718 



ROUMANIA. 



D. M. Blanchet, D. D., Bishop of Nesqualy, 

 died. On March 11, Kt. Rev. Bishop McGov- 

 ern was consecrated at Harrisburg. Among 

 the other important deaths were Bishop-elect 

 James O'Reilly, appointed to the see of Wi- 

 chita, Kan. ; Isidor Robert, O. S. B. ; Arch- 

 Abbot Wimmer; Rev. John J. Riordan, of 

 Castle Garden; and Rev. Dr. Moriarty, the 

 well-known author, and Pere Rouquette. 



KOIMAMA, a kingdom in Eastern Europe. 

 Independence was proclaimed on May 22, 

 1877, and recognized by the powers at the 

 Berlin Congress on June 13, 1878. The prin- 

 cipality of Routnania was erected into a king- 

 dom on March 20, 1881. The fundamental 

 laws are embodied in the Constitution, elab- 

 orated in 1866 by a Constituent Assembly, and 

 modified in 1884 by the chambers convoked 

 for the purposes of revision. It delegates the 

 national representation to two chambers, a Sen- 

 ate consisting of 120 members and a Chamber 

 of Deputies, having 183 members. Both classes 

 of representatives are elected by electoral col- 

 leges in each district. The reigning sovereign 

 is Carol I, son of Prince Hohenzollern-Sig- 

 maringen, who was born April 20, 1839, and 

 was elected Prince of Roumania in 1886. He 

 married in 1869 the Princess Elizabeth of Wied. 

 In default of heirs to his body, the King in 1886 

 chose his nephew, Prince Ferdinand of Hohen- 

 zollern, to be his successor. The heir-apparent 

 is the second son of Leopold, hereditary Prince 

 of Hohenzollern, and was born at Sigma- 

 ringen, Aug. 24, 1865. 



The ministry is composed of the following 

 members : President of the Council and Min- 

 ister of the Interior, Joan C. Bratiano ; Minis- 

 ter of Foreign Affairs, M. Phere Kyde ; Minis- 

 ter of Public Instruction and Worship, D. 

 Sturdza; Minister of Justice, Eugene Statesco; 

 Minister of Agriculture, Commerce. Industry, 

 and Domains, V. Gheorghian ; Minister of Fi- 

 nance, 0. Xacu ; Minister of Public Works, 

 P. S. Aurelian ; Minister of War, Gen. A. An- 

 gele?co, successor to M. Falcojano, who re- 

 signed his post on Jan. 24, 1886. 



Area and Population. The area of the king- 

 dom is 48,307 square miles. The population 

 is estimated at 5,376,000. The number of 

 marriages in 1885 was 39,586; of births, 215,- 

 776; of deaths, 126,010; excess of births over 

 deaths, 89,766. In 1886 there were 77,976 

 marriages, 215,209 births, and 136,755 deaths, 

 making the natural increment 78,454. The 

 number of Israelites in Roumania was esti- 

 mated at the time of the Treaty of Berlin at 

 400,000 soul?, the Bohemians at 200,000, the 

 Slavs at 85,000, the Germans at 39,000, the 

 Hungarians at 29,500, the Armenians at 8,000, 

 the Greeks at 5,000, the French at 2,000, and 

 the English at 1,000. The population of Bu- 

 charest, the capital, is 221,000. Jassy has 

 about 90,000 inhabitants, and Galatz 80,000. 



Finances. The receipts of the treasury dur- 

 ing the year ending March 30, 1885, were 127,- 

 359,220 lei; the disbursements, 130,352,265 



lei. The receipts for 1885-'86 were 124,478,- 

 398 lei, and the' expenditures 129,971,646 lei. 

 The budget for l886-'87 made the receipts 

 138,237,695 lei, and the expenditures 134,244,- 

 650 lei. The expenditure for the public debt 

 was estimated at 57,546,959 lei; for the army, 

 28,552,760 lei; for education and worship, 13,- 

 120,294 lei. The nominal amount of the debt 

 outstanding on April 1, 1886, was 724,171,624 

 lei. At the same date in 1887 it was 835,815,- 

 342 lei, having been increased by 16,170,000 

 lei of treasury warrants and other sums raised 

 through the Government savings-bank. In 

 1887 a loan of 30,000,000 lei was raised in Ber- 

 lin, at 41 per cent, interest. 



The Army and Navy. The effective strength 

 of the regular army on the peace footing is 

 1,249 officers, 31,627 rank and file, 5,558 

 horses, and 312 guns. The territorial army 

 numbers 1,213 officers and 124,000 men, with 

 11,397 horses. The kingdom is divided into 

 four districts, besides the district of the Do- 

 brudja, where an active division is perma- 

 nently stationed. The permanent army and 

 the Dorobantzi, or territorial troops number 

 on the peace footing about 95,000 men, which 

 can be increased to 225,000 on the outbreak 

 of war. There are besides about 150,000 mili- 

 tia and depot troops, without reckoning the 

 Landsturm. The average expenditure on the 

 army is only about 30,000,000 lei. 



The number of men of the age of twenty-one 

 drawn for service in the permanent army for 

 1887 was 14,000. Every recruit who possesses 

 and can maintain a suitable horse, or who will 

 pay 300 lei into the military chest, is assigned 

 to the calarashi or cavalry. The infantry 

 serve three years in the permanent army and 

 five in the reserve, after which they are en- 

 rolled in the militia till they become thirty-six 

 years of age. 



The fortifications of Bucharest, on plans 

 approved by General Brialmont, the Belgian 

 military engineer, were rapidly constructed 

 and nearly completed before the close of 1887. 

 The plans were modified in important particu- 

 lars on the advice of German officers. The 

 Parliament, on Feb. 3, 1887, voted 5,000,000 

 lei for completing the fortifications. 



The navy consists of two avisos, two gun- 

 boats, a torpedo-vessel, and two torpedo-boats. 

 There are besides three launches for the police 

 service of the Danube, which was confided to 

 the Government of Roumania by the European 

 Congress. 



Commerce. The total value of the imports 

 in 1884 was 294,986.000 lei or francs, against 

 359,907,000 lei in 1883; the value of the ex- 

 ports, 184,116,000 lei, against 220,650,279 lei. 

 The imports from Austria were 129,867,000 

 lei in value; from Great Britain, 58,223.000 

 lei; from Germany, 43,384,000, lei; from 

 France, 23,804, 000 lei. The exports to Austria 

 amounted to 70,392,000 lei; to Great Britain, 

 61,783,000 lei; to France, 17,417,000 lei. The 

 imports and exports of the principal classes 



