66 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



formation of the ministry, holds no portfolio. 

 The Minister of Agriculture is Count Falken- 

 hayn, one of the original ministers. Count S. 

 Conrad von Eybesfeld, appointed Jan. 17, 1880, 

 directs the department of Public Worship and 

 Instruction. Dr. J. Dunajeffsky, Minister of 

 Finance, entered the Cabinet June 26, 1880. 

 The Minister of Commerce and National Econ- 

 omy is Baron F. Pino von Friedenthal, and of 

 Justice A. Prazak, both appointed Jan. 4, 1881. 



Finance. The product of taxes increased 

 from 302,851,000 guldens in 1876 to 347,034,- 

 000 in 1881, the increase in the direct taxes 

 being from 90,942,000 to 93,608,000 guldens, 

 and in the indirect taxes from 211,909,000 to 

 253,426,000 guldens. 



The budget estimate of receipts in 1881 was 

 409,645,994 guldens; the actual receipts 441,- 

 939,940 guldens; the estimated expenditures, 

 463,112,304 guldens; the actual expenditures, 

 477,785,771 guldens. The budget for 1883 

 makes the total gross receipts 463,765,371 gul- 

 dens, and the total net receipts 333,072,525. 

 The revenue from direct imposts is estimated 

 at 92,905,000 guldens, of which the land-tax 

 furnishes 33,000,000 guldens, the house-tax 

 26,505,000 ; industrial imposts, 9,500,000 ; the 

 income-tax, 23,000,000, and arrears, etc., 900,- 

 000. The customs revenue* is placed at 42,- 

 764,196 guldens, and the cost of collection at 

 27,893,340 guldens. The excise duties are ex- 

 pected to yield 85,358,600 guldens, of which 

 22,200,000 guldens are derived from beer, 

 7,500,000 from spirits, 4,113,000 from wine, 

 4,930,000 from the cattle- tax, and 37,209,000 

 from sugar ; the cost of collection is estimated 

 at 12,482,940 guldens. The yield of the salt 

 monopoly is estimated at 19,682,000 guldens, 

 cost of collection 3,017,000 guldens ;. tobacco 

 monopoly 67,800,000 guldens, cost of collection 

 24,061,300 guldens ; stamps, 16,730,000 guldens 

 net; legal dues, 32,177,000 guldens; the lot- 

 tery 20,223,000 guldens, cost of collection 12,- 

 459,000 guldens; postal receipts 20,140,000 

 guldens, expense of administration 16,249,430 

 guldens ; telegraph receipts 4,500,000 guldens, 

 expenses 3,577,970 guldens; railroad receipts 

 17, 750,710 guldens, expenses 19,393,853 gul- 

 dens ; receipts from domains and forests 3,992,- 

 000 guldens, expenses 3,152,000 guldens; re- 

 ceipts from mines 6,143,711 guldens, expenses 

 5,308,100 guldens. The ordinary expenditures 

 are estimated at 432,772,959 guldens ; the ex- 

 traordinary expenditures at 59,186,877 gul- 

 dens; total, 491,959,836 guldens, showing a 

 deficit of 28,194,465 guldens. Of the extraor- 

 dinary expenditures 32,350,118 guldens fall 

 within the year, and 26,836,759 guldens cover 

 the following year, ending March 31, 1885. Of 

 the ordinary expenditures the principal heads 

 are as follow : Ministry of Finance, including 

 costs of collection, 97,846,375 guldens; matric- 

 ular share in the common expenses, 86,185,189 

 guldens; Ministry of Commerce for railroads, 

 posts, telegraphs, post-service, etc., 39,302,903 

 guldens; Ministry of Justice, 19,759,400 gul- 



dens ; Ministry of Worship and Instruction, 18,- 

 011,395 guldens, of which 4,193,470 are for 

 worship, 10,630,595 for public instruction, and 

 1,187,330 for general expenses ; Ministry of the 

 Interior, 15,691,500 guldens, of which 6,073,150 

 are for public works, 3,588,000 for police, and 

 5,521,000 for civil administration ; Ministry of 

 Agriculture for domains, mines, the royal stud, 

 etc., 10,688,902 guldens; Ministry of National 

 Defense, 8,530,300 guldens, of which 3,624,000 

 are for the Landwehr and 4,519,300 for the 

 gendarmerie and military police; imperial 

 household, 4,650,000 guldens; civil pensions, 

 15,143,900; public debt, 117,013,281. 



The public debt of the Austrian Empire, 

 contracted before 1868, is treated as the com- 

 mon debt of the two monarchies. The annual 

 interest and sinking-fund charges are divided 

 between the two governments, Austria bear- 

 ing 70 per cent, and Hungary 30 per cent. 

 There is also a small common floating debt, 

 consisting of 60,500,000 guldens in paper 

 assignats. The charges on the common debt 

 in 1883 amounted to 127,600,392 guldens, of 

 which the Austrian share is 97,283,626, the 

 Hungarian 30,316,766 guldens. The public 

 debt, including the common debt, the provincial 

 debts assumed by the monarchy, the paper as- 

 signats, 351,493,000 guldens in currency notes, 

 the floating obligations of the treasury, etc., 

 amounted on Jan. 1, 1883, to 3,227,673,323 

 guldens, against 3,212,230,337 in 1882. There 

 are besides 154,830,942 guldens of obligations 

 assumed for the commutation of peasants' rents, 

 making a total of 3,382,504,264 guldens, re- 

 quiring an expenditure in 1883 of 121,161,243 

 guldens, not including the share of Hungary 

 in the service of the common debt. 



Political Situation. The opportunist policy of 

 the compromise Taafe ministry commands a 

 fluctuating but usually large majority in the 

 Reichsrath by fresh steps each year in the di- 

 rection of federalism. This mode of "concili- 

 ation " satisfies all elements save the once om- 

 nipotent but now bitter and desperate German 

 party, which forms a large and hitherto com- 

 pact minority, still holding about two fifths of 

 the seats in the House of Deputies, yet is helpless 

 in its isolation, and is inclined to give np the 

 fierce contest against the new tendencies, since 

 it has been denied the moral support it ex- 

 pected from Germany, and since its popular 

 constituency is falling away. The combina- 

 tion that forms the majority, and rather drives 

 than follows Count Taafe, is composed of the 

 Czechish and Polish groups, which are strug- 

 gling for autonomy and the preservation of 

 their respective nationalities and languages, 

 and of the Clerico-Conservative Hohenwart 

 and Liechtenstein Clubs. The small Coronini 

 Club, of Istrians and Italians, votes on some 

 questions with the Government and some- 

 times with the minority. The regular^ opposi- 

 tion consists of the German, Centralistic, or 

 Constitutional party, which controlled the Gov- 

 ernment after the war of 1866, and exercised 



