The cynicism displayed, at Vienna over the partition of Rumania was the equal of any hitherto distinguishing the acts of Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini. There was no question of consulting the wishes of the Rumanians and Transylvanians themselves; with utter disregard of international usage and morality—both things which modern dictators do not allow to stand in the way of their desires—the country has been shorn into insignificance. On the surface, Italy and Germany have ignored completely Russian interests in the area: but who knows what understandings had been reached behind the scenes before the fateful meeting in Aus-trio's former capital? The courage of M. Julius Maniu in refusing to accept the partition, on behalf of the Transylvanian peasants, will be admired, but his wisdom may be doubted. He may be inviting the forces of destruction and terror to sweep across the countryside he wishes to defend, and be sowing the seed of ruthless oppression throughout the area Hungary will take over. M, Maniu, though educated at Vienna and Budapest universities, has been a lifelong opponent of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and since 1918, of Hungary. A lawyer, he was at one time a Deputy in the Hungarian Parliament, where he opposed the administration. He was the founder of the Rumanian National Assembly in Transylvania, and afterwards was president of the Provisional Council of Transylvania and head of the National Transylvan ian Party and the National Peasants Party. He later became Prime Minister, but retired from public life in 1933 owing to disagreement with the government's policy. He refuses to look on while his lifework is destroyed. It is io be feared that in this day and age, when force is the only arbiter, his protest may simply be used as an excuse for further aggression by the Axis and as a pretext for the Germans to send troops to "pacify" the country. And everyone knows what that would mean, for once there, it is highly improbable that the Germans would ever leave of their own accord.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.