The Times' correspondent at Bucharest makes an important statement about
the retrocession of Bessarabia. He believes that the Roumanian Cabinet had made "a distinct arrange- ment " for the cession of the district before the Russians had crossed the Pruth, and knows that they were about to carry it out, when they were stopped by the outburst of popular in- dignation. The Russian Government, although in possession of this complete defence, conceals it because, if revealed, it would overthrow the Cabinet, in favour of men decidedly hostile to St. Petersburg. This extraordinary story, which is quite possible if the Roumanian Government strongly wished for the Dobrudscha and a port on the Black Sea, would explain both Lord Salisbury's reluctance to resist the retrocession, and the excessive violence of Prince Gortschakoff upon the subject. The Roumanians, in his view,were trying to break a voluntary compact. The correspondent adds that a belief in the ultimate break-up of Austria is strong in Bucharest, and the Roumanians hope, with Russian assistance, to obtain the Roumanian districts of Transylvania. This hop3 and European neglect are the permanent sources of Russian influence in Roumania.
