Evening star., 1924-06-06

Reports have been coming. thick
and fast, in the last few days indicat-
Ing a proximate outbreak of another
Balkan war. The belligerants in the
rumored hostilities are said to be
soviet Russia, or, in the language Of
eastern Europe. the Federation of
Socialist Soviet Republics" on the one
side and Rumania on the other. The
bone Of contention is Bessarabia.
A pamphlet written by Prince An
tome BtbeSco. Rumanian minister to
the United States, will help the gen.
eral reader to visualize Bessarabia-
once a province OF Count Bessarab
The very existence Of Bessara bia- +"
says the prince, was, until our day,
unknown. except to a few specialists.
me same good people who used to
believe that the Ukraine was a musi-
cal instrument imported from Hawaii,
and that both Gallipoli and Galicia
were IN Spain, thought, when they
saw the name Bessarabia in print,
that 1t was part of Arabia"
beSSsiraDla Is region lying be-
tween the mouths of the Dneister and
the Danube-therefore, between Rus
sia and Rumania-and bordering upon
the Black Sea. 1t has a population Of
3,000,000. Its chief importance lies
in its command of the mouth Of the
Danube. the great artery of com
merce leading around the southern
boundary of Rumania far up into
central Europe. Just as in the JEFF
fersonian days of early United States
when Napoleon controlled the mouth
or the Mississippi River. and it was
strategetically necessary for our
country to gain that control even at
the cost of war, 50 it is held of vital
Importance to Rumania never to sur
render the mouth of the Danube since
that is the economic and military key
TO Rumania's commerce and safety.
X X X +
1t VIII be recalled that at the be-
ginning OF the world war, Rumania,
under King Charles !, was on the
verge of aligning herself with the
central powers, for Charles Cor Carol
of the Rumanian throne) was Carl
Won Hohenzollern by birth. He died
and was succeeded by his nephew
Ferdinand, who. with the general
population, was Latin in sympathy.
His policy was to main tain neutrality,
for Rumania was weak financially,
and in no condition of preparedness
to enter such war. This was salts
factory to the allies, since as a neu-
trail buffer state, she would serve
their purpose in intervening against
any advance of German or Austrian
armies.
But after the fall of Kerensky, Rus
sian bolsheviks pressed Rumania to
choose between active fighting of
the central powers or invasion by
the Russians. Reluctantly she entered
the war. In her utter defeat she was
forced to give Germany the seacoast,
and to Austria and Bulgaria practi-
cally all the rest of her territory ex-
cept nominal center, with the neces-
sity of paying the maintenance of a
large German army of occupation.
Since the revolution in Russia and
the exposure of Russian archives. it
transpires that the bolshevik forcing
of Rumania to take aggressive action
against Germany and Austria was
part Of betrayal by Russia by
which Russia had bribed Germany
into agreeing not to pursue attack
against Russia, in consideration Of
the sacrifice of Rumania- The whole
plot was a sop to Cerberus." By the
treaty of Bucharest, May 6, 1918, Ru-
mania was ruined
4 r. 4
The Russians claimed justification
for their betrayal OF Rumania since
Rumania had previously encroached