Photo by Frederick Moore 



A COACHMAN OF BUCHAREST 



Many of the coachmen of Bucharest are immigrants from Russia and wear the char- 

 acteristic Russian costume of their trade, as shown in the picture. Most of them belong to 

 a pecuHar Russian secret sect and are called the Skoptsi, or, in Rumania, the Lipovans. 

 Their idea of attaining salvation is through a curious and repulsive form of asceticism. 



Rumania will compare favorably with 

 that of any other European state. There 

 are also boulevards in Bucharest, boule- 

 vards in the sense which that term im- 

 plies in Paris. 



Political ideals are much the same here 

 as in other Balkan States. Political par- 

 ties take their turns in office, and to a 

 certain extent indulge in a recognized 

 limit of peculations. As a result taxes 

 are very high. And yet the peasants of 

 Rumania, who supply the wealth for the 

 politicians, are contented and apparently 

 wealthier than the Slav peasants of either 

 Bulgaria or Servia. 



THE MOST PROSPEROUS STATE IN THE 

 BAIvKANS 



Rumania is distinctly a more produc- 

 tive and richer country than her neigh- 

 bors across the Danube. Prosperity is 



evident everywhere in Rumania, while 

 poverty is not hard to find in Servia, Bul- 

 garia, or Montenegro. 



The Jews are probably the most un- 

 happy people in Rumania. The Jews 

 live especially in the province of Mol- 

 davia. Great numbers of them have 

 taken refuge there from persecution in 

 neighboring Russian provinces. 



Though they are free, with rare ex- 

 ceptions, from excessive outbreaks such 

 as have taken place in Russia, they enjoy 

 no political rights in Rumania, nor are 

 they, or any other alien, permitted to 

 purchase or own land outside the cities 

 (see page 1072). 



In many respects Rumania, though a 

 more up-to-date country, is not so liberal 

 as Bulgaria. There are not so many 

 Jews in Bulgaria, and perhaps if their 

 presence was equally marked the Bul- 



1080 



