and the
cause of Rumania be more thoroughly understood in this country. Other
countries entered the war through necessities of various sorts. America
committed herself to the conflict for a cause which even the cynical
German propaganda, hard as it has tried, has been unable to distort into
a selfish or commercial one. We are preparing to share in every way the
sacrifices, both in blood and wealth, which our allies have been making
these past three years. And as our reward we ask for no selfish or
commercial rights, nor do we seek to acquire extension of territory or
acquisition of privilege in any part of the world. We have entered the
war solely, because of wrongs committed in the past, and with the just
determination that similar wrongs shall never again be perpetrated. No
country and no people on this globe are more responsive to an
obligation, and more determined to fulfill such an obligation when
recognized, than are the American people.

[Sidenote: The author in Rumania.]

For nearly two years prior to the entrance of Rumania into the war I had
been attached to the Russian Imperial Staff in the field, as special
correspondent of the London "Times." I went to Rumania in September,
1916, directly from the staff of the then Tsar, with a request from the
highest authority in Russia to the highest command in Rumania that every
opportunity for studying the situation be given me. These letters gave
me instant access to the King and Queen of Rumania, to the Rumanian
General Staff, and to other persons of importance in the Rumanian
administration. I remained in that country until late in the autumn,
motoring more than five thousand kilometres, and touching the Rumanian
front at many places. My opinion, then, of the Rumanian cause is based
on first-hand evidence obtained at the time.

[Sidenote: An interview with the King.]

When I arrived in Rumania, in September, the army was still at the high
tide of its advance in Transylvania and the world was lauding without
stint the bravery and efficiency of Rumanian troops. Two days after my
arrival I lunched with the King, and had the first of a series of
interviews with him on the status of the case of Rumania. Inasmuch as
without the consent of its sovereign the entrance of Rumania into the
war would have been impossible, I should first present the King's view
of her case as His Majesty, after several conversations, authorized me
to present it.

[Sidenote: The King of Ru