of the people and the sacrifices and dangers which the country faced. He
urged that Rumania had not been moved by mere policy or expediency, but
that her action was based on the highest principles of nationality and
national ideals.

[Sidenote: The nation moved by ties of race and blood.]

[Sidenote: The Bulgar a menace.]

"In Rumania as in Russia," said the King, "the tie of race and blood
underlies all other considerations, and the appeal of our purest
Rumanian blood which lies beyond the Transylvanian Alps has ever been
the strongest influence in the public opinion of all Rumania, from the
throne to the lowest peasant. Inasmuch as Hungary was the master that
held millions of our blood in perpetual bondage, Hungary has been our
traditional enemy. The Bulgar, with his efficient and unquestionably
courageous army, on a frontier difficult to defend, has logically become
our southern menace, and as a latent threat has been accepted
secondarily as a potential enemy."

[Sidenote: German friendship an asset.]

[Sidenote: Rumania's long frontier.]

After stating that, although at the beginning of the war Rumanian
sympathy had leaped instantly to France and England, the Rumanians had
realized that, economically, the friendship of Germany was an asset in
the development of Rumanian industries, the King added that,
nevertheless, as the Great War progressed, there had developed in
Rumania a moral issue in regard to the war. The frightfulness and
lawlessness practiced by the Central Powers had a profound effect upon
the Rumanian people, and the country began to feel the subtle force of
enemy intrigue endeavoring to force her into war against her own real
interests. Let us remember, when we would criticize Rumania for her
early inactivity, that she was, in the words of her King, "a small power
with a small army surrounded by giants"; that she had a western frontier
1,000 kilometres long--greater than the English and French fronts
combined--and a Bulgarian frontier, almost undefended and near her
capital, stretching for other hundreds of kilometres on the south. With
Russia in retreat, Rumania would have been instantly annihilated if she
had acted. She had to wait till she could be reasonably sure of
protecting herself and of being supported by her allies. She waited not
a moment longer.

[Sidenote: Prisoners and noncombatants well-treated.]

After pointing out the great risks which Rumania had run, as a small
country, a