CHAPTER VIII

Trade and commerce--The only strictly Roumanian shops belong to Princes--No English shops, though they would be welcomed--English catalogues unintelligible--An English firm and its “standard” colour--A successful English factory--The labour question, saints’ days and names-days--German factories--Beer taxed in the interests of wine--Sugar and cheese factories--Sheep-milking--Petroleum wells in Roumania--An influx of Americans--Rockefeller’s agent, Mr Chamberlain and his family--How a man of gipsy origin “struck oil” and became a millionaire--Paper-mills and coal-mines.

I remark elsewhere that the retail trade is principally in the hands of the Jews, although of late years a few shops have been opened on the Calea Victorie by some of the “upper ten.” There is, for example, the shop of Prince Stirbey, another belonging to Prince Brancovan, and still another to M. Bratiano. These gentlemen conceived the good idea of cultivating various kinds of produce on their farms, thus giving employment to a considerable number of people, and then sending it to town to be sold. Stirbey’s butter is well known as the best to be had. His preserved fruit and vegetables are excellent, and his wine bears comparison with the produce of the best vineyards. All the appliances necessary for the conduct of this really important enterprise, the casks and bottles for the wines, the jars for the fruits, etc., are manufactured on the estate, so that employment is given to many workers in various fields of industry.

It seems curious that the only Roumanian shops in Bucarest should be those belonging to Princes; but so it is. It is also true, however, that these personages merely lend their names to the undertakings, and leave them to be carried out by those whom they employ. Perhaps, as an example has been set by these aristocratic traders, others lower down in the scale of society may in time be tempted to follow suit and discover that it is not really so very derogatory to their dignity to keep a shop.

It is a great pity that there is no English shop in Bucarest. It is also a pity that greater facilities are not offered to Roumanians to trade with England. As a gentleman once remarked to me, “If only an English shop were opened here the goods would command a ready sale, and would oust the German-made articles from the market.” But there is no shop, and before the war there were few commercial travellers from England to offer English goods to a sympathetic market.[1] Roumanians like English goods, and would be eager to buy them if it were an easy matter for them to do so. Amongst the many obstacles in the way are our curious monetary system, and our still more curious, and even archaic, system of weights and measures, the latter with terms which are often only intelligible to the trade expert.

The catalogues sent out from England by business firms are printed in English only, and therefore can only be circulated among those people who understand the language thoroughly. Even for them the difficulties are great. How often I have been called upon to reduce shillings to francs, and to explain the difference between “metre” and “yard”! Then the various contractions in a catalogue!

There are no facilities for trade between Roumania and England such as exist between Roumania and other countries. For instance, one sends an order to Paris or Vienna, and on the arrival of the goods in Bucarest is advised of the fact by the postal authorities. The consignee then proceeds to the customhouse, inspects the goods, and if satisfactory pays the price on the spot. If not, they are sent back. But in sending to England for goods what a difficult business it is! Say a costume is required. First of all the measurements have to be accurately translated into English. Then the price has to be calculated and the money forwarded at the same time as the order. Should there be even a trifling error, some pence too few or too many, there is trouble and delay and the matter is difficult to arrange. I believe, however, that there is big business to be done not only with Roumania, but with other of the Balkan States. English people do not readily put themselves out of the way to capture trade, nor do they easily adapt themselves to the tastes, wishes, or customs of foreigners. Since the war there has, of course, been the exchange difficulty, but that will not always remain.

Let me give one example of English conservatism. A certain English firm was approached as to the sending out of some agricultural machines. Now the peasantry of the Near East are very fond of bright colours, such as red, blue, and green, and the first machines which arrived, painted in a uniform shade of ugly grey, failed to please. A suggestion was forwarded to the firm regarding the colour of the machines, but the reply received was that grey was the standard colour which had been decided on by the firm for all their machines and it could not be altered. The result was that the order was cancelled.

I must not forget to mention that there is one English factory in Roumania for the making of calico and linen. It was established some years ago by a well-known Manchester merchant, Mr Lamb, who found it decidedly more advantageous to have the yarn sent out from England, and to manufacture it in the country where it was to be sold. By so doing he escaped the enormous tax on all manufactured goods imported into the country. The factory is a fine building, lighted throughout by electricity. The manager’s house, a most comfortable residence, is only a short distance away. Cottages for the workpeople, and a canteen where food can be purchased at a reasonable rate, are also situated near the factory. These buildings cover a quite respectable area.

It is the law in Roumania that every foreign factory must employ a certain number of Roumanian workers--two-thirds of the whole. Therefore only skilled workmen were brought from England, the unskilled labour being provided in the country. Lack of skill, however, was not the only difficulty which had to be contended with. The native workers were unreliable and indolent--let us say at once, lazy. In going over the factory, I was told by the foreman that even the unskilled worker could earn from twenty to twenty-five francs weekly if he were industrious; and one must remember that twenty-five francs (£1) counts for considerably more in Roumania with such a class than in England, as food is so very much cheaper. But the trouble was the indolence of the people and the oft-recurring saints’ days. As soon as the worker had a little money in hand he felt that he had earned the right to rest from his labour, for a time at any rate. As for the idea that work might be done on a saint’s day, that could not be entertained for a moment. Naturally, under such conditions it is most difficult to carry on work in the factory, or even to maintain a proper discipline.

I regret to learn that this factory was badly damaged during the war.

There is also an English bank in Bucarest--the old-established Bank of Roumania, Ltd., which has always been held in the highest esteem by the Roumanians, and serves a very important purpose in the trade relations between the two countries.

At Azuga, on the way from Sinaia to Predeal, there are a few factories, for the most part controlled by Germans. The glass factory is the most interesting one to visit, as one can follow the whole process from the mixing of the sand, potash, etc., to the turning out of the perfect bottles and glasses. For the most part the articles turned out are of an inferior quality, but a superior class of goods is manufactured from time to time. For instance, some very artistic glass cups and saucers are turned out at Azuga. They are made of fairly thick glass, quite smooth, and finished off with a gilt band round the edge of the cup. Wash-hand basins and jugs made of similar glass, and various little accessories for the toilet table, are also manufactured here. A dainty little cake-stand for afternoon tea with glass plates instead of china on each _étage_ is a novelty that I have seen nowhere else.

A cloth manufactory in the same village turns out quite respectable goods. The texture and finish of the material are not what could be termed first class, but for its durability I can vouch. A cycling costume that I had made of cloth manufactured at Azuga wore well for years; in fact, I could not wear it out, and finally gave it away.

There are a few breweries in Roumania, and one of the best known is at Azuga. Azuga beer is very light, not heady at all. It bears some resemblance to Munich beer in quality but not in price. Beer in Roumania is very expensive, a bottle about the size of a “small Bass” costing one franc. The reason for this is the enormous tax imposed on the output, which is at the rate of 50 per cent. The tax is imposed by the Government in the interest of the wine-growing industry, which is the national industry of the country.

There are a few beer-gardens in Bucarest where a military band is engaged once or twice a week, but they are not by any means so frequented as they would be, say, in Germany, partly owing to the cost of the beer, and partly because it is not considered _chic_ to be seen in a beer-garden. What a delight it is when travelling in summer to remember that, once over the frontier, one can indulge in a cool, foaming glass of beer at a moderate cost, the beverage being so very much cheaper both in Hungary and Austria!

Roumania is, in parts, a wine-growing country. The grapes, although small, have a very fine flavour. The wine is light in quality, the best kinds being Cotnar, which resembles Tokay, the delicious Hungarian wine, and Dragașani, a white wine with an excellent taste. Roumanian wines are by no means expensive; one could buy a bottle of quite good wine for one franc before the war.

Sugar factories have also been established in the country, beetroot being of course employed in its manufacture. The sugar looks all right; it is beautifully white, but it is very hard, takes a very long time to melt, and does not sweeten as much as cane-sugar. It is also rather expensive, and cost no less than 6d. per pound before the war. A curious thing is that over the frontier, in Bulgaria or Serbia, Roumanian sugar could be bought at a much cheaper rate than in the country.

Cheese factories are numerous throughout the country, and in addition to the production of the national cheeses many foreign cheeses, such as Emmenthaler, Roquefort, etc., are fairly well imitated. Sheep’s cheese, unknown in this country, is one of the best of the Roumanian products. It is very white in appearance, mild to the taste, not at all piquant.

One peculiarity of sheep’s cheese is that it is made in an oblong shape and then packed in bark. When served at table slices are cut right through the bark. The cheese has rather a peculiar flavour from its contact with the bark, but this is not at all disagreeable, indeed, rather the contrary. It is sold in very small quantities, as sheep give so little milk.

I was present once at sheep-milking time, and found it a most entertaining sight. The sheep were driven into a small enclosure at one corner of which was a flap-door. When the flap was raised, the sheep nearest the door saw a means of escape from its uncomfortable surroundings and made a dash for it, only to be caught by the hind leg by the man seated near, who did not let go till he had got every available drop of milk from the animal. On an average one could count upon half a glass of milk from each sheep. But the dexterity of the man in catching his prey, his skill in the quick milking of the animal in spite of its struggles, then its final rush for freedom, were all very amusing to witness.

The petrol wells of Roumania are, I should think, well known by this time. Different companies have been formed for the working of the wells, but the best known is the Steaua Romana, in which since the war British capital has become largely interested. Rockefeller made a great bid in order to get full control of the oil-fields, as Roumanian petrol is of decidedly better quality than any other, not excluding that of America. The negotiations were the cause of much discussion and difference of opinion--one party wishing to accept Rockefeller’s proposals, the other saying they were traitors to their country, and were selling themselves and what they possessed to the Americans. I once said to a Roumanian gentleman, “Why not form companies of your own and work the oil-fields in your own interests?” “Oh no,” he replied; “in selling them to the foreigners we get the money and they do the work.” The reply may have been an indication of the natural indolence of an eastern nation, but it was also, I think, prompted by consideration of capital.

The discovery and consequent exploitation of petroleum in the country caused a great influx of Americans, and therefore our British colony was increased to a considerable extent, as Britishers and Americans naturally hung together. As Rockefeller, in spite of obstacles, finally succeeded in getting very large interests in the oil-fields, his agent, Mr Chamberlain, and family resided for a considerable time in Bucarest.

The most important oil-field is that of Campina, on the way to Sinaia. The district seems to be so saturated with oil that it has rendered the whole countryside intolerable. One begins to smell it on leaving Ploesti. Luckily it does not extend so far as Sinaia, otherwise that charming resort would be rendered uninhabitable.

The discovery of petroleum has made the fortunes of many people in Roumania. There was M. M----, for instance, who was, I believe, of gipsy origin, as he did not even possess a surname when he began life. By dint of industry he managed to become possessor of a small estate, and one fine day when petrol was discovered on it he realised that he could count himself a millionaire. He immediately took the name of his land for his own, built a magnificent residence in the Calea Victorie, and later on his youngest daughter formed a matrimonial alliance with a member of the aristocracy.

A few paper-mills are to be found in the country, and a walk through one or other of them is very interesting. Nothing but wood is employed in the factory. The great logs are brought in direct from the neighbouring forests, then cut up, pressed, reduced to a pulp, and finally turned out as sheets of paper. It is chiefly paper for packing that is made, but a certain quantity of notepaper is also made. I was presented with a box of it, but it is of very inferior quality, and does not possess the gloss or finish of our own.

Coal has been found in Roumania, though not in any great quantity. I was told, however, that the quality was very good. Roumania is more an agricultural than an industrial country, and wheat is the great source of income. Everything, trips to Paris or Monte Carlo, new clothes, opera-boxes, etc., turns upon the question, “Will there be a good harvest?” When snow begins to fall early in winter, farmers are very pleased; they say snow means gold for the country, as it protects the seed from the severe cold and from the frost which is sure to follow.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] I am glad to learn that this reproach is no longer deserved. I am informed that since the war a number of British firms have, by means of wisely-selected representatives, taken advantage of the ready market, and a profusion of British goods, notably woollens and linens, are now to be seen in Bucarest.