ing comparative importations:--

_Imports of Cereals in 1880._

Cwts.
From United States 68,138,992
" Russia 12,830,851
" Canada 9,455,076
" India 6,458,100
" Roumania 4,355,344

All other countries, including Egypt, which is considered by no means
unimportant as a grain-producing country, sent us less cereals than
Roumania; and when we look at one species of grain, namely, maize, which
is considered equal to what is known as American mixed, and is capable
of being much more largely cultivated than at present, we find Roumania
third on the list; indeed, for some reason or other, her exports fell
off very materially last year, for in 1879 she ranked second:--

_Imports of Maize in 1880._

Cwts.
From United States 31,087,773
" Canada 3,322,327
" Roumania 1,764,482

We shall have to touch on this branch of the subject again; but if the
reader wishes to satisfy himself of the great importance to this country
of unrestricted trade on the Danube, he has only to refer to the annual
returns of the Board of Trade, and he will find that in 1876, when the
ports were closed in consequence of the last Russo-Turkish war, our
trade practically ceased, and that it has hardly yet recovered from the
effects of the stoppage.

Indeed, the question of Danubian navigation has been for some time past
recognised as one of European importance, and after the Crimean war,
when the great Powers took away from Russia a small portion of
Bessarabia abutting upon the embouchures of the Danube, an International
Commission was appointed, consisting of representatives of those Powers
and of Roumania, whose duty it was to maintain the neutrality and the
free navigation of the Danube at its entrance, for which purpose they
were authorised to levy tolls and construct works. Subsequently the term
of this commission was renewed for twelve years from 1871 (until next
year therefore), and the neutrality of works existing at the expiration
of the treaty was declared permanent. By the Treaty of San Stefano (Art.
xii.) and the subsequent Congress of Berlin, 1878, all fortresses on the
Danube were ordered to be dismantled, and men-of-war, with the exception
of guard-ships, were excluded. The rights, obligations, and prerogatives
of the International Commission were maintained intact, and (at the
Berlin Congress)