A USTRO -HUNGARIAN MONARCHY. 



tributions from Austria Proper and Hun- 

 gary, according to the compromise referred to 

 above.* 

 The commerce of Austro- Hungary, compris- 



ing imports and exports of merchandise and of 

 bullion, was as follows in each of the years 

 from 1869 to 1876 (value expressed in Austrian 

 florins) : 



At the beginning of 1880, Bosnia, Herzego- 

 vina, Istria, Dalmatia, and Brody were ad- 

 mitted into the Austro - Hungarian Customs 

 Line. 



The following statement shows the strength 

 of the commercial marine of Austro-Hungary 

 on the 1st of January, 1879 : 



CLASSES Or VESSELS. 



Number of' , 



The army of the Austro-Hungarian Mon- 

 archy was in August, 1878, composed as fol- 

 lows : 



The naval forces at the end of the year 1878 

 consisted of 14 ironclads and 37 other steam- 

 ers, the majority of the latter of small dimen- 

 sions, constructed chiefly for coast-defense. 



The total length of railways in operation on 

 January 1, 1879, was: in Austria Proper, 11,- 

 268 kilometres; in Hungary, 7,002; total, 18,- 

 270. The length of the telegraph lines and 

 wires, and the number of stations and messages 

 carried, was in 1878 as follows : 



* For an account of the finances of Austria Proper and of 

 the public debt of the empire, see " Annual Cyclopaedia " for 



The number of post-offices in 1878 was 4,006 

 in Austria Proper, and 1,980 in Hungary ; total 

 in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, 5,986. 



On March 7th the Crown Prince Rudolphus 

 was betrothed to Stephanie Clotilde, second 

 daughter of the King of Belgium. The event 

 called forth great ovations throughout the em- 

 pire. At Prague, where the Archduke has for 

 some time been residing as a colonel of a regi- 

 ment, the burgomaster, in offering to him the 

 congratulations of the city, expressed the hope 

 that the Prince after his marriage would con- 

 tinue to reside in Prague. At Vienna, he re- 

 ceived the congratulations of the two Houses 

 of Parliament, the corporation of the town, the 

 Ministers, and other high functionaries. 



The Austrian Reichsrath reassembled on the 

 15th of January. The parties in the present 

 Reichsrath are almost equally balanced, as, at 

 the general election in 1879, 173 of the newly- 

 elected deputies belonged to the different Lib- 

 eral fractions, and 175 to the Conservatives. 

 (See "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1879, article 

 AUSTRIA, p. 64.) The Ministry, presided over by 

 Count Taaffe, consisted in about equal parts of 

 members of the two parties. The moderate 

 elements of both parties seemed generally will- 

 ing to support the Ministry, while the extrem- 

 ists on either side showed themselves eager to 

 attack it. The debate on one of the first bills 

 that came up for discussion in this session, 

 concerning the administration of Bosnia, pro- 

 ceeded very smoothly, the bill passing with- 

 out a formal vote being taken. A sort of ar- 

 mistice seemed to have been established be- 

 tween the Ministry and the two parties, the 

 Right having come to the conclusion that it 

 would be inopportune to exercise on this occa- 

 sion any pressure upon the Minister- President 

 with a view to forcing him to reconstruct the 

 Ministry out of the ranks of their party. The 

 Left or Constitutional party, on the other hand, 

 perceived that it was not in their interest to 

 continue a relentless and uncompromising op- 

 position to the Ministry, and thereby to precipi- 

 tate a crisis which would probably not end in 

 their favor. Both the Right and the Left were 

 all the more unprepared for a Cabinet crisis, as 

 both were weakened by internal dissensions. 



