AUSTRO-HUNGABIAN MONARCHY. 



63 



fewer Ed. Suss, the reporter of the majority 

 of tin- committee, confined himself to moving 

 that the constitutional sanction he given to 

 the Treaty of Berlin. He was followed by 

 l>r. Horbst, the reporter of the minority, who 

 st.n.d that the House undoubtedly had the 

 privilege to criticise the events which had 

 como over Austria, and had indicted on the 

 country an<l tlio citizens such heavy burdens. 

 Hi- added that the policy of presenting to the 

 country fait* accompli*, which had been in- 

 augurated so successfully by the Government, 

 was continued uninterruptedly; that every 

 day new fails accompli* were created ; and 

 that every day new interrogation marks were 

 placed after the provisions of the Constitu- 

 tion. He also referred to the address of the 

 Kmperor of last November, and declared that 

 since that time no change had taken place to 

 satisfy the people. He closed his address as 

 follows: "This is a difficult time for parlia- 

 ments, not only in Austria but in all of Europe. 

 The free speech of the individual is to be re- 

 stricted, but it would be a still greater crime 

 if the Chamber of Deputies was to renounce its 

 free speech." The debate ended on the 25th, 

 in the acceptance of the Treaty of Berlin by 

 154 votes against 112, together with the reso- 

 lution proposed by the Left Centre expressing 

 the conviction that in the direction of foreign 

 affairs the Government would henceforth take 

 into due consideration the views expressed by 

 the House in its address to the Crown on No- 

 vember 5, 1878, regarding the serious financial 

 position and constitutional complications to be 

 apprehended from the occupation of Bosnia. 

 Unlike the first debate on this subject, the de- 

 bate on this occasion grew more and more 

 animated toward the end, attracting universal 

 popular attention. This was due to the cir- 

 cumstance that the internal strife of the differ- 

 ent fractions of the Constitutional party, sub- 

 dued in the earlier debate by a compromise, 

 came this time, after the failure of the com- 

 promise, to the front. Added to this, while 

 in the former debate on the address the Gov- 

 ernment maintained almost a passive attitude, 

 Dr. linger, its best speaker, came forward in 

 the latter debate, and in a brilliant constitu- 

 tional expose set forth the anomalies which 

 must needs arise if the paragraph of the Con- 

 stitution giving the Reichsrath the right of ac- 

 cepting or rejecting international treaties were 

 taken too literally and applied without due 

 discrimination. This brought to the front the 

 constitutional question, in which most of those 

 now in opposition had made their reputation, 

 and afforded them an opportunity to remind 

 their adversaries that they had become faith- 

 less to their colors. In the heat of the debate 

 personal attacks and rejoinders became more 

 and more frequent, till toward the end a warm 

 discussion was developed such as had not been 

 heard for years in the House. The effect of 

 all this was, that the schism and decomposition 

 of the Constitutional party, long patent by the 



proceedings of the clubs, but hitherto deferred 

 or prevented by a series of compromises from 

 appearing in the House, now came openly to 

 light there, manifesting such an intense revul- 

 sion that any further attempts to solder the 

 broken party seemed hopeless. There had been 

 many causes gradually leading to this result, 

 the principal one being that the party had in 

 the course of time lost, so to speak, its right 

 of existence in a country endowed with a par- 

 liamentary Government. In face of the com- 

 bination of Clericals, Federalists, and Nation- 

 alists in the time of the Hohenwart Ministry, 

 and of the Gzechist fundamental articles threat- 

 ening destruction to the work of compromise 

 effected in 1867, and aiming to upset the du- 

 alistic organization of Austro - Hungary, the 

 gathering together of all the German liberal 

 elements, however antagonistic otherwise, in 

 the one purpose of upholding the present Con- 

 stitution, insuring the virtual supremacy of the 

 German element in Austria and the consoli- 

 dation of parliamentary government, was no- 

 thing but an act of self-defense. Great, too, 

 had been the results of this combination within 

 the past seven years. By substituting for the 

 deputation of the provincial Diets direct elec- 

 tions to the Reichsrath, the power of particu- 

 larism had been broken and the supremacy of 

 the Reichsrath fully established ; while by the 

 regular working of parliamentary government 

 the vitality of the new liberal institutions had 

 been more and more demonstrated, and the 

 system had recommended itself to the public, 

 more and more gaining the bulk of the popula- 

 tion. The more, however, the object for which 

 the party had been formed was attained, the 

 bond hitherto keeping the party together was 

 loosed. The most timid among the defenders 

 of the Constitution ceased to fear a reaction, 

 and even the most obstinate among its oppo- 

 nents, the Czechs, despaired of their cause. 

 The dissimilar elements, therefore, comprising 

 all political shades, being no longer held to- 

 gether by a common object, necessarily began 

 to resolve themselves into their original shape. 

 In the beginning of February the Emperor re- 

 called Count Taaffe, Governor of the Tyrol, 

 and intrusted him with the formation of a new 

 cabinet. On February 4th all the subjects 

 awaiting discussion in the Lower House of the 

 Reichsrath were removed from the order of 

 the day, pending the definitive appointment of 

 a ministry. In the beginning of February the 

 Upper House of the Reichsrath adopted the re- 

 port of the committee on the Treaty of Berlin, 

 recommending its adoption, unanimously and 

 without debate. On the llth an imperial de- 

 cree was published accepting the resignation 

 of the Minister President Prince Auersperg, 

 and of the Minister without portfolio Dr. Un- 

 ger, and appointing Dr. Stremayr President 

 of the Council, Count Taaffe Minister of the 

 Interior, and reappointing the former Minis- 

 ters to their posts. Even those most opposed 

 to such a solution saw no alternative after the 



