718 



ROUMANIA. 



against by the Neapolitan episcopate. Herr 

 Windhorst's jubilee was celebrated. 



In June, at Rome, a triduum was lield in 

 honor of the Blessed de la Salle, founder of the 

 Institute of the Christian Brothers. The suc- 

 cess of the Catholic Belgians in the legislative 

 elections gave great pleasure to the Holy Fa- 

 ther. Cardinal Manning, in London, issued a 

 pastoral letter on the progress of the Church 

 in England. 



The Holy Father issued an encyclical on lib- 

 erty and license. 



At Rome, in July, the Italian Counsel of 

 State explained that the law of the guarantees 

 did not confer on the Pope extraterritorial 

 rights or privileges. The Pope protested. An 

 encyclical letter to the bishops of Ireland was 

 issued which had a good effect on the minds of 

 the Irish people, made anxious by the exagger- 

 ated rumors about the Papal rescript condemn- 

 ing the Plan of Campaign and boycotting. The 

 schism of the Armenians ended ; an encyc- 

 lical letter was addressed by the Pope to Mgr. 

 Azarian and the other Armenian bishops. 



In September the Prussian bishops met at 

 Fulda and expressed their loyalty to the Pope 

 and their desire for the restoration of Rome. 

 The Catholic Congress of Fribourg, which ex- 

 pressed similar sentiments, was held. 



In October the Pope gave the decree Tole- 

 rari posse on the Knights of Labor; this decree 

 was interpreted by Cardinal Gibbons in a let- 

 ter printed in the Baltimore " Mirror." 



The Holy Father ordered a universal mass of 

 requiem on the last Sunday in October for the 

 repose of the souls of all the faithful departed. 

 The Italian penal laws which force students 

 studying for the priesthood into the army were 

 protested against by assemblages held in near- 

 ly every city of the Continent. An important 

 encyclical letter exeuntejam anno appeared in 

 December as the finish of the jubilee. It is a 

 protest against unbelief and the ostentation of 

 the rich. In France Mgr. Treppel made an at- 

 tempt to revive the French laws against duel- 

 ing. The year was closed by a universal mass, 

 ordered by the Pope in thanksgiving for the 

 graces of the jubilee. 



ROniAMA, a constitutional monarchy in East- 

 ern Europe. The reigning sovereign is Carol 

 I, born April 20, 1839, of the family of Hohen- 

 zollern, being the brother of the present Prince 

 of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. He was elected 

 Domnul or Lord of Roumania by a Constituent 

 Assembly on April 20, 1866, and proclaimed 

 King on March 26, J881. The heir-presurnptive 

 is his nephew Prince Leopold of Hohenzellern- 

 Sigmaringen. The Constitution voted by the 

 Constituent Assembly of 1866 was amended in 

 1879 and 1884. The Senate consists of 112 

 members elected for eight years and 8 bishops. 

 The Chamber of Deputies numbers 185 mem- 

 bers elected for four years. 



Finances. The financial accounts for the year 

 ending March 31, 1887, show 131,329,693 lei 

 of receipts and 127,045,614 lei of expenditures. 



The capital of the public debt at the close of 

 the fiscal year 1888-^89 is 788,732,489 lei. It 

 was increased by the emission of new bonds 

 for 100,000,000 lei in July, 1888. In a period of 

 seven years the funded debt has been increased 

 by the sum of 218,000,000 lei, and the annual 

 charge of the debt has grown from 41,000,000 

 to 54,500,000 lei. 



The Army. The effective strength of the per- 

 manent army in time of peace is 1,430 officers 

 and 33,714 rank and file, with 6,969 horses 

 and 370 guns. The strength of the active ter- 

 ritorial army is 1,350 officers and 29,679 men, 

 with 11,742 horses. The country is divided 

 into 4 territorial districts, each of which can 

 furnish a corps d'armee of 28,000 troops, not 

 reckoning the active division of troops belong- 

 ing to the separate territorial division of the 

 Dobrudja. The Government possesses 1 tor- 

 pedo-cruiser, 6 gun-boats, and 5 torpedo-boats 

 for the defense of the Danube. The Prime 

 Minister declared in Parliament, in March, 1888, 

 that Roumania in case of war could put 300,- 

 000 soldiers into the field. Fortifications at 

 Focshani, commanding the river Sereth and the 

 ra'lways leading to Galatz and Bucharest, and 

 at Barbosh, near Galatz, where the largest 

 bridge spans the Sereth, were completed in 

 1888, and others were begun on the Russian 

 frontier that are designed to bar the passage of 

 Russian troops toward the lower Danube. 



Commerce. The values of the imports and ex- 

 ports in 1886, in lei or francs, and their distri- 

 bution among commercial nations are given in 

 the following table : 



The imports of textiles amounted to 117,- 

 000,000 lei; metals and metal goods, 53,800,- 

 000 lei ; hides and leather, 23,200,000 lei ; tim- 

 ber, 12,000,000 lei. The exports of cereals 

 were valued at 184,200,000 lei ; fruits, pulse, 

 etc., 21,000,000 lei; wines, 12,800,000 lei. 



Railroads. The state lines in 1888 had a 

 total length of 2,235 kilometres, or 1,390 miles. 

 There were 224 kilometres, or 140 miles, be- 

 longing to companies. The railroads in course 

 of construction or in contemplation will add 

 457 kilometres, or 287 miles, to the network. 



Post-Office. The number of letters and postal- 

 cards, circulars, and newspapers carried in the 

 mails during 1887 was 19,084,914; the number 

 of packets, 533,556. 



Telegraphs. The length of the telegraph lines 

 in 1887 was 5,396 kilometres, or 3,350 miles, 



