Germanised Rumania
The arrest., or rather the seizure, of British employees of the oil companies in Rumania and the " third degree " methods to which they have been subjected in order to secure confessions of sabotage are indications both of the deplorable condition of the administration in Rumania and of its complete subservience to Germany. The arrests appear to hair-e been the work of Iron Guard " thugs," acting with the connivance of the police, agents of Germany employed to make out a case to show British attempts at sabotage in the oilfields. The Nazis are not leaving anything to chance. To make their control of Rumania complete they have been transporting trainloads of motorised German forces to Rumania and disposing them at strategic points where they can command the oilfields. It is alleged that these troops have been sent in accordance with an agreement with the Rumanian Government for training and reorganising the Rumanian Army. There have been evidences enough that that Army, like the Police, is in a desperate condition of in- discipline and corruption, and that there is plenty of scope for reorganisation. But the Germans are probably less concerned about the moral welfare of the Rumanian army than about establishing their hold on the oilfields, from which British influence is to be eliminated. It appears, however, that they do not wish to push Rumania quickly to an open rupture with Britain, and that they are anxious to complete their defence preparations before Rumanian hostility exposes the oilfields to the possibility of British air attacks. That is a point which deserves our attention.
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