The chief object of the Averescu Government was what it called "the re-establishment of order." In fact the Bolshevist danger continued on the Dniester, where a real revolutionary movement had been attempted at Hotin under the previous Gov ernment ; the Soviet Russians had friends, not only in Bessarabia, but also in the old Kingdom, and the odious crime in the Senate' had shown to what lengths their fanatical ardour could go. It was thought necessary therefore to continue the regime of press censorship, and to proceed against the communist leaders in May 1921. A law on workmen's unions, first of all received with noisy protests in working class circles, soon succeeded in securing agreement to accept State mediation between masters and men, and after that, thanks to a change of attitude on the part of the men, the number and importance of strikes diminished. But, except for one school for apprentices, nothing was done for the instruction or education of the urban classes.
Agrarian and Fiscal Reforms.—At the same time the popu larity of General Averescu among the rural population forced him to carry through his agrarian reforms. The bill was only introduced in the spring of 1921, by the Minister of Agriculture, Garoflid, a big landowner, who belonged to the "progressive" party of the Germanophiles. After impassioned controversy, decisions on the whole favourable to the peasantry were finally secured, while the compensation to be paid by the new owner was increased by a payment to be raised from a special tax on new fortunes. Later on regulations drawn up by the Liberal Minister of Agriculture were to change in many respects the enactments of the Garoflid law. A drastic fiscal reform, which, while introducing many happy innovations, in some respects went beyond what could be carried out in the country, was introduced by N.
Titulescu after March 1921.
Foreign Policy.—Take Jonescu gave Rumanian foreign policy a definite direction. Marriages were concluded between the Crown Prince and Princess Helen of Greece, March Io, 1921, the Princess Elizabeth and the Crown Prince of Greece, Feb. 27, 1921, and Princess Marie and King Alexander of Yugoslavia, June 6, 1922.
Rumania and Poland were equally threatened by Russia, who had never recognized Rumania's right to Bessarabia, and seemed little satisfied with Poland's right to retain her White Russian and Ukrainian territories. The Rumanian-Polish Treaty (March 3, 1921) provided for mutual assistance in the event of an un provoked attack upon either party on their eastern frontier ; for common diplomatic action towards their eastern neighbours, and for a military convention. Rumania took cognizance of Poland's agreement with France, Poland of Rumania's agreements with other States for the maintenance of the Treaties of Trianon and Neuilly, the last-named clause referring to Rumania's relations with the Little Entente. Although Take Jonescu failed to secure from Prague and Belgrade his wish of a wider defensive alliance to include Greece and Poland, for mutual guarantee against any aggressor, including Russia or Bulgaria, Rumania concluded a Convention with Prague for mutual protection against an attack from Hungary (April 23, 1921) and with Belgrade against an unprovoked attack from Hungary or Bulgaria (June 7, 1921), thus entering the system of the Little Entente. Her Eastern policy was regulated by agreement with Poland (see POLAND;