68 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



showing an organization, with head-quarters 

 in Switzerland, and ramifications throughout 

 Austria-Hungary, for the spread of Anarchist 

 literature. By the confession of Stellmacher, 

 the murder of the detective was conspired by 

 a group of Socialists, who appointed him to 

 perform the act. On the evidence, though 

 meager and conflicting, of members of Eisert's 

 household, he was convicted of the murder of 

 the banker, after confessing that he killed 

 Bloch, and was executed, Aug. 8. Kaminer- 

 er, the murderer of Hlubeck, and one of the 

 murderers of Eisert, was tried and condemned. 

 Several of the accomplices in the Eisert rob- 

 bery were arrested. The police soon made up 

 their minds that the two convicted murderers, 

 and a very few other persons, were the only 

 Anarchists that were capable of desperate and 

 criminal deeds. In September they discovered 

 a secret printing-press in the house of a decora- 

 tive painter named Bachmann. He, with his 

 wife and several associates, who were also ar- 

 rested, had been engaged since the execution 

 of Stellmacher in printing and distributing 

 black-rimmed circulars of incendiary import, 

 pretending to emanate from an executive com- 

 mittee of the revolutionary party. 



Normal Work-Day. The party of the Left 

 formerly opposed social legislation as obsti- 

 nately as the German Liberals. But after the 

 conversion of the most influential section of 

 the latter to the principle of social reform, 

 they have recanted the theory of laissez-faire, 

 and, in order to regain the sympathies of the 

 working- classes, and to prove their capacity 

 for positive legislative work, inaugurated in- 

 dustrial legislation by proposing a legal limit 

 to the working-day. They copied the Swiss 

 law, which makes eleven hours a legal day's 

 work. The fractions that compose the ma- 

 jority readily acceded to such a proposition, 

 emanating from the party that especially rep- 

 resented the manufacturing class. The effect 

 of the measure, however, was defeated by an 

 amendment, which passed by a scant majority, 

 leaving the Ministry of Finance to make out a 

 list of industries, upon representations from 

 the Chambers of Commerce, in which twelve 

 hours' labor will be allowed, which list is sub- 

 ject to revision every three years. 



Other Legislation. The Government made no 

 further progress in their programme of tax 

 reform. Authorization was obtained for the 

 acquisition of several railroads by the state. 

 Additional transfers of state railroads from the 

 central administration to the provincial authori- 

 ties were effected against the lively resistance 

 of the German Liberals. Notable among the 

 minor legislation was an act according indem- 

 nity to ^ndividuals condemned by the tribunals 

 whose innocence is subsequently established. 



Vienna Cattle Regulations. Simultaneously with 

 the opening of the new Vienna cattle-market, 

 built at a cost of 2,000,000 guldens, the Lower 

 Austrian Government undertook to regulate 

 prices of beef, which were kept up by a com- 



bination between Hungarian cattle -growers 

 and Vienna commission merchants. The deal- 

 ers refused to use the market, subject to such 

 a control, and transferred the wholesale busi- 

 ness to Presburg. In the beginning of April, 

 1884, the Government issued an order re- 

 stricting the direct importation of beeves 

 from Presburg, by imposing quarantine and 

 sanitary inspection at the frontier. The order 

 raised a storm of indignation in Hungary, 

 where it was declared to be conceived in the 

 interest of the Bohemian and Moravian stock- 

 raisers. Minister-President Tisza threatened 

 retaliatory measures, and hinted at the abroga- 

 tion of the Austro-German reciprocity treaty. 

 The measure failed of its purpose. The Bohe- 

 mian cattle that were offered at the market 

 were below the standard, so that the butchers 

 went to Presburg for their supply. On that 

 account, and because the decree was consid- 

 ered an infraction of the customs union, and 

 was likely to lead to a serious conflict with 

 Hungary, it was rescinded. 



Hungary. The kingdom of Hungary pos- 

 sesses an ancient Constitution, consisting of 

 fundamental statutes enacted at various dates 

 since the foundation of the kingdom in the 

 ninth century. The Constitution was abro- 

 gated after the rebellion of 1848, restored in 

 1860, and extended to its ancient limits in 1867, 

 when the dual compact was concluded with 

 Austria. The Hungarian Diet consists of an 

 upper chamber, called House of Magnates, and 

 a lower, called House of Representatives. 



The Cabinet. The Council of Ministers is 

 composed as follows : President and Minister 

 of the Interior, Koloman Tisza de Brosjeno ; 

 Minister Adlatus, Baron B. d'Orczy ; Minister 

 of Public Instruction and Worship, A. de Tre- 

 fort ; Minister of the Honved, Lieut. - Gen. 

 Baron Fejervary, who was appointed on the 

 death of Count Guido Radayin October, 1884; 

 Minister of Communications and Public Works, 

 Baron G. Kemeny ; Minister for Croatia and 

 Slavonia, K. Bedekovich de Komer ; Minister 

 of Justice, Dr. T. Pauler ; Minister of Finance, 

 Count J. Szapary; Minister of Agriculture, 

 Industry, and Commerce, Count P. Szechenyi. 



Finance. According to the closed accounts 

 for 1881, the ordinary receipts amounted to 

 284,T80,897 guldens ; the extraordinary receipts 

 to 203,806,965 guldens; total, 488,587,862 gul- 

 dens; the ordinary disbursements to 309,729,- 

 876 guldens; the extraordinary disbursements 

 to 195,163,961 guldens ; total, 504,893,837 gul- 

 dens, leaving a deficit of 16,305,975 guldens. 

 The total receipts are estimated in the budget 

 for 1881 at 301,029,869 guldens, and the total 

 expenditures at 322,711,484 guldens, showing 

 an estimated deficit of 21,681,615 guldens. 



The direct taxes, on lands, houses, industrial 

 establishments, financial societies, capital and 

 incomes, transportation, military exemption, 

 etc., are expected to produce 89,080,400 gul- 

 dens; the excise duties, 15,734,873 guldens; 

 the tobacco monopoly, 38,363,464 guldens; 



