ATSTIMA. 



77 



instruction in the public schools, 

 ite belongs tin- right of tho 

 i'niiiNlration ot'lhc s\Mcm of public, 

 i. The right of emigration is secured 

 i who an- not liable to military s.-rviiv. 

 i> inviolublo. Personal freedom, in- 

 iiitv of a man's home, and of letters, and 

 religion arc guaranteed. < Vnsorship 

 !, and tlio freedom of tho press estab- 

 I. FinalU, the equal rights of all nation- 

 . and their "inalienable" right to the 

 vation and protection of their nationality 

 and language, and the equal claims of all the 

 hnguajv-, of tho empire to their employment 

 in schools, and official and public life, are ac- 

 knowledged. 



Tiie Ilcich>rath was also unanimous in de- 

 manding the abolition of tho concordat of 1855. 

 The bishops strongly remonstrated against such 

 >, but tho Government seemed disposed to 

 i lie demand of the majority of the Reiohs- 

 rath, and sent, in December, Count Crevelli 

 me to conduct the negotiations with the 

 Papal Government on the subject of the con- 

 cordat. At the general assembly of the 

 schoolmasters of Austria, held at Vienna, res- 

 olutions were passed almost unanimously in 

 of tho independence of the popular 

 schools, and the emancipation of all schools 

 from the control of the Church. 



On June 20th an imperial proclamation was 

 issued, in virtue of which all persons sentenced 

 for political offences since 13th March, 1848, 

 should be fully amnestied. The amnesty also 

 includes all persons guilty of political offences 

 between the above-named date and the am- 

 u'ranted on tho 15th December, 18G6, bat 

 against whom proceedings could not be taken 

 on account of absence from the imperial 

 dominions. They are now permitted free 

 return, without any disadvantageous legal re- 

 sults. 



An imperial rescript of December 27th, ad- 

 dressed to Baron Beust, relieves him from fur- 

 tin r duties as President of the Council of 

 Ministers for the countries represented in the 

 Ucich.-rath. His majesty directs him to take 

 the requisite preliminary steps for the estab- 

 lishment of Ministries of Foreign Affairs, War, 

 and Finance for tho whole empire, in accord- 

 ance with the Constitution. At the same time 

 the imperial rescript appoints Baron Becke as 

 Minister of Finance, and orders Baron von 

 1 and Field-Marshal Lieutenant Baron von 

 John to continue to discharge as ministers for 

 the \\holo empire the duties they have hitherto 

 fulfilled. Another imperial rescript addressed 

 to Count Andrassy, the prime minister of 

 Hungary, acquaints him with the above-men- 

 tioned arrangements, and declares to him that 

 he has earned the thanks of tho Emperor for 

 his successful cooperation in bringing about the 



;>roinisc between Hungary and Austria. 

 'n January 1,1808, the Official Gazette \>\i\>- 

 1 an autograph letter from the Emperor 

 to Prince von Auersperg, and to Taaffe, von 



Plener, Ha-m-r Potocki, (ii-kra, Il.-rbut, Brestl, 

 and Merger, naming them mini-t.-r-. Ii, addi- 

 tion, the Kmperor expresses bin high r. 

 tion of Prince von Aucr-pcrg for his services an 

 President of tho Chamber of No!>l< >. 



In July, tho lieichsrath adopted and the 

 Kmperor approved a bill for tho election of 

 delegates from that assembly to confer with 

 delegates from the Hungarian Diet, for settling 

 tho question of affairs common to Austria and 

 Hungary. The only point which presented any 

 difficulty was the division of the taxes and the 

 public debt. It was finally agreed, in Septem- 

 ber, by both delegations, that Hungary should 

 pay, for 1868, 36,000,000 florins, and after that 

 year 32,000,000 florins, each country to have 

 the benefit of what it pays off of its share of 

 the debt. At the same time a customs and 

 commercial convention was concluded between 

 Austria and Hungary which treats the whole 

 monarchy as one common customs territory, 

 without any division. "Future commercial 

 treaties with foreign powers will require the 

 sanction of the cis-Leithau and trans-Leithan 

 ministries and legislatures. All Austrian ships 

 will carry the same flag. The representation 

 of maritime interests, as well as the consular 

 system, will henceforth be considered as ' com- 

 mon affairs,' and placed under the jurisdiction 

 of the foreign office. There will be one coin- 

 age and one gold standard for both portions of 

 the empire. The duration of the treaty is to 

 bo ten years." 



The thirteenth annual report of the statistical 

 commission of Austria, which was issued in 1867, 

 contains a series of interesting and valuable re- 

 sults, showing the strength and losses of tho 

 Austrian army in the late war with Prussia. The 

 results are based on the army returns down to 

 the end of August, 1866. The total strength 

 of the establishment was 640,636, viz., 19,538 

 officers and 627,098 men. The total force of 

 the regular army engaged in the field was 

 407,223 viz., 10,932 officers and 396,291 men. 

 The 407,223 strength was distributed as fol- 

 lows : Infantry, 6,686 officers and 249,243 

 men. Jagers, 1,118 officers, and 42,871 men. 

 Border infantry, 480 officers, and 16,794 men. 

 Heavy cavalry, 312 officers, and 7,008 men ; 

 light cavalry, 883 officers, and 19,807 men; 

 artillery, 513 officers, and 22,245 men ; and 

 others, 940 officers and 38,323 men. The casu- 

 alties which occurred in the war are recorded 

 as follows: Infantry officers, 428 killed, 

 1,138 wounded, and 352 miesing; men, 7,997 

 killed, 21,545 wounded, and 32,710 missing. 

 lagers officers, 116 killed, 214 wounded, and 

 50 missing ; men, 1,642 killed, 4,399 wounded, 

 and 6,394 missing. Border infantry officers, 

 4 killed, 22 wounded, and 2 missing; men, 68 

 killed, 328 wounded, and 191 missing. Heavy 

 cavalry officers, 10 killed, 33 wounded, and 

 23 missing; men, 148 killed, 205 wounded, and 

 890 missing. Light cavalry officers 12 killed, 

 54 wounded, 32 missing ; men, 258 kflled, 451 

 wounded, and 1,573 missing. Artillery offi- 



