ROUMANIA. 



RUSSIA. 



688 



which had so far not t>cen passed upon. A bill 

 was introduced into the Chamber by the Minister 

 of Finance, dealing with the regulation of agra- 

 rian credits. The object of the measure is to do 

 away with tin- private loan institutions, vesting 

 the right <>f lending money to farmers in the 

 hands of the Government, and, by improving the 

 material condition of the farmer, to raise the in- 

 tellectual standard of the farming population. 

 Tin- liill calls for a sum of 28,000,000 francs, 

 which is to be divided into two equal parts; one 

 part is to be used to grant the farmers, and the 

 trades closely connected with fanning, the neces- 

 sary credits ; the other part will be advanced to 

 the rural population, enabling them to found 

 homes of their own by purchasing some of the 

 salaMe state domains. The State Loan Insti- 

 tution will lend money on security, give advan- 

 tages for the purchase of animals, seeds, and 

 agricultural implements, and advance money for 

 the erection of agricultural buildings. Not more 

 than 1,000 francs are to be advanced at one time, 

 and interest is not to exceed 5 per cent. 



In opening the second session of the Parlia- 

 ment, on Nov. 27, 1892, the King announced the 

 impending marriage of Prince Ferdinand, the 

 heir apparent, to Princess Marie of Edinburgh, 

 which he pronounced as a happy event, whereby 

 the links between the British and Roumanian 

 dynasties and the two peoples would be strength- 

 ened, and a guarantee afforded for the future of 

 the country. In referring to the difficulty with 

 Greece, the King declared that Roumania main- 

 tained her rights as a sovereign state, and was 

 resolved to defend them without displaying a 

 spirit of provocation, but at the same time with- 

 out weakness. In conclusion, he announced that 

 the revenue showed an increase over the esti- 

 mates, up to Sept. 30, of 22,000,000 francs. 



Difficulties wi|h Greece. A dispute arose 

 between the Roumanian and Greek governments 

 regarding a contested will made by two Greek 

 subjects residing in Roumania, and it led to a 

 rupture of diplomatic relations. The will in 

 dispute was made about twenty-five years before, 

 by two brothers,Zappas, Greek merchants resid- 

 ing in Roumania, and by it a large fortune was 

 bequeathed for agriculture, manufactures, and 

 arts in Greece. The estate was subject to a life 

 interest of a near relative. Early m 1892 this 

 relative died, and the Roumanian Government 

 seized the property on the ground that foreigners 

 \\--rv debarred by the Roumanian law from dis- 

 posing of real estate to foreign institutions. The 

 Greek Government contended that the will was 

 made when Roumania itself formed an integral 

 part of the Ottoman Empire, and that the law 

 subsequently enacted could not apply to this 

 case. As no amicable settlement could be 

 reached, the Greek Government offered to leave 

 tin- question to arbitration, but to this the Rou- 

 manian Government objected, and maintained 

 that the case should be decided by the Rouma- 

 nian tribunal?. The Greek Government would 

 not agree to this, and presented an ultimatum to 

 the Roumanian Government demanding an arbi- 

 t rat ion; the latter Government declining to do 

 so, Greece recalled her ministers and consuls on 

 Oct. 16, 1892, leaving the Greek interests in the 

 hands of the Russian minister at Bucharest. The 

 Roumanian minister at Athens was also recalled, 

 VOL. xxxii. 44 A 



the Italian minister attending to Roumanian af- 

 fairs in Greece. 



Kl SSI A, an empire in northern Europe and 

 Asia. The legislative, executive, and judicial 

 power is vested in the autocratic hereditary 

 monarch of t he Romanoff-IIolstein-Gottorp fam- 

 ily. The rule of succession is that of regular 

 descent, by the right of primogeniture, through 

 the male line, and in default of male descend- 

 ants through the female line. Even- sovereign 

 of Russia, and his consort and children, must 

 belong to the Orthodox Greek Church, and, by 

 a decree of Alexander I, the princes and prin- 

 cesses of the imperial house, to be able to in- 

 herit the throne, must have the consent of the 

 Emperor to any marriage they may contract. 

 The reigning Emperor or Czar is Alexander III, 

 born Feb. 26, 1845, the eldest son of Emperor 

 Alexander II and of Princess Maria, daughter 

 of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt. He 

 ascended the throne at the death by assassina- 

 tion of his father on March 1, 1881 ; was crowned 

 at Moscow on May 27, 1883. He married, 

 Nov. 9, 1866, Maria Dagmar, daughter of King 

 Christian IX of Denmark. The Government is 

 carried on by the Czar through the medium of 

 four consultative and administrative bodies: (1) 

 The Council of State, which consists of a presi- 

 dent and an unlimited number of members ap- 

 pointed by the Czar. Its chief functions are the 

 examination of proposed laws brought before it 

 by the ministers, and the discussion of the budg- 

 et and expenditures. (2) The Ruling Senate, 

 which is composed of persons of high rank or 

 station, though each department is presided over 

 by a lawyer of eminence : it promulgates laws, 

 superintends the courts of law, and has power to 

 remonstrate with the Emperor against his de- 

 crees. (3) The Holy Synod, which consists of 

 the metropolitan bishops of St. Petersburg, Mos- 

 cow, and Kieff, the arcnbishops of the Caucasus, 

 Kholm, and Warsaw, and several bishops ; it has 

 the supervision of the religious affairs of the 

 empire. (4) The Committee of Ministers, who 

 are the immediate advisers of the Czar. The 

 following were the ministers in office in 1892 : 

 Minister of the Imperial House, Gen. Vorontzoff- 

 Dachkoff ; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicholas 

 Carlovich de Giers ; Minister of War, Gen. Van- 

 novski ; Minister of the Navy, Vice-Admiral 

 Tchikhatcheff ; Minister of the Interior. Privy 

 Councilor Durnovo ; Minister of Public Instruc- 

 tion, Privy Councilor Dellanoff ; Minister of 

 Finance, Privy Councilor Witte; Minister of 

 Justice, Privy Councilor Manasscin ; Minister 

 of the State Domains, Privy Councilor Ostrov- 

 ski; Minister of Public Works and Railroads, 

 Privy Councilor Krivochein ; Chief of the De- 

 partment of General Control, Privy Councilor 

 Filipoff. 



Area and Population. About one seventh 

 of the land surface of the globe belongs to Rus- 

 sia, the area being 8.644,100 square miles. No 

 general census has been taken since 1859, but 

 various enumerations taken in nearly all parts 

 place the population of the empire, in 1887, at 

 113,354,649. The European provinces of Ru^ia 

 have a total area of 1.902,092 square miles, and 

 a population of 86,594.226. Poland has an area 

 of 49,157 square miles, and a population of 

 8,885,807. The area of the Grand Duchy of 



