AUSTRO-IIUNGARIAN MONARCHY. 



57 



B^Ung-ve^jKn-a.i:: 

 Steamers j 



Total... 



InbalUuit.. 



No. 



MM 



818 

 LftMJ 



Ml 



8,152 



TIM. 



1,008,914 



. 

 L,6M 



1,442 

 9V 



-.'-'01 



TOM. 



4.',. -72 



BMV944 



l.w.'.:a-, 



The commercial navy on January 1, 1876, 

 was as follows : 



The railroads in operation in Austria proper 

 on January 1, 1876, comprised 10,397 kilome- 

 tres (1 kilometre = 0.62 mile). 



The work of the Post-Office in Austria proper 

 in 1875 was as follows: 



Letters on which postage was due 169,276,000 



Postal-cards 21,428,000 



Free letters 26,255,000 



Samples 6,578,000 



Printed matter 19,794,000 



The number of post-offices was 4,126. 

 The telegraph lines and wires in operation 

 in 1875 were as follows : 



Kilometre*. 



Lines 82,S88, 4 



Wires 84,884 



The number of telegraph-stations was 2,212. 

 The number of dispatches sent and received 

 was 4,547,830. 



The new armament of the Austrian artillery 

 with the Uchatius gun was completed during 

 the year. The Uchatius gun like the Krupp, 

 is a breech-loader, and has given, in comparison 

 with the Prussian weapon, the most satisfac- 

 tory results. The alloy of which it is made is 

 a simple mixture of copper and tin, but the pe- 

 culiar plan adopted for suddenly cooling the 

 mass after casting is maintained a close secret. 

 Analysis of the metal gives no clew to the na- 

 ture of this operation, the result of which is 

 to secure an even and crystalline alloy free from 

 "honey-comb" and "tin-pitting," which are 

 the usual defects met with in bronze-work. 

 Am-r casting the cannon, and suddenly cool- 

 ing it, General von Uchatius dilates the bore 

 by introducing a steel wedge, which increases 

 the calibre considerably, and places the weapon 

 in a state of tension that is said to add much 

 to its capacity to withstand the effects of 

 continued firing. The expense of the bronze 

 weapon is far less than that of the steel can- 

 non of Krupp, for while a field-piece of the 

 latter construction costs no less than 114, if 

 fashioned of crucible steel, the value of the 

 Uchatius gun is not more than 35. As it is, 

 the new weapons are to cost the Austrian Gov- 



ernment upward of 1,500,000, BO that, had 

 the Austro-Hungarian army been fitted out 

 with Krupp guns instead, more than three times 

 as much money would have been required. 



The two Houses of the Reichsrath resumed 

 their labors in January. The Herrenhaus on 

 January 14th took up the discussion of the mo- 

 nastic association bill, which had been brought 

 in by the Government in 1874.* Cardinal 

 Schwarzenberg and all the bishops and abbots 

 had taken their seats on this occasion. It was 

 bitterly attacked by the cardinal and other 

 Catholic speakers. The former stated that 

 whoever attacked the con vents attacked Chris- 

 tianity. The convents were the bulwarks of the 

 Church, and were the first points to be attacked 

 by those who opposed the Catholic Church. 

 Minister Stremayr, speaking for the Govern- 

 ment, stated that no hostile act against these 

 corporations was intended by the law. It could 

 never be the object of the state to meddle with 

 the inner relations of the Church. On the 17th 

 the entire law was finally passed to a second 

 and third reading. On the other hand, the law 

 regulating the legal status of the Old Catholics 

 was rejected.! The monastic association law 

 was passed in the Chamber of Deputies in Feb- 

 ruary, after considerable debate. In Novem- 

 ber, Minister Stremayr informed the confes- 

 sional committee of the House of Deputies 

 that the Emperor had refused to sign the law 

 as framed by the two Houses of the Reichsrath, 

 but that he had authorized the ministry to 

 bring in a new law. On February 9th the 

 Chamber of Deputies adopted the new mar- 

 riage law, according to the majority report of 

 the committee. The discussion turned chiefly 

 on the question in what manner the impedi- 

 ment to marriage was to be removed in the 

 case of clerics. The majority report as adopted 

 by the House made a distinction between those 

 who had received the higher and the lower 

 orders, and proposed that, in the case of the 

 former, the impediment to marriage should 

 only be removed by a change of religion, while 

 the latter would merely be required to leave 

 the clergy. The minority was opposed to this 

 distinction, and proposed that the vow of 

 celibacy should no longer be valid after the 

 cleric had renounced his profession, no matter 

 whether he had received higher or lower orders, 

 and without leaving the religious community 

 which regarded the vow of celibacy as an im- 

 pediment to marriage. A third proposition, 

 by Freiherr von Handel, which was sanctioned 

 by the Minister of Justice, also wished to see 

 no distinction made between the higher and 

 the lower clergy, but demanded that a change 

 of religion should in all cases precede the legal- 

 ization of marriage. The other propositions 

 of the committee regarding mixed marriages, 

 and the remarriage of persons who had left 

 the Catholic Church, were adopted without 

 change. The Reichsrath adjourned on March 



* See ANNUAL CrcLorjeoiA for 1874, p. 58. 

 t M A.NSVAL CYCLOP JU>IA for 1875, p. 59. 



