenge German interests in eastern Europe. A rapprochement with Austria, however, took place, partly as a natural result of the friction with Prussia. On the outbreak of war between Russia and Turkey in 1877 the Roumanian Government, in view of the refusal of the Porte to grant any concessions, signed a secret treaty which permitted Russian troops to advance through Roumanian ROUMANIAN INDEPENDENCE 125 territory. When affairs began to go badly for the Russians at Plevna, Roumania entered the war. and its reorganized army turned the scale in Russia's favour. Roumanian Independence Though Roumania's services were generally acknowledged at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, they failed to secure the re compense hoped for by many Roumanian patriots . Roumanian independence was recognized, subject however to two condi tions. The first of these was the retrocession to Russia of the southern portion of Bessarabia in exchange for Serpent Island, which lies in the Black Sea off the Danube delta, and for the part of the Dobruja north of a line running from the Danube below Silistra to the Black Sea a little south of Mangalia. The second condition was the abolition of the clause in the Roumanian Constitution which stipulated that 'only Christians can become citizens of Roumania'. Its object was the granting of political rights to the large Jewish population. Apart from the delimitation of the frontier there was the question of the navigation of the Danube, which caused considerable friction with Austria-Hungary. After the main questions had been arranged the independence of Roumania was formally recognized by the European Powers. On May 22, 1881, Prince Carol was invested with the insignia of his new title. His crown was made of metal from guns captured at Plevna, thus symbolizing Roumania's release from Turkish suzerainty. The dominating figure in Roumanian politics during these years was the Premier, M. loan Bratianu, who had formed his first cabinet in 1876. In 1883 Roumania joined the Triple AlUance. The con vention was, however, kept, secret and was not ratified by Parliament. In 1884 alterations were made in the mode of election to the Houses of Parliament and in the number of members, trial by jury for press offences was instituted, and the civil 126 HISTORY list which had been settled in 1866 was increased by the assignment of domains to the Crown. (For the Crown lands see p. 147.) In the meantime dissatisfaction with the Government was increasing. Bratianu's administration was partly opportunist, partly dictatorial, and had estranged most of the influential men in the country. By 1885 his position was definitely that of the leader of a bureaucratic oligarchy which disputed politi cal supremacy with the old boier oligarchy of birth. The united opposition of several of the other political parties at length brought about the resignation of the Bratianu Govern ment in 1888. Perhaps the most important influence at work in Roumania from this period onward was that of German and Austrian finance. German traders were supported by their banks, which enabled them to give long credits to the Roumanian buyer. English, French, and ItaUan firms, not possessing a similar advantage, in most cases required payment for goods within a period of from three to six months. Nor must it be forgotten that most of the retail trade in Roumania is in the hands of Jews, many of them emigrants from the Central Empires, whose native language is German (see p. 92). By 1889 Germany had already the largest percentage of Roumania's total imports, a proportion which rose from 29 per cent, in that year to 40-33 per cent, in 1913. After Germany came Austria-Hungary, whose share, after 1891, averaged about 25 per cent. Profiting also by the distaste of the Roumanian for com mercial life (see p. 80), German firms took in hand the exploitation of many of the country's industries. Thus the manufacture of beer, paper, cloth, and cotton, the refining of sugar, and the exploitation of the forests came largely under German management. In the late nineties a contest between German firms and the American Standard Oil Company ended in favour of the former, and from that period till the outbreak of war German control of the petroleum industry developed steadily. In 1914 the proportion of German capital invested ROUMANIAN INDEPENDENCE 127 in Roumanian oil was said to be 37 per cent, of the total. Apart from this there were numerous Roumanian oil companies largely financed in Germany. The expansion of Roumanian trade resulted, in 1907, in the establishment of a Mnistry of Industry and Commerce. The year 1910 was marked by political developments. M. loan C. Bratianu, son of the great politician of the last generation, assumed the leadership of the Liberal party in succession to M. Dimitrie Sturdza. About the same time the brilliant politician M. Take Ionescu formed a new ' Conserva tive Democratic ' party. Balkan War and Treaty of Bucharest, 1913 In 1912 the war between Italy and Turkey, the events in the Balkans, and the closing of the Dardanelles caused an acute financial crisis which, with the new situation produced by the formation of the Balkan League, probably helped to bring about Roumanian intervention in the Balkan War of 1913. (For the Balkan League see Handbook of Turkey, p. 41 , and Handbook of Bulgaria, p. 66-7.) Roumania's object in entering the second Balkan War was officially stated to be twofold : (1) to secure a strategic frontier against Bulgaria, and (2) to ensure that the situation in the Balkans should not be decided without reference to her interests. The immediate result of her intervention was the bringing of the war to a close, Bulgaria announcing that no opposition would be offered to the Roumanian army. The Treaty of Bucharest dealt almost exclusively with territorial adjustments. The new frontier established between Roumania and Bulgaria was practically that which Roumania had asked for in 1878 when she had to cede part of Bessarabia to Russia (see p. 125), but a territorial adjustment which would have provoked little opposition from the Bulgars in 1878 was differently regarded in 1913. Bulgaria in the mean time had risen to the position of an independent state. Also the clause stipulating that the fortifications of Rustchuk and Shumla should be dismantled was resented. Much more 128 HISTORY serious than the resentment of Bulgaria, however, was that of Germany. For though there was an interchange of con gratulatory telegrams between the Kaiser and King Carol, it was recognized on both sides that the Treaty of Bucharest was a heavy blow to German ambitions in the Balkans. It had seriously impaired the solidarity of the Triple AlUance, which Italy's war with Turkey had already affected adversely in the preceding year. Attempts were made during the next few months to secure concessions from the- Hungarian Government with respect to the Roumanian population in Transylvania. The vague promises made by Count Tisza were, however, regarded as insufficient, and only served to bring about a rapprochement between Roumania and Russia. Roumania and the War, 1914-18 In January 1914 a Liberal Government was formed under M. I. C. Bratianu. When the European War broke out the King summoned the Cabinet, the leaders of the Opposition, ex-Prime Mnisters, and ex-Presidents of the Senate. Among those who were present at this meeting, pro-German sym pathies were represented chiefly by MM. Carp, Maiorescu, and Roseti, and in a lesser degree by M. Marghiloman, while M. I. Lahovary and M. N. Filipescu stood for friendship with Russia and France. M. Take Ionescu's attitude was deter mined by his passionate desire for the realization of Roumanian unity. Before this council King Carol laid a proposal for Roumania's intervention on the side of the Central Powers. To this course he was urged partly by personal sympathy, partly on account of the secret convention of 1883, and partly also because he believed that Germany and her allies were certain to win the war. It was a bitter disappointment to the King when he found himself supported only by M. Carp. The Council decided on a policy of neutrality, and when the King appealed to the opinion of the army the officers, by a large majority, also gave their verdict against the royal proposal. The shock ROUMANIA AND THE WAR, 1914-18 129 of this failure may have hastened King Carol's death, which took place on October 11, 1914. The speech of his successor, King Ferdinand, when Parliament opened at the end of November, made it clear that the policy of the Government would be determined by Roumanian ideals and not by dynastic considerations. The direction in which these ideals would lead the country was not at first obvious : as competitive factors there were on the one side the close political and economic relations of Roumania "with the Central Powers ; on the other, her traditions and history as a Latin state. In October 1914 an understanding was arrived at with Russia by which Transylvania was promised to Roumania in return for neutrality on her part. As the Russians pressed into Galicia and Italian intervention appeared imminent, Rou manian opinion hardened against the Central Powers and in favour of an advance across the Carpathians, but the difficulty of reaching an agreement with Russia over territorial ques tions, the failure to establish a passage through the Dardanelles and thus to open a route for the supply of munitions, and the Russian retreat from the Dunajec, were among the causes which delayed the participation of Roumania in the war. Surrounded by German, Austrian, and Bulgarian armies, she could not intervene on behalf of Serbia when that country was overrun. During the early months of 1915, however, a split occurred in the Conservative party on the subject of intervention, and Marghiloman and Filipescu became leaders of the groups favouring the Central and the Entente Powers respectively. Later the parties of Filipescu and Take Ionescu were fused, thus strengthening the interventionist side. Finally, on August 27, 1916, the King announced at a Crown Council that he had decided on immediate war with Austria-Hungary. Next day Germany declared war on Roumania, and on September 1 Bulgaria followed suit. The Roumanian front fell into three well-marked divisions : (1) the mountainous Transylvanian front from the meeting- point of Austria, Hungary, and Roumania to Orsova, neaij EOUMANIA I 130 HISTORY the meeting-point of Serbia, Hungary, and Roumania ; (2) the Danube front, from Orsova for 270 miles to a point 10 miles west of Tutrakan ; (3) the front from the Danube to the Black Sea, separating the Roumanian province of the Dobruja from Bulgaria for a distance of about 100 miles. The indirect means of defence along the Danube sufficed to make it certain that for purposes of active warfare there were only two theatres — Transylvania and the Dobruja. The advantage in railway communications in both places were on the side of the enemy, but strategical and sentimental reasons decided the prosecution of an offensive in Transyl vania, and three' of the four Roumanian armies were sent to invade the country from the south, east, and north, with the middle course of the River Maros as a common objective. This would have formed an almost impregnable and a strategically dominant position, but the Roumanian armies were insuffi cient to keep in contact over the great length of the Tran- sylvanian frontier, and the advance had only just begun when they were further weakened by a withdrawal of valuable forces and of General Averescu (in command of the second army) to re-establish the seriously threatened position in the Dobruja. By the end of September 1916, which marks the high tide of the Roumanian advance, the fourth army, in the north, had got within some 15 miles of Szasz-Regen, had passed Parajd, the eastern terminus of the railway in the Little Kokel valley, and had advanced within a short distance of Schassburg in the Great Kokel valley. The second army was meanwhile approaching Schassburg from the south and advancing to the west beyond Fogaras. None oi the fiist army, to the south, had made any considerable progress, or had yet been reached by the forces operating from the east when the enemy counter-attack came down on them. On September 1, the day war was declared, enemy troops began to cross the frontier in the Dobruja. On September 4 Dobrich, an important road and railway centre, was taken, the weak Roumanian forces being unable to resist the Bul garians, who also took several places on the coast. This ROUMANIA AND THE WAR, 1914-18 131 move in the eastern Dobruja was, however, only preliminary. By September 6 the left wing of the Bulgarian army had advanced on and taken Tutrakan ; Silistra was evacuated, and the enemy pressed on along the Danube. On September 16 a pitched battle between the main forces developed along the line Rashova-Copadinu-Tuzla, the Bulgarians having the Cernavoda bridge and railway as their objective. General Averescu, with three divisions, was withdrawn from the Transylvania front, only to be sent back a month later when in turn the position in Transylvania had become grave. The Bulgarians were routed, but took up strong defensive positions fifteen miles in the rear, circumscribing the Rou manian capacity for concentration in the Dobruja by their occupation of important points of communication such as Silistra and Tutrakan. The German counter-offensive in Transylvania had the bulk of the Roumanian army in full retreat by the early part of October 1916, and by October 10 the frontier had been reached along the whole front, but the withdrawal was covered by gallant rearguard actions ; during its last stages the enemy was not even in touch, and the movement was carried out without demoralization. About the middle of the month a French military mission under General Berthelot arrived to advise the Roumanian General Staff. The enemy offensive now opened its second stage in the Carpathian passes. He had reached the Red Tower pass towards the end of September, and his attack south of Kronstadt attained its full development by October 15. Concurrently Mackensen took the Danube crossings in the Dobruja at Cernavoda and Harsova. By a Russian offensive he was driven back some distance, but retained the central belt of the Dobruja and the Cernavoda-Constanta railway, whilst Falkenhayn advanced from 5 to 15 miles south of Kronstadt during the first half of November 1916. By November 18, after more than a month's fighting in the Wallachian passes, the Germans forced a way into Roumania and reached Craiova on November 21. With the breakdown of the Roumanian defences along the 12 132 HISTORY frontier ridge began the third and shortest stage of the German offensive, the conquest of Wallachia up to Bucharest, which was occupied on December 6, 1916. The fourth stage, in which the evacuation of Wallachia and of the Dobruja by the Roumanians was completed and the battle front with drawn to the Sereth line, followed, and the enemy advance was brought to a standstill about the middle of January 1917, on a line running close to the frontier of Moldavia from the north down to the Gyimes Pass, and then from about Agas in the Trotus valley to Vadeni, south of Galatz, leaving Ocna to the Roumanians and Focsani to the Germans. At the beginning of July 1917 the reorganized Roumanian army was ready to take the field again, but any important action on the Sereth was abandoned owing to the Russian situation in Galicia, which forced the Roumanians to send troops north to guard the menaced frontier. From August 6 to 15 the Germans endeavoured to force the Roumanians and Russians back from the Sereth, with little success in spite of the defection of many Russian troops. A further violent but unsuccessful attack along the Foesani-Adjud railway was the last important operation undertaken by the Germans on the Sereth, and was Mackensen's first serious set-back in the Balkans. After this only minor engagements took place, the Germans having shifted their troops to the north, and the Roumanians being unable to undertake another offensive alone when there was no further hope of help from Russia. The Germans next attacked in the Carpathians on August 10, threatening the important Targu-Ocna railway. The Rou manian troops were withdrawn to the line Campanile- Manastirea-Voloscani, and the enemy offensive was brought to a standstill by August 20, after which only local although persistent operations were undertaken. From the second half of September the efforts of the Germans were vainly directed to demoralizing the Roumanian troops as they had the Russians. During December 1917 practically all the Russian troops in Roumania were withdrawn, and in January 1918 the ROUMANIA AND THE WAR, 1914-18 133 Roumanian army facing the invader was further depleted by the military and political necessity of sending forces to Bessarabia (see below) ; the Bolshevist Government of Russia was hostile, and Roumania was cut off from her allies. The Germans, taking advantage of this situation, required the Roumanian Government to decide, at four days' notice, whether it would treat for peace with the Central Powers. The majority of the Roumanian generals stated that further resistance for any considerable period was impossible ; MM. Bratianu and Take Ionescu refused to subscribe to peace, and resigned, and General Averescu formed a government without them. On March 5, 1918, a preliminary declaration was signed under which Roumania ceded the Dobruja as far as the Danube, accepted in principle the frontier rectifications demanded by Austria-Hungary, and undertook to demobilize the major part of her army (sharing the control of this process with the Higher Command of Mackensen's army group), to support the transport through Moldavia and Bessarabia of Austro-German troops to Odessa, and to dismiss officers of Powers at war with the Central Powers, who were still in Roumanian service. Averescu now resigned, and a new administration was formed by M. Marghiloman, who was friendly to the Central Powers and was supported by them. On March 26 the principal political, territorial, and military articles of the peace treaty — the ' peace ' of Bucharest — were initialled, and it was signed on May 7. It dealt first in detail with the demobilization of the Roumanian forces and the establish ment of German military control. In regard to this cession of territory, Roumania ceded to Bulgaria (subject to frontier rectifications) that part of the Dobruja which she had received under the treaty of Bucharest in 1913. The remainder of the Dobruja up to the Danube, including the port of Constanta, was ceded to a condominium of the Allied Powers, who assured to Roumania a trade route to the Black Sea via Constanta. A district of some 2,000 square miles, containing 170 villages and over 130,000 inhabitants (purely Roumanian), was annexed to Hungary ; Austria received about 920 square 134 HISTORY miles south of Czernowitz, and the total cession of territory by Roumania amounted to more than 10,000 square miles, with a population exceeding 800,000. The army of occupa tion reserved the right to requisition cereals, fodder, wool, meat, timber, oil, &c, with nominal regard for the needs of the country. A new Danube Navigation Act was to be concluded, as stated elsewhere (Chapter VIII), and reference will be found in other pages to the legal and political supple mentary treaty (which included. provisions thinly disguising the payment of an indemnity by Roumania) and to the Petroleum Agreement (Chapter VII) by which Germany attempted to secure control of the Roumanian oil-fields. It is unnecessary now to detail further arrangements con nected with the peace, but the following summary may be quoted : ' The Central Poweis refrained from exacting a cash indemnity ; they imposed it in kind, in the shape of the writing off of their requisitions in Roumania to the value of some £50,000,000. The Roumanian State deposits which early in the war had been conveyed to Moscow for credit purposes were subsequently transferred to the account of the Central Powers. The fiscal domination of Roumania was completed by stipulations compelling her to give most favoured-nation treatment to Germany and Austria without regard to any arrangements which they might make among themselves. On petroleum no export dues were to be levied. Germans, moreover, were to be at liberty to buy up Rouman ian land at discretion. Roumania was tied down to her fixed tariff rates, while Germany reserved complete freedom as regards a whole series of tariff questions. Germany secured control of the Roumanian railways and a shipbuilding yard on the Danube. Under the pretence of supplying the Roumanian railways with rolling-stock, Germany secured a monopoly of such supplies, and a permanent right to supervise the railways. Railway rates were settled in German favour. A special agreement was concluded for the regulation of postal and telegraph traffic between Germany and Rou mania, the provision of a direct telephone service, and a German monopoly until 1950 for laying cables on the Rou ROUMANIA AND THE WAR, 1914-18 135 manian coast.' It is perhaps desirable to carry the survey of these arrangements thus far, in order to show not only what the Central Powers proposed to do, but what remained to Roumania to be undone. It has already been mentioned that in January 1918 Roumania had dispatched forces to Bessarabia ; this was done in response to appeals from the Council of that country, which was threatened with an immediate prospect of anarchy under Bolshevist influence, while there was a great bulk of Roumanian stores and supplies there. A Roumanian expedi tionary force reached Kishinev at the end of the month, and subsequently Marghiloman (backed by Germany, who had no objection, once her domination over Roumania was established, to this territorial extension of her temporary vassal) succeeded, in April, 1918, in arranging a treaty of union between Rou mania and Bessarabia, on the terms that the latter should retain both local autonomy and full representation in the Roumanian Government and Parliament. The official Rou manian attitude of the time was one of satisfaction at the return of this territory to Roumania after more than a century, and there was some disposition to regard it as an offset against the loss of the Dobruja. The Roumanian Government at Jassy now took in hand a number of reforms to which reference is made elsewhere in this volume. Marghiloman, while laying down that the King could not constitutionally be made responsible for the war, and denying the existence of any machinations against the dynasty on the part of the Central Powers, moved for the impeachment of Bratianu, Take Ionescu, and other supporters of the Entente. Suddenly, in November, 1918, the whole fabric of the German domination in Roumania collapsed ; on the 9th Roumania again entered the war ; on the 11th an ultimatum to Mackensen gave him 24 hours to withdraw his troops. The Bucharest treaty was annulled ; Marghiloman resigned. A new ministry was formed under General Coanda, the army was rapidly restored to a war footing, and the vast task of restoring the ravaged country could at last be under taken in earnest. CHAPTER VI] RESOURCES, TRADE, AND FINANCE Agricidture — Live-stock — Land tenure — Forestry — Minerals — Manufae turos — Imports and Exports — Shipping — Finance — Money. Agriculture , Roumania is pre-eminently an agricultural country. Its total area after the Peace of Bucharest in 1913 was 34,232,960 acres, of which 2,018,250 acres were taken up by lakes and rivers. Of the agricultural domain in 1915, 12,656,000 acres were under cereals, 515,000 acres under pulse, vegetables, and various industrial plants, 378,000 under vineyards and orchards, and 1,451,000 under grazing and forage plants. Of the remainder, nearly 7,000,000 acres are still forested. The chief crops are wheat and maize. Barley, oats, and rye occupy a subordinate position. The following table shows the area under each of these crops and the total amoun^ produced in the years 1914 and 1915 (the production is given in quarters of 480 lb. except in the case of oats, which is given in quarters of 3041b.). Area i acres) Production {quarters) Wheat . Maize Barley Oats Rye 1914 5,215,9735,091,948 1,404,002 1,055,939 207,660 1915 4,703,4955,205,003 1,370,603 1,064,478 186,764 1914 5,826,000 12,600,000 3,005,000 2,707,000 229,000 1915 11,240,00012,800,000 3,539,000 2,750,000 352,000 The decrease in wheat production in 1914 was due to the low rainfall and to the mobilization of the Roumanian army in the Second Balkan War in 1913. No complete information is available as to the effects of the war on agriculture. The Germans forced cultivation AGRICULTURE 137 in the occupied territory, and claimed early in 1917 to have got half the available land sown. The autumn sowing in 1917 was claimed to cover 3,270,341 acres, of which 3,040,250 acres were sown with wheat, and most of the remainder with rye and rape. But the destruction of farms, vineyards and the like was great, and the loss of live-stock (see below), especially the oxen which the peasantry used extensively in agriculture, was stated in November 1918 to make the prospects grave. There was also compulsory cultivation in Moldavia, but cereals had to be imported from Bessarabia by the State in 1918. The geographical account of agriculture which follows takes account only of normal conditions before the- war. Of the main agricultural products maize predominates in the hill region, and wheat in the plains. Maize demands less attention than wheat, and is therefore a more convenient culture for the small proprietors, each of whom has his live stock, his garden, and his field. It supplies him with the staple of his diet, mdmaliga, and can also be used for fattening his pigs and poultry. The great bulk of the maize grown in Roumania is used for home consumption, while a large proportion of the wheat is exported. Though wheat- growing yields more remunerative results than maize, it is exposed to greater risks. That is an additional reason why it is less favoured by the small proprietors and preferred by the large landowners. Corresponding to this difference in the distribution of the cereal crops, there are differences in the kind of life lived by the agricultural peasants. Almost aU the agriculture of the hiU country is carried on by peasant proprietors, who in addition to agriculture engage in market-gardening, fruit growing, and domestic stock-rearing. Each such farm is more or less self-sufficient. Vegetables, and especially haricot beans, a very important item of the peasants' diet (the potato is comparatively Uttle used), are grown in the gardens. The vine and the plum are the most usual fruit-trees. The latter yield tuicd, the national drink, a crude kind of brandy. 138 RESOURCES, TRADE, AND FINANCE In the plains, on the Other hand, where wheat is the chief product, a large proportion of the peasants work for the large proprietors, and even when they manage their own farms devote nearly all their energy to labour in the fields. They seldom have orchards, which in any case the plains do not favour ; and stock-raising is almost entirely in the hands of a special part of the population, the migratory shepherds, described below. Agriculture in the Carpathians In the Carpathian region, as has been seen, cultivation is restricted : maize is the principal food-crop, and hemp, grown for fibre, is of some importance. The area under wheat is small. In some of the sheltered valleys the vine is grown, but to no great extent. Agriculture in the Hill Region Nearly one-half of the total output of maize in Roumania is produced in the region of the hills. The climate is suitable, especially as the rainfall is abundant during the earlier part of the year when moisture is most necessary. The yield in Moldavia is higher than in Wallachia, a result due, in part at least, to the dry summer and fairly high temperature in the region between the Sereth and the Pruth. Indeed, the conditions in this district are so favourable that it produces over one-fourth of the total crop of Roumania. Wheat ranks next in importance to maize, but covers less than two-thirds of the area occupied by the latter crop : Moldavia possesses only about 15 per cent, of the wheat-lands of the kingdom. On the other hand, the yield per acre in that province is higher than elsewhere, averaging 17 bushels per acre as against 15 bushels per acre for the whole country. In Wallachia the yield per acre is lower and averages about 14 bushels. Other cereal crops include barley, rye, oats, and millet. Barley is grown in Moldavia, but not to any great extent elsewhere in the region of the hills, and the same is also true of oats. Among industrial plants hemp, sugar-beet, AGRICULTURE 139 the sunflower, and the mulberry may be mentioned. Hemp, which is cultivated by the small farmer as much for its seed as for its fibre, is grown throughout the whole region, but mainly in Moldavia to the west of the Sereth, where about one- third of the total crop of the country is produced. Sugar-beet also finds its most favourable environment in Moldavia, which grows about three-fourths of the Roumanian crop. The sun flower, which is cultivated for the oil contained in its seed, is almost entirely confined to the same region. The production of silk in Roumania is carried on mainly in the plains of the Danube, where over three-fourths of the mulberry-trees are found, but a certain amount is obtained from the hill region, mainly from WaUachia and the southern districts of Moldavia. Before the war the cultivation of the vine had declined greatly throughout the whole country, mainly as a result of the damage done by phylloxera and mildew. The slopes of the river- valleys in the hill region have hitherto afforded the most favourable conditions, and over three-fourths of the vineyards are found there. Wallachia has one-third of the area under productive vines, most of them being grafted on American stumps. The region between the Sereth and the Pruth ranks next in importance, while the country to the west of the Sereth comes third. The plum is grown mainly in Wallachia, and large quantities are produced in that province. The hill country contains about one-half of the land laid down in permanent pasture and forage plants, the greater part of it being in Moldavia, which produces about one-third of the lucerne and clover grass grown in the country. Other forage plants, including sorghum, maize, and millet, are also grown in the hills, but not to the same extent as in the plains. There are, in addition, extensive natural grass-lands throughout the region, and these provide considerable quantities of hay, especially in Moldavia, where the yield per acre is larger than elsewhere. The agricultural importance of the Moldavian section of the hill region is well marked in the foregoing survey. It is 140 RESOURCES, TRADE, AND FINANCE due, in the main, to the dissected nature of the land, its fertile covering of loess, and abundant sunshine during the summer months. Agriculture in the Plain, &c. Agriculture is practically the only pursuit of the plain, and wheat covers about one-half of the cultivated area. The departments of Doljiu, Romanati, Olt, Teleorman, Vla§ca, Ialomita, and Braila may be taken, as they are by the Roumanian Government, to include the region, and they contain about 55 per cent, of the total area under wheat in Roumania. Owing to the uncertain nature of the rainfall in the plain, however, the crop varies greatly from one year to another. In 1912 the yield per acre was 15 bushels as against 21 bushels in 1913 and 8 bushels in 1914. The uncertainty of the crop is one reason why the cultivation of wheat in this region was first taken up by large proprietors who were capitalists and were able to balance the failures of one year against the successes of the next. Maize ranks next in importance to wheat, and about two-fifths of the land in Roumania devoted to that crop are in the region under consideration. In contrast to wheat, however, the yield of which per acre is lower in the plain than in the country as a whole, the yield of maize per acre is higher. During the three years 1912-14 it averaged 24, 26, and 23 • bushels respectively, as compared with 19, 21, and 19 bushels for the whole of Roumania. Maize also, it may be noted, is grown to a much larger extent by the small cultivator than wheat. In 1914 the large cultivator had 40 per cent, of the land under wheat, but only 11 per cent, of that under maize. During the early years of the present century great develop ment took place in this region, especially in lands which had formerly lain waste, such as the Baragan. Much of this development was the work of men who had sufficient capital to reclaim large areas, sink wells, and introduce modern machinery. Under such conditions they found in wheat a profitable crop, "and with their moro advanced methods of AGRICULTURE 141 farming they were able to obtain between two and three bushels per acre more than the small cultivator. In recent years before the war, however, there, was a relative increase in the number of small farms, owing mainly to changes in the agrarian laws, the growth of a co-operative movement whose object is to take over large estates, and an increase in the number of popular banks. Further particulars regarding land-tenure will be found in a later section (p. 144). The other cereal crops of this area include barley, oats, rye, and millet, but the total acreage devoted to them is not much more than one-fourth that given to wheat alone. The climatic conditions of the region make it well adapted to the growth of certain industrial plants. About three-fourths of the mul berry trees in the country are found within its bounds, the departments of Ilfov, Doljiu, Romanati, and Teleorman having the largest number. About 120,000 kilogrammes of silk cocoons were produced in Roumania each year, and of that amount the Wallachian plain provided two-thirds, Doljiu and Ilfov alone contributing one-third. Tobacco, which is almost entirely in the hands of small-holders, is a crop of some importance in the departments of Dambovita, Vlasca, Ilfov, and Ialomita. The vine is grown, but the area cultivated is decreasing here as elsewhere in Roumania. Over one-half of the total crop of flax and colza is also obtained from the plain. Agriculture is practised to a slight extent in the Danube valley. After the spring floods a catch crop is attempted ; the seed is sown in the rich alluvial soil, and if harvest comes before the next flood good results may be obtained. During the winter months, when the water is low, extensive tracts covered with grass provide food for sheep and cattle even when snow is on the ground. In the Dobruja, especially in Tulcea district south of the delta of the Danube, there is a good deal of stock-farming, especially with sheep, and fruit, tobacco, and the vine are cultivated. The Constanta district appears to be less fertile, but the southern territory acquired by Roumania in 1913 is 142 RESOURCES, TRADE, AND FINANCE more than two-thirds cultivable, and though suffering from want of water is largely agricultural, the chief product being wheat. Live-stock At the end of 1911 Roumania possessed 824,714 horses, 2,666,945 oxen and buffaloes, 5,269,493 sheep, 186,515 goats, 1,021,465 swine, and 4,248 asses and mules. By 1914 there were 1,218,563 horses and three million head of cattle. But the war brought the live-stock industry into a very serious position. In Moldavia at the end of 1916 there were only 1 15,632 horses and 706,496 head of cattle ; sheep were simi larly reduced in numbers, and pigs had almost disappeared. In the occupied territory in February 1917 there were said to be 299,402 horses, 1,049,702 head of cattle, 1,655,110 sheep, and 371,205 pigs. The following paragraphs will describe the normal condition of the live-stock industry before the war. The small farm of the peasant proprietor, in the hills and on the Carpathian slopes, has, on an average, one horse, two to three oxen, one or more cows, about six sheep, and several pigs. Mules and goats are not very often met with. As a rule the communes situated at the foot of the mountains own large tracts of pasture above the forest-line. The sheep are sent there in the spring ; the cows are pastured in the forest-clearings. Possession of a horse is in Roumania some what of a luxury ; oxen are the usual draught-animals. The horses of the plains are of rather poor stamina, but when taken on to the mountains show remarkable power of endur ance. The sheep are a special breed, variable in size, yielding an inferior quaUty of wool caUed turcand or bdrsand. Their milk is pleasant tasting, but is not copious. Large numbers of fowls, ducks, geese, and turkeys are reared by the house wife, but only weU-to-do peasants can afford to reserve them for their own use. UsuaUy they are marketed. The cultivated grass-lands in the Wallachian plain cover about twice the area of the prairies, the proportion of the LIVE-STOCK 143 former being above, and of the latter below, that for the whole of Roumania. Both cattle and sheep are raised in large numbers, and the region contains 30 per cent, of the cattle and (in winter) 35 per cent, of the sheep of the whole country. Migratory Shepherds. — Owing to climatic conditions, flocks of sheep can be maintained in Roumania through the summer months only by transfer to pasturage on the high mountain lands above the forest-line. From the beginning of October to the middle of April the migratory shepherds live in villages in the plains of the lower Danube or in the Balta. The flocks arrive in the mountains about the end of April, the shepherds bringing with them their wives and children, to gether with the necessary household belongings and a supply of maize. The isolated sheep-farms in which they settle are primitive. They consist of one or more dwelling-houses (stdnd) for the shepherds in charge, a hut (strungd) for milking, * and a rough sheep-fold (obor). The stand is built of undressed tree-trunks, placed one upon the other, between larger tree- trunks driven into the soil at the four corners. The wind passes freely through the interstices in the waUs. The roof is the most important part of the house, and is more carefully constructed. Sometimes the milking-cabin is attached to the stdnd ; it then forms a kind of vestibule between the dwelling- chamber and the cheese-dairy. The obor is surrounded by a palisade formed of entire trees, laid level and supported by poles. The sheep are enclosed within it during the night. This type of sheep-farm is more or less pecuUar to the Roumanian people, and is found throughout the whole Car pathian range as far north as Galicia, and in the Balkan peninsula wherever the Kutso Vlachs practise the pastoral life. The farm-buildings generaUy belong to an external pro prietor (stdpdn), and represent an investment of £4 to £8 — quite a large sum for a peasant. The pasturage is most fre quently communal property, but there are some few regions that belong to noble families. The baciu, the chief shepherd 144 RESOURCES, TRADE, AND FINANCE of the stdnd, is sometimes himself the proprietor ; most often he is a peasant who is paid on an average 32s. for the whole summer. The shepherds (ciobani), who are under his orders, are paid in kind — two sheep for every hundred confided to their care. A shepherd can guard 200 to 300. The price of a sheep in the spring is about 8s. to 10s. ; a ram is worth 12s. to 16s. Each farm has from 1,500 to 3,000 sheep, with four to twelve shepherds, not counting the baciu. Children are employed as shepherds from about twelve years of age. The shepherds are assisted by dogs. Cattle are very rare. There are seldom more than a dozen in a stand. The large herds of cattle are found lower down, in the forest region, feeding in the glades and clearings. Each farm has also a few pigs. A considerable proportion of the sheep on the mountains 'belong to Transylvanian proprietors ; they winter, however, like the others, in the Roumanian plains. They are conducted, when they arrive in the mountains and before they depart, to the frontiers, where they are numbered and marked. A large number, too, of the shepherds are Transylvanians. In the department of Braila they are caUed Mocani. They preserve the usages peculiar to Transylvania. The migration back to the plains begins, as a rule, in the first fortnight of September. Land-tenure Serfdom was abolished by Cuza's Land Act in 1864. All peasant families subject to forced labour under the State, monasteries, and private landowners were declared free. According to their status as ' double-hoofed ' peasants (owning four oxen and a cow), ' one-hoofed ' (owning two oxen and a cow), and ' half-hoofed ' (owning one cow), they were provided with arable, meadow, and grazing lands, to be redeemed in fifteen years by payments to the Tax Com missioners. For private estates alone the reimbursements amounted to £4,280,000. In the case of the great landed proprietors the expropriation was to be extended only to two- , LAND-TENURE 145 thirds of their estates. To enable the peasants to meet their engagements, 10 per cent. State scrip (later converted into 6 per cent, scrip and finally into 4 per cent, scrip) was issued for the specified amount, whilst the State renounced both for itself and the monasteries all claim to their share in the purchase - money. By the same law the small holdings were declared inalienable till the year 1895, and in 1884 this period was extended to the year 1916. Freeholds were thus created for 402,903 peasant families, the land divided among them amounting to 4,042,540 acres. In addition there existed in 1864 some 117,000 mosneni (see p. 68), owning among themselves an amount of land equal to that newly divided. The results of Cuza's legislation were, however, disappoint ing. In addition to unexpected shortcomings in the peasants, who were thus suddenly made responsible for the independant management of farms, there were serious defects in the new arrangements. The lands assigned for division were not sufficient in quantity. Of the 500,000 or 550,000 emancipated families, 100,000 received no land at all, while a large pro portion of the allotments were too small to support their holders. Another defect of the enactment was that the indemnity awarded to the great landowners was excessive, and beyond what the farmers were able to pay. Improved results followed from the agrarian laws of 1868, 1879, and 1889 (in consequence of a peasant rising in 1888). Thanks to these and other similar enactments, by the end of 1898, 149,442 additional families had purchased 1,864,368 acres. Altogether, in the period between 1864 and 1898, 5,906,908 acres were shared among 552,345 peasant families. Subsequent to the extensive peasant rising in 1906, there Was further agrarian legislation creating a service of State inspectors to supervise and inspect all agricultural contracts, and a land committee to purchase land, for sale at moderate rates to small-holders. In 1912 the average size of a large farm was 1,251 acres, and of a small farm 9-4. The number of farms of medium size is, unfortunately, so small as to be almost negligible. In 1915 EOUMANIA K 146 RESOURCES, TRADE, AND FINANCE the number of large farms was 3,523, and of small farms 1,182,617, distributed as follows : Regions. Large farms. Small f am Plains of the Sereth and Pruth 873 254,323 Carpathians of Moldavia 270 118,502 Carpathians of Muntenia 590 354,811 The Danube plains 1,284 379,555 The Dobruja 506 75,426 Of the total agricultural surface in 1915, viz. 15,024,921 acres, 26-13 per cent, were large farms and 73-87 per cent. were small farms. The proportion of small farms is steadily on the increase. Taken from the point of view of the forms of land-tenure, 63-30 per cent, of the cultivated area was worked directly by the owners, 26-44 per cent, by tenant-farmers, and 10-26 per cent, by those who share in the produce. Of the land which is worked in the form of large farms, 53-87 per cent, was managed directly by the owners, and 46-13 per cent, was leased to middlemen. Of the land worked in smaU farms, 66-73 per cent, was worked by the owners, 19-28 per cent, by tenant-farmers, and 13-99 per cent, by tenants who shared in the produce. There are still large numbers of landless peasants, and many of the smaU proprietors have too Uttle land to Uve upon. Fresh legislation was about to be passed when the war broke out. The conditions of labour on the large estates are fre quently most unsatisfactory. Both on those which are administered by their owners and on those which are leased to Jewish and other middlemen the peasants are very fre quently ground down to a starvation wage. In these respects, as already indicated, conditions are much worse in Moldavia than in other parts of the country. In 1917-18 agrarian reform was one of the first operations put in hand after the cessation of hostilities. It was estimated that including Crown domains (see below) there are over six million acres which should be expropriated. It was calculated that no landed properties should be left containing LAND-TENURE 147 more than 1,000-1,250 acres of arable land, and it was pro posed to carry out expropriation on a steeply graduated scale, so that in the case of the largest estates 90 or 95 per cent, of the whole should be expropriated. All estates of 250 acres and more should be liable from that point upward. Compensation by redeemable bonds at 5 per cent, interest was proposed. Pending such far-reaching reform, a tran sitional measure was passed in September 1918, making compulsory the farming out to peasants of certain portions of large estates, amounting to about 2,500,000 hectares in all. On an average, two-fifths of the surface of these estates was to be farmed out to village communities (or to individual peasants if communities could not be formed), but with a graduated scale according to the size of estates. A large agrarian bank was to be established to supervise the ' popular ' banks (for which see section on Finance, below). The Crown domains have a total superficial area of 326,316 acres, and consist of twelve estates, some located in the hill region and some in the plains. The largest are those of Malini 71,133 acres and of Sadova 49,676 acres. The domains are admirably administered. Their farms, schools, and dwellings exercise great influence as models to the rest of the country. Experiments, designed for the improvement of farming methods, are constantly being made. Market- gardening and home industries are also encouraged, and forestry is scientifically developed. Forestry The total forest area in 1914 was 6,935,120 acres, of which 2,712,582 were owned by the State and 4,222,539 were privately owned. For an account of these forests see pp. 51-3. Roumania possesses great reserves of forest wealth in the Carpathians. The difficulties of communication, and the fact that there is still much standing timber in the hill region, have, however, retarded their exploitation. In Wallachia the peasants of the valleys go up into the mountains at the end of summer and cut down spruce and beech. Where the K 2 148 RESOURCES, TRADE, AND FINANCE rivers are suitable, as is the case with the Lotru, the logs are sometimes floated down to the saw-mills in the villages, but frequently they are either drawn down by bullock-teams or sawn up into planks on the spot. In the valley of the Prahova, where, on account of industrial development lower down, timber is greatly in request, the saw-mills are driven by steam, but elsewhere water-power is generally resorted to. In Moldavia the lumbering industry is somewhat more active, especially in the valleys of such rivers as the Trotus and the Bistrita. Numerous saw-mills worked by steam, of which the most important are situated at Piatra on the Bistrita, are engaged in the preparation of timber for export abroad. In addition logs are floated down-stream to Galatz, where there are also large saw-mills. Before the war the Roumanian people began to realize the value of the vast forests which they possess, especially in the sandstone ridges of the Carjpathians, and measures were taken, in those owned by the State at least, for their protection and development. With the extension of the railway system also it is probable that the export trade will increase. Very great damage, however was done to the forests during the war, and to meet the demands of the Germans during their occupation. Fishing Though the great bulk of the peasant population on the banks of the Danube are agriculturists, a small proportion is exclusively engaged in fishing. The fishermen inhabit hamlets established on the shore, just above the high- water Une, and also have temporary dweUings in the Balta-lands — wattle and reed huts that are frequently carried away by the floods. The houses of the overseers are raised on a stone platform, and have outhouses in which the fish are salted. Methods of fishing. — Various methods of fishing are prac tised. In the Balta lands the streams connecting with the lagoons or lakes are barred by screens of osier hurdles, sup ported on heavy stakes driven into the stream-bed, forming a kind of cul-de-sac, to which nets or lines with baited hooks FISHING 149 can be attached. These are the inchisoari (literally ' prisons '). They ensure the capture of about three-quarters of the large fish which enter the lagoons in the floods and seek to return to the main stream'" when the water falls. The mesh of the wicker-work and nets is large enough to allow of the passage of the young fish. In the low waters of autumn, fishing con tinues in a certain number of the lateral lakes. A large net is dragged by three or four men over the soft mud that is usuaUy covered by not more than 3 ft. of water. But it is in the period of the great floods that the largest captures are made. The carp is the most important fish. It is fine flavoured — much more so than the ordinary pond variety — and attains a remarkable size, weighing as much as 45 lb. The sturgeon yields a caviare which is coarse-grained and is preferred to the small-grained Russian. (See also p. 54.) State regulations.— The State owns the waters and constructs at its own expense the inchisoari. The fishing concessions are put up to auction and are sold to those bidders who offer the State the largest percentage of weight of fish captured. The State thus obtains 50 to 70 per cent, of the captures in the regions in which it constructs the inchisoari, and a much smaller proportion for the open waters. The fishery laws, which forbid the use of explosives, nets of small mesh, &c, are very rigorously enforced. The fishermen in the delta and Braila regions are generaUy of Russian extraction. They form groups similar to the Russian artels, the members sharing profits with their ' patron ' or overseer, but aUowing him in addition a share proportionate to the capital which he invests and the risks which he runs. Less frequently the State engages the workers. Fishermen do not have the right to conclude even the smaUest sale. They must put in at some town where there is a custom-house and hand over their capture to the officials, by whom it is auctioned. Minerals Petroleum. — The mineral wealth of Roumania is mainly concentrated in the region of the hills, where deposits of 150 RESOURCES, TRADE, AND FINANCE , petroleum, salt, and coal are all found. Of these petroleum is by far the most important. Its existence in the country has been long known and it has been used locally for various purposes. For forty or fifty years, indeed, smaU refineries have existed at which the oil collected from hand-dug wells has been treated. More recently drilling was introduced and the output increased, but it is only within the last twenty years or so that the industry has risen to a place of first-class im portance. In 1895 the total production amounted to 76,000 metric tons, while in 1914 it had risen to 1,783,000 metric tons, or about 3-5 per cent, of the world's annual output. For this rapid development there are several reasons. The greatly increased demand for oil throughout the world led to the introduction of foreign capital — largely German — into the country. Improved methods of mining and refining the crude oil, and the development of the means of transport, chiefly by the construction of pipe lines, greatly assisted the development of the industry. For the exports see under Imports and Exports, below. The region in which petroleum has, up to the present, been located lies between the Ialomita and the Bistrita, but accord ing to eminent authorities all indications point to the field being much more extensive. The productive weUs are grouped in four districts : Prahova, Dambovita, Buzau, and Bacau. Of these the first is by far the most important and produced during the three years 1912-14 about 88 per cent, of the total output of the country. In this area the chief weUs are grouped round Campina and Caline§ti in the vaUey of the Prahova ; Poiana in that of the Varbilau, a tributary of the Teleajenu ; Bustenari, a little to the east of Campina ; Bordeni, east of the Prahova in the valley of the Mislea, a tributary of the Telea jenu ; Baicoiu and Tintea on the southern margin of the hill country east of the Prahova ; and Moreni in the valley of the Provi^a, a tributary of the Prahova. The Bustenari-CaUnesti- Bordeni wells at one time dominated the production of the whole country but later declined in importance, and the Campina-Poiana wells also showed a diminished output. The MINERALS 151 increased production of the Moreni wells, on the other hand, more than compensated for the decreased output of the others. The following table indicates, for the year 1913, the total production in metric tons of each of the four districts, the name (in the first column) and the total production (in the fourth column) of the principal producing fields, and the names and production (in the middle columns) of the principal companies operating in the fields named. Fields and com panies of minor importance are omitted, so that total figures exceed the sum of detailed figures in most cases. Field. Moreni Campina Filipe^ti Padure Baicoiu BuiptenariTinteaBorden i Guia Ocni^ei Arbanas Tetcani LucaceftiSolont Prahova District (Total production, 1,719,944 tons) Production Production Company. of Company, of Field. Tons. Tons. Roumanian ConsolidatedOilFac.Ltd. 44,476 Columbia 274,780 Romano -Americana 213,667 Astra Romana (Moreni) 171,894 (Bana) 71,745 (State lands) 150,247 Concordia 12,590 \ Petrolul 239,416 ( Astra RomanS (VrSjitoarea) 17,383 Astra Romana 17,596 I Franck Russell 13,268 j Romano-Americana 42,427 i Concordia 63,8*6 Steana Romana 45,359 I Columbia 22,741 "1 D. & N. Seteleanu Bros. 21,859 Anglo-RomanS . 10,968 >¦ \ Aquila Franco-RomanS 10,273 t Orion 68,313 ) j Alfa 17,435 j Concordia 39,408 Dambovita District (Total production, 50,371 tons) I Internationals RomanS 33,863 | ; „ „ (Perim.Cezianu) 14,853 ) Buzau District (Total production, 99,757 tons) Steana RomanS 82,351 Bacau District (Total production, 28,126 tons) Romano-AmericanS 3,578 Steana RomanS 9,092 6.645 945,349272,661 21,427 67,963 234,772 95,721 77,78649,463 95,024 3,774 9,092 6,906 152 RESOURCES, TRADE, AND FINANCE The principal refineries for these wells are situated at Campina, Ploesti, Baicoiu, and Breaza. There were in all 100 pipe lines, with a total length of over 1,000 miles, con necting the wells with the refineries. In addition to these a great pipe line, connecting the oil-producing region with Constanta on the Black Sea and crossing the Danube by the great bridge at Cernavoda, was completed before the war, and it was anticipated that many refineries would be trans ferred to Constanta. Previously tank-cars, of which there were about 4,000 in the country, were used for transporting the oil from the refineries to the coast. The destruction of the pipe line, and the subsequent diversion of the output by the Germans, are referred to below. In the Prahova region the oil occurs in the Miocene and PUocene rocks which have been subjected to much folding and in places, as at Moreni, to considerable faulting. As a result there has been abundant opportunity for the inflow of the petroleum to the region where it is found and for its accumula tion in considerable quantities within narrow areas. It accordingly follows that the deposits are of varying extent, and it appears almost impossible to predict the life of any particular well. As regards actual mining the conditions are on the whole favourable. The oil is found at no great depth and the weUs are usually much shaUower than in America or Russia. In the Moreni and Campina districts they are generally between 1,200 and 2,000 ft. in depth ; elsewhere they lie between 600 and 1,000 ft. There is accordingly a considerable saving of expense both in drilling and in casing the well. A further advantage lies in the fact that the rocks which have to be penetrated in sinking a well are usuaUy easily worked, consisting as they do of soft clays, marly shales, sands, and sandstones. The chief difficulties encountered arise partly from the high angle of inclination of the strata which, as in Galicia, tends to deflect the boring tools, and partly from the occurrence of layers of water-bearing or oil-bearing quicksands which are liable to cause the caving in of the wells. With the development of the industry MINERALS 153 on a large scale hand-dug wells have ceased to be of much importance. Apart from the Prahova district, oil is obtained in the valley of the Ialomita, near Targoviste in Dambovita, in the valley of the Buzau in Buzau, and in the basin of the Trotus at Comanesti and Moinesti in Bacau. The total production of these districts in the three years 1912-14 amounted to about 12 per cent, of the Roumanian output, and of that over one- half came from Buzau, which alone shows a marked increase in its yield. The oil-wells of Roumania have played an important part in the economic development of the country. Not only did they provide direct employment for about 12,000 people but they led to the growth of various metallurgical and chemical industries connected with the refineries. The railway system has in places been extended to meet their needs, and the ports and shipping of the country also benefited. The export of oil, mainly to France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Egypt, arid Belgium, greatly increased the importing power of Roumania. Effects of the War on the Petroleum Industry. — It was claimed before the war that German capital was interested in the Roumanian oil industry to the extent of over £5,000,000, about 37 per cent, of the total nominal capital concerned, although, as will be seen in the section on exports (below), Germany did not receive any such proportion of the exports. The principal shareholders in the Steana Romana Company, which had a capital of £2,000,000, were the Deutsche Bank and the Wiener Bankverein. In October-November 1916, when it was seen that the Prahova oil-fields could not be saved from falling into enemy hands, extensive destruction was carried out under the direction of a British mission, wells being fired or blocked, and tanks and refineries destroyed. In October the stores of kerosene, petrol, &c, at Constanta were destroyed before the town was evacuated. But when the Central Powers dictated peace to Roumania in May 1918 it was one of their first interests to obtain lasting control, as they supposed, of the oil-fields, and a Petroleum 154 RESOURCES, TRADE, AND FINANCE Agreement was drawn up. Under this measure an Oil-fields Leasing Company was established, with exclusive rights of utilizing all Roumanian State lands for the purpose of pros pecting for, obtaining, and working up mineral oil, gas, wax, asphalt, &c, for a term of 30 years, renewable at the com pany's option for two succeeding similar periods. The Roumanian Government was offered not more than a quarter of the foundation shares in the company, but German and Austrian interests assured their own controlling influence by the creation of preference shares of a fifty-fold voting value. Another concern, the Mineral Oil Investment Company, was confirmed in its rights over properties of other companies compulsorily wound up. Negotiations were to be undertaken regarding the manner in w"hich Roumania's surplus oil and oil products might be placed at the disposal of the Central Powers without prejudice to the vital requirements of Rou mania. Failing other arrangements a Monopoly Trading Com pany was to be set up by a financial group designated by the German and Austro-Hungarian Governments for this purpose. In the light of subsequent events it is unnecessary to detail this agreement further, but meanwhile the Germans and Austrians had lost no time in endeavouring to re-establish the oil industry. An authoritative enemy statement gave a calculation, for 1914 before the war, of a daily output of 4,899 metric tons from the Roumanian oil-fields, a figure which agrees closely with the annual estimate quoted above ; in April 1918 the daily output was stated to be 3,580 tons, or nearly three-quarters of the normal output. In September 1918 it was estimated that production had probably been worked up to five-sixths or perhaps eight-ninths of the normal. These statements, however, are denied from other sources ; one estimate made in November 1918 was that the Germans had only achieved a fifth of the normal output and that the lack of oil was causing great difficulty in the reconstitution of industries and communications, as it was largely used as fuel. The Germans had immediately taken in hand the diversion MINERALS 155 of the chief line of export. Shortly before the war the Roumanian Government, as already stated, had completed a line of three pipes side by side from the oil-fields to Con stanta on the Black Sea. These crossed the Danube at Cernavoda, being carried on the bridge there, and were destroyed with it. The Germans, instead of attempting (so far as appears) to restore these pipes, constructed a new line from the fields via Bucharest to Giurgiu on the Danube, which was made the chief oil-shipping port for cargoes up the river to Austria-Hungary and Germany. Some appre hension has been expressed that even with the restoration of Roumanian control over the oil-fields, this new export route may remain in serious competition with the route to Con stanta and export by the Black Sea, on the ground that the former will have become established and the requirements of the oil -fields may favour its retention. Salt. — Salt ranks next to petroleum in importance among the mineral resources of Roumania. The annual production was about 1 13,000 tons, but it might be greatly increased as the deposits are both numerous and extensive. The salt, which is remarkable for its purity and contains 99 per cent, of sodium chloride, occurs in huge masses which have been dis placed from their original position. These masses are found both in the older and in the younger Tertiary rocks. In the former they are found at Targu Ocna, Zabala, Cozia, Grozesti, in the basin of the Zabala and elsewhere ; in the latter they belong to a belt several miles in breadth along the Carpathian borderland from the Bukovina to Ramnicu Valcea. The most important deposits occur at Slanic, Telega, Doftana, Poiana, Ocnele Mari, Andreiasi, and elsewhere. In 1914 the salt was worked at Targu Ocna, Ocnele Mari, and Slanic, the works at Doftana having been abandoned since 1901. The mines at Slanic (which were worked by free labour in contrast to the others where convict labour was em ployed) were the most productive, producing about 68 per cent. of the total output ; from the mines at Ocnele Mari came 13 per cent., and from those at Targu Ocna 18 per cent. All 156 RESOURCES, TRADE, AND FINANCE are owned by the State and worked as a Government monopoly. Almost two-thirds of the salt sold were consumed in the country, the remainder being exported to Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia. Coal.— The chief deposits of coal in Roumania are also found in the region of the Tertiary hills, but the quality of the coal produced is inferior and the total output small. Between the Danube and the river Olt lignite occurs and it has also been worked until recently in a mine at Valea Copcn, near Turnu Severin. More important are the lignitic deposits which crop out between the Olt and the Dambovita, a few miles south of Campulung. The chief mines in this direction are situated at Jidava, Poenari, Jugur, and Berevoesti. At present, how ever, the deposits most extensively worked lie farther to the east between the Dambovita and the Ialomita. Here the rocks have been but slightly folded and the lignite is found under conditions which permit it to be worked with comparative ease. The mines are situated at Margineanca, Sotanga, and Aninoasa, near Doicesti in the valley of the Ialomita. A little farther to the east, coal is worked at Filipesti Padure, but only to a slight extent. In the year 1911-12 the total output of coal in Roumania amounted to 242,000 tons. Of that the region near Campulung produced 78,000 tons, and that between the Dambovita and the Ialomita 128,000 tons. The lignite obtained in Roumania is not of great value : its heating power is low, it does not stand much exposure to the air, and it cannot bear the cost of carriage for long distances. On the other hand, when mixed with petroleum residues, it forms a fuel which is extremely useful for locomotive purposes, and more than half the coal mined in the country is consumed on the railways. Of the remainder an increasing quantity has been used in the manufacture of a poor gas supplied to various industrial concerns. Coal is known to exist in various formations in the Car pathian region, but it appears to be of little economic value. There is some anthracite, but the beds have been much dis turbed by tectonic movements and are worked only in a small MINERALS 157 mine at Schela in Gorjiu. Coal of Liassic age. occurs in places, but though of superior quality it is marked by strong lamination and has suffered much from erosion so that it does not lend itself to exploitation on a large scale. It is probable, however, that these beds of coal, which extend from the northern slope of the mountains of Bucegi into Transylvania, belong to the same formation as that which is so rich at Pecs. Some coal exists in the valleys of the Cerna and the Bahna in the west of Oltenia. The mine at Bahna was worked by the Government for twenty years, but was finally abandoned as it had ceased to pay. In Moldavia the principal deposits of coal lie in the basin of Comanesti which is drained by the Trotuf. The coal, which is lignitic in character, is mined at Darmanesti upon the left bank of the Trotus and at Galleon and Laloaia in the north-west of the basin. On the establishment of the German occupation, the Berlin Diskonto-Gesellschaft and Bleichroder's Bank acquired coal mines estimated to produce about four-fifths of the total output of the country, and preparations were made to work these to the fullest possible extent with the view of rendering the military and civil establishments in occupation inde pendent of imported coal. Other Minerals. — Of other minerals it is unnecessary to say much. Pyrites occurs in many places in the Carpathians, and sulphur is also abundant ; kaolin is found at Muncelu in Gorjiu, and in the Calimanu hills in Suceava ; and crystalline limestones are quarried for building purposes in the valley of the Rau Vadului. Iron and copper occur at Losova, Atmagea, Altan Tepe, Amzalor, Karapcea, Cerapulit, and Ceanurli in the Dobruja. Manufactures Until about the beginning of the present century industrial development had made little progress in Roumania. Within recent years, however, a certain number of industries have received State support, and considerable progress' has been made in various directions'. Among the works subsidized by'the State the most important are petroleum refineries; 158 RESOURCES, TRADE, AND FINANCE sugar factories, flour-mills, and saw-mills. Among others are breweries, paper-mills, metallurgical shops, and woollen fac tories, all of which are on a small scale. The total capital of the State-aided industries in 1910 was £11,256,000 ; the raw materials worked up were valued at £8,606,000, and the products at £14,037,000. In that year the value of petroleum products alone was £2,459,000. Foreign interests in Rou manian manufactures are not inconsiderable, and in 1918 an enemy report referred to a number of allied firms compulsorily liquidated in the occupied territory, including water, gas, electricity, metallurgical, and textile companies at Bucharest, an electricity company at Ploesti, and others. In the towns of the WaUachian plain, more especially at Bucharest, and at Galatz and Braila, the chief ports on the Danube, there has within recent years been considerable industrial development. Textile industries have been estab lished at Bucharest and Braila. For the miUs there, as elsewhere in Roumania, much of the raw material is im ported ; flax and hemp are not cultivated in sufficient quanti ties to meet the home demand, while raw wool grown in the country is exported and spun wool imported from abroad. Industries connected with the production of food-stuffs are more general. Flour-milling is naturally an important in dustry of the region, and is carried on at Bucharest, Galatz, Braila, and elsewhere. Rice-mills have also been established at Braila. Turnu Severin has abattoirs where a large amount of live stock, especially pigs and sheep, is slaughtered for export to Austria. Brewing is becoming an industry of some importance in Ilfov, where barley is grown, the hops being im ported from Germany or Austria. Beet sugar is manufactured at Branceni in Teleorman. A certain amount of metallurgical work is done at Bucharest and Craiova, as weU as at Braila and Galatz, but as a rule it is of an elementary type and is quite un- specialized. The village industry for the manufacture of bricks and pottery is widespread, but modern works have been established at Bucharest and elsewhere. At Galatz large quantities of timber, floated down the Moldavian rivers, are MANUFACTURES 159 consumed in the saw-mills. There are chemical industries and works connected with the manufacture of paints and varnishes at Bucharest and Galatz. Braila makes large quantities of cement, some of which is exported. In the region of the hills industrial establishments are almost entirely concerned in working up raw materials, such as timber and agricultural produce, for consumption at home or for export abroad. Moldavia being almost wholly an agricultural country, the industries there are of this type. Flour-milling is one of the most important, and gives employment to a con siderable number of people. In Roumania there are two types of flour-mills, the village mill and the modern mill. The former is chiefly engaged in milling maize and is found everywhere in Moldavia, while the latter, which is mainly used for milling wheat, is established in the large towns, and notably in Jassy and Botosani. The manufacture of beet-sugar is naturally a Moldavian industry (as the bulk of the beet is produced there), and is carried on at Rapiceni (Botosani), Roman, and Mara- sesti (Putna) . Alcohol is made from potatoes in the north of Moldavia and from maize elsewhere, little wheat or barley being employed. The small distilleries of former days have been largely displaced by modern establishments, which are generally situated in the country districts where labour is cheap and the raw material easily obtained. At Marasesti are manu factured chemical fertilizers, for which large quantities of phosphates are brought from Africa and America. Among other industries of the region may be noted tanning and the manufacture of chemicals at Jassy and Bacau, the weaving of • woollen goods at Jassy and Piatra, brick-making and pottery at various places In Wallachia many of the industries are similar in character, though they have a tendency to settle, not in the hill region itself, but in the towns along its southern margin. At Ploesti, for example, the manufacture of woollen goods is carried on, and there are tanneries both there and at Pitesti. The metal lurgical industry, which was formerly confined to the repair of agricultural implements and work of a similar nature, has 160 RESOURCES, TRADE, AND FINANCE taken on a new importance with the development of the oil- wells, and machinery connected therewith is made at Campina, Ploesti, and elsewhere. The extraction of sulphuric acid from petroleum residues has been started at Campina, and at Valea Calugareasca it is made from pyrites imported from Spain, Serbia, and Hungary. Cement is made at Comarnic, south of Sinaia in the Prahova valley, and at Gura Vaii in the hills north of Turnu Severin. In the neighbourhood of these places limestone, clay, and sand can be easily obtained. Water-power. — The rivers which flow across the region of the hills may, in the future, prove a source of considerable power. Hydro-electric instaUations have already been estabUshed at Sinaia and Campina, in the Prahova valley, and supply Ught and power to the towns and villages of the surrounding districts. Crafts. — In the villages the only professional craftsman to be met with is the smith, who is almost invariably a Gipsy ; in addition to ordinary smithing he undertakes the mending of agricultural implements. The peasants build their own dwellings, and also make the wooden household utensils. The women spin and weave in flax, hemp, and wool, and make the family clothing. The housewife works the hemp and flax from the very seed. When the husband has ploughed her piece of land, she sows the seed, harvests it, and then passes it through the processes of netting, combing, spinning, and so forth. The big loom, which is kept folded away under the roof during the spring and summer, is spread out in one of the rooms in the winter months. Cotton stuffs from prepared yarns are also woven, with varied patterns and elaborate stripes. From wool, carpets and blankets are made, as well , as articles of clothing. The silk industry was once universal in Roumania, and still continues in some degree. Imports and Exports The foreign trade of Roumania, like that of all countries in south-eastern Europe, has been seriously disturbed since the outbreak of the first Balkan War in 1912. In order to form a fair idea of the country's external commerce, one must take IMPORTS AND EXPORTS 161 1911 as the latest year which can be regarded as showing trade carried on under normal conditions. Roumania's prosperity had for several years previously shown a tendency to increase. Roumania is, even to a greater extent than Bulgaria, an agricultural country, and a large proportion of its crops is sent abroad. As the country was to a great extent undeveloped, its imports chiefly consisted of the articles needed for equipping it with modern plant and implements, especially metal goods and machinery, but textile goods are also much in demand. SmaU quantities of coal and coke, coffee, fish, vegetable oils, tobacco, and horses, mules, &c, are imported. Various articles are aUowed to be imported free of duty in order to aid home industries. Roumania's exports consist to the extent of more than four-fifths of cereals, petroleum, and timber, and the two latter are small compared with the first-named. In 1913 the ship ments of grain amounted to £17,936,490 out of a total of £26,828,212, and in the same year the exports of petroleum were valued at £5,259,233. Wheat and maize are the two principal items in the list. In 1911 the maize shipments were more than double what they were in the previous year, while the wheat exports were reduced appreciably. Peas and millet are also grown for export ; the shipment of eggs was receiving attention. The fish trade was on a fair scale formerly (1901-3), but after some fluctuations became trifling, being valued at only £79,000 in 1911, against £121,000 in 1908. Roumania's industries are in their ' infancy. The only manufactured article exported in an appreciable quantity is refined beet sugar, which was shipped to the value of £81,000 in 191 1 ; this is the largest amount since 1901, when the export was valued at £144,000 ; in most years the amount has been trifling. Imports and Exports (000's omitted). ImportsExports 1908. £ 16,56215,177 1909. £ 14,732 18,602 1910. £ 16,389 24,660 1911. £ 22,79027,669 1912. £ 25,516 25,684 1913. £ 23,60126,828 ROUMANIA L 162 RESOURCES TRADE, AND FINANCE The largest purchaser of aU kinds of produce from Rou mania in 1913 was Germany, which imported to the value of £9,512,765. Belgium was also a large purchaser, much larger indeed, relatively to her extent and wealth, even than Ger many. In this year Belgium imported from Roumania produce and goods to the value of £7,281,116. The share of Great Britain in imports was valued at £1,793,613. Her exports to Roumania were valued at £2,229,508. In view of the attention which has been attracted by the Roumanian oil-fields the foUowing particulars for the years 1909, 1910, 1911 of the quantities and values of the principal forms in which petroleum is exported may be of interest : Benzine Petroleum, refined „ crude . „ residues 1909 | Tons. i 108,736 : 262,587 11,132 41,549 £ 544,000788,000 81,000 1910. Tons. £ 126,334 667,000 337,036 708,000 SI148'000 1911. Tons. 124,414 318,434 29,779 200,822 £ 712,000 601,000 I 282,000 The total export in 1914 was 654,024 metric tons, and in 1915 429,087 tons. In 1914 Italy took 108,144 tons, Germany 99,164 tons, the United Kingdom 77,971 tons, and Austria- Hungary 84,253 tons. The recent imports of petroleum into the United Kingdom from Roumania were valued as follows in the Board of Trade statement : £ 1911191219131914 * . . 459,800 . 639,876 . 955,267 . 478,819 Shipping In 1915 the mercantile marine of Roumania consisted of 757 vessels of 238,748 tons, of which 133 vessels of 40,949 tons were steamers. It will be seen that the average size of the vessels is very small in both classes, and the bulk of the sea-borne import and export trade is therefore in foreign hands. SHIPPING 163 1913. 1914. No. Tons. No. Tons. Entered . . 32,499 10,253,223 31,727 9,504,366 Cleared . . . 32,306 10,176,885 31,333 9,299,976 The foUowing table, giving the figures for 1910, shows the Roumanian and foreign tonnage separately : Roumanian. Foreign. Total. Tons. Tons. Tons. EnteredCleared . 2,231,836 . 2,255,441 8,798,272 8,812,451 11,030,108 11,067,892 The shipping trade of Roumania is classified as river (fluviala) and ocean (maritima). The river traffic is much the larger, as the two most important ports are situated on the Danube, including Galatz, the seat of the European Commis sion of the Danube. The principal Roumanian ports are Braila, Galatz, Constanta, aU of which are both import and export places, though in varying proportions. As regards imports, the lead is taken by Braila, Galatz coming second and Constanta third ; of the smaller ports the chief are Burdujeni and Predeal. The export trade has its principal seat at Constanta, whence 1,211,978 tons were shipped in 1911 ; Braila followed closely with 1,167,698 tons, and Galatz was third with 637,299 tons. From Calafat (276,282 tons), Giurgiu (273,298 tons), and other smaller places goods were also exported. The activity of the custom-houses at Braila, Galatz, and Sulina is increased by the coasting trade in cereals, which eomes from the ports on the Danube and the Pruth in vessels of small tonnage, the contents of which are transhipped into ocean-going ships. The State maritime service was carried on at a loss in each year since 1901, when there was a surplus of £9,475. The State had a service of vessels to Sharpness (Gloucestershire) and Rotterdam from the Roumanian ports. The annexed tables show (1) the sea-bound traffic on the Danube at Sulina in 1911-12-13, and (2) the merchant fleet on the river in 1914. ii 2 ¦SEn ¦* Jo oo ir^i© oilC^r-00l<: C? ** eo fh oT i> r-T «£ ^T i-T fi CO W £ .-H ^H o cc tr 'S .? a « ^ eo ci i> w '£ a o a « ^ es ^^OO-CWWO^OOOO CD ri'-^GO'ZJQOOOO'— i t^ CD CD X iQ (NO f, © H |>fl5fc« « O » O ^h SS °£ 0*2 oVa « Ds"^Teo" a oo ^HiOoo-^cO^CDlOCC'^CO^ 00 in o ^ ih t- ll'^^SSoocDiraooi^xOMtN oo COOSooCOl>-OOCOt^OO^HO-* ^ ©J eg 25, 26 202 INDEX Calvinists, 76 Campina, 150, 151, 160, 186 Campulung, 18, 42-18, 57, 60, 156 Caracal, 42-18, 60, 180, 187 Cdrciumar, 178 Carol, King, 80, 123, 125, 128 Carp, M., 128 Carpathian Mts., 9, 10, 34, 37, 52, 53, 57, 63, 174, 179, 182, 183 Catun, 177 Ceahlau Mts., 11, 17 Cement, 160, 166 Cerna Mts., 11 Cerna R., 11 Cernavoda, 131, 152, 155, 183, 185, 189, 190 Chamber of Deputies, 102 Changos, 59 Cheile, 14 Ciobani, 144 Coal, 156, 166 Coanda, General, 135 Cogalniceanu, 122 Cojoc, 69 Colza, 141 Comanesti, 153, 184 Comarnic, 160 Communes, 108 Constanta, 34, 61, 93, 133, 141, 152, 155, 163, 183, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191 Constanta, dept. 61 Constantin Brancovanu, 118 Constantin Ip8ilanti,120 Constantinople, 188, 190 Copper, 157 Costesti, 185 Council of Ministers, 105 Courts, 111 Covurlui, dept., 60 Covurluiu valley, 184 Coza Mt. 16 Craiova, 42^8, 57, 60, 131, 158, 173, 175, 180, 184, 185, 187 Cricov R., 30 Crivet, 38 Crown domains, 147 Cucuteni, 186 Cula, 178 Cuna R., 29 Cuptor, 178 Cuza, 122, 144 Czernowitz, 184, 185 D Dacia, 55,81, 113 Dambovita, 150 Dambovifa, dept., 60 Dambovita R., 14, 29, 66 Danube R., 10, 26, 34, 35, 49, 54, 113, 130, 134, 141, 146, 163, 176, 177, 182, 183, 189, 190, 191, 192 Danube Convention (1857), 196 Darmanejti, 157 Debt, 168 Deli Orman, 33 Departments, 60, 107 Diseases, 61, 72 Dobrich, 61, 130 Dobruja, 32, 59, 61, 62, 90, 93, 97, 109, 125, 130, 133, 141, 146, 187, 188, 189, 190 Doftana, 155 Doftana R., 30 Doljiu, dept., 60, 140 Dorna R., 30 Dorohoi, 42^8, 60, 184, 185 Dorohoi, dept., 60 Dragomire?ti, 187 Dranceni, 31 Durostor, dept., 61 E Education, 77 Elizabeth, Queen, 124 European Commission, 196 Exports, 160 F Filgara? Mts., 10, 13, 41 Falciu, dept., 60 Falticeni, 60 Faurei, 187 Ferdinand, King, 129 Filipescu, N., 128, 129 Filipe^ti Padure, 151, 156 Finance, 168 Fishes, 54, 148 Flamanda, 194j Flax, 141 Focsani, 42-48, 60, 180, 184 Fords, 181 Forestry, 147 French, 90 ; influence, 58, 81, 97 Fruntasi, 68 G Galatz, 31, 32, 60, 94, 148, 158, 163, 176, 183, 184, 186, 189, 192, 194, 195, 196 Galatz Convention (1865), 196 Galatz Convention (1881), 196 Galcescu, 12 Galleon, 157 Geographical Society, 80 Germans, 59, 87, 90, 96, 99, 124, 126, 129, 153, 197 Gheorghe Bibescu, 121 Gilort R., 28 Gipsies, 59, 91, 92, 95, 160 Giurgiu, 37, 60, 155, 163,176,179,185,194, 197 Goats, 142 Godeanu Mts., 11 Gorjiu, dept., 60 Goths, 114 Government, 101 : local, 107 Grecilor L., 27 Greeks, 57, 59, 83, 90, 96, 100, 119 Grigore Ghica, 120 Gruia, 187 Gura Ocnitei, 151 INDEX 203 Gura VSii, 160 Gyimes pass, 184 H Harsova, 131, 187 Health, 71 Hemp, 138, 139 Herculesbad, 11 Herjnannstadt, 184 Horses, 142 Hospodar, 117 Hotels, 174 Humidity, relative, 48 Hungary, 85, 86 Husi, 32, 60, 82, 185 Ialomita, dept., 60, 140, 181 Ialomita R., 25, 29, 64, 66, 153 Iezeru Mt., 13 Ilfov, 158, 181 Ilfov, dept., 60, 66 Illiteracy, 77 Imports, 160 Inchisoari, 149 Inns, 174, 178 loan Sturdza, 120 Ionescu, Take, 127, 128, 129, 133 Iron, 157 Iron Gates, 167, 176, 194, 195, 196, 197 Iron Gates Canal, 195 Istri(;a Mt., 21 Italian influence, 81, 83 Italians, 90 Itari, 69 Jassy, 60, 61, 79, 82, 85, 94, 116, 159, 175, 184, 185, 186 Jassy, dept., 60 Jeremia Movila, 117 Jews, 59, 72, 76, 90, 92, 100, 146 Jidava, 156 Jijia R., 27, 31, 184 Jiu R., 10, 12, 28 Judiciary, 110 Jugur, 156 Junimea, 99 Junimisti, 99K Kaliakra : see Caliacra Kaolin, 157 Karaites, 77, 93 Karst, 14 Kavarna, 188 Kavarna Bay, 188 Kazan defile, 193 Kiev, 185 Kilia Channel, 191, 192, 197 King, 101 Kiselev, Count, 120 Kishenev, 184, 185 Kladovo, 192 Kronstadt, 184 Kuchuk Kainarji, Treaty of, 119 Kutso Vlachs, 85, 89 Lada", 178 Lahovary I., 128 Laloaia, 157 Land-tenure, 144 Language, 81, 92, 98 Latin ethnographic ele ments, 58 language, 81 Legislation, 102 Leota Mt., 14 Leu, 171 Lighthouses, 190 Lignite, 156 Lipkani, 185 Lipovans, 72, 76, 97 Literature, 83, 98 Lityre, 57 Live-stock, 142 Loess, 22, 65 London, Treaty of (1871), 196 London, Treaty of (1883), 196 Lotru Mts., 10, 13 Lotru R., 13, 29, 183 Lucacesti, 151 Luneovita R., 18, 29 Lutherans, 76 M Macedonia, 83, 85, 89 Macin, 194 Mackensen, 131 Magnetic variation, 36 Ma gura Cajinului, 16 Magyars, 86, 115 Maiorescu, M., 128 Maize, 136, 166 Malaria, 72 Mdmaliga, 70, 137 Mandra, 12 Mangalia, 91, 189, 190 Manufactures, 157 Maramure§, 57 Mara^e§ti, i59 Marcomannic War, 114 Marghiloman, M., 128, 129, 133 Margineanca, 156 Maros, 184 Maros R., 130 Matei Basarab, 117 Medgidia, 34, 91, 185, 187 Mehedin^i, 18, 64 Mehedinti, dept., 60 Michael Racovi^a, 118 Michael the Brave : see Mihai Viteazul Midia, Cape, 189 Midnight Branch (Dan ube), 191 Mihaile?ti, 180 Mihai Viteazul, 117 Milcov R., 10 Millet, 138, 166 Mircea eel Mare, 116 Mocani, 144 Moesia, 113 Mohammedans, 72, 77 Moinesti, 153 Moldavia, 17, 22, 30, 35, 60, 61, 62, 65, 68, 83, 92, 93, 108, 114, 115, 122, 138, 146, 148, 159, 175, 181, 182, 183, 185, 187 Moldova R., 27, 30 Molokani; 76 Money, 171 Moreni, 150, 151 Mosneni, 68 204 INDEX Mo.sti$tea R., 25, 66 Motru R., 11,28 Mulberry, 139 Mules, 142 Municipal councils, 108 Muntenia, 10, 20, 57, 60, 61, 62, 64, 93, 114, 115, 146, 177 Muscel, dept., 60 N Neagra R., 30 Neamtu, 175, 187 Near^u, dept., 60 NegoiMts., 13 Newspapers, 84 Nicholas Mavrogordato, 118 Nicolina : see Jassy Nikopol, 176 Nish, 187 Novoselitsi, 185 O Oancea, 31 Oats, 136, 166 Obor, 143 Oborisachi, 185 Ochokov mouth, 191 Ocnele Mari, 155 Odessa, 184, 185, 188, 189 Odobesti Mt., 16 Oil : see Petroleum Oituz Mts., 11 Oknitsa, 185 Olt, dept,, 60, 140 Olt R., 10, 28, 183 Oltenia, 10, 17, 19, 23, 57, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 93, 114, 177 Oltenit-a, 180 Oltetu R., 18, 29, 30 O-Moldova, 194 Omu Mt., 14 Opinci, 69 Organic Law, 121 Orsova, 130, 192, 194 Orthodox Church, 72, 87, 88, 101, 112 Oslea R., 11 Oxen, 142 Palarie, 69 Pancesti, 42^8 Paringu Mts., 10, 12 Paris, Treaty of (1856), 122, 195 Pascani, 184, 185, 186, 187 Pasture, 139 Pellagra, 72 Petroleum, 126, 149, 162, 166 Petroleum Agreement, 134, 153 Petru Schiopul, 117 Phanariot regime, 118 Piatra, 60, 148, 159, 175, 180, 184 Piatra Closani, 11 Piatra Craiului, 14 Piatra Prisloapele, 14 Pieptar, 69 Pigs, 142 Pitesti, 60, 159, 175, 186 Plashi, 109 Ploe?ti, 60, 158, 159, 174, 175, 179, 184, 186 Podgoria, 51 Poenari, 156 Poiana, 150, 155 Ponoarele, 18 Ponor, 19 Popovitsi, 76 Population : distribution, 62 foreign, 90 numbers, 59 origin, 55 physical types, 57 social conditions, 67 Posts, 134 Prahova, 150, 181, 187 Prahova, dept., 60 Prahova R., 21, 30, 64, 148, 160 Predeal, 15, 163, 184 Press, the, 84 Protestants, 72, 76 Pruth R., 22, 27, 31, 182, 183, 184, 185 Putna, dept.., 60 Putna R., 18 Pyrites, 157, 160 R Radauti, 185 Railways, 182 Rainfall, 40, 46 Ramnicu R., 31 Ramnicu Sarat, 60, 174 Ramnicu Sarat, dept., 60 Ramnicu Yalcea, 60, 174 Rapiceni, 159 Rasnita, 178 Rau Doamnei, 29 Red Tower Pass, 28, 113, 131 Regensburg, 194 Religion, 72 Reni, 31, 183, 185 Roads, 179 Roman, 60, 159, 175, 186 Roman, dept., 60 Romana ti, dept., 60, 140 Roman Catholics, 72, 76 Roscolnitschi, 76 Roseti, M., 128 Rosiile, 12 Roter Turm : see Turnu Ro$i Roter Turm (pass) : see Red Tower Roumanian Academy, 79,98 Rusalii, 75 Russians, 90, 97, 100, 119 Rustchuk, 176, 1S5 Rye, 136 St. George Channel, 192 St. George Mouth (Danube), 191 Salt, 155, 166 Sat, 177 Schitu Ialomita, 14 Scliveiu, 12 Sculeni, 32 Senate, 103 Serban Cantacuzino, 118 Serbia, 85 INDEX 205 Serbians, 90 Sereth R,, 9. 22, 27, 30, 132, 182, 183, 184 Serpenita, 32 Serpent I., 125, 192 Shableh, Cape, 188, 190 Sheep, 142 Shepherds, 143 Shipping, 162 Silistra, 61, 131, 176 Silk, 141, 160 Sinaia, 42-48, 160, 174 Sistov, 176, 185 Skoptsi, 76, 97 Slanic, 155, 174 Slanic valley, 21 Slatina, 60 Slav ethnographic influ ence, 56, 57, 89 language, 81, 83 history, 115 Snow, 41 Sofia, 185 Solont, 151 Sotanga, 156 Span, 69 Stdna, 143 St&pdn, 143 Stefan eel Mare, 116 Stephen the Great : see Stefan eel Mare Stergar, 70 Strehaia, 42^8, 57 Striharet, 42^t8 Strunga, 143 Suceava, 116 Sueeava, dept., 60 Sugar, 166 Sugar-beet, 138 Sulina, 163, 189, 190, 192, 194 Sulina Mouth (Danube), 191 Sulphur, 157 Sulphuric acid, 160 Sunflower, 139 Suijita R., 18, 28 Szeklers, 59 Tandarei, 187 Tarcau Mts., 11, 16 Targoviste, 60, 118, 153, 175 Targu Jiu, 60, 174 Targu Ocna, 42^8, 155, 175, 186 Tatars, 91, 92, 96, 99 Tecuci, 60, 187 Tecuci, dept., 60 Teleajenu R., 21, 30, 64 Telega, 155 Telegraphs, 134, 188 Teleorman, dept., 60, 66, 140 Teleorman R., 66 Telephones, 134, 188 Temesvar, 184 Temperature, 37, 43-45 Tetcani, 151 Teslui R., 24 Timber, 166 Time, local, 35 Tinda, 178 Tintea, 150, 151 Tiraspol, 184 Tismana R., 28 Tobacco, 141 Topolog R., 20, 29 Torzburger Pass, 15 Transylvania, 56, 59, 83, 85, 86, 88, 97, 99, 114, 129, 184 Trotus R., 8, 30, 148 Trajan, 55, 113 Tuica, 137 Tulcea, 61, 141, 187 Tulcea, dept., 61 Turks, 59, 90, 96, 99, 116 Turnu Magurele, 42-48, 60, 176, 193 Turnu Ro$i, 184 Turnu Severin, 42-48, 57, 60, 113, 158, 184, 186, 193, 194, 195, 197 Tutova, dept., 60 Tutrakan, 131 Tuzla, Cape, 189, 191 Tuzla L., 189 U Ungheni, 31, 184 Universities, 79 Urda Pass, li Urziceni, 187 Valcea, dept., 60 Valea Calugareasca, 160 Valea Copcii, 156 Varatic, 174 Varciorova, 184 Varna, 185, 188 Vasile Lupul, 117 Vaslui, 60 Vaslui, dept., 60 Vatra, 178 Vedea R., 25, 66 Vegetation, 49 Vidin, 176, 185 Vienna, 198 Village councils, 108 Vine, 139, 141 Vlachs : see Kutso Vlachs Vlasca, dept., 60, 66, HO Voivod, 115 Vrancea Mts., 11, 15 Vulcan Mts., 10, 12 Vulcan Pass, 12 W Wallachia, 9, 11, 23, 28, 35, 41, 50, 56, 57, 60, 65, 68, 83, 92, 108, 115, 122, 138, 159, 181, 182 ; see also Muntenia, Oltenia Wallachia, Great : see Muntenia Wallachia, Little : see Oltenia Water-power, 160 Wheat, 136, 166 Winds, 38, 47 Y Yugo-Slavs, 86, 87 Zberoaia, 31 Zimnicea, 176, 185