The Washington herald., 1916-09-10
By JOHN L. BALpERsToN.

charest and the mysterious behavior OF
the Greeks-has puzzled the world. For
different reasons. both alliances have
hitherto discouraged attempts TO make
clear what has been going on, and no
| censorship during the past two years
has been SO strict as that exercised on
Balkan news. Now that Roumania has
commenced her geneyal mobilization, and
/ her entry into the war is regarded both
| in London and Berlin as imminent, II is
possible to explain certain puzzles Of the
war In the near East, and in addition this
story will attempt to summarize the
views current here concerning the next
| phase of the war, when the worlds in
| terest will be transferred from the Sommc
and the Dniester to the countries bor-
dering the Danube. The writer does not
pose as a prophet-the assumption made
here that Roumania and Greece will hsnt
| within a few weeks is a safe one, be-
cause. IL they do not, this story will hot
| be printed.
Why has Gen SarraIl kept nearly half
million men entrenched before Saloniki
doing nothing all spring and summer,
while great offensives were in progress
on all the other fronts? This puzzle has
| worried laynen, and even artillery men
who did not know what was going on in
| the entente chancelleries, and who knew
only too well how badly they needed on
the western front the veteran troops and
| the immense mass of munitions detected
from the great offensives preparing in
France to the inactivity of the entrench-
ed camp in the Balkans. This is the
eanswer:
Triumph for Grey's Diplomacy.
| sarrail's army of twelve French and
ten English divisions, with several d.
visions OF Serbians and enough Russians
and Italians to lend an all-allied appear
ancs to the expedition-perhaps a half
million fighting men-was not sent to
Salopiki to hght a campaign by itself.
| There was never any intention OF using
up this splendid bghting force in attempt
ing. against the opposition Of 10000 Bull
garians and perhaps many German and
Austrian unite, to force a way through the
mountainous and almost roadless Ser
bian and Bulgarian country up the three
narrow and easily defended river valleys
to the Danube. The task may have been
possible, but Sir Edward. now Viscount
Grey, the master mind of the entente,
believed il unnecessary. Sarrail's army
was massed at Saloniki to draw Rou-
mania and Greece into the war; when
they have been drawn in IT will move,
and not before. Whether II etill has to
| fight its way 10 the Danube. or whether
Bulgaria realizes her hopeless position
and makes peace or changes sides, its
| task. with the help OF the Rouma nian
| army. is expected to be an easy one.
| And / have been told on very high
authority several times during the past
| few months that the real goal OF the
Saloniki army, assuming Bulgaria at
tackled by Roumania and by Russian
armies coming through the territory Of
the new ally, will be not the Danube, but
Constantinople The bearing Of the Rou-
manian mobilization upon the al-im-
portant Constantinople question will be
considered later.
Wine and Women Factors.
Wine and beautiful women and red gold
and all the other stage properties. except
possibly the sword play, employed in the
Balkan romances of Anthony Hope, have
combined to make Bucharest in the past
| few months the most romantic capital
in Europe. Every'other man and woman
| you met on the street was a secret agent
Of Germany, England or Russia, l was
| assured recently by 4 gentleman, him
| self a secret agent, just returned from
| Bucharest, described as maelstrom of in
| trigue.
Aside from the personal wire pulling
the same game is played, in very differ
ent and vastly more decorous way, in
| Washington-the elements of the situa-
| Charles and his government knew well
that the importance of their support was
worth many times the value of their half
million soldiers because of their strategic
position on the flank Of hard-beset Hun
gary and between the millions Of the
Gar and the straight road to the goal
| OF Russia's dream Of the centuries on
the Golden Horn. They were determined
to get their own price for that support.
EDnrrv onTa hah TrF7if
more dazzling than has confronted any
small country in modern history. decided
| to annex not only the Hungarian prov
| ince Of Transylvania, containing go
| "enslaved'' brothers Of her own race, but
also to seek possession of some of the
Russian province of Bessarabia, on her
othSr frontier, populated by almost as
many Roumanians as is Transylvania.
| When the demand for Bessarabia was
presented last autumn to the Cars min
| lister in Bucharest, a diplomat here told
me, and when the Russian envoy declar-
| ed vehemently that to ask mighty Rus
sia to give UP a fertile province was un-
heard of and absurd, Prime Minister
| Bratiano cooed softly, And would not
Russia give up little of that land of
which she has so much-for Constant
nople?'' The Russian minister was
silent, for even then it was pretty evil
Constantinople, excepting through Rou
mania, were almost nil
Roumania Guaranteed Lands.
Now Roumania has decided, and is
mobilizing. Diplomats here are pussy
| footing''-what is going on it is !nlpus-
| sible to learn. But from all have been
| told in the past I consider it a virtual
| certainty that when the first soldier OF
King Charles crosses the frontier IN the
Transylvanian Alps, Rounania will have
| been guaranteed not only Transy!vania
| II she can win it, but also all or part Of
| the predomlnantly Roumanian section of
| Bessar4bia.
Nor was the question of territorial
bargaining the only one to be settled
| before Roumania made her decision.
She had to be sure she was on the
winning side. She must be certain
that no German phalanx would burst
upon her and grind her to pieces-the
fate of Serbia was before her eyes.
This is where the long headed diplo-
macy of Sir Edward Grey. the vision
of Gen. Joffre, the genius of the Rus
sian strategists, came into play. Jof-
fre and Grey, with the approval of
Kitchener and Castelnau. planted the
army at Saloniki against the onpasI.