Roumania Past and Present

J >> James Samuelson >> Roumania Past and Present

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Latin Roumanian English
Danubius Dunarea Danube
Porata Prutu Pruth
Ardiscus Argesu Ardges
Alutus Oltu Olto
Turris Severi Turnu-Severinu Turn Severin
Nicopolis Nicopolu Nicopolis
Caracalla Caracalu Caracal
Dravus Drava Drave
Carpates Carpati Carpathians

Then, again, amongst common names of things and qualities there are
objects which could not change, such as parts of the body, well-known
animals of all ages, &c., as for example:--

Latin Roumanian English[67]
Aqua Apa Water
Aurum Auru Gold
Ferrum Fer Iron
Barbatus Barbatu A (bearded) man
Caput Cap Head
Manus Mana Hand
Nasus Nas Nose
Vena Vina Vein
Os Os Bone
Oculus Ochiu Eye
Digitus Deget Finger
Pes Picior Foot
Pectus Pept Breast
Canis Cane Dog
Piscis Pesce Fish
Dominus Domnu Lord
Umbra Umbra Shade
Frigidus Frigu Cold
Calidus Caldu Warm
Albus Alb White
Niger Negru Black
Casa Casa A cottage

and so on through the whole vocabulary of common things and attributes.

On the other hand, when we come to examine the words of barbarian
origin, we find that they relate to the character of the dominant race
and their rule over the natives. If we take, for example, the words of
Magyar or Hungarian origin, we find them to denote war, conquest,
mining, taxation, punishment, &c., such as _baia_, mine; _banui_,
repent, rue; _bereu_, a wood; _bicao_, fetters (on the feet); *_bir_,
poll-tax; _birau_, a judge; _bitangu_, wandering about; _bucni_, to
strike; _buzdugany_, war-club; _catanie_, soldiers, soldiers' habits;
_cheltui_, to give or spend lavishly; _fagadau_, drink-shop; _giulus_,
the Reichstag, or national assembly; _hodnogiu_, lieutenant (from _had_,
war); _hotar_, boundary; *_lantiu_, chain; _odorbireu_, headsman;
*_tabara_, camp, war, army; _varda_, watch-house; and so on.[68]

Besides these words and phrases derived from the Latin and barbarian
languages, there are others relating to ecclesiastical matters imported
from the Greek; indeed, an examination of the language is itself an
interesting historical study, and if now we turn to the arts and customs
of the Roumanians, we find the same interesting relations with her past
history.

Of the music of the Laoutari we have already spoken. It is weird and
plaintive, and no one who has listened attentively to the airs played by
some of those bands can have failed to be struck with their 'telling'
character, how they give vent alternately to feelings of joy and sorrow,
of mourning and rejoicing, and, like the music of Poland, &c., call to
mind the conquered condition of the people in the past. As with the
music, so with the dances. A writer, to whom we shall refer later on, M.
Opitz, described the 'Hora,' the national dance of the Roumanians, as
being illustrative of their conquered condition, and a recent acute
observer has left us his impressions on the same subject.

'I remember one dance (says he) of which I forget the name, but
which pleased me exceedingly. After the dancers had gone one or two
paces in pairs in a circle, the men separated from the women. The
latter moved singly round the men, as though they were seeking some
object dear to them. The men then drew together and moved their
feet like marching soldiers; next using their long sticks, they
made irregular springs and uttered loud cries, as though they were
engaged in battle. The women wandered about like shadows. At last
the men with joyful gestures rushed towards them as though they had
found them after great danger, led them back into the circle, and
danced with joy and animation. Here we see how mighty is tradition.
This dance is a complete poem! Who knows of what long-forgotten
incursion of the barbarians it is a reminiscence?'[69]

[Illustration: THE 'HORA,' NATIONAL DANCE OF ROUMANIA.]

From those few illustrations it will be seen how the language and
customs of Roumania are interwoven with her past history. We have but
touched the fringe of the subject; but that it is a fertile source of
interesting study and research we are convinced, and therefore
recommend those who are able to follow it up to give it their
attention.[70]

[Footnote 67: It may be interesting to philologists to consider the
derivations of the English names of these common things, and compare
them with the Roumanian; the preponderance of the Anglo-Saxon element in
the one and the Latin in the other is very apparent.]

[Footnote 68: _Das Magyarische im Romaenischen_, Roesler, Appendix, p.
346. We have been compelled to translate Roesler's German into English
for the significations, and the sense may thus have been changed or
lost; he is therefore not responsible for such errors. The words marked
with an asterisk are the most striking for our purpose, and they are in
constant use in Roumania.]

[Footnote 69: A. de Gerando, _Siebenbuergen und seine Bewohner_, p. 213.
Lorck, Leipsig, 1845.]

[Footnote 70: Most of the works on Roumania deal with the question.
Ozanne (cap. xi.) has a few remarks on the subject; Wilkinson (appendix
iv. p. 201) gives along list of words derived from Latin, Italian,
modern Greek, and Turkish roots, but the Roumanian words are since
changed; Vaillant, Obedenare, Neigebaur, Henke, Pic, Roesler, all treat
the subject more or less fully. The chief authorities in Roumanian are
Hasdeu, Ubicini, and Lauriani.]

CHAPTER VIII.

JUDICIAL AND PENAL.

The jurisprudence of the Constitution--Roumanian courts--The Code
Napoleon--Complaints of patronage--The penal system--Capital
punishment abolished--History and effect of the
abolition--Statistics--The prison system--Abuses--Enumeration of
prisons--Employment of convicts--Ornamental art amongst
them--Objects made by them--Absence of educational
measures--Criminal statistics (and note)--Visit to the
'intermediate' prison of Vakareschti--An old monastery--Description
of the prison--Scene in the court-yard--Untried prisoners in
fetters--Promiscuous intercourse of prisoners--Mischievous
effects--Views of a 'juge d'instruction' concerning the
system--Various classes of prisoners--Lenient treatment of
them--Partial employment--Safeguards against mutiny--Visit to the
penal salt mine of Doftana (or Telega)--Former treatment of
prisoners--A lingering death--Present treatment--Conditions of
penal servitude--Compared with work of our
colliers--Abuses--Descent into the mine--Its condition--Unearthly
sounds and sights--Enormous salt cave--Floor of the cave--Convicts
at work in chains--Mode of excavating and raising salt--Lighting
the mine for visitors--Return to the surface--Visit to the
penitentiary--Its discreditable condition--Alleged frauds upon
convicts--General mild treatment of criminals in
Roumania--Utilisation of convict labour--Comparison of cost and
results of systems in Roumania and England--Favourable to Roumania.

I.

As in the case of education, so, too, in regard to its judicial and
penal system, the Constitution of Roumania contains many admirable
provisions (articles 13, 18, 104, 105, &c.) for the maintenance of right
and the suppression of wrong-doing. Equal rights, ordinary tribunals,
speedy trial by jury, abolition of death punishment, these are the
excellent principles upon which the judicial system is based; but
neither there, nor for that matter in any country, are they completely
put into practice. There is one Court of Cassation with sections, and a
Court of Accounts at Bucarest, Courts of Appeal at Bucarest, Jassy,
Craiova, and Focsany, and minor tribunals in the chief town of each
district. The French Code of Jurisprudence is adopted, with
modifications which would not interest our readers; but the penal
system is somewhat unique, and is well worthy of a closer study and
consideration. Of the miserable accommodation for the exercise of
judicial authority in Bucarest we have already spoken in describing the
capital. Lawsuits are very tedious; whether more so than in England we
are unable to say. Great complaint exists of patronage in the
appointment of judges, most of whom are comparatively young men and
political partisans. This it is proposed to remedy by what would
practically be popular election; whether the cure would be any better
than the disease is questionable. The penal system, as we found it
carried out in Roumania, is mild, utilitarian, and slovenly; and if all
that was told us be true, we fear we must add that it is by no means
free from corruption.

The chief points of interest to Englishmen are the absence of capital
punishment and the substitution of forced labour for life, or for a long
term of years, and the utilisation of penal labour in the salt mines and
elsewhere. Capital punishment ceased _de facto_ in 1852; for although it
was not legally abolished, neither the then ruler, Prince Stirbey, nor
his successor, Prince Couza, who governed the joint Principalities,
would sign a death-warrant. It was legally abrogated in 1865, and the
Constitution of 1866 declares that it cannot be re-established,
excepting for military offences. No increase, but rather a diminution,
of capital crimes has taken place since the change was effected; for
although the population has doubled in the towns, where homicidal crime
is most frequent, the number of offences has not materially increased.
The following figures[71] prove this statement:--

_Total Committals and Convictions for Homicide._

+------+------------+-------------+------+------------+-------------+
| Year | Committals | Convictions | Year | Committals | Convictions |
+------+------------+-------------+------+------------+-------------+
| 1869 | 248 | 185 | 1874 | 258 | 167 |
| 1870 | 249 | 154 | 1875 | 236 | 169 |
| 1871 | 267 | 140 | 1876 | 386 | 250 |
| 1872 | 327 | 204 | 1877 | 307 | 187 |
| 1873 | 455 | 258 | | | |
+------+------------+-------------+------+------------+-------------+

The punishment for murder with malice aforethought is now penal
servitude for life, other phases of homicide five to twenty years, in
both cases mine labour. In cases of infanticide, if the offspring is
illegitimate it ranks as manslaughter. The following is a condensed
summary, with brief comments of our own in parenthesis, of a report on
the prison system which was kindly furnished to us by the Roumanian
Inspector of Prisons, a zealous, well-meaning, and most courteous
official, as are all Roumanian officials.

[Footnote 71: Reports on Laws of Foreign Countries, presented to the
House of Commons, 1881.]

II.

The penitentiaries are divided into two classes, 'preventive' and
'central.' In the central prisons three kinds of punishment exist,
forced labour, confinement called 'reclusion,' and correction. The men
condemned to forced labour work in the mines (in what manner we shall
see presently) during the daytime, and at night they sleep above ground
in the prison. On Sundays and fete-days they do no work. The product of
the labour of the convicts belongs of right to the State, but in order
to encourage the prisoners three-tenths is given to them. (We may at
once say that this is not faithfully carried into practice, as we know
from personal enquiry that many of them are compelled to expend their
earning to secure the common necessaries of life.) Aged and feeble
persons are transferred to the prison of Cozia, where they weave, &c.
The prisoners condemned to 'reclusion' work in tanneries and ropewalks,
as for example in the prison of Margineni, and they are entitled to
four-tenths of the products of their labour. In the correctional prisons
the convicts cultivate the soil, make bricks, &c., and are entitled to
half their wages. In all the prisons the convicts are permitted to
employ their leisure time in making articles of use or ornament from
materials furnished to them by the authorities, which are sold to
visitors, and the State gives them a proportion of the fruits of their
industry. (These articles we found to be beautifully made. They consist
of egg-cups, paper-knives, forks, spoons, &c., carved in wood and
resembling similar objects made in Switzerland and the Black Forest.
One prisoner had made a tobacco-box of dough, painted and decorated it
with artificial flowers of the same material, so that it was not
distinguishable from porcelain; another had forged an axe-blade of
steel, etched the surface and fixed it upon a polished ebony rod with a
terminal spike, forming a miniature ice-axe, and so forth.)

Religious service is provided for the convicts, but so far as we could
learn no educational means whatever, although, according to various
reports which were handed to us, by far the larger proportion of the
prisoners are Roumanians who can neither read nor write.[72]

The total number of persons, men and women, confined in the sixteen
State prisons in Roumania in 1880, _including untried offenders_, was
5,252, or about one per thousand of the whole population. Of these 850
were undergoing forced labour in the mines, and 2,491 were imprisoned
for less serious offences. Only 265 were minors, and about 100 or 150
women. A strange contrast to our criminal statistics. Besides the
inmates of State prisons there were 1,665 persons confined in the
district prisons on January 1, 1881, who had been convicted of minor
offences.

[Footnote 72: In 1874 the Assize Courts had judged in all 1,493 persons
(1,441 men and 52 women). Of these there were:

|Peasants 961|Roumanians 1,394|Above twenty years of age 1,303|
|Artisans 186|All other nations 99|Above sixteen and under twenty 153|
|Traders 54| |Under sixteen 11|
|Officials 60| |Age unknown 26|
|Sundries 232| | |
| | | |
| _____| _____| _____|
| 1,493| 1,493| 1,493|

In looking over the statistics given to us (by authorities) we found
several small errors. In the main, however, they appear to be correct.]

III.

One of the most remarkable phenomena in the eyes of a stranger visiting
Roumania is the application of monastic edifices to lay uses. The
monastery of Sinaia is, for the present at least, a royal palace; the
Coltza Hospital at Bucarest is an old convent. At Brebu (or Bredu), near
Campina, is a monastery apportioned to the Asyle Helene as a holiday
residence for the girls; the State archives are deposited in the
monastery of Prince Michael in Bucarest, which has been set aside as the
residence of the learned philologist Professor Hasdeu, in whose charge
they are placed; and so, too, the 'intermediate' prison of Vakareschti
is a large monastery close to Bucarest, of which the towers are
conspicuously visible as one enters the city by rail from Giurgevo. On
approaching this building, which stands upon a considerable eminence, by
road from the capital, the only feature which attracts attention, and
shows that it is not an ordinary monastery, is the sentinel pacing to
and fro outside, but the moment you enter through the portal its real
character becomes apparent. You find yourself in a large square
curtilage, or, more correctly speaking, an extensive quadrilateral, in
the centre of which stands a church of the usual Byzantine order, the
four sides of the quadrilateral being the old monastery buildings, two
stories high, converted into prisoners' cells and dormitories, kitchen,
a workshop for making paper-backed books (_cartons_), and the quarters
of the prison officials. The scene as one enters the place is a strange
one indeed, and resembles what the Fleet Prison must have been in its
palmy days, with certain very significant modifications. It is the
receptacle of various kinds of prisoners, men and women awaiting trial
and others undergoing short sentences. All those were, on the occasion
of our visit, at large in the court, and some of the first-named who
were accused of homicide were chained at the ankles by order of the
'Juge d'Instruction.' There were about a dozen of them so manacled, and
before we left (the Chief Inspector of Prisons being our guide) these
men complained bitterly of the hardship of being chained when, as they
asserted, they were innocent. All classes of prisoners seemed to
associate without restraint, and although perfect order prevailed, this
freedom of association and conversation must be, and indeed is, most
inexpedient and injurious. Young men new to crime herd together with
hardened criminals, and we were told by a Juge d'Instruction, to whom we
subsequently spoke on the matter, that the free intercourse is greatly
provocative of crime. 'Young fellows,' he said, 'who, when they are
first arraigned, are disposed to admit their guilt and repent, come
before us, after a temporary adjournment of their cases, with quite
another story, evidently prompted by some hardened criminal whom they
have met in the intermediate prison.'

Every class was represented there, from the comparatively well-dressed
swindler and forger to the peasant and half-naked gipsy. The prisoners
appear to be leniently treated, and those who are unconvicted are
permitted to purchase such food as they please. The cells and
dormitories are not very clean, but they are comfortable compared with
those in another prison, to be referred to presently; the ventilation
within doors is good, and the open court has all the advantages of a
healthy convalescent institution. The food appeared very good; certainly
the soup was so, and altogether there could be no complaint on the score
of harsh treatment, although some men were, on sufficient grounds,
placed in solitary confinement. The chief defects are free intercourse
amongst the prisoners, want of cleanliness, the absence of educational
means, and only partial employment of the prisoners, some of whom are
engaged in the book manufactory, whilst the greater proportion lounge
about in idleness. Our guide, the Chief Inspector, expressed great
anxiety for an improved system, and pleaded, as usual, the want of
necessary funds. Although there appeared to be an amount of liberty
inconsistent, as it seemed to us, with prison discipline, all attempts
at mutiny would be easily suppressed if they should arise; for there are
always about ninety soldiers in the barracks, attached to the prison,
and the prisoners are well aware that insubordination would be
immediately quelled and punished. But we have said enough of this rough
and ready mode of dealing with the lighter forms of crime, and must now
ask our readers to accompany us on a somewhat unpleasant though
interesting excursion to one of the establishments where the worst class
of convicts expiate their offences against society--a penal salt mine.

IV.

There are five salt mines in Roumania,[73] two of which are worked by
convicts, and the one we propose to visit is that of Doftana, generally
known as the Telega mine, which is situated at a short distance from
Campina, a station on the railway line, about halfway between Ploiesti
and Sinaia. Before descending into the mine, however, a few particulars
concerning the treatment of the prisoners maybe of interest. These are
men (never women nor young persons) sentenced to penal servitude for a
period of ten years or more, and until the year 1848 they lived, or
rather died a slow death, entirely in the mine. They were compelled to
sleep in their clothes on the floor of rock salt; never saw the light of
day after they had once entered the mine; and whatever might have been
the nominal term of their sentence, disease and their unnatural
surroundings invariably cut short their miserable existence after about
four years' confinement. Now they work in the mine from 8 A.M.
to 4 P.M. in winter, and from 6 A.M. to 6.30
P.M. in summer, and then leaving it, they march to the
penitentiary, about a mile distant. They work in gangs of about six or
seven, and each man is obliged to raise at least 700 kilogrammes (about
14 cwt.) of salt per day. For that quantity they receive, or at least
_they are credited_ with, 30 per cent, of their wages, which are fixed
by tariff, and for all above 700 kilos they get half their wages. These
are reckoned at fourteen centimes per 100 kilos up to 600, and eighteen
centimes per 100 for all above. So far as the actual labour is
concerned, we have no hesitation in saying that it is not nearly so
exhaustive nor painful as that of thousands of our English colliers,
besides being free from the dangers which constantly impend over our
poor miners, but there are some serious and quite unnecessary hardships
inflicted upon the men. One of these is that they get nothing to eat
until noon, and therefore, unless they buy food with their earnings,
they must walk to and from their work and labour for several hours
upon an empty stomach; another is that the benevolent intentions of the
State in regard to the stimulus of remuneration are defeated by the
neglect or dishonesty of certain of the officials. The prisoners now
rarely work out their term. Either their sentences are shortened for
good conduct, or on some special occasions a certain number are pardoned
by royal grace, and we were informed that they rarely die in penal
servitude. And now let us descend into the mine, a proceeding which will
be facilitated in the reader's thoughts if he will kindly take before
him our little plan, which is reduced from the engineer's drawing of a
section actually in use on the spot.

[Illustration: SECTION OF THE TELEGA PENAL SALT MINE.]

The descent is effected on foot through a vertical cylindrical shaft
used for that purpose only, and divided at intervals by platforms which
communicate with one another by good broad wooden staircases. The
visitor is provided with a lighted candle attached to the end of a
stick, which serves at the same time as an excellent test of the purity
or impurity of the air in the mine, for the lower he descends, the more
frequently he will find his light to be extinguished by carbonic acid
gas, arising chiefly from the exhalations of the convicts. There are no
inflammable gases in the mine, and the men work with naked lights. As he
descends ladder or staircase after staircase, the visitor becomes
conscious of the presence of human beings in the mine, for strange
unearthly sounds greet his ear more and more plainly as he approaches
the long gallery which traverses the mine at about 110 feet below the
surface; and this effect is rendered still more weird through the
surrounding darkness, relieved only by the faint light of his candle and
those of his companions. From moment to moment he hears hollow echoes of
the human voice uttered in snatches and accompanied by a continuous
clanking of chains, which makes his blood creep until he has become to
some extent accustomed to the sound. The shaft through which he is
descending is cut and rounded with great precision, first through a
mixture of clay and rock-salt, and then in the solid rock-salt itself.
To render it impervious to water he will find the wall here and there
lined with buffalo hides.[74]

Arrived at the horizontal gallery the visitor passes along it until he
comes to a platform guarded by a fence or railing, and then he finds
himself near the roof of an enormous cave which is probably unlike
anything to be seen elsewhere.

We have been in a good many strange localities, and have witnessed many
impressive scenes both on and under the earth's surface, but we confess
that none has ever been comparable to this one. All is dark excepting
where our candles cast a faint glimmer about our immediate
neighbourhood, and far below we now hear the voices, as well as the
rattling of the convicts' chains, more continuously and distinctly, and
see numerous lights dancing about fitfully in small clusters. Those are
the candles of the convicts who are cutting rock-salt in gangs on the
floor of the cave.[75] Continuing our descent down another flight, or
rather series of flights, of stairs, we at length arrive at that floor
which is about 200 feet from the surface, and there we find ourselves
surrounded by homicides, burglars, and the very dregs of the criminal
ranks of Roumania. There is no guard with us; and, indeed, of what use
would even a small escort be against about two hundred and fifty
desperate ruffians armed with pickaxes if they thought fit to unite in
an assault upon our little party? They have no such intention, however,
and the feeling of the visitor is rather one of pain and sorrow to see
so many able-bodied fellows manacled than of fear in their presence.[76]
The mode in which they get the salt is by cutting an oblong figure in
the floor, deepening this until it resembles a mound, and then cutting
the block thus formed transversely into smaller ones and breaking the
salt out in lumps.

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