714 



ROUMANIA, 



ROUMELIA, EASTERN, 



Commerce. In 1883 about 38 per cent, of the 

 foreign trade was with Austria, 27 per cent, 

 with Great Britain, 10 per cent, with France, 

 9 per cent, with Germany, 4 per cent, with 

 Turkey, and 3 per cent, with Russia. The ex- 

 ports to Great Britain exceeded the imports 

 from that country ; but the imports from Aus- 

 tria and from France were double in value the 

 Roumanian exports they received, and the 

 trade with Germany consisted almost entirely 

 of imports. The total value of imports was 

 359,907,178 lei, or francs, against 268,851,921 

 in 1882 ; the total value of exports 220,650,279 

 lei, against 244,730,199. 



Communications. The entries in the Danubian 

 ports in 1884 show a total of 3,711,143, the 

 clearances of 3,678,849 tons. 



The length of the state lines of railroad in 

 1885 was 1,458 kilometres; of private lines, 

 224 ; of state lines under construction, 807 ; 

 and projected, 479 kilometres. 



The number of letters carried in 1884 was 

 15,863,062, including postal -cards, circulars, 

 and official letters ; the number of packets, 

 506,255 ; of postal orders, 149,286. 



The length of telegraph lines in 1884 was 

 5,210 kilometres ; of wires, 10,866 ; the num- 

 ber of dispatches, domestic and international, 

 including official dispatches, was 1,203,500; 

 the receipts of the postal and telegraph service, 

 3,981,097 francs; expenditures, 3,753,940. 



Finances. The revenue in 1883-'84 was 146,- 

 859,571 francs, the expenditure 135,557,860. 

 The budget for the year ending March 30, 1886, 

 fixes the revenue at 130,038,720 francs, and the 

 expenditure at an equal amount. The yield of 

 the direct taxes is taken as 24,780,000 francs ; 

 of the indirect taxes, 55,335,000 francs; of 

 domains, 20,963,108 francs; of railroads, and 

 the mines at Bahna, 11,617,925 francs. The 

 public debt on March 30, 1885, amounted to 

 683,847,607 francs. 



Army and Navy. The strength of the per- 

 manent army is 1,249 officers and 31,627 sol- 

 diers, with 31,627 horses and 312 guns. The 

 kingdom is divided into four territorial dis- 

 tricts, in each of which an army corps is or- 

 ganized, besides the Dobrudja, which has a 

 division. The strength of the territorial army 

 is 1,213 officers and 124,000 men. The naval 

 force consists of 2 gunboats, a torpedo-vessel, 

 and 2 torpedo-boats on the Danube. Every 

 Roumanian upon reaching the age of twenty- 

 one is enrolled either in the permanent or the 

 territorial army, and serves eight years. 



The Political Situation. The tariff question was 

 uppermost in Roumanian politics in 1885. On 

 May 22 the commercial treaty with Austria- 

 Hungary was finally denounced. The treaty 

 will expire June 1, 1886. The demand of Rou- 

 manian manufacturers for protection, and the 

 protective duties on cereals recently imposed 

 in France and Germany, induced the Rou- 

 manian ministry to inaugurate an active pro- 

 tective policy. The legislature passed a law 

 levying a surtax of 50 per cent, on imports 



from France and other countries not protect 

 by special treaties, to go into operation July 1 

 (see FRANCE). Besides France, the new cus- 

 toms duties affected Turkey, Greece, Sweden, 

 Servia, Denmark, and the United States. 



The dispute with Bulgaria on the subject of 

 the frontier line at Arab Tabia was not settled 

 when the revolution in Eastern Roumelia broke 

 out. In common with the other Balkan states, 

 Roumania demanded a readjustment of bound- 

 aries as a condition of the union of the two 

 Bulgarias ; yet she did not accompany her re- 



Saest for the incorporation of the districts in 

 ulgaria peopled by Roumanians with a mili- 

 tary demonstration. 



The emigration of Mohammedans from the 

 Dobrudja was made a basis for Turkish com- 

 plaints in the early part of the year, although 

 the condition of the Turks and Mussulman 

 Tartars in that district was worse under Turk- 

 ish than under Roumanian rule. They were 

 exempted from taxation for four years after 

 the annexation, and then taxed more lightly 

 than other Roumanians, having to pay a capi- 

 tation-tax in lieu of military service. Recently 

 they have been subjected to the conscription 

 law. Another ground of complaint is that the 

 property of Turkish landlords has been con- 

 fiscated. The Roumanian Government claims 

 that the persons who claim the land were 

 legally agents of the Turkish Government to col- 

 lect the tithes, who in many instances treated 

 the land as their own, but whose title was 

 never recognized by the Turkish Government. 

 The land was distributed among the farmers 

 on condition that they should pay tithes. The 

 title remained in the Turkish Government and 

 was transferred by the cession to the Rou- 

 manian Government. 



Treatment of Jews. The oppression of Jews 

 under the Roumanian alien laws was the sub- 

 ject of an appeal to foreign governments, es- 

 pecially the English, in 1885. Lord Beacons- 

 field had inserted in the Treaty of Berlin an 

 article that provided that difference in creed 

 should not be a ground for exclusion from 

 public employment, the exercise of professions 

 and industries, or any civil or political rights 

 in Roumania. The Roumanian legislature has 

 evaded this guarantee by passing laws against 

 foreigners. Immediately after Roumanian in- 

 dependence was recognized by the powers, 

 the Jewish natives of Roumania were declared 

 to be aliens, and restrictions were placed in the 

 way of their obtaining naturalization. There 

 are only 59 naturalized Jews in the kingdom. 

 The liberal professions are closed to Jews, 

 and in 1884 a law against hawking by foreign- 

 ers reduced 20,000 Jewish peddlers to distress. 

 The discussion of Jewish grievances abroad 

 led to the expulsion in November of eight 

 Jewish journalists of Bucharest. 



KonJKLlA. EASTERN, an autonomous prov- 

 ince of Turkey, created by the Treaty of Ber- 

 lin, signed July 13, 1878. It remained und< 

 the political and military control of the Sultan. 



