HUNGARY. 



339 



for constitutional consideration the bill of criminal 

 procedure, which will place the high interests of so- 

 ciety as well as the personal liberty of the individual 

 till now dependent upon insufficient and uncertain 

 laws, and be insured between the central government 

 and organs of the administration. The recent election 

 has given you fresh proofs of the defects of the elec- 

 torallaws of the year 1848. To remove these defects 

 and to regulate the elections so that the liberty of the 

 electors is guaranteed against the excesses of party- 

 spirit, is also one of your foremost and most pressing 

 tasks. 



The laws of 1848 have transferred the legislation of 

 the country from the representation of the former es- 

 tates to one based upon that of the people, but have 

 left the organization of the House of Magnates (Mag- 

 natentafel) unchanged. It will be an essential part 

 of your legislative activity to reform the organization 

 of the House of Magnates according to the present 

 necessities of the country, regaining, at the same time, 

 all the advantages which this Upper House affords by 

 its historic traditions and its connection with the 

 highest interest of the kingdom. As regards the 

 freedom of the press, there are in the present laws two 

 great guarantees, one of which consists in the aboli- 

 tion ol the censorship, the other that the press of- 

 fences will be tried by jury. At the same time that 

 these two principles are to be upheld, care also must 

 be taken that the dignity of the press be maintained. 

 It should be provided for that in serious discussio ns 

 of public interest, passion must not interfere, and re- 

 spect for them not lost sight of, which can be done 

 by quick punishment of all abuses dangerous to the 

 real liberty of the press. As in this respect article 

 eighteen of the press law of 1848 is in many respects 

 insufficient, public order requires that its deficiencies 

 should ere long be remedied. The right of meeting 

 must also be regulated, so that this fundamental right 

 of constitutionalism may be placed under the protec- 

 tion and control of the law, and aline drawn as to the 

 obligation of government interference. 



The last Diet has passed a law concerning the com- 

 mutation of tithe on wine. It will be- one of the du- 

 ties of the present Diet to abolish the remnants of 

 feudalism, vet preserving the sanctity of property on 

 the basis of sound political and economical principles. 

 The late Diet has, by its law upon elementary schools, 

 extended the blessings of public instruction to the 

 entire population. But by. this only the first stone 

 has been laid toward the whole edifice of public in- 

 struction, and the highest interests of the nation de- 

 mand also the regulation of the higher spheres of 

 studies, in which the citizens of the state can obtain 

 superior instruction in the several branches of art and 

 science, according to the progress of the age. 

 t There will be laid before you, according to article 

 sixteen of the law of 1867, several international trea- 

 ties concluded with foreign powers for your sanction. 

 It is an absolute necessity to regulate the industrial 

 relations about which we have partly defective and 

 partly no laws at all. The impulse given to enter- 

 prise and the prosperous state of commerce render 

 it incumbent that the companies formed by share- 

 holders should also be governed by a new law. My 

 government will introduce the necessary bills in 

 regard to both these subjects,, and several others 

 concerning the preservation and augmentation of na- 

 tional property. You will have to decide on the pro 

 jects of law respecting the construction of several 

 railway lines, and also public works and river laws, 

 which will give in their practical results a fresh im- 

 pulse to the material well-being of the people. Your 

 constitutional activity will also embrace the financial 

 estimates, in fixing which you will, I am convinced, 

 take good care that the economy of the state be well 

 balanced and the finances of the country placed upon 

 a safe basis. I must here call your attention to the ' 

 necessity of reform in the system of taxation (Steuer- 

 wesen), which forms one of the most important 

 elements in the prosperity of the kingdom. The dis- 



cussions of the Diet will offer you a favorable oppor- 

 tunity to draw closer that legal union which the late 

 Diet has reestablished between Hungary, Croatia, 

 and Slavonia, by sentiments of reciprocal brotherly 

 love and attachment, so that they may share the 

 burdens as well as the glory of those legitimate 

 measures on which the common weal and greatness 

 of the united countries of the Hungarian crown de- 

 pend. 



Magnates and Deputies : You arc face to face with 

 an important period of transition. Besides the be- 

 forementioned tasks, there are many others awaiting 

 you yet. To surrender every thing that has become 

 untenable in past traditions, and create at the same 

 time institutions corresponding with new ideas, is 

 the double and inseparable problem, the solution of 

 which you have to overcome. This sifting of circum- 

 stances requires great efforts and time, for the diffi- 

 culties in the execution may be augmented not only 

 by clinging to remembrances of the past, which sup- 

 port even that which has no life in itself and prevents 

 new creations ; but also, on the other side, by too 

 great hurry, which will not take into account existing 

 facts, and cover the field, which ought to be sown, 

 with ruins that prevent further action. The right 

 sense of the nation, its moderation and wisdom, will 

 no doubt' take the right road between the two ex- 

 tremes which will lead us to more prosperous times. 

 The friendly relations which we maintain with all 

 foreign powers give us the assuring prospect that the 

 peace and tranquillity which are required for the ex- 

 ecution of internal reforms will remain. God bless 

 your deliberations ! Under the burden of your work, 

 may you be fortified by the consciousness that it is 

 the welfare of future generations which is in your 

 hands, and that, although at such periods patriotic 

 devotion enjoys but very rarely the gratitude of the 

 contemporaneous world, the thanks are more sure 

 and imperishable which are given by posterity to all 

 those perseverant workmen of this great transforma- 

 tion ! I declare this Diet opened. 



The speech, was received with loud cheering. 

 During the inaugural ceremony the Hungarian 

 and Croatian tricolors were hoisted beside the 

 royal standard on the castle of Buda. At the 

 close of the sessions of the Hungarian Diet, the 

 speech from the throne enumerated the favor- 

 able results which had attended the labors of 

 the Diet, and which, it says, were due to the 

 sincere union existing between the King and 

 the nation. It adds : 



The Diet has put an end to the uncertainty hither- 

 to prevailing. Both halves of the empire are inde- 

 pendent of each other as regards the conduct of their 

 own affairs, and they exercise an equal constitutional 

 influence over the affairs which are common to both. 

 The monarchy has sought and found a rallying-point 

 within itself, and now marches onward with renewed 

 strength, in a path which will conduce to the peace 

 and welfare of the country, and to its preservation of 

 the position which it is called upon to take up among 

 European nations. The King nourishes the convic- 

 tion that the new constitutional bases which have al- 

 ready effected so much good, and so greatly strength- 

 ened the monarchy, will be durable, and beneficial to 

 the interests of the country. 



Complaints have arisen among commercial 

 men in Vienna and Pesth concerning the sand- 

 banks which have again formed at the Sa- 

 lina mouth of the Danube. The keeping open of 

 this mouth was, by the Treaty of Paris of 1856, 

 intrusted to a so-called " European Committee 

 of Regulation," the seat of which has been 

 Galatz. It is contended in Pesth that the 

 navigation of the Salina mouth has again he- 



