AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN MONARCHY. 



55 



the Emperor and people of Austria was like- 

 wise very cordial, although many members of 

 the imperial family, and of the high aristocra- 

 cy, left Vienna in time in order to avoid meet- 

 ing the excommunicated king. 



During the summer months all the political 

 parties were active in their preparations for 

 the first general elections according to the new 

 electoral law which took place in the latter 

 jcirt of October. The parties favorable to the 

 present Constitution obtained a considerable 

 majority: the German Liberals gained several 

 seats in Bohemia over the Czechs, and in Ga- 

 tlie Ruthenians, who are favorable to the 

 Constitution, gained ground against the Polish 

 nationalists. The session of the Reiohsrath 

 was opened on November 4th. On the day 

 before, a meeting of all the feudal federalist 

 and Catholic opponents of the Constitution 

 was held, which was attended by Czechs, 

 Slovenes, a few Poles, the feudal deputies and 

 the Catholic deputies of the rural districts of 

 Tyrol, Styria, and Upper Austria. It was re- 

 solved to leave every deputy of the opposition 

 at liberty to enter the Reichsrath or not, and 

 it was expected that nearly all, except forty- 

 Jive Czechs and Moravians, would enter. On 

 November 5th, the Emperor Francis Joseph 

 delivered the opening speech, in which new 

 laws, for the protection of commerce from the 

 disastrous consequence of panics, and for the 

 new reflations of religious affairs, were an- 

 nounced. The Reichstag elected Dr. Reeh- 

 baner, one of the leaders of the German Lib- 

 erals, president, and Vidulich (Dalmatian) and 

 Pillersdorf (German) vice-presidents. In the 

 address to the Emperor, which the Reichstag 

 adopted in reply to the speech from the throne, 

 it expressed the hope that the principle of 

 complete liberty of religion and conscience 

 would be carried through, and that the sover- 

 eignty of the state governments would be 

 guarded against any encroachments on tho 

 part of Church boards. 



The International Exhibition at Vienna was 

 opened by the Emperor on May 1-4, in tho pres- 

 ence of the Empress and several grand-dukes 

 and grand-duchesses, the Crown-prince and 

 the Crown-7>rincess of Germany, the Prince 

 of Wales and Prince Arthur of Great Britain, 

 the Crown-prince of Denmark, and of from 

 80,000 to 40,000 people. The prime-minister, 

 Prince Anersberg, represented the Exhibition 

 as the Emperor's own work, for which the 

 people of Austria offered to him their heart- 

 felt thanks. In tho name of the city in Vi- 

 enna, the Emperor was thanked by the burgo- 

 r, Dr. Felder. It was generally observed 

 that there was less enthusiasm among the 

 masses of the people than at any of the preced- 

 ing groat international exhibitions. \Viththo 

 exception of the German and tho English 

 departments, the preparations were far from 

 being completed. This was especially the 

 case in the department of the United States, 

 the commissioners of which had been sus- 



pended by President Grant, in consequence 

 of grave charges brought against them. The 

 number of countries represented at the Ex- 

 hibition was larger than on any of the pre- 

 ceding exhibitions, as not only the countries 

 of Europe and America were represented, but 

 also the empires of the East, which of late 

 have begnn to establish closer commercial and 

 diplomatic relations with the Christian world. 

 China, Japan, India, Persia, Morocco, Tunis, 

 had sent their contributions, no less than Tur- 

 key and Egypt. The International Jury of 

 tho Exhibition began its labors on%une 16th. 

 Each of the twenty-six groups into which the 

 objects of the Exhibition were divided had 

 its own special jury, and the presidents of the 

 several groups formed a Council of Presidents. 

 Tho President of this Council was Prince Jo- 

 seph Adolphus Schwarzenberg; Vice-Presi- 

 dents, the Netherlandish ambassador, Baron 

 Heeckeren, the Brazilian ambassador, Baron 

 Porto Seguro, and the Swedish ambassador, 

 Count Piper. Tho series of literary Interna- 

 tional Congresses which were held in con- 

 nection with the Exhibition began on April 

 10th, with an International Patent Congress. 

 The Congress declared in favor of efficient 

 patent laws for the protection of inventors. 

 It also resolved that only inventors should 

 obtain patents ; that patents should be issued 

 for, or extended to, a term of fifteen years ; 

 that a complete publication of patents should 

 be obligatory. An international patent law 

 was declared to be greatly desirable, and the 

 Austrian Government promised to use its 

 diplomatic influence in behalf of such a law. 

 An executive committee, with the General- 

 Director of the Exhibition, Baron Schwarz, at 

 its head, was appointed to carry out the in- 

 tentions of the Congress. The Congress of 

 Agriculture and Forestry was attended by 

 representatives of a large number of countries, 

 among them of Turkey and the South Ameri- 

 can republics. The first subject ot discussion 

 was the protection of useful birds, and a reso- 

 lution was passed to ask the Austrian Govern- 

 ment to secure the protection of the birds 

 which were useful to agriculture, by means 

 of international treaties. According to the 

 opinion of the Congress the capture and the 

 killing of birds which eat insects are to bo un- 

 conditionally forbidden ; a list of the birds 

 which ought to be prptected is to be made ; 

 the birds which mostly feed on grain should 

 be protected during the time from March 1st to 

 September 15th ; the capture of birds by means 

 of slings, traps, and lines, is to be totally for- 

 bidden ; as well as the robbing of birds'-eggs 

 and young birds, the destruction of nests, and 

 the sale of birds, living or dead, which eat 

 insects. The Austrian Government was also 

 requested to exert itself in behalf of bringing 

 about an international agreement among the 

 states for improving the statistics of agricult- 

 ure and forestry. A series of six resolutions 

 was adopted, suggesting measures for the 



