Show nnnn CAVES THE1RHOMES Peasants of Roumania According Accord-ing to Report Are Very Poor Austrian Economist Finds Six Million Persons Existing in Physical and Moral MiseryMeat and Milk Are Unknown Vienna Austria Stray cases of peasant disturbances In Roumania como as a reminder of the intolerable conditions under which a vast majority ma-jority of tho population there are dragging drag-ging out a wretched existence AccordIng Ac-cording to the reports of Dr C Rac ow ski a prominent economist who has Just visited Roumania 0000000 peasants are living In the greatest physical and moral misery From competent com-petent sources Dr Racowski ascertained ascer-tained that no less than C4772 peasant peas-ant families were living In holes and pits which they themselves had dugout dug-out of the ground like the troglodytes or cave dwellers of ancient times I Out of 1088954 cottages In the villages vil-lages only 71055 were built of brick or stone The majority of the dwellings dwell-ings consisted only of one room lighted light-ed through the door or through a window win-dow with paper stuck in the frame to take the place of glass In these miserable habitations thousands thou-sands of peasant families subsist upon eight or ten cents a day Of course these peoplo dont know the taste of meat nor even of milk Having no pasture lands they are compelled to work for the landed proprietors and have no opportunity of raising cows Only recently a prominent Roumanian writer stated that many Roumanian children know no other than mothers milk This assertion would seem to bo quite justified for In the commune of Blaska for example which has a population of 2700 there are only three cows to be found The principal nourishment of the Roumanian peasantry consists of maIze or corn This too monotonous and insulllclciit dietary explains the enormous spread of pellagra In the country which destroying the body mil the nervous system frequently i drives the sufferer to insanity and suicide sui-cide In the year IS99 21822 cases of pellagra wore reported and five years later tho number had risen to 43087 In seven years there were nearly a quarter of a million cases The rate of Infant mortality too is appalling 48 per cent of the children dying bo fore the end of their seventh yearn year-n fact the degeneration of the population popu-lation Is clearly proved through ofll clal inquiries and tho yearly reports of the recruiting commissions Morally and mentally the condition of the people Is equally low Even when the town population is Included less than 15 per cent of tho Inhabitants Inhab-itants are able to read and write With a population of 7000000 thero arc only 4000 schools and CGOO teachers teach-ers At the end of tho first or second school year the great majority of the children leave to go to work on tho land In one village where 180 children chil-dren were enrolled every year on the school hooks only two girls and ono I boy could be found who had completed the full school course That peasant revolutions break out I m under such conditions can scarcely bo wondered at And they arc suppressed with ruthless military force of gendarmerie gend-armerie Infantry cavalry and even artillery ar-tillery In tho outbreak of two year ago between 12000 and 16000 peasants peas-ants were shot down and many villages vil-lages leveled to the ground The government gov-ernment has always refused to give out figures but these are quoted roma rom-a reliable source Industrial progress Is slow In the larger branches like tho petroleum works hero aro altogether between 50000 and 00000 workmen employed In the medium and smaller trades tho number ranges from 120000 to 160000 Roumania unfortunately hat only two classes of people tho rich and tho poor Out of a quarter of a million grownup persons who died In 1 four years only 15099 left behind them moro than 100 worth of property prop-erty of nil kinds In tho same period 42 rich men left same 25000000 or more than one tldrd of all tho property prop-erty left In that time This absence of a middle class Is greatly to be deplored de-plored as It Is responsible for much of the misery existing In Roumanln huuu |