of the advancing enemy, who could not be
halted until the fortified line of the Sereth was reached.

[Sidenote: Rumanians played the game.]

[Sidenote: Russia in chaos.]

Whether one blames the Allies for lack of vision or not, I think one
must at least acquit Rumania of any responsibility for her own undoing.
Her case as represented by the King seems a just and sufficient reason
for her having entered the war. Her action during the war has been
straightforward and direct, and I have never heard of any reason to
believe that the King or the Rumanian High Command has ever looked back
in the furrow since they made the decision to fight on the side of the
Allies. They followed the advice given them as to their participation in
the war. They have played the game to the limit of their resources and
to-day stand in a position almost unparalleled in its pathos and
acuteness. In front of them, as they struggle with courage and
desperation for the small fragment of their kingdom that remains, are
the formations of the Turks, Bulgars, Austrians, Hungarians, and
Germans, with Mackensen striving to give them a death-blow. Behind them
is Russia in chaos. German agitators and irresponsible revolutionists
have striven in vain to destroy the morale of their army and shake their
faith in their government and their sovereign. It is estimated that
three million Rumanian refugees have taken shelter behind their lines.
Their civil population, or that portion of it which remains, will this
winter be destitute of almost every necessity of life.

[Sidenote: Obligation of Allies to Rumania.]

This, then, is the case of Rumania, and if we and the other Allies have
not a moral obligation to the King and Queen and the government of that
little country, to support them in every way possible, then surely we
have no obligation to any one.

Sentiment, however, is not the only factor in the Rumanian case. There
is also the problem of sound policy. In spite of all her distress and
her discouragements Rumania has been able to save from the wreckage, and
to reconstruct, an army which it is said can muster between three and
four hundred thousand men.

[Sidenote: Rumanian army well drilled.]

These soldiers are well drilled by French officers, filled with
enthusiasm and fighting daily, and are even now diverting enemy troops
toward Rumania which would otherwise be available for fighting British,
French, and American troops in the west.

The Ruma