WAIRARAPA DAILY TIMES. [Established Third of a century.] TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1912. ROUMANIAN ATTITUDE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXIV, Issue 11508, 5 November 1912, Page 4

WAIRARAPA DAILY TIMES. [Established Third of a century.] TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1912. ROUMANIAN ATTITUDE.

The attitude of Eoumauia in the ovent of a Balkan conflict was discussed some time ago by tho London Times, ■which stated that Koumania and Turkey had concluded a military agreement. "In the ovent of the outbreak of a conflict between Turkey and Bulgaria, '' said the Times,'' Roumania will mobilise all her forces along the military frontier of Bulgaria. The effect of this agreement is shown in the exultation of the Turkish Press, and it must necessarily afford dangerous encouragement to the warlike elements at Constantinople. The agreement affects Greece almost as much as Bulgaria, for it sets Turkey free to fall upon Greece, whenever the war party at Constantinople gains tho upper hand, without having to reckon with Bulgarian action, as the mobilisation of the Roumanian army on tho Bulgarian frontier would probably alone suffice to hold Bulgaria in check. More than that. It seems to bo really an invitation to Turkey to provoke a rupture with Bulgaria as well as with Greece.

"From this point of view it constitutes a fait nouveau in tho European situation, and our scepticism hitherto gives the measure of the gravity we are compeLed to attach to it. For, besides, the actual gravity in regard to the critical condition of affairs in the Balkans, there is the symptomatic gravity. It is not conceivable that Eoumania should have taken such a step without consultation with the two central European Powers, with which her relations have for many years past been so intimate that many believe them to bo based upon definite treaty agreements. Of those two Powers, the one that enjoys by far- the greater influence at Bucharest is Germany; for the existence of a large Koumanian population in Hungary, which is apt to cherish irredentist aspirations, forbids any real cordiality in the relations between tho Roumanian kingdom and tho Dual Monarchy.

"It is no sscrot that German •diplomacy has been working hard, and with astonishing success, to recover the

ground it suddenly lost with tho downfall of Abdul Ilamid. A military agrooment with Roumania must intonsify tho temptation for tho Young Turks to seek the consolidation of tho new regime in tho same warlike exploits by which the Hamidiau regime achieved a now lease of life. However prudent and statesmanliko Sultan Mahomet's .Ministers may be—and they have giv-. en not a few proofs of moderation —it has been evident for somo time past that in the military party, which is still the power behind tho throne at Constantinople, a strong current has set in towards moro violent methods. In proportion as tho current has strengthened, the influence of tho Western Powers has visibly diminished; for it is obviously not in Paris or in London or in St. Petersburg that these new tendencies could look for encouragement."