The Man Farthest Down: A Record of Observation and Study in EuropeWashington, Booker T.
History
The Man Farthest Down: A Record of Observation and Study in Europe
Washington, Booker T.
Poor -- Europe; Working class -- Europe
Among the emigrants with whom I had an opportunity to talk was a group
of Roumanians who had come up from Transylvania, or Siebenbürgen, as
they called it. They were a dark, silent sort of people, who hung very
closely together and looked at us out of the corners of their eyes.
When I sought to talk with them they seemed indisposed to answer my
questions, and finally one of them told the interpreter that they had
been instructed not to talk with any one until they reached America.
Considering the elaborate regulations which their Government has
imposed upon people seeking to leave Hungary, and the still more
elaborate regulations which our Government has imposed upon people
seeking to enter the United States, this did not particularly surprise
me.
Since these people were Roumanians, or Wallachs, from Siebenbürgen,
they may have had other reasons for not telling why they were leaving
the country. The Roumanians, although they proudly claim descent from
the Roman conquerors of this part of the world, are, nevertheless,
classed among the "inferior," as they are, in fact, among the most
ignorant, races in Hungary. As they have been particularly persistent
in advertising their wrongs to the rest of Europe, and have been
frequently punished for it, they may, perhaps, have learned that
silence is golden, particularly in the presence of Magyar officials.
When in Vienna I was seeking for information that would help me to
understand the racial situation in the Dual Monarchy, I found that
one of the most learned and brilliant writers on that subject was a
Roumanian who, while he was a student in a Roumanian academy in 1892,
had been arrested with other students and condemned to four years'
imprisonment for writing and circulating a pamphlet in which were
enumerated "acts of violence" committed against the other races of
Hungary by the "superior" Magyars.
The superiority of the dominant race seems, as a matter of fact, to be
the foundation stone of the political policy of the present government
in Hungary. In the last analysis it seems to be the major premise,
so to speak, of every argument which I happen to have heard or read
in justification of the policy which the Government has pursued in
reference to the other races of the monarchy. In fact, the "superiority
of the Magyar" race is responsible for most that is good and evil
in the history of Hungary for the past seventy years. It seems, for
example, to have been the chief source of inspiration for the heroic
struggle against Austria which began in 1848 and ended with the
independence of Hungary in 1867. It seems, also, to have been the goad
which has spurred on the impatient leaders of modern Hungary in their
hurry to overtake and surpass the progress of civilization in the rest
of Europe.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account