AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN MONARCHY. 



45 



uate the disquietude from which Europe had 

 already suffered long enough. The third ob- 

 jection referred to the too great extension of 

 the small neighboring States. Not only was it 

 not against the interests of Austria- Hungary 

 that these communities should improve and 

 better their condition, but, on the contrary, 

 this country had cooperated at the Conference 

 with those who urged that Montenegro should 

 receive some increase of territory ; but exten- 

 sion must neither be in such measure nor in 

 such a direction as to interfere with Austria's 

 natural lines of communication with the East, 

 and be, as it were, a stimulus to further aspi- 

 rations calculated to cause continual disquie- 

 tude and agitation. In pointing out these ob- 

 jections, the Minister said he only wished to 

 indicate the general direction he had followed 

 and would adhere to without any mental re- 

 servation at the Congress. He had given frank 

 expression to these views in St. Petersburg and 

 elsewhere. 



On May 25th the Austrian Government oc- 

 cupied, at the request of the Turkish Govern- 

 ment, the fortress of Ada Kaleh on the Dan- 

 ube. The fortress is situated on an island 

 which extends along the Austrian bank of the 

 Danube, from which it is separated only by a 

 small branch of the river; while the main 

 stream lies between it and the Servian shore 

 opposite. The island till the middle of the 

 last century formed part of the Austrian terri- 

 tory, and not only does most of the fortress 

 date from that time, but even some of the 

 original guns remain. 



The session of the Austrian Delegation was 

 closed on June 8th after the common budget, 

 amounting to 106,673,466 florins, had been 

 passed. The Austrian Reichsrath, after the 

 passage of the compromise bill (see HUNGARY) 

 was closed on June 28th. 



In the beginning of July Freiherr von Zoll- 

 heirn, the Cis-Leithan Minister of the Interior, 

 resigned on account of ill health, and Prince 

 Auersperg was temporarily intrusted with the 

 department. 



On July 30th the Austrian army, in accord- 

 ance with the provision of the treaty of Ber- 

 lin, entered Bosnia. (See TURKEY.) 



The Reichsrath reassembled on October 22d. 

 In the Lower House the President thanked the 

 army for its bravery, heroism, and self-sacrifice, 

 and his remarks were received with loud cheers. 

 The Austrian estimates for 1870, which were 

 distributed to the members, showed a reduc- 

 tion of 12,000,000 florins in the expenditure, 

 and a decrease of 4,000,000 florins in tbe rev- 

 enue, as compared with 1878. 



The Austrian and Hungarian Delegations 

 met in Pesth on November 7th. In reply to 

 an address from the Delegations the Emperor 

 said: 



In view of the great task which awaits you in the 

 present session, I receive with double satisfaction 

 the assurances of your loyal sentiments. The sit- 

 uation was an earnest one when the Delegations last 

 assembled. Events in the East had entered into 

 a decisive phase ; we stood on the eve of a Congress 

 which was to bring the results of the war into har- 

 mony with the requirements of the European bal- 

 ance of power, and with the interests of the Mon- 

 archy, which were closely affected. With a patriot- 

 ism deserving my thanks, at that earnest moment 

 the means were Driven my Government which en- 

 abled it to make its influence successfully felt in 

 both directions during and after the Congress. It 

 is a matter of sincere satisfaction to me that the 

 Congress succeeded in averting the imminent dan- 

 ger of a European war. The consistent and gen- 

 eral fulfillment of the Treaty of Berlin, for which my 

 Government will loyally stand up, is calculated to 

 effectually prevent the return of the dangers which 

 threatened the peace of Europe and our own inter- 

 ests. The Powers assembled in Berlin decided that 

 the occupation and administration of Bosnia and 

 Herzegovina should be intrusted to Austro-Hun- 

 gary. I accepted this task ; but I regret that, in 

 consequeuce of the deep-rooted confusion in the in- 

 ternal state of those countries, it was not possible 

 to carry out the work of occupation peacefully. The 

 resistance, however, which anarchical elements op- 

 posed to our good intentions yielded in a short time 

 to the bravery of my troops. On this occasion the 

 army, based on general liability to military service, 

 stood the test brilliantly. I congratulate vou on its 

 success, gentlemen, as representatives of those peo- 

 ples from the midst of whom the army has issued, 

 and likewise as members of those representative 

 bodies who have supported my Government with 

 discrimination and patriotism in tlie development of 

 the defensive power of the Monarchy. The prompt 

 and thorough solution of our military task has freed 

 the populations of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the 

 terrorism of agitators, and has made it possible for 

 me to order the recall of a considerable portion of 

 the army of occupation. It will now be the earnest 

 endeavor of my Government to harmonize the sac- 

 rifices demanded by this task with the financial con- 

 dition of the Monarchy, and to hasten the time when 

 the administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina may 

 be supported by the revenues of these countries. 

 The hope that this will succeed appears all the bet- 

 ter founded, as our relations to all the Powers con- 

 tinue to be most excellent. Gentlemen, great are 

 the sacrifices demanded of you ; great historical 

 events, to prevent which lay not in the power of 

 any single State, have claimed from the Monarchy 

 unusual exertions; but I am animated by the con- 

 fidence that the patriotism of my peoples and the 

 discrimination of their representatives will prove 

 equal to the greatness of the historical occasion. I 

 am convinced that you will unite your efforts with 

 those of my Government in order that the work be- 

 gun in the 'interest of European peace and the pros- 

 perity and dignity of the Monarchy may be happily 

 terminated. In this firm confidence, 1 wish you 

 success in your work and greet you heartily. 



