58 



AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN MONARCHY. 



4th. It met again on October 4th. The Gov- 

 ernment sent in the budget, and several plans 

 for an intended revenue reform were submitted 

 to the House. The Czechic deputies early in 

 the session repeated their old tactics of having 

 an address read refusing to take part in the 

 proceedings. The President, Dr. Rechbauer, 

 thereupon declared their seats vacant. 



The Eastern question kept the Austrian di- 

 plomatists very busy during the year, Austria 

 being, by its position and the composition of 

 its population, one of the nations of Europe 

 most interested in the struggle. Even during 

 the rebellion in the Herzegovina, the Slavic 

 population of the Austrian Empire very plainly 

 expressed their sympathies for their struggling 

 brethren in Turkey. After Servia and Mon- 

 tenegro had taken up arms in the movement 

 for a union of all the Slavic tribes, the situ- 

 ation became critical for Austria, as her Slavic 

 population appeared to be eager to join in the 

 war. On the other hand, the Government en- 

 deavored to preserve the strictest neutrality, 



BOHEMIAN PEASANTS. 



completely blockading the Turkish border. In 

 the negotiations which ensued between the 

 Turkish Government and the great powers of 

 Europe, Austria took a prominent part. In 

 the middle of September it declared its con- 

 currence in the Anglo-Russian peace proposals 

 to be submitted to Turkey. At the close of 

 September the Czar Alexander of Russia ad- 

 dressed a long autograph letter to the Emperor, 

 after having previously (in June) had a confer- 

 ence with him at Prague. Both the contents 

 of the letter and the proceedings of the con- 

 ference remained a secret, although it was 

 generally surmised that in his letter the Czar 

 proposed the joint occupation of the Christian 

 provinces by the two powers Bulgaria by 



Russia, and Bosnia and the Herzegovina by 

 Austria in order to secure in this manner 

 proper guarantees for the reforms to be pro- 

 posed. The Emperor of Austria, in his an- 

 swer to this letter, which also remained a se- 

 cret, is supposed to have stated that every 

 step taken in this matter must be characterized 

 by the same unity which had marked the pre- 

 vious steps of the great powers, and that it 

 therefore depended upon the consent of all 

 the powers whether the Porte should be pro- 

 ceeded against in such a manner, and to whom 

 the execution of this plan should be com- 

 mitted. In October the Czar sent another 

 letter to the Emperor, which was believed to 

 renew his former propositions. A strong 

 party, led by the Archduke Albert, was work- 

 ing for the same end in Austria. Immediately 

 after the assembling of the Reichstag in Octo- 

 ber two interpellations were addressed to the 

 Government, one from the Germans and one 

 from the Slavi. On October 27th Prince Auers- 

 perg, the president of the ministry, replied to 

 both. In answer to the Germans, he stated 

 that, although the Constitution contained no 

 clause regarding the interference of the cis- 

 Leithan Government with the Ministry of For- 

 eign Affairs, still such interference was war- 

 ranted by the reaction of the foreign policy 

 upon home affairs. The Government had al- 

 ways fulfilled its duties in this respect, and re- 

 ceived most willing information from the Min- 

 ister of Foreign Affairs on every phase of the 

 political situation. A more direct interference 

 had not been warranted, as the ministerial 

 programme, repeatedly approved by the cis- 

 Leithan Government and the delegations, had 

 been strictly carried out. The cis-Leithan 

 Government would also state in the present 

 phase of the Oriental question that the Min- 

 ister of Foreign Affairs had, by a firm peace 

 policy, done much to preserve the peace of 

 the empire and of Europe in general. The 

 policy of the empire was, above all, the pres- 

 ervation of peace, which in itself excluded 

 the idea of annexation of new territory. No 

 one could appreciate the blessings of peace 

 more than the Government. The entire for- 

 eign policy of Austria was a proof of the con- 

 sistency of this desire. The Government, 

 therefore, was in a position to declare that the 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, in full accord 

 with the Government, would also, under the 

 circumstances mentioned in the interpellation, 

 strive in the first place to secure peace, and 

 would use every means to preserve it for the 

 empire. At the same time no doubt need be 

 entertained but that these attempts would 

 find their natural limit in the duty to guard 

 the safety and the interests of the empire 

 at all times and under all circumstances. A 

 programme which would demand peace with- 

 out this natural limitation would expose the 

 interests of the monarchy in advance, and 

 would be least adapted to secure peace. This 

 was the idea on which the foreign policy of 



