26 FEBRUARY 1937, Page 1

The Little Entente and Germany At a moment when Germany

is showing signs of intensi- fying her propaganda drive against one member of the Little Entente, Czechoslovakia, the firm front presented to both Germany and Italy by another member, Rumania, is of some significance. Since the request made to Berlin and Rome for the withdrawal from Bucarest of the German and Italian Ministers who attended the public funeral of two members of the forbidden Iron Guard (which is Fascist and anti-Semite) has not been complied with, the Rumanian Ministers at Berlin and Rome have been summoned to Bucarest, and may remain there. Meanwhile the Rumanian Cabinet has been reconstituted in order to put in the key places men who can be relied on to take drastic measures against the Iron Guard, four of whose members have just been arrested for flogging a political opponent to the point of death. King Carol is not merely supporting the Prime Minister but stimulating him in a campaign which may go far to determine whether violence is to be the decisive factor in Rumanian political life. In the past Governments have shown marked incapacity to hold the Iron Guard in check.