126 ROUMANIA - MISCELi:.ANEOUS 



the events of 1907 and what have been the results attained by these 

 reforms. 



The land reforms introduced in consequence of the 1907 revolt may be 

 grouped in four large classes. 



I St.. The institution of the Rural Bank ; 

 2nd. The law on agricultural contracts ; 



3rd. The limitation of the freedom of leasing agricultural land ; 

 4th. The law on leasing to farmers' associations land belonging to the 

 State, to establishments or private institutions. 



We shall omit to speak here of the institution of the Rural Bank, 

 since it has already been dealt with at large in this Bulletin in the number 

 for October, 1912. The reader wiU find there an abundant supply of in- 

 formation and figures. 



We shall, however, deal at length with the Law on Agricultural 

 Contracts. — This law is really the chief and most important result of 

 the revolt of 1907 and it is undoubtedly the real and substantial reform 

 that has indeed started Roumania on the high road of agricultural progress. 



This law, promulgated on December 23rd., 1907 consists of several 

 chapters which we shall summarise as briefly as possible in their most 

 important points. 



The first Chapter deals with contracts of lease subject to the law on 

 agricultural contracts. The following are those so subject : 



(fl) Contracts by which areas of not more than 20 hectares are leased 

 to a single family of peasants, to be cultivated as cornfields or meadow land 

 or to be used for grazing grounds, in return for pa3mient in money or in 

 tithes. The lease of areas of more than 20 ha. remains subject to the provisions 

 of common law, since the object of the new law is to protect the small farmer 

 and not to give a privileged position to those peasants who, as they are 

 able to rent considerab'e areas, are in a position to enter unassisted into 

 competition with the landlords and tenant farmers. 



(&) Contracts of lease of grazing ground for six head of large and 10 

 head of small livestock for each family. It is calculated that 5 

 head of small are equivalent to i of large hvestock. In this case also the 

 law is meant for the protection of small dependent peasants, since, by fixing 

 the number of head of cattle, it comes to the assistance of those peasants 

 who employ their livestock for their work and not of those who, pos- 

 sessing large herds, make livestock improvement their principal business. 



(c) Contracts in which the peasants undertake to provide the necess- 

 ary labour for agriculture in return for wages. 



The classes of contract subject to the law being thus fixed, the sec- 

 ond Chapter lays down the conditions for the contracts themselves. 

 Amongst the most important are those of article 3, deaUng with the re- 

 organization of the system of payment by compensation or " tarla " . This 

 system enables the peasant to give his labour in a field of corn or maize 

 instead of paying his rent in money. The landlord or the tenant farmer, 

 however, cannot exact this kind of payment. It is not, however, true, as 

 asserted by some, that the payment of tithes on the " tarla " system has 



