Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-06-04
With the Editors
WHY ROUMANiA is LIKELY TO
Pr TOrFiGhT. "
. Brooklyn Eagle. J.


TO FIGHT.
Brooklyn Eagle.)
Among other statements made to
the special correspondent OF The Ea-
gle in the Balkans by the Bulgarian
minister for foreign affairs was thu
following:N ...a,..
| do not believe that Rumania will
declare war. Consider her position.
1t is extremely dangerous. She lies
between two great and powerful bel
ligerents.
More than a month has elapsed
since M. Ghenadieff gave expression
to this judgment, which was based
of course, upon conditions then exist
ing. He did not know that b. thu
time these %utterances were printed
Italy would be among the countries a,
war with the Germanic powers. Tha,
creates a vortex out of which ,Ruma
MIA will find it difficult, if not impos
slble, to escape. This is to the ad
vantage Of the Teuton Allies, despite
the fact that Russia has long wanted
to reach Constantinople, via Ruma
nit; also, despite the fact that Russi;
robbed" Rumania OF Bessarabia at
ter the Russo-Turkish war.
Wounds of this sort do not hea
by first intention" The B%essarabial
incident was the more aggravatint
because during the war preceding il
the Russians and = the Rumanians
were companions in arms. But cir
cumstances alter cases, and the Ruma
mans have no doubt as to which side
OF their bread Is buttered now. Theil
country has been described as consist
ing of two long strips at right an
giles with each other, forming two
sides of a square, Hungarian terri
tory filling the gap. Enough of thai
territory to complete the square is
what Rumania would very much like
to have. Military men know why
They know how vulnerable the strips
are. ".
Not less unfortunate are other as
poets Of Rumanil's case. Several mil
lions of her people live in Hungary
Since self-governnlent was granted tt
the Hungarians these Rumanians have
been at the mercy of the Magyars
And they have a list of grievances
like that of the Italians in Trieste
In Hungarian schools there should bt
one Rumanian pupil in every three
or four, but in the universities there
are more than 10000 Magyar student.
and less than 500 Rumanians. Fig
ures given for the intermediate
schools are: Magyars, 40,4S2; Ruma
mans, 3,9OS. Instead of having abou
100 members Of parliament, the ,Ru
manians are practically excluded, vir
tually all the members being Mag
vars. DR.. Won ,Valda Voivod writes
In the Runanian districts the NOR
tally among the children is enormous
In line Of epidemics it rises occa
sionally to 60 to 10 per cent. In nor
NAL times it never falls below 60 pc!
cent. Nevertheless, no Roumania1
doctors are. appointed, but only Mag
vars, although these cannot talk with
the patients who know only Rumani.
an. Many Runranians living in Hun
gary wish to emigrate in order to
make a living. However, the govern
ment refuses TO give them the neces
sary passports.
The whole story of the treatment
of Rumanians in Hungary is one OF
oppression. This is as it was told il
a speech at Bucharest by a Rumaniar
statesman:
Even if there We're only 100000 Flu
maniars on the other side Of the Car
pathians, their cry OF distress would
have aroused our sympathy. But
when we see that 100000 ,Rumani
ans dwelling in Hungary are to be
deliberately destroyed as a race ane
to be converted by force into Magyars
we are shocked in our deepest feel
ings, and we must say to ourselves
that Rumania itself would be threat
ened if it should be possible to dc
stroy 100000 Rumanians outside Q
II, therefore, the Rumanians take
no advantage Of the present oppor
tunity they will be regarded as recre
ants. A contributor to the Fortnight
ly Review says that Rumania has
reached a decisive moment in her his
tory and that she now has a chance
to unity all, or nearly all, Of the Ru
manians dwelling on or near the Dan
u5e. He goes on: "Rumania stands
at the parting of the ways. No one
helps those who refuse to help them
selves" As Russia is more tina,
likely to reach Constantinople by an
other route, her ambition need n
figure IL Rumanian reckoning