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Press, Volume LII, Issue 15768, 8 December 1916, Page 6

The promoters of the meeting held at the Alexandra Hall last night showed a wise discretion in keeping the proceedings within comparatively harmless bounds. They have the excuse that their "manifesto" and the invitation to tho meeting were printed before the issue of the war regulations, and apparently they had the good sense to see that public opinion will not tolerate at the present juncture the slightest approach to seditious speech or any obstruction in the way of carrying out the provisions of the law relating to national defence. The Government may rest assured that if they will enforce the war regulations firmly they will receive the whole-hearted support of the community, and it is just as well that the few who may be disposed to 6tir up disloyalty and disaffection should also realise that fact.

We quite agree with the view expressed at the Chamber of Commerce yesterday that the disloyal element in the community is a very small one, and should those composing it bo so ill-advised as to defy the law in any way the ordinary police force will have no difficulty in dealing with it. It is just as well, however, that it should be clearly understood that if the Executive should require assistance, it will be readily forthcoming. And we feel quite certain that the working population of this country, who have sent so many representatives to the firingline. will be among the first to resent any treachery- in our midst, and to give their assistance, should it be required, to put down any traitorous attempts to prevent the effectual prosecution of the war.

It is not impossible that the rumour as to -General Joffrc's probable retirement may bo true, even although it comes from America. General Joffre is now in his sixty-fifth year, and it is not to be wondered at if the strain of the war. extending, over a period of more than two and a quarter years, is beginning to tell upon him as it told upon Lord French. "Papa Joffro'' is the idol of his men, and the confidence which ho has inspired in the public of Prance as well as in the Army has been a great asset in the conduct of the war. He may now be excused if he desires to give placo to a younger man, as Lord French handed over his command to Sir Douglas Haig. Fortunately there will be no difficulty in finding a capable successor. General Foeh is not only a brilliant leader, as he has shown by his operations on the Somme, but ho is a great strategist and a man of clear, view and sound judgment. Ho can bo trusted to take risks when any aro really called for, but he never wastes the strength of his men unnecessarily.

Bucharest, owing to the lateness of ltoumania's entry into tho war, is much less well known to the public than the other national capitals which have figured in tho war. Yet in some respects it is a more interesting town than any other in the Near East. In the first place it is not a Balkan city; the Roumanians dislike being put in the Balkan class, and they prefer "The City of Pleasure" as the name for their capital to the usual title of "The Paris of tho Balkans.' 1 It is one of the most French of cities, very bright and gay, very luxurious, and very expensive. Vast sums have been spent, or rather wasted, in palatial buildings; the post offico, for instance, is said by Mr Harry de Windt, in. his book "Through Savage Europe," to be the finest in the world, but it is ten times too large for the business done. There is no traco of Eastern domination in Bucharest —no mosques or minarets, but only tho flavour of London and Paris, and everywhere tlie people speak French. It is "a Latin island in a Slavonian sea."

At the Hotel Splcndide one cannot stay with much comfort of mind unless one is a millionaire. The attractions offered to the pleasure-seeker are almost limitless. The restaurants as good as the best in Paris, the cafes are brilliant, the buildings superb, the fashions perfect. Mr tie Windt's picture of Roumanian society would do for a picture of society in Paris, and one obtains the impressions of an isolated 'Latin island" - feverishly living a

Latin life, and looking on Paris or Vienna as nearer to it byfar than any part of the Balkan peninsula. Mr de AVinut, wlic>6o book appeared several years ago. mentions that German things were not liked in Bucharest. Tho Queen ("Carman Svlva") was idolised by the people, but King Carol was less popular, "especially amongst tho nobility, which, resents German methods and manners."