THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1918. FATE OF RUMANIA.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11752, 1 March 1918, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1918. FATE OF RUMANIA.

\Yiih .Russia in a state of chaos, it appear to be morally certain that Rumania, will require- to make terms with tin' enemy at ail early date. It would be hopeless lor her army to attempt to resist the combined forces of Austria, Germany, and Bulgaria. When they, entered the war, the ! .Rumanians were hopeful that they would be able to establish their claim to Transylvania, where their people have been held in bondage by tho Magyars for many years. Their hopes ni'o not to be realised. Indeed, it looks at present as though they will be compelled to surrender the Dobrudja to the Bulgars, aud, by ' losing thfcir access to tho Black Sea, become completely isolated. Rumania, when 'she threw in her lot with the Allies, risked all sho possessed in the cause of democracy. She had boon .in the lmnds of the Austro-Germana for' years. Her finances and industries were controlled by German money. Her peasantry" was enslaved by foreign capitalists. The four million Rumans in Transylvania had no political representation. They were completely dominated by tho Magyars. The only method by which ' they could retain their language and their identity was by the establishing.and maintenance of their own schools and churches. A triumphant outcome of the war meant a new and" brighter .era in. the history of Rumania. Alas, for "thte;' time being, there is no hbpe of-triumph, . Unless, in the , fiual, settlement be-, ,:;twoen tho Great Powers,..'the ahso- ! lute independence of Rumania and j the. Ruraaus is assured, the population of that young country will be completely at the mercy of the Aus-tro-Germans. The Hungarian Parliament will no longer recognise" the, four million Rinnans in Transylvania. | Their position will become intolerablo. ! Rumania proper.will be ruled by tho iron rod of Germany, and the Ger- I man Jews, who have, been slowly but surely gaining control of the commerce of the country, will have unrestricted swov. It will only he a question of time, indeed, before the State becomes a part and parcel of the German Empire. And if Burn a nia is absorbed, it will not bo long before Bulgaria loses its identity ns a separate State. The aim of AustroGermany—and particularly of Germany—is to secure absolute control over Central Europe, from tho Baltic to the Black Sea, and thence to Asia Minor. Unless their military power is broken in the present war, it will not be long before they achieve their purpose. The Prussian autocrat has no regard for the rights of smaller nations. His ambition, is to control the universe, and he will sacrifice his honour, his friendship, his all, in tho attempt to realise this ambition. Napoleon had the same ambition,' but, when he had almost reached his goal, he came a cropper. So will it be with the Kaiser and his military casle. They have challenged the world. They have over-run Belgium, and Rumania, and revolutionary Russia They have violated every rule of civilised warfare. But they are nearing the end of their tether. They have sown the wind of the Devil, they will reap the whirlwind of despair. And, with their undoing, will come the emancipation of tho world.