262 



AUSTRIAN EMPIRE. 



keeper's offices, &c. Four councillors of justice 

 discharge the duties of judge advocate. The pre- 

 sident, not being a responsible minister, has no 

 power beyond the transmission of the directions he 

 has received, and the councillors, being too nearly 

 his equals in rank to depend on his personal appro- 

 bation, enjoy individually a great latitude of dis- 

 cretion, and can only be made responsible for error 

 or remissness after the mischief has been done. 

 This system naturally affords a tolerable control in 

 ;ill tin- subordinate details, but destroys the energy 

 and celerity of action which are the soul of mili- 

 tary calculations. For this reason the Austrians 

 were always well provided in cases which it was 

 \ os>ible to foresee and to prepare lor in time, but, 

 when matters took an unexpected turn, and re- 

 sources had to be developed on the spur of the mo- 

 ment, every cord to which the general trusted was 

 sure to break under his hand. 



The term which conscripts had to serve (fourteen 

 years) has been reduced lately, and may undergo a 

 further modification, should the prospect of undis- 

 turbed peace present itself. This and some other 

 improvements in the army are ascribed to the in- 

 fluence of Count Clam Martinitz, who has for some 

 time been the representative of the military depart- 

 ment in the ministry.* 



The other branches of the state expenditure are 

 not less carefully concealed than the army estimates; 

 many of them most probably are not even known, 

 as accounts are said but seldom to be rendered to 

 the finance minister from many departments; while 

 two, the police and the foreign departments, are 

 totally exempted from such responsibility. The 

 amount of the revenue is thus, Austrian Encyclo- 

 paedia, stated : 



" The revenue of the country is generally esti- 

 mated at 150,000,000 florins in silver. This sum 

 is produced by the land-tax, the earnings-tax, the 

 legacy-duty, excise, tolls, and fiscal dues ; the re- 

 galia, (to which belong the customs, stamp-dues, 

 tobacco and salt monoply, the post, lottery, and 

 mint profits.) and the domains. The lands of 

 Hungary and Transylvania are, it is true, not sub- 

 ject to the greater part of the above taxes, but are 

 bound to furnish for the use of the army a great 

 number of supplies in kind." 



This sum, about 16,000,000 sterling, which 

 ought to be a comparatively small sum for a state 

 possessing the amazing internal resources of Austria, 

 is made to fall very heavily on its inhabitants by 

 the manner of raising it. From the above para- 

 graph it is evident that the principal taxes are di- 

 rect contributions from the property and industry 

 of the nation ; which is, however, exposed to an- 

 other severe system of taxation arising from the 

 municipal and bureau system. From this last- 

 mentioned sort of contribution neither the court 

 nor the country derives the slightest advantage; 

 but so deeply is it interwoven with the present 

 state of things that nothing short of a total change 

 of system could do away with it. 



The land-tax may perhaps be considered as the 

 most important, and is levied in every province 

 from the possessor of the land. It amounts on an 

 average to fifteen per cent, on the produce of the 

 soil. The crops are not valued annually, but an 



* The Austrian nary is under the management of a naval 

 roifrn'nndant at Venire. It consist* of from thirty to thirtv- 

 foiir vessels of war. of wliicli three arc *hips of "the line in 

 nr-liunry, five fri E r .Ut>s, five sloops, eight brigs, and six 



taken in the year 1834, by commissions 

 established for that purpose, is definitely fixed as a 

 standard for the archduchy of Lower Austria. In 

 the other provinces, in which an exact measure- 

 ment of the land with its gradations of cultivation 

 is in progress, a provisory estimate has been as- 

 sumed until the work is completed. Buildings of 

 all descriptions in the country, in villages and towns 

 excepting the capital town of each province, are 

 assessed according to their size and value, and are 

 divided into twelve classes, the highest of which is 

 rated at 6, the lowest at about 2s. per annum. 

 This includes all agricultural buildings and manu- 

 factories, as well as dwelling-houses. The metro- 

 polis and the provincial capitals are differently 

 rated, the house-tax in these being an assess:iu nt 

 on the rent which the houses produce, or at which 

 thev are valued, amounting with tees and dues of 

 all kinds to not less than thirty-two per cent, on 

 the income of the property. 



The earnings-tax (Erwerb-Steuer) is one, the 

 produce of which must bear no proportion to the 

 detrimental effect, which, in conjunction with the 

 system of monopoly we described some pages back, 

 it must have upon the industry of the nation. 



The payment of the earnings-tax is incumbent, 

 1st, on the class of manufactures; 2dly, the 

 classes of traders, especially all dealers in raw ma- 

 terials, and general merchants ; of these there are 

 three which pay in Vienna and the environs for 

 two (German) miles round, 1500 florins (150), 

 1000 florins (100), and 500 florins (50) per 

 annum ; and in the provinces 1000 florins, 500 

 florins, and 300 florins; 3dly, the classes of artists 

 and artisans, including especially all persons enjoy- 

 ing simple licences to carry on manufactures or 

 trades, patents, &c., shopkeepers, hawkers, &c. ; 

 4thly, that kind of industry which consists in ser- 

 vices rendered, or in leaving the temporary use of 

 any thing to another, for instance, teachers of 

 dancing, music, fencing, languages, keepers of 

 schools, &c., brokers, bill-brokers, agents, advo- 

 cates, &c. The tax paid is estimated and classed 

 in all cases according to the nature of the occupa- 

 tion. 



In the Lombard-Venetian provinces this tax is 

 so much modified that it does not exceed one-sixth 

 of what is paid in the countries north of the Alps. 

 In Hungary no tax of the kind is paid. The 

 butchers pay in addition a slaughtering taxf of 10s. 

 per beast, and Jewish butchers still more. The 

 Jews form an especial branch of taxation. Those 

 who enter into trade are obliged to prove their pro- 

 perty, and pay a very heavy property-tax; in Gal- 

 licia a heavy impost is laid on the candles with 

 which they celebrate their sabbath, and festivals. 



The legacy-duty varies on all sums above 100 

 florins (10), according to the degrees of relation- 

 ship, from ten, five, to two per cent. 



But not only bequeathed property is encumbered 

 with a transfer-tax in Austria ; almost all trans- 

 fers of land or houses are attended with heavy fi'<'~ 

 for registering, &c. Such purchasers of land as do 

 not belong to the noblesse are either obliged to pur- 

 chase the rank, or pay some of the contribution! 

 doubled; and, even after receiving the letters-pa- 

 tent from the emperor, high fees have still to In- 

 paid if the proprietor wishes to be admitted into 

 the provincial states. From this latter distinction, 



t This tax lias by the last regulations been incorporal. 

 the excise. 



