Transylvania in 1922 : report of the commission sent by the American and British Unitarian churches to Transylvania in 1922 1923

Foreword

TRANSYLVANIA, until by the signing of the Trianon Treaty it was given to Roumania, was the easternmost province of Hungary. About 21,000 square miles in area, it is roughly equal in extent to the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and is one of the richest lands in all Europe in minerals and in agricultural fertility.

From the time of the Reformation strong Protestant churches have existed here and are now represented by the Presbyterian, Lutheran and Unitarian denominations.

The Unitarian churches, as is true of the others, are closely organized under the management of a representative Consistory and a Bishop elected for life.

In 1922 the American and British Unitarian churches sent a Commission to visit their sister churches in Transylvania, the oldest group of Unitarian churches in. the world. Similar official visitations have been made occasionally during the past century, but the English and American representatives visiting Tran- _sylvania in Ig1g and 1920, because of the ruin which followed the war, did a work conspicuously important. The Commission sent in 1922 sought to carry forward the work of sustentation which they began.

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FOREWORD

The members of this Commission were Rev. Louis C. Cornish, D.D. of Boston, Rev. Palfrey Perkins of Weston, Rev. Harold E. B. Speight of Boston and Rev. Lawrence Redfern of Liverpool, England.

It is hoped that the accompanying reports and account of the visit, fragmentary as they are, may - serve to give an impression of the absolutely chaotic conditions in which our fellow-Unitarians and thousands of others are now living.

The Commission was not concerned on the one hand with the severe Roumanian criticism of former Hungarian rule and its alleged injustice to minority rights. _ Even if it was as bad as it 1s reported to have been, which may be doubted, retaliation will never establish stable conditions. Two wrongs cannot make a right. On the other hand, we were not concerned with the irredentist aspirations of the Hungarians. Natural though these may be, they cannot establish stable conditions. Stability of life and freedom for all peoples in Transylvania depend upon the establishment of a just modus vivendi under the provisions of the Trianon Treaty safeguarding minority rights, and the enlightened opinion of the world demands that Roumania keep both the letter and the spirit of the Treaty.

The book was prepared by Mr. Cornish with the advice and assistance of the other members of the Commission.

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Contents

CHAP.

FoREWORD I. A SUMMARY OF THE CONDITION OF INDIVIDUALS AND INSTITUTIONS IN TRANSYLVANIA

Il. A STATEMENT CONCERNING THE CONDITION OF UniTartans In Otp Huncary, PARTICULARLY IN BUDAPEST