Manoilescu Trial

In a room in the Ministry of War at Bucharest, capital of Rumania, M. Manoilescu, onetime Under-Secretary of Finance, was last week put on trial before a court martial, charged with conspiracy against the throne. Earlier in the month (TIME, Nov. 7), M. Manoilescu was arrested while in possession of letters from former Crown Prince Carol to various political leaders in Rumania, including Prime Minister Jan Bratiano.

Colonel Vladiscu presided, as usual, over the military court, being assisted by two majors and two captains. A heavy cordon of troops was thrown around the War Office, armed sentries challenging all seekers of admission to the courtroom. Only the witnesses, lawyers and newspaper reporters were allowed in.

Counsel for the defense of M. Manoilescu numbered 110. At their head were Rumania's famed lawyer Dr. Pompiliu Joanitescu and onetime Prime Minister (1920-22; 1926-27) and General Alexandru Averescu. Thirty-seven witnesses were scheduled to appear, among them being Prime Minister Bratiano and former Crown Prince Carol. The court subsequently declared that the Prince would be allowed to return to Rumania, from which he is exiled, only if his presence were vitally necessary to ensure fairness in the trial. Meantime, the court would accept his written evidence.

Although Rumania is still under a censorship cloud, it being a punishable offense to mention Prince Carol's name, either orally or in writing (the newspapers overcome the difficulty by leaving blank spaces for his name), the court took no objection to it, speakers on both sides referring to him as Prince Carol of Hohenzollern.

The trial began with an unsuccessful attempt by the defense to prove the incompetency of the court. It was urged that the country was not legally under martial law, it being unconstitutional to keep it in a state of siege when there was no danger of foreign invasion, and that, therefore, the trial should go to a civil court before a jury. M. Carapancea, military prosecuting attorney, pleaded the contrary case, and the court came to the conclusion that the government was within its rights in declaring martial law.

Laughing, gay, eloquent, M. Manoilescu appeared before his judges to astound them with the news that Prince Carol sought not the throne but only a place in the Regency council. Said he: "The Prince is too loyal and decent to think of dethroning his own son."

Then with a dramatic daring that astounded even his own corps of lawyers, he fiercely attacked the present regime. Cried he: "We live in a state of political abnormality without issue or hope. The only solution is the return of Carol through the joint action of opposition leaders and persistent moral pressure on the country."

Prince Carol, he went on, was convinced that there is a growing movement for a Republic. "Every day's events strengthen the Prince's con victions. Hence his desire to return is merely an expression of his anxiety to strengthen the Regency."

Defending himself from what amounts to treason, M. Manoilescu proceeded to denounce the accusation that he had attempted to change Kings or to alter the constitution. Roared he at the president: "The only change necessary to attain the end Carol and I had in mind was, first, a simple change in the law which forbids Carol to return to Rumania. Second, it would be necessary for one member of the present Regency to resign. The solution therefore which we had in mind was absolutely legal.

"How can you accuse me of desiring to cause a revolt when the only means employed consisted of a number of the Prince's private letters to political personages, including Premier Bratiano? The best proof that my action was harmless is that the government itself has now published all these letters. I leave it to you, my judges, and to the justice of my country to declare whether I am guilty of any crime against the state."

On the following day, in a moving five-hour address, M. Manoilescu told the court how the late King Ferdinand had pleaded with the government to bring Prince Carol back to the throne as the "only security for the country's peace." He was, he said, quoting from the famed "deathbed" letter, addressed to Prime Minister Bratiano, who, however, denied having received it.

The prisoner then went on to say that only the government's opposition prevented a last-minute reconciliation between father and son. Turning defiantly to his judges, he said calmly:

"Carol will not return by airplane or submarine but by train and with all of his rights."

He then charged the government with having tried to "buy him off" his allegiance to Prince Carol. "Bratiano himself tried to disinterest myself in Carol's rights," he said. "He offered me the post of Minister to Berlin or Rome. . . . Thinking I was dissatisfied with the price, the government then offered me the Ministership at London. I declined. ... I have chosen not the way to honors but the way of honor."

The vehemence, sincerity and frankness of the prisoner brought half the court to tears.

"That I am in revolt against the government is due to the tragic state of the country," was his next jibe. Then he went on to deny that Prince Carol's philanderings had had anything to do with his renunciation of his rights to the throne. Then the aged deputy Michael Popovici corroborated his statement that King Ferdinand had regarded the Regency only as a traditional measure until his son should have mended his ways.

In a magnificent peroration on his own patriotism, M. Manoilescu brought-his testimony to an end thus: "Whether the court's verdict is guilty or innocent, I shall never cease to cry, 'Long live Rumania! Long live the Army!'

Then he sank back into his chair, utterly exhausted.

The trial was continued.