HUNGARY. 



389 



to resort to extraordinary taxation. Accord- 

 ing to the calculations of the Government, the 

 deficit for the current year was estimated at 

 25,500,000 florins. At the end of last year 

 there was in hand a cash reserve of 12,500,000 

 florins, and 32,000,000 florins remaining of the 

 last loan. If this whole deficit was covered 

 from this source, after deducting the sums pay- 

 able in December on account of the next year, 

 there would remain, on the 31st of December, 

 1875, 14,500,000 florins, which the Minister of 

 Finance did not think a sufficient reserve to 

 begin the year with ; for, owing to Hungary 

 being chiefly an agricultural country, experi- 

 ence has shown that there is a great decrease 

 in the product of taxation during the first seven 

 months of the year, which after the harvest is 

 in a great measure compensated. There must 

 therefore always be a considerable cash reserve 

 in hand during the first months of the year to 

 defray current expenses, which are going on 

 all the same. The minister's proposal was 

 therefore to apply only 12,000,000 florins of 

 the proceeds of the loan to the covering of the 

 deficit, and to raise 13,000,000 florins by taxa- 

 tion, the chief item of which would be a gen- 

 eral income tax of four per cent. If this was 

 accepted there would be at the beginning of 

 the new year 27,500,000 florins in hand. This 

 sum, with other resources which might be 

 made available by that time, would be suffi- 

 cient to enable the country to look forward 

 without anxiety to the year 1876, and thus 

 leave time for carrying through all those re- 

 ductions on the one hand, and the various 

 financial measures on the other, by which the 

 minister thought it possible to establish a per- 

 fect equilibrium between expenditure and rev- 

 enue. 



An important speech was made, on January 

 29th, by Sennyey, who fully developed the 

 principal features of the political system of 

 which he has been for years the gifted leader. 

 He advocated adhesion to the compact with 

 Austria, a reform of administration with mu- 

 nicipal officers appointed by the Government, 

 reform of the judicial system, solution of the 

 banking question, revision of the commercial 

 treaty, and a reduction of the army. He severe- 

 ly censured the want of energy exhibited by the 

 Government, but acknowledged that he did not 

 expect that the present Diet was willing to co- 

 operate with him in carrying out his views. 

 Though only a small party supports the con- 

 servative programme of Sennyey, he is more 

 than ever recognized by men of all parties as 

 a rising statesman. The former prime-minis- 

 ter, Lony ay, gave his views on the financial 

 crisis on February 1st, recommending greater 

 economy. A great sensation was produced, 

 on February 4th, by a speech of Kolornan Tisza, 

 the leader of the Left, who for the first time 

 announced the acceptance by himself and his 

 party of the compact (Ausgleich) arrived at in 

 1867 between Austria and Hungary. 



On February llth the Diet, after thirteen 



days' debate, accepted the budget, as presented 

 by the Permanent Finance Committee of the 

 Diet, by an imposing majority. The Deak 

 party, which made the compact with Austria 

 in 1867, and has been in power ever since, rose 

 like one man. The parties headed by Sennyey, 

 Lonyay, and Tisza, voted likewise for it. Yet, 

 immediately after this signal triumph, the min- 

 ister-president rose and asked the House to 

 suspend its sitting, as the ministry, in the face 

 of the altered situation, which opened the pos- 

 sibility of bringing about a cooperation of par- 

 ties hitherto opposed, and of thus making par- 

 liamentary action more rapid and energetic, 

 thought it its duty to waive all personal con- 

 siderations which might be in the way of such 

 a desirable solution, and to ma'ke proposals in 

 this direction to the crown. This movement 

 on the part of the ministry, indicating its in- 

 tention to resign the moment after it had made 

 a show of such an overwhelming majority, 

 seemed one of the greatest parliamentary anom- 

 alies, but the loud approval which this decla- 

 ration elicited on both sides showed clearly 

 enough that this deviation from parliamentary 

 forms was commanded by higher political con- 

 siderations, and that the ministry, by adopting 

 this course, was but following the general feel- 

 ing prevalent in the country. All the promi- 

 nent statesmen, including Sennyey, Lonyay, 

 and Tisza, had audiences with the Emperor, 

 to explain their views on the finances and the 

 general condition of the country. After pro- 

 tracted negotiation, the formation of the new 

 cabinet was at last intrusted to Baron Wenck- 

 heim, the Hungarian minister attached to the 

 person of the Emperor. Tisza was appointed 

 in the new cabinet Minister of the Interior ; 

 Szell, Minister of Finance ; Perczel, Minister 

 of Justice ; TrSfort, Minister of Public Wor- 

 ship ; Simonyi, Minister of Commerce ; Pechy, 

 Minister of Public Works; Szende, Minister 

 for the Defense of the Country; Pejacsevitch, 

 Minister for Croatia and Slavonia. In the place 

 of Perczel, Ghyczy was elected President of 

 the Diet. As the adherents of Lonyay, and 

 likewise the Croatian deputies, joined the new 

 coalition majority of the Diet, the ministry 

 could rely on the support of about 350 mem- 

 bers. The unanimous reelection of Tisza as 

 member of the Diet at Debreczin, one of the 

 chief seats of the ultra-Magyar opposition to 

 Austrian rule, was received as an indication 

 that his reconciliation with the Government 

 was fully approved by his party. 



The Diet was closed on May 24th by the 

 premier as royal commissioner. The royal 

 speech said that adverse circumstances, the 

 financial crisis, and bad crops, made it very 

 difficult to provide for the state expenses and 

 necessary investments. The financial question 

 being thus in the foreground, legislative meas- 

 ures were delayed. Still, many important 

 measures were passed, which the speech enu- 

 merated. Much remained to be done, but con- 

 fidence was expressed that it would be done, 



