AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



69 



stamps, 9,427,320 guldens ; legal dues, 14,350,- 

 000 guldens; the salt monopoly, 14,276,308 

 guldens; lottery, 3,472,468 guldens; net rail- 

 road receipts, 8,653,510 guldens; mines and 

 mint, 6,765,145 guldens; domains, 4,100,000 

 guldens; forests, 6,027,381 guldens; posts, 7,- 

 554,000 guldens ; telegraphs, 1,752,600 guldens. 



The principal branches of expenditure are 

 as follow: Hungarian debt. 58,941,489 gul- 

 dens ; share in the Austrian public debt, 30,- 

 316,700 guldens; matricular quota in the com- 

 mon expenses, 28,629,410 guldens ; commuta- 

 tion of rents, 16,981,174 guldens; commuta- 

 tion of vineyard tithes, 2,372,370 guldens ; in- 

 terest guaranteed to railroads, 10,770,463 gul- 

 dens; pensions, 4,415,367 guldens; imperial 

 household, 4,650,000 guldens; Ministry of Fi- 

 nance, 54,229,279 guldens; Ministry of Ways 

 and Communications, 29,552,484 guldens ; Min- 

 istry of Justice, 10,438,431 guldens; Ministry 

 of the Interior, 8,909,687 guldens; Ministry of 

 War, 6, 951,200 guldens; Ministry of Agricult- 

 ure and Commerce, 8,981,486 guldens ; Min- 

 istry of Worship and Instruction, exclusive of 

 receipts from funds, 4,982,589 guldens; ad- 

 ministration of Croatia and Slavonia, 5,842,- 

 346 guldens ; Diet and Delegations, 1,229,683 

 guldens. 



Of the total product of direct and indirect 

 taxes of the united kingdom of Croatia and 

 Slavonia 55 per cent, are turned into the Hun- 

 garian treasury, and 45 per cent, retained for 

 the autonomous administration of the country. 

 The expenditures on the latter account in 1881 

 amounted to 3,603,464 guldens, of which 1,- 

 871,300 were for internal administration, 498,- 

 907 for worship and instruction, 1,167,257 for 

 the administration of justice, and the rest for 

 the expenses of the Ban and the Diet. 



The public debt, not including the Hungarian 

 portion of the common debt of the empire, 

 amounted in 1882 to 1,118,148,045 guldens. 

 Inclusive of treasury notes and arrears of in- 

 terest, the amount was 1,225,410,183 guldens. 

 The debt has been contracted since 1868, partly 

 to aid the construction of railroads and to pur- 

 chase railroads, and partly to cover deficits, 

 except 219,887,232 guldens of bonds issued in 

 aid of the conversion of feudal rents. The as- 

 sets of the state, consisting of domains, forests, 

 mines, railroads, buildings, bridges, movables, 

 credits, and cash, were reckoned on the same 

 date at 1,259,700,000 guldens. 



The conversion of the 6 per cent, loan into 

 4-per-cents was successfully terminated in 

 1884. This gigantic operation, conducted by 

 a syndicate with the Rothschilds at the head, 

 was begun in Paris before the Bontoux crash, 

 and after the crisis transferred to other cen- 

 ters. It involved the issue of about 550,000,- 

 000 guldens of 4 per cent, bonds. They were 

 taken mainly by German capitalists. The 

 amount of 6 per cents redeemed was 400,000,- 

 000 guldens. The claim of Hungary for a 

 better rating of her credit is borne out by the 

 success of the Government in re-establishing a 



balance between the ordinary revenue and ex- 

 penditure in 1884. 



Legislation. The session that opened Sep- 

 tember 28, 1881, came to an end May 20th. 

 Among the principal acts of the session are the 

 incorporation of the Military Frontier with 

 Croatia-Si avonia, the conversion of the 6-per- 

 cent, rente, the introduction of a system of 

 gendarmerie, the embankment of the Theiss, 

 and the rebuilding of Szegedin, the act for the 

 regulation and state control of intermediate 

 schools, the extensions of the railroad network 

 and the convention with the Austro-Hunga- 

 rian State Railway, and the authorization of 

 new Parliament buildings. The Government, 

 upon the reassembling of the Diet in January, 

 sustained a blow from an unexpected quarter. 

 When the subject of obligatory civil marriage 

 was brought up in 1883, the Government did 

 not venture to proceed beyond a resolution, 

 which was passed November 24th. In Janu- 

 ary the ministry proposed a law legalizing 

 marriages between Christians and Jews. Such 

 a law has long existed in Austria. The Pre- 

 mier specially identified himself with the pro- 

 ject, which was promptly passed by more than 

 the normal majority. An agitation was then 

 set on foot by the Clerical Conservatives and 

 the Anti-Semites. Magnates who never en- 

 tered the legislative hall were summoned in 

 sufficient number to throw out the bill in the 

 Upper Chamber. It was the first time that 

 the House of Magnates had ventured to assert 

 their legislative powers in opposition to the 

 Government. The bill was sent up a second 

 time, and again voted down by a bare majority, 

 which included Austrian noblemen who pos- 

 sessed no interest in Hungary, except the 

 hereditary right to sit in the House of Mag- 

 nates, who came in sufficient numbers to turn 

 the scale. The members who appeared for the 

 purpose of defeating the measure were mostly 

 frivolous young nobles, with no serious motives. 



The New Parliament The elections for the 

 next triennial session took place in July. The 

 Liberal or Government party maintained its 

 preponderance, electing 230 members. The 

 Moderate Opposition returned 60. The party 

 of Independence, otherwise called the party 

 of '48, elected 75. The Anti-Semitic party 

 obtained 21 seats and took their place for the 

 first time as an organized party. The unat- 

 tached members, or " Savages," who usually 

 vote together and with the Government in 

 most questions, hold ten seats. The groups rep- 

 resenting the non-Magyar nationalities are the 

 Transylvanian Saxons, whose 14 members act 

 in concert with the Moderate Opposition ; the 

 40 Croatians, who are usually found in alliance 

 with the Government ; and 6 Roumanians and 

 Serbs. The Government commands a majority 

 of more than 50 over all the opposition parties 

 and groups, not counting the 50 Croatian and 

 " Savage " votes. 



The ministry set before the new Parliament, 

 besides important tasks, an extensive pro- 



