56 



AUSTRIA. 



group of countries. The constitutionality of 

 these resolutions was disputed by no one, but 

 the Keichsrath was the body alone competent 

 to alter the constitution in the manner pro- 

 posed by the Galician Diet. The Galician 

 deputies avoided, however, raising the question 

 after the Reichsrath had assembled, because 

 the army bill and the imperial budget for 

 1869 had not yet been voted, and because, in 

 their estimation, the safety of the empire was 

 a question that took precedence of all others. 

 But after the New Year's vacation the Diet's 

 resolutions were called up in the Reichsrath, 

 and, after a thorough discussion, the committee 

 charged with their consideration agreed that 

 no obligation rests upon the Government to 

 communicate the resolutions of the Galician 

 Diet to the House ; nevertheless, and as a 

 compromise, it requested that the Government 

 would, as a matter of favor or political expe- 

 diency, communicate the said resolutions to 

 the committee (not the House), and that the 

 committee would then lay the resolutions 

 before the House. One immediate result of 

 the raising of this question has been the 

 endeavor to provide the means by which the 

 resolutions of the Diet may from time to time 

 be communicated to the Reichsrath. 



Another constituent portion of tlie empire, 

 Bohemia, claims to be justly discontent. The 

 Czechs belong, as Slavi, to a nationality which 

 embraces a clear majority of the subjects of 

 the Austrian empire, numbering 16,000,000 

 souls ; yet, under the new dualistic system, 

 their pride of race is offended by being sub- 

 jected to the ascendency of Germans and 

 Magyars, who do not together quite amount 

 to 14,000,000, and, as Bohemians, their patri- 

 otic feelings are outraged by seeing the con- 

 stitutional rights of their ancient kingdom 

 trampled upon and utterly abrogated. It is, 

 therefore, not a little suggestive that Czech 

 leaders wore present at the Slavonic Congress 

 of Moscow in 1867. 



While the Czechs are sulking and the Aus- 

 trian Poles watching with anxiety the attitude 

 which the West Austrian Government and 

 legislature^ intend to take on the subject of 

 the extension of the principle of self-govern- 

 ment in Galicia, the Austrian Germans are 

 agitating parliamentary reform. They desire 

 an extension of the number of members for 

 the House of Deputies, and the introduction 

 of direct elections into the Reichsrath. In fact, 

 the example of the sister country, Hungary, 

 with its time-honored system of direct elec- 

 tions, has served to captivate the German 

 liberal mind with such a system, and the West 

 Austrian ministry are considering proposals 

 to these ends before the Reichsrath. The 

 West Austrian House of Deputies consists 

 only of 203 members. This, for a population 

 of 19,500,000 gives a member to every 97,000 

 of the population. The Hungarian Diet, in- 

 cluding the 29 new additions from Croatia, 

 counts 442 members for a population of only 



15,000,000, or one member to every 34,000 of 

 the population. It has been proposed to 

 double the present number of the House of 

 Deputies. 



The Reichsrath closed on the 14th of May, 

 with a speech of the Emperor, enumerating 

 the labor of the Parliament, and saying : 



It was necessary to found an entirely new order of 

 things. This was accomplished by ^ the establish- 

 ment of the constitution which, while uniting the 

 cis-Leithan provinces, has afforded' a large field for 

 the autonomous government of the country, and 

 given the finishing stroke to the compromise with 

 Hungary. The military organization has not only 

 drawn the band of union more closely round the 

 monarchy, but has also increased its power.' This 

 fact, together with the friendly relations existing 

 between Austria and the other powers, is a guarantee 

 for the maintenance of peace which the empire so 

 absolutely requires. Eeterring to the financial situa- 

 tion, his Majesty spoke of the large demands made 

 upon the tax-paying efforts of the people, and said 

 that, thanks to the joint powers of the Government 

 and the administrative bodies, a way had been found 

 by which it was hoped to place the finances upon a 

 sound footing^ adding that public economy, the re- 

 form of taxation, and the general improvement of 

 commerce, afforded grounds for anticipating that the 

 nation would soon recover from the sacrifices it had 

 made. The speech from the throne then proceeds 

 to enumerate the results of the legislation of the ex- 

 piring session, mentioning especially the establish- 

 ment of a supreme tribunal of the empire, the 

 introduction of trial by jury of press offences, the 

 reform of the criminal law-, the separation of the 

 Government from the administration of justice, the 

 abolition of imprisonment for debt, the repeal of the 

 usury laws, and many other important measures. 

 Allusion is then made to the numerous railway bills 

 which have been passed ; to the conclusion of several 

 commercial, postal, and telegraph conventions ; to 

 the adoption of the laws regulating the position of 

 the religious denominations in Austria, by which 

 equal rights are granted to all creeds ; to the estab- 

 lishment of civil marriage, and the settlement of the 

 relations between the schools and the Church. His 

 Majesty added : " I trust that these laws will endure 

 as the bases of a peaceful organization between the 

 church and state. The law relating to popular 

 schools will elevate the education of the country to 

 such a degree as must constitute the surest founda- 

 tions for tne welfare of monarchy and the people. I 

 hope that in the next session of the Keichsrath those 

 who still hold aloof from our joint efforts will decide 

 to participate in them. Austria must offer a great 

 home to all her different nationalities, dispensing 

 toward all equal justice and equal good-will." The 

 emperor concluded as follows : u The constitution is 

 the groundwork upon which this object is to be ob- 

 tained. An understanding among the several races 

 of the empire must certainly be arrived at, because 

 this cannot fail to be the ultimate result, and because 

 Austria alone offers to all her peoples protection, 

 freedom, and the preservation of 'their independence 

 and peculiar institutions. 



In her foreign policy, Austria evidently en- 

 deavors to maintain friendly relations to other 

 powers in order to strengthen her inner re- 

 forms. The Government has successfully 

 cooperated in averting the threatening Turco- 

 Grecian difference. Mutual marks of sym- 

 pathy were exchanged between Austria and 

 Italy, and public opinion has been favorable to 

 the rapprochement between the two coun- 

 tries. The interests of Austria, and her wish 

 for the preservation of peace, imposed upon 



