HUNGARY. 



t for the other prov- 

 cabinot; a home 



Me at ill-- .-i'li- of tin- emperor ; then 



f tin- Hungarian finances, of public 



:uid agriculture, of 



works and ;i secretary nt war. 

 t might la 1 appointed lor the 



iuilf of tin- cnn/irc, each of the two re- 

 heir respective 1'arliaimnN. 



cahiiicK however, .MM imperial 



uld he appointed, consisting of a 

 : foreign affairs, a minister tor the 



i tl finances :inl a minister of war, tho 

 ii'ii affair-;, and tin- army 

 !:reil as affairs common to hoth 

 i; t- of the empire. Those imperial 

 mini-- . nuM he responsible to a cen- 



tral c of the. two Parliaments, which 



have to regulate and to control the im- 



sections of army organization, 

 of the de!>ts and of the tariff, and to give direc- 

 tion to the ministry of foreign affairs. That 



. however, would for all the debates 

 :tely, the Hungarian in one hall, the 

 Austrian in another, not to unite but for joint 

 ballot. 



(>n .Tim,- 27th a royal rescript was read at 



'iting of the chambers, proroguing the 



1'iet for an indefinite period on account of the 



war. Previous to adjournment both houses 



Chitions regretting the prorogation, 

 ut hoping for the speedy assembly of the 

 Reich-rath and tho restoration of tho constitu- 

 The upper house added numerous cx- 

 f loyalty to tho crown, and the sit- 

 ting do-ed with cheers for the king. 

 The 1 Met was reopened on November 19th. 

 nraent sent in a royal rescript, which 

 .. Iflir ,-d that the platform of the sub- 

 ::tteK' might serve as a basis for recon- 

 struction, but insisted upon an explicit recog- 

 nition that the questions of the debt of the ar- 

 I the indirect taxes, and of all kinds of 

 excise and government monopolies were exclu- 

 sively common affairs, and refused, before such 

 a declaration should be 7nade, to appoint a 

 Hungarian cabinet. The following is the text 

 of ihe imperial rescript: 



\\ , Francis Joseph the First, by God's grace Em- 

 peror of Austria, apostolic King of Hungary, Bohe- 

 .ilieia, Lodomeria, and lllyria, Archduke of 

 Austria, HC., send greeting and grace to the ecclesi- 

 tiMical and temporal dignitaries, estates, and repre- 

 sentatives of our faithful Kingdom of Hungary and 

 .irts therewith connected, who are assembled 

 in the Diet convoked by us in our royal free city 

 of I'esth, the 10th December, J865. 



Faithful Lieges; With unshaken confidence in 

 heavenly Providence, and in the faithful devotion of 

 our peoples, we resume the thread of our nciMia- 

 . itli the Diet, the starting-point of which we 

 pointed out in our speech from the throne, and as 

 whose hiirlily important and unalterable ultimate ob- 

 ject we consider the constitutional settlement of the 

 hond connecting the various parts of the monarchy, 

 as well as the speedy restoration of the autonomous 

 rights df our beloved Kingdom of Hungary. The 

 mitavoniMe turn of the war, which was not to be ef- 

 faced bv the brilliant victories of our Southern army 



and fleet, defeated those hopes wo built upon the 

 justice of our cause and the ready heroism of our 



lumv, even notwithstanding the numerical sup 

 itv of' tin- powers allied against us. In view of the 

 severe decrees of fate, which could only be reshaped 

 more favorably by the utmost exertions of sacrifice, 

 ami <>f the moral and material strength of our 

 peoples, we did not hesitate to restore to them, even 

 tipnii hard conditions, the blessings of peace, the 

 security of which we have always reckoned among 

 the deeply-felt cares of our paternal heart, and among 

 our highest duties as a sovereign. The momentous 

 events of the past, coupled with regard for the 

 changes that have taken place in international rela- 

 tions, henceforth require in an increased 'and really 

 unavoidable degree, that we should hasten to the ex- 

 tent of our power the settlement of the pending in- 

 ternal affairs of our monarchy upon the basis pointed 

 out as essential to the sincere satisfaction of the con- 

 stitutional rights and claims of our peoples. In our 

 royal rescript of the 24th of June last we have 

 already recognized the ready activity with which the 

 and representatives of our beloved Kingdom 

 of Hungary in Diet assembled have associated them- 

 selves with our efforts, and have upon their part aUo 

 begun to contribute to the solution of that common 

 ta>k. The more were we forced to lament that we 

 were compelled to prorogue the Hungarian Diet just 

 at the very time when, owing to the aforesaid dili- 

 gence of the same in the preliminary consultations 

 of the committee, a draft was obtained, respecting 

 the starting-point and ultimate object of which 

 although it has not as yet passed through the legiti- 

 mate stages of public debate and consideration of 

 the Diet we did not even at that time hesitate to 

 express our recognition ; for we feel ourselves called 

 upon, in the endeavor to reconcile opposite demands, 

 to turn our active attention to all those points whose 

 development is calculated speedily to pave the way 

 for a solution of the main question founded upon 

 rights and equity. We see with satisfaction in that 

 draft the lively sense of the connection of our coun- 

 tries expressed, and the indispensable consideration 

 stated as a guiding principle that the security of the 

 monarchy in its most important interest should be 

 guaranteed. In reply to the unhesitating frankness 

 and that confidence the estates and representatives 

 in Diet assembled have expressed in their address to 

 us, we therefore wish them to feel assured in ad- 

 vance, that we recognize the subjects proposed in 

 the draft of the saia sub-committee with reference 

 to the debate and treatment of common affairs as a 

 fitting point of union for the establishment of the 

 constitutional compromise. In order still further to 

 secure the rapid and satisfactory success of the con- 

 sultations in this respect, we think it advisable to 

 indicate those principal points with regard to which it 

 appears requisite, for the purpose of a suitable divi- 

 sion of common affairs, that especial attention be 

 directed on the part of the estates and representa- 

 tives. What we must indispensably uphold is the 

 unity of the army, which, together with unity in the 

 command and in the internal organization of its 

 parts, also undoubtedly demands unanimity of prin- 

 ciple in the arrangements for the time of service and 

 filling up the ranks. The future development of in- 

 ternal traffic and the vital conditions of industry re- 

 quire just us indispensably that the customs tariff, 

 and as a logical sequence the indirect taxation exer- 

 cising an important influence upon industrial pro- 

 duction, together with the State monopoly system, 

 should be regulated upon an agreed and similar 

 basis. Lastly, the State debts and the innermost 

 being of the State credit, so intimately connected 

 therewith, require united treatment, if the interests 

 of the money market, which affect public life in all 

 parts of the realm with equal vigor, are to be pre- 

 served from dangerous oscillation. Bv the result of 

 the negotiations with the Diet curried" on upon this 

 foundation, we trust speedily to be in a pouion to 



