The Daily News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1918. GERMANY'S BRIBE TO ROUMANIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 February 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1918. GERMANY'S BRIBE TO ROUMANIA.

Roumarda stands isolatedOn the one hand the Bolsheviks are hostile, while on the other the Germans are endeavoring to compel Roumania to agree to a peace whereby the Dobrudja is to be ceded to Bulgaria and Roumania is to receive compensation in Bessarabia. The generosity of Germany in giving away the property of other nations is characteristic- She has ceded to Ukraine a part of Polish territory, an act of rashness that has not only caused bitter resentment, but has led to the resignation of the Polish members of the Austrian Upper House. There appears to be only one explanation of this step, namely, the necessity for compensating for«the loss of the whole or part of Bessarabia. Ukraine is, apparently, being made the centre of a tangled web of intrigue in which the Central Powers are striving to enmesh Ukraine, Poland, Roumania, Bulgaria, and Russia. One has to look below the surface in order to gain an insight into the ramifications of this intricate conspiracy. With regard to Ukraine, Germany's object is quite clear. In the first place the separatist movement in Ukraine promised to operate more to the advantage of the Allies than to the Central Powers, hence one of Germany's incentives to steer Ukraine so that it should become a German agency. So long as the Germans thoughlb the Bolsheviks could be manipulated they were prepared to negotiate with Petrograd. The movement in Ukraine gave them a new opportunity and negotiations were pushed ahead rapidly so as to arrive at an agreement, the validity of which appears to be open to question, but that will not have any disturbing effect on the Germans, for » treaty, whether valid or bogus, is in their eyes only a scrap of paper- Why was Germany so anxious to get this treaty with Ukraine? To obtain control of the Ukrainian'wheat centres—not openly, but surreptitiously, as the means adopted will shorf. Ukraine incurred the hostility of the Bolsheviks and asked for German help, so the Teutons have promised to supply a military guard for the principal grain centres and ports- This means that the armies of the Central Powers will be allowed to occupy at Kiev and Odessa all the necessary railway stations anil grain centres, so that the wheat district will

be administered a? a kind of annex to Austria-Hungary mid Poland. Further, Roumania will be completely isolated and thus Germany hopes to bring her to ternts. Once in occupation of the wheat districts in Ukraine, the Germans will find conveniently plausible excuses for remaining in possession. It was a scheinc that was cunningly devised and cleverly executed. How, it may be asked, does this bogus arrangement alfect Roumania? It may be taken for granted that tile Austro-Gerhians did not cede Polish territory to Ukraine without very ■powerful reasons, "\vhioh appear to be governed by the necessity of compensating Ukraine for the loss of Bessarabia. Tliere still remains IV problem of why Germany was so anxious to make a peace with Roumania". anil the only reasonable solution would seem to be that Ukraine insisted on that course being taken, and as it fitted into Germany's other schemes pressure is brought to bear on the Roumanians to accept the bribe of Ukraine territory to give lip the Dobrudja and, drop out of the war. Roumania, however, has so far remained firm to the Allies in spite of German threats. She evidently does not appear anxious to sacrifice her share of the Black Sea shore as far north as the mouths of the Danube, and to gain as compensation territory more than twice as extensive lying north east across the Prutli, though the latter land is mostly fiat and fertile and is peopled by a Human folk who are in entire sympathy with Roumar.'a, who, however, has 110 anxiety on their account, for they enjoy immunity from oppression. With the Rinnans in Transylvania it is quite a different matter, for they are under Hungary's rule, compelled to adopt the Hungarian language, denied the right of public meeting, deprived of the franchise, dispossessed of their nationalist journals and generally terrorised into subjection. The liberation of these compatriots from their thraldom—over four millions—has been the absorbing dream of their brethren in the Roumanian. Kingdom, but the only possible way to attain the desired end was by armed force and that is largely why Roumania entered into the war, actuated by the impulse to strike j a blow for the great national idea of a Roumania inclusive of all loyal Rumans, and freed from the tear of oppression by either Turk or .Magyar. .During the time that has elapsed since the Rou- ! manians-commenced hostilities they have undergone some bitter experiences and have suffered greatly, but their brave spirit is unquenched even though they are isolated and threatened with extinction if they do not respond to Germany's bidding. The price of their desertion of the Allies is Bessarabia and it does not tempt them- If the Central Powers are i n earnest why did they not ofl'er Transylvania? Because it belonged to Hungary, and the looters of Europe only cede territory that belongs to someone else—their insatiable love of tyranny and oppression restrains them from giving national and political freedom to those over whom they terrorise—were they to show a spark of humanitarian sympathy their occupation as military despots would be gone.. The inherent love of cruelty has become an obsession, and just now the Roumanians in their own kingdom and under relentless Magyar rule are feeling the hand of the oppressor very acutely. It is to lie hoped the swing of the pendulum will bring its compensations in the near future.