AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



51 



the result that the Prime Minister announced the 

 close of the session. With its ending the parlia- 

 mentary immunity of members for any excess of 

 language in political manifestations was sus- 

 pended. The most influential of the Young Czech 

 leaders disclaimed any ambition to make Bohemia 

 a completely autonomous state, but insisted that 

 the Czech nationality should be preserved not alone 

 in the interests of justice, but in that also of the 

 preservation of Austria ; for if the empire were to 

 become a German state its absorption by Germany 

 would eventually become inevitable; on the other 

 hand, the oppression of German Austrians would 

 lead to a conflict with the powerful German Em- 

 pire. A restricted autonomy was therefore desira- 

 ble, by which each nationality would be able to 

 promote the material strength of the empire by its 

 own free national and economic development, and 

 such a solution should be the result of a com- 

 promise between the two nationalities. In the 

 Austrian Delegation the Czech representatives 

 vehemently assailed the foreign policy of Graf 

 Goluchowski in an unprecedented manner, and 

 called in question the strength and durability of 

 the triple alliance and its value to Austria, as they 

 had done before. The ministers assured them that 

 the alliance, which was purely for peace and de- 

 fense, is as substantial as it was twenty years ago ; 

 that Italy was not tired of it or ruined by it; 

 and that a story of Austria having proposed to 

 annex Bosnia and Herzegovina definitely and of 

 Italy's having threatened in that event to occupy 

 Albania was void of foundation. 



Hungary. The Hungarian Parliament legis- 

 lates for Hungary, and in matters of common 

 concern for Croatia and Slavonia also, but for 

 provincial affairs they have their separate Diet 

 of 90 members elected for five years. The Hun- 

 garian Parliament consists of two chambers 

 the House of Magnates and the House of Repre- 

 sentatives. The upper house is made up of 18 

 urchdukes, 44 archbishops, bishops, and other 

 Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic dignitaries. 12 

 ecclesiastical and lay representatives of the Cal- 

 vinistic and Lutheran confessions, 226 Hungarian 

 princes, counts, and barons who pay a minimum- 

 land tax of 3,000 florins, 17 judges and other offi- 

 cial members, 77 life peers nominated by the King 

 or elected by the House of Magnates, and 3 dele- 

 gates of Croatia-Slavonia. To entitle a citizen to 

 vote for members of the lower house a low tax 

 qualification is necessary, excepting for the profes- 

 sional and learned classes. One out of every 18 

 persons has a vote. The House of Representatives 

 contains 453 members, including 40 delegates of 

 Croatia and Slavonia. 



The Cabinet of Ministers in the beginning of 

 1900, constituted Feb. 26, 1899, was composed of 

 the following members: President of the Council, 

 Coloman de Szell; Minister of Finance, Dr. Ladis- 

 laus de Lukacs; Minister of National Defense, 

 Baron Geza Fejervary; Minister near the King, 

 Count Emanuel Szecheny ; Minister of the Interior 

 <td interim, Coloman de Rzell ; Minister of Educa- 

 tion and Worship, Dr. Julius de Wlassics; Min- 

 ister of Justice, Dr. Alexander Plosz; Minister of 

 Industry and Commerce, Alexander de Hegedus; 

 Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Ignatius de Daranyi; 

 Minister for Croatia and Slavonia, Ervin de Cseh. 



Area and Population. The area of Hungary, 

 including Croatia and Slavonia, is 125,039 square 



miles, with a population at the census of Dec. 31, 

 1890, of 17,463,791. The estimated population on 

 Dec. 31, 1898, was 18,953,000. The number of mar- 

 riages in 1898 was 156,208; of births, 738,407; of 

 deaths, 540,207; excess of births, 198,260. Buda- 

 Pesth, the capital, had 505,763 inhabitants in 1890. 

 The immigration of Hungarians into the United 

 States in 1898 was 16,062, and in 1899 it was 

 20,920. 



Finances. The revenue of the Kingdom of 

 Hungary in 1898 was 526,498,000 florins, of which 

 sum 509,185,000 florins represent the ordinary rev- 

 enue and 17,313,000 florins transitory and extraor- 

 dinary receipts. The total expenditure was 524,- 

 442,000 florins, of which 452,370,000 florins were 

 the ordinary expenditures of the Government, 

 15,828,000 florins an extraordinary contribution to 

 common expenditure, 11,825,000 florins transitory 

 expenditures, and 44,419,000 florins permanent in- 

 vestments. The budget estimate of revenue for 

 1900 was 527,256,702 florins, including 31,394,381 

 florins of extraordinary receipts. The ordinary 

 revenue was estimated at 495,862,321 florins, de- 

 rived from the following sources: State debts, 

 1,413,918 florins; Ministry ad latus, 1,000 florins; 

 Ministry of the Interior, 3,869,699 florins; Min- 

 istry of Finance, 338,277,023 florins; Ministry of 

 Commerce, 129,787,018 florins; Ministry of Agri- 

 culture, 18,912,346 florins; Ministry of 'Education 

 and Worship, 2,305,498 florins; Ministry of Jus- 

 tice, 922,331 florins; Ministry of Defense, 373,488 

 florins. The ordinary expenditure for 1900 was 

 estimated to amount to 474,468,628 florins; transi- 

 tory expenditure, 24,381,304 florins; investments, 

 27,490,978 florins; total expenditure, 526,340,910 

 florins. Of the ordinary expenditure, 4,650,000 

 florins were the civil list; the Cabinet chancery 

 required 80,091 florins; Parliament, 1,765,876 flor- 

 ins; Hungarian quota of common expenditure, 

 28,318,076 florins; common pensions, 22,135 florins; 

 Hungarian pensions, 9,520,475 florins; national 

 debt, 129,226,866 florins; debts of guaranteed rail- 

 roads expropriated by the Government, 13,682,955 

 florins; guaranteed railroad interest. 201,502 flor- 

 ins; loans of separate ministries, 4,085,900 florins; 

 administration of Croatia-Slavonia, 8,478,071 flor- 

 ins; Accountant General's office, 164,185 florins; 

 administration of courts, 277,218 florins; Minister- 

 Presidency, 492,390 florins; Ministry ad lalus, 

 68,951 florins; Ministry for Croatia, 45,430 florins; 

 Ministry of the Interior, 20,430,357 florins; Min- 

 istry of Finance, 91,373,655 florins; Ministry of 

 Commerce, 90,392,059 florins ; Ministry of Agricul- 

 ture, 21,235,030 florins; Ministry of Instruction 

 and Worship, 14,705,026 florins; Ministry of Jus- 

 tice, 17,991,727 florins; Ministry of National De- 

 fense, 17,260,653 florins. 



The public debt of Hungary in 1898 amounted 

 to 2,444,838,000 florins, of which 1,089.033,000 

 florins were consolidated debt, 1,054,098,000 florins 

 the capitalized value of annuities, 12,734,000 florins 

 treasury bonds, 69,880,000 florins debts of sepa- 

 rate ministries, and 219,093,000 florins arrears 

 unpaid. 



Political Affairs. The Liberal party in the 

 Hungarian Parliament was re-enforced in 1900 by 

 a coalition with the National party, reducing the 

 Opposition almost to insignificance. Baron Banffy, 

 the former Prime Minister, tried to create a sepa- 

 rate group of his own within the Liberal party, 

 but without success. 



