The Roumanian peasant risin g has virtually ended. The country was
divided into eight military districts and a series of " drives " was conducted. These were hampered by severe weather, the country being still covered with snow. Lest local sympathies should prevent the troops from carrying out their duties, the Wallachien, regiments engaged were trans- ferred as far as possible to Moldavia, and conversely. The Times correspondent does not doubt that the ,rising was fomented largely by Anarchists, who found the simple peasant brain a ready receptacle for inflammable doctrines and pre- posterous legends. Many peasants believed that if they did .not destroy property they would receive none in the ultimate redistribution. Others believed that the King was dead, and that the kindly intentions of the Queen were being frustrated by the Government. This correspondent speaks of "deplorable and barbarous excesses" on the part of the peasants. The Roumanian Minister in Loudon denies that any excesses were committed by the troops. Looters and incendiaries, however, seem to have been shot. It is to be hoped that the Govern- ment will now seriously turn their attention to the admitted grievances' which the peasants suffer under the extortionate bailiffs of the absentee landlords.
