AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



65 



companies but were worked by the Government, 

 and 1,876 kilometres were worked by companies. 



Posts and Telegraphs. The number of let- 

 ters carried by the Austrian post office in 1892 

 was 532,911,070; of newspapers, 72,606,840; of 

 circulars and samples, 75,097,170. In Hungary 

 were carried 141,089,240 letters, and 22,140,880 

 circulars and samples. The telegraphs in Aus- 

 tria had 17,609 miles of line and 50,154 miles of 

 wire ; in Hungary, 12,473 miles of line, with 35,- 

 320 miles of wire ; in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 

 #,780 miles of line, with 3,870 miles of wire. The 

 number of messages transmitted in 1892 was 

 10,835,302 in Austria, 5,671,579 in Hungary, and 

 425.696 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The re- 

 ceipts from posts and telegraphs in 1892 were 

 32,993,560 florins in Austria and 13,723.856 flor- 

 ins in Hungary; the expenses, 31,993,560 florins 

 in Austria and 9,561,836 in Hungary. 



Currency Reform. In pursuance of Dr. 

 Wekerle's project of monetary reform, designed 

 to place the currency on a gold basis, the Gov- 

 ernment proposed to withdraw 200,000.000 flor- 

 ins of state notes from circulation during 1894 

 and 1895, and replace them with 160.000,000 

 florins of gold, which it will deposit in the Aus- 

 tro-Hungarian bank, taking silver or notes in 

 return. All the 1-florin notes are to be de- 

 stroyed, and 80,000,000 1-crown silver pieces put 

 into circulation, with 20,000,000 or 30,000,000 

 silver florins besides. The crown, equal to half 

 & florin or gulden, is the new standard of value, 

 but it is coined in silver, not gold. There are 

 20-crown and 10-crown gold pieces, and the gold 

 ducat, worth 9 crowns 60 heller (== $2). The sub- 

 sidiary coins are the silver half crown, the nickel 

 20-heller and 10-heller pieces, and the bronze 

 2-heller piece, equivalent to the old kreutzer, 

 and single heller or half kreutzer. 



Russian Commercial Treaty. Negotiations 

 for a new commercial treaty with Russia were 

 not begun until the conclusion of the Russo- 

 German treaty, and were prolonged through the 

 resistance of the Hungarian Government to the 

 Russian demand for a reduction of the tariff on 

 rye. The Russian Government finally agreed to 

 the continuance of the existing tariff of 1| 

 florin per quintal. The treaty was formally 

 ratified on July 6. 



Austria. The Reichsrath or Parliament con- 

 sists of a House of Lords, the Herrenhaus, and a 

 House of Deputies, the Abgeordnetenhaus. The 

 Upper House is composed of the 19 adult arch- 

 dukes, 68 feudal proprietors, who are hereditary 

 members, the 9 archbishops and 8 prince bish- 

 ops, and 131 life members. The Abgeordneten- 

 haus has 353 members, elected for six years, of 

 whom 85 are chosen by landowners paying 50 

 florins or more in taxes,*21 by chambers of trade 

 and commerce, 118 by the towns, and 129 by 

 the indirect suffrage of the peasantry. For the 

 two latter classes the electorate is restricted to 

 male citizens twenty-four years of age. who pay 

 5 florins in direct taxes or are qualified by their 

 occupation or education. 



The Austrian Cabinet, constituted Nov. 11, 

 1893, is composed as follows: President of the 

 Council, Prince A. Windischgratz ; Minister of 

 the Interior, Marquis de Bacquehem ; Minister of 

 Finance, Dr. von Plener ; Minister of Worship 

 and Education, Ritter von Madeyski ; Minister 

 VOL. xxxiv. 5 A 



of Agriculture, Count Julius Falkenhayn ; Min- 

 ister of National Defense, Count Zeno von Wel- 

 sersheimb ; Minister of Commerce, Count G. von 

 Wurmbrand-Stuppach ; Minister of Justice, 

 Count Friedrich von Schonborn ; without port- 

 folio, Ritter von Savorski. 



There are 16 provincial diets, which deal with 

 local taxation, education, worship, charities, 

 agricultural regulations, and public works. The 

 bishops of the Roman and Greek Churches and 

 rectors of universities have seats ex ojficio, and 

 the landed proprietors, the chambers of com- 

 merce and trade guilds, and the municipalities 

 and rural communes are represented as in the 

 Reichsrath. 



Finance. The revenue for 1891 was 600,708,- 

 000 florins, and the expenditure 587,091,000 flor- 

 ins. The estimates for 1894-'95 make the reve- 

 nue 619,105,779 florins, including 16,497,746 

 florins of extraordinary receipts. The direct 

 taxes produce 110,045,000 florins, of which 35,- 

 890,000 came from the land tax, 30,713,000 from 

 the house tax, 28,698,000 from the income tax, 

 11,659,000 from the tax on industries, and 

 3,085,000 from other taxes. The customs rev- 

 enue is 43,404,777 florins. Indirect taxation 

 gives 293,599.632 florins, of which 108,865,080 

 come from excise taxes, 21.007,602 from salt, 

 86,616.450 from the tobacco monopoly, 20,442,- 

 000 from stamps, 37.419,000 from legal fees, 

 16,678,000 from a state lottery, and 2.571,500 

 from other sources. The receipts from rail- 

 roads are 123,857,130 florins ; from posts and 

 telegraphs, 36,825,000 florins ; from state prop- 

 erty, 5,178,830 florins ; from forests and do- 

 mains, 5,001,960 florins ; from mines, 7,910,921 

 florins ; from universities, etc., 6,157,204 florins. 



The expenditure for 1894-'95 is estimated at 

 582,759,548 florins for ordinary and 35,934,689 

 florins for extraordinary purposes ; total, 618,- 

 694,237 florins. Of the ordinary expenditure, 

 the chief items are 158,328,038 florins for the 

 debt service, 107,875,608 florins contribution to 

 common expenditure, 101,268,120 florins for 

 railroads, posts, and telegraphs, 88,190,825 flor- 

 ins for financial administration, 21,307,820 flor- 

 ins for justice, 18,694,750 florins for pensions 

 and grants, 18,458,896 florins for the Ministry 

 of the Interior, 17,989,840 florins for the Min- 

 istry of National Defense, 14,196,609 florins for 

 education, 14,108,253 florins for agriculture, 

 7,148,050 florins for public worship, 6,065,135 

 florins for subventions, and 4,650,000 florins 

 for the imperial household. The special debt 

 of Austria amounted in 1893 to 1,219.184,000 

 florins. 



Electoral Reform. The agitation for uni- 

 versal suffrage, which appeared to subside after 

 the accession of the Windischgratz ministry, was 

 renewed in 1894, and meetings were held on 

 nearly every Sunday and holiday everywhere 

 throughout the country. The Social Democrats 

 discussed the advisability of a general strike, 

 such as had been successful in Belgium. When 

 the proposition was brought forward in the So- 

 cial-Democratic congress at Vienna, Dr. Adler, 

 one of their foremost leaders, deprecated it as 

 unnecessary, and warned his followers against 

 violence or illegalities, reminding them that the 

 troops, with quick-firing guns and small-caliber 

 rifles, would make short work of a popiilar ris- 



