Ungallant

Benito Mussolini insulted Queen Marie of Rumania. The Queen's matchmaking plans received a brutal blow. Rumanian policies looking to an entente with Italy, a concordat with the Vatican, not to mention the marriage of Marie's second son to an Italian Princess, were roughly handled by Mussolini's masterful touch. All the Balkan chancellories are in turmoil.

Two years ago, Jon Bratiano,, bearded, sly, adipose, became Prime Minister of Rumania. His Government repudiated many private contracts. with French, English, Italian, American, Belgian concerns. Bratiano calmly deducted 40% of the money due on these contracts, and offered the balance in 4% bonds, payable in 40 years. Some creditors accepted, but most (including the Italian concerns and the American Baldwin Locomotive Works, whose unpaid balance was $2,500,000) refused.

Recently Queen Marie visited Rome. She saw the Pope and arranged a basis for a concordat. She sniffed around the Italian Court, and selected the Princess Mafalda, second daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele, as a suitable helpmeet for her fourth child, Prince Nicholas, now a midshipman on the British cruiser Benbow. With Rumania, foreign policy follows the Queen. She planned a formal visit for herself and King Ferdinand in April, not only to discuss the marriage, but the possibility of closer and more confidential relations between the two Latin nations that flank the turbulent Balkans. The Italian Court sent the Rumanian monarchs a formal invitation, which was accepted.

Then it was that Mussolini upset the lentils. He sent the Rumanian Government a note, telling the Rumanian Government to postpone the formal visit of the monarchs to Rome, unless the Rumanian Government gave some satisfaction to private Italian creditors who are owed 80,000,000 gold lire (roughly, $16,000,000) for food and textiles.

Last week Bucharest was in a frenzy over the rebuff. Paunchy Prime Minister Bratiano had informed the monarchs that they could not got to Rome under Mussolini's humiliating conditions. In the Rumanian Parliament, Foreign Minister Jon Duca, inveighed as follows: "We did not expect that the visit of the royal family, intended to strengthen the relations between the two countries, would be associated with dirty financial interests." Loud cheers.

With what dignity Mussolini had left them, the Rumanian Cabinet sent a note to the Minister of the Italian Royal Household: "The Royal Rumanian Government brings to the attention of His Majesty, the King of Italy, that His Majesty, the King of Rumania, having decided on his visit to Rome, now regrets that he must decline the invitation sent by the King of Italy because of the note sent by the Italian Government, which connects the visit with questions which do not affect the members of either family."

The Vatican visit was also abandoned to avoid misinterpretation by the Italian people. The projected visit of the Rumanian couple to Belgium was also cancelled because of tense relations between Belgium and Rumania, arising out of Prime Minister Bratiano's scheme for camouflaging repudiation of his country's foreign debts.