48 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



Solymossy's disappearance. It was clad in her 

 garments, and was recognized as her remains 

 by her father and others; but her mother, 

 pastor, school-teacher, and numerous acquaint- 

 ances denied the identity. A commission of 

 medical experts reported that it was the corpse 

 of an older person than Esther, and of one not 

 accustomed to hard labor. A second commis- 

 sion, composed of university professors, found 

 that the marks of physical development did 

 not indicate an age of more than fourteen 

 years. The evidence of the body, the modifi- 

 cation of the statements of neighbors who heard 

 cries, and the confused and contradictory tes- 

 timony of the Hebrew boy under cross-exami- 

 nation, would have abundantly exculpated the 

 prisoners if additional suborned testimony had 

 not strengthened the theory that the corpse 

 was a spurious one placed in the river by mem- 

 bers of the Jewish congregation to defeat the 

 evidence against the accused. Two Jewish 

 raftsmen confessed that they had been em- 

 ployed to convey the dead body and deposit 

 it in the water where it was found. The pub- 

 lic prosecutor, Szeyffert, declared in taking the 

 case that he did not believe in a ritual mur- 

 der, and only took part in order to have the 

 evidence sifted and the truth brought out. Be- 

 yond this the Government did not intervene in 

 the proceedings. The prosecution was con- 

 ducted by lawyers retained by anti-Semitic par- 

 tisans. The trial was interrupted by exhibi- 

 tions of popular passion, and an anti-Semitic 

 outbreak was feared. The trial ended in the 

 acquittal of the ten prisoners. The efiect was 

 eventuallv to confine the anti-Semitic move- 

 ment in ^Hungary more within logical bounds. 

 The excitement continued, however, for some 

 time after the trial, and in various places in 

 North Hungary outburstsof fanaticism occurred. 

 At Tisza-Eszlar there were incendiary fires. 

 At Presburg, riots, like those of the preceding 

 year, required the services of the military to 

 suppress. The Scharf family were mobbed out 

 "t IV-th, and their advocate, Dr. Eotvos, was 

 the object of angry demonstrations at Nyiregy- 

 haza. At Zala Egersseg, in Western Hungary, 

 serious riots, in which the neighboring peas- 

 antry took a prominent part, began Aug. 23d, 

 and lasted several days. The garrison of the 

 town were unable to preserve order or to pre- 

 vent the mob from sacking the Jewish quar- 

 ter. In a riot at Szegitvar, Sept. 2d, artisans 

 broke into and wrecked the stores of Jewish 

 shopkeepers, and were fired upon by the po- 

 lice, but not cowed until the arrival of troops. 

 The Hungarian Government maintained 

 throughout the anti-Jewish agitation a firm 

 attitude, and not only employed every means 

 to <|ii.-|l disorder, but gave no countenance 

 to the popular demands for the repeal of 

 Jewish emancipation or any class legislation 

 directed against the Jews. Yet Minister Tisza 

 acknowledged that there was a Jewish ques- 

 tion of an economical nature, and that the 

 evils would not cease until the social causes 



were removed. The public - houses through- 

 out the country are kept by Jews. They 

 combine with their trade that of the money- 

 lender, and with other usurers, all of the 

 Hebrew race, keep the peasantry in a condi- 

 tion of economical subjection. The Govern- 

 ment brought in bills designed to abate the 

 evils, one of which deprives wine and liquor 

 sellers of legal remedies for the collection of 

 debts for drink, and another is a usury law 

 with severe penalties and elaborate safeguards. 

 The Croatian Troubles. The Hungarians, who 

 have observed with a feeling of indifference 

 if not with sympathy the victories of the 

 Czechs over the German Centralists, and the 

 federalistic movement among the other Slav 

 nationalities in Austria, were confronted in 

 1883 with a Slavic question of their own. The 

 results of the Russian "War, and the provisional 

 occupation of Bosnia by Austria, were to 

 arouse in Servia the ambition of uniting the 

 Serbic race into one kingdom; then, since 

 Austria was not likely to relinquish the occu- 

 pied provinces, to excite hopes in Montenegro 

 of becoming the head of a great Serbic nation 

 under the protection of Russia ; and, next, of 

 stirring with similar aspirations the petty na- 

 tionality of the Croats. The Great Croatian 

 idea looks to the creation of a third member 

 of the Dual Monarchy, a South Slav monarchy 

 with its capital at Agram. The Croats have 

 certain grounds for considering themselves the 

 fittest instrument for the mission of Austria 

 among the South Slavs. Their fidelity and 

 attachment to the Hapsburg dynasty are pro- 

 verbial. They claim to have been of great 

 assistance in rescuing the dynasty in the con- 

 flict with the rebel Magyars in 1848. Since 

 then the Croats have progressed in intelligence 

 and culture as much as or more than the Mag- 

 yars. The development is in the direction 

 which was given it nnder German control 

 before their incorporation, sorely against their 

 inclination but in obedience to the will of the 

 monarch, in the kingdom of Hungary. They 

 have not been treated with oppression by the 

 Hungarian Government, but have been per- 

 mitted to retain their old laws as to land, 

 inheritance, and the election of magistrates. 

 They are not fairly represented in the Hun- 

 garian House of Magnates, owing to the same 

 electoral system which denies to the Germans 

 their just quota of representatives in the Cis- 

 leithan legislative bodies. The Croatian depu- 

 ties in the lower house have, however, exercised 

 an influence on the Hungarian Government 

 which is out of proportion to the importance 

 of their province, because they have always 

 voted with the ministry, and on several occa- 

 sions when the opposition was strong their 

 vote saved the Government from defeat. The 

 incorporation of the Military Frontier, which 

 operation was completed in 1882 and 1883, 

 increased the importance of the province, and 

 gave an impetus to the movement for the union 

 of the districts inhabited by Servians and 



