SITUATION IN RUMANIA.

[From the Paris Temps of Aug. 23, 1914.]

From an occasional correspondent we receive the following letter:

The departure of the mobilized French soldiers who were in Bucharest
has been the occasion for sympathetic manifestations toward France.

Among the population and in the streets there was not a single voice
which was not heartily and enthusiastically for the Triple Entente in
general and France in particular.

Certain personages, such as the General Pilot who in 1870 fought on
the side of France, and certain newspaper editors who, yielding to
national aspirations, have carried on since the first day of the war a
violent campaign against Austria, are enthusiastically cheered by the
public in the cafes and by the majority of the army officers who
assisted in uniform at these scenes.

More than that, there were imposing manifestations in the streets;
other meetings, still more effective, were held in secret, at which
Generals and superior officers assisted. But notwithstanding this
public sentiment the police are on the lookout; the orders they have
received are particularly severe, as entire regiments are kept in
readiness in the public parks and Government buildings. All those
functionaries who are suspected of being openly hostile to Austria are
closely followed and watched.

What is the reason of this? One may put the question to himself, as
really this sentiment of the nations corresponds too well with a
secular and inevitable policy. Despite all contrary reasoning, one
fact remains, and this is summed up in Transylvania and Bukowina and
the five million Rumanians who are under Austro-Hungarian rule. There
is for the Rumanians of the kingdom the unforgettable series of
persecutions of every kind to which their brethren on the other side
of the mountains are subjected--persecutions dating from yesterday and
which are continued today. Only the day before the Austrian
mobilization fifty students from the Rumanian Kingdom who happened to
be in Brassow (Hungary) on an excursion were arrested and brought
before the police authorities, and actually thrown into prison,
because they dared display badges with Rumanian colors in their
buttonholes.

"If I were to march into Moldavia," a Rumanian was telling me,
"against the enemies of Austria, I would have to begin by sabring all
the Moldavian peasants, who are crying, 'Down with Austria!' Of
course, I never could do this!"

Under such co