New Uniforms, New President

Favoring white regimentals with lots of gold galloons for himself, King Carol II of Rumania loves a uniform as dearly as any green-shirted Iron Guard Fascist. When he outlawed the Iron Guard and his police liquidated its leaders ("while attempting to escape"), King Carol promptly set up his Renascence Front, prescribed a natty leather-belted, dark blue uniform for this new totalitarian party of which he is the royal Fuehrer. Four senators, members of the former National Peasant Party who tried to crash King Carol's overwhelmingly Renascence senate in mufti last week were turned away, on orders from the senate president, King Carol's former tutor, Professor Nicholas Jorga. But bossy Professor Jorga, Rumania's onetime (1931-32) dictator and most erudite scholar, came a cropper himself when he demanded that Renascence senators elect him their president for nine years by a show of hands. Instead they voted him down by secret ballot, voted up onetime Finance Minister, near-Fascist Constantin Argetoianu. Unperturbed by such parliamentary antics, King Carol appeared not to care who bossed the senate as long as he continued to boss the senate's boss.

Details of Iron Guard plots against the life of King Carol sound as if too many pulps were read in the backrooms of Rumanian police stations. Last week Bucharest police reported an Iron Guard plan to toss two dozen hand grenades at the King during an exciting finish at the race track. Whether police or Fascists thought up that one, mopping up of the outlawed Iron Guard went merrily forward as a result.

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