LEADING ARTICLES. 



2(y. 



ROUMANIA, BULGARIA AND THE POWERS. 



ROUAIANIA'S RIGHTS AND 

 WRONGS. 



In the K'lneteenth Century we find 

 Mr. Ellis Barker's interpretation of the 

 present relations of " Roumanian Policy 

 and the Peace of Europe." Mr. Bar- 

 ker takes the necessary precaution of 

 recapitulating the history of the country 

 from the time of the Romans, explain- 

 \\v^ that : — 



The modern Roumanians are the direct de- 

 Sfondants of these Roman settlers. Tlieir 

 !'aiii:;ua,i;-e closely resemble.s Latin. R.acially 

 they form a Romanic island in a Slavonic 

 ocean. A comparison of the small, wiry, 

 and alert Roumanians with tlieir neighbours, 

 the large-bodied, heavy and phlegniiatic Bul- 

 ,2;arians, is enthologically very intereisting. 



Midway between two great Powers, 

 Roumania's development has always 

 been subject to the political see-saw of 

 lier neighbours, but has eventually 

 emerged from the welter a united and 

 [progressive nation : — 



At present Rovimania has a standing army 

 of 98,000 men, and she can place oltO.OUO men 

 into the field in case of war. Their arma- 

 ment is excellent. A great cinain of fortres.ses 

 which runs from Focshani to Galatz protects 

 the open frontier of the country towards 

 Russia, and Bucharest, with its huge circle 

 yi forts, is the most .strongly fortihed capital 

 in Europe, Paris alone excepted. 



The basis of Roumania's present 

 claim was the action of Russia thirty 

 years ago, and she has always hoped 

 to obtain the possession of Silistria if 

 a territorial rearrangement should take 

 place in the Balkan Peninsula. 



BULGARIA AND ROUMANIA. 



In reference to the Bulgaro-Rou- 

 manian difficulty, Tsarigraclski, who has 

 an article on the subiect in the mid- 

 February number of Questions Diplo- 

 viatiqnes et Colomales, does not see why 

 the question of the rectification of the 

 frontier should not be solved amicably. 



Remembering the traditional and 

 necessary friendship between the two 

 States, the problem loses much of its 

 acuteness. After peace was signed, Bul- 

 garia, in possession of her new proN'inccs 

 and an extended littoral, might have 

 been able to make some sacrifice in 

 favour of her neighbour, even if it had 



included the cession of a population of 

 14,000, the city of Silistria itself having 

 12,000. The cession of this territory, 

 not densely populated, would not have 

 sensibly diminished the imiDortance of 

 the new Bulgaria ; but, then, Roumania's 

 demand should at least have been pre- 

 sented under conditions which would 

 have rendered acceptance easy b}' Bul- 



garia. 



Roumania may also require the ^lace- 

 donian-Roumanian population who are 

 to be annexed to the Balkan States to be 

 taken into account. She can have no ter- 

 ritorial pretensions with regard to this 

 population, but she may ask for com- 

 pensation. The whole position of Rou- 

 mania would probably have been very 

 different if at the beginning of the crisis 

 she had, without taking part in the hos- 

 tilities, adopted an attitude favourable 

 to the Balkan Allies. The moral sup- 

 port which she could have given to the 

 Balkan States would have constituted 

 an effective right to recognition b\- those 

 States. In any case, she would have 

 done well to have waited till peace was 

 signed before pressing her claims. But 

 if the Balkan League is maintained 

 after peace, and if Roumania will iom 

 it, the League will receive an important 

 accession of strength. 



THE FUTURE GERMANO-SLAV 

 CONFLICT. 



An anonymous writer on the Eastern 

 Question in the C orrespondant, while 

 not pretending to predict the future, ex- 

 plains why, in his opinion, no settlement 

 can solve permanently the innumerable 

 problems raised by the disappearance 

 from Europe of the Ottoman Empire 

 and its possible dismemberment in Asia. 



THE BALANCE OF POWER FICTION. 

 The maintenance of the Ottoman Em- 

 pire, he says, was one of the essential 

 factors of the balance of power in 

 Europe, a fiction which since 181 5 has 

 been the basis of the pcjiicy of the Great 

 Powers. Turke\' was the barrier against 

 the ri\alr\' between the Slavs and Ger- 

 mans for domination on the Bosjihorus, 

 but now that the barrier has been thrown 



