INTERNATIONAL CORNER

Waikato Times, Volume 113, Issue 18950, 20 May 1933, Page 14 (Supplement)

INTERNATIONAL CORNER

THE BROADER VIEW : HERE THERE A»(Q EVERYWHERE (By “Cosmopolitan.”) How many people realise that no foreign nation Is exactly as It Is pictured by the orthodox descriptions which are circulated by those with little spare time for the heneiit of others with even less spare time? How many people, alas! persist in the belief that Frenchmen are all plump and dapper, llery tempered and high spirited and drink wine incessantly, while preferring' their vegetables cooked in butter? That uermans are big solid “ squareheads ” who drink beer in gardens and say “ Ach " and “Got Strafe England?” That all Italians eat garlic and have a partiality for monkeys and barren organs? It is not to be Inferred that New Zealanders as a nation are apathetic or ignorant. The rault lies not with themselves but in the methods available to them for acquiring knowledge of the world in which we live. The broadening effects of travel are available only to a comparative few, and the present times, when a broader outlook is more than ever necessary, have still rurther reduced the number of those who are able to go and see things and people Tor themselves. It is in an effort to help others toward a better understanding of the peoples of other countries that this column has been Introduced. It will contain, each week, some item of interest, some little piece or description of the manners, morals, and customs or the people themselves, and their surroundings—in some foreign country.

THE LITTLE ENTENTE. In introducing to the international stage last week the fifth Great Power, known as the Little Entente—comprising Yugoslavia, Rumania and Czechoslovakia—attention was devoted to the hlrth of Yugoslavia, one of the three members of the Entente. We shall consider tills week the second member of the group, 2—RUMANIA. Rumania, which is a neighbour of Yugoslavia, has its littoral on the Black Sea, and is bounded in the north bv Russia, in the xvest by Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia, and In the -south by Yugoslavia. It is a country of particular Interest because It was one of -the furthest -outposts of the Roman Empire.

haired, florid and blue-eyed; the -second dark, resembling the southern Italians. The people have been taught to regard themselves as true descendants of the Romans and their national pride Is very -strong. While their national dances and music are typically Slavonic, the centuries of Turkish rule which oeasod -only towards the end of last century, have left their Imprint In the Mario splendour of their oeremonial dress. Generally the -standard of living is lower on the flat drees along the Danube, and as the land becomes higher, proceeding toward the Carpathian Mountains, the standard improves. Many pagan beliefs, however, linger -on in the country, where vampires, witches and the -evil eye aro still greatly feared.

Rumania formerly ranked third in the world as a grain growing country, its rich soil being similar to the “black earth" of the Russian wheatlands. The Danube River is a valuable fishing ground and the forest resources of the country are exceptionally rich. Many excellent wines are -produced in the villages of the Danube basin, and on the higher country apples, pears, medlars, cherries and melons thrive, \ 'e the damson grows here better an anywhere else in the world. The Royal family of Rumania Is of German origin, the first prince being Charles of 'Hohenzollern —Sigmaringen. His great nephew is the present king, Carol. Despite the German leanings of the Royal family, the Rumanian people regard themselves as strongly bound to the French and thensympathies resulted in Rumania joining the Allies in the Great War. The present Rumanian Foreign Minister, M. Titulescu, who has been the moving -spirit of the negotiations for the formation of the Little Entente, has consistently endeavoured to bring about closer relations between his own country and France,

In many respects Rumania, .with its heritages of Roman rule and occupation, is an island of Latinism amid a sea of Magyar and Slavonic customs and institutions. In language Rumania Is a survival of Latin, totally isolated from t-hat of the neighbouring countries, and by reason of this isolation differing greatly from the form shown by Latin in its development ill France, Spain and Italy. Despite a great infusion of Slav words the construction of grammar remains essentially Latin. Similarly many remains of Roman cities have endowed Rumania with a rich antiquity. Although Rumania was connected more closely to the Roman Empire in the days when Constantinople (Byzantium) was the capital, it was nevertheless a subject province in the golden age of Rome, and’.Latin literature, In which it Is referred to as Dacia, is rich in references to Rumania and the Black Sea.

Two different types are evident among the people; the flrst fair-