Cyclopædia of Political Science, Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. The point of departure or germ of this empire was the margraviate of
Marchia Austriaca, founded in 779 by Charlemagne, for the defense of Germany against the attacks of the Hungarians. The territory increased, and this fief was elevated to the rank of a duchy in 1156. On this occasion the name of Austria appeared for the first time in an official document.

—It was only in 1282 that this country was acquired by the house of Hapsburg, which, as it occupied for five or six centuries the throne of the “Roman emperors of the Germanic race,” had the opportunity to annex to its dominions, one after another, a large number of fiefs, and even states, both German and other. This is not the place for a history of these annexations, but it will not be useless to give at least the dates of a few of them.

—Styria was acquired at the same time with the duchy; later (1453), the archduchy of Austria. Carinthia was united to the crown in 1335; Tyrol, in 1363; Trieste, in 1382. In 1438 duke Albert V., of lower Austria, succeeded his father-in-law as king of Hungary and Bohemia, which comprised at that time Croatia, Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia. It is true that after the extinction of this branch of the house of Hapsburg. Bohemia and Hungary were separated temporarily from Austria, but from 1525 the archduke Ferdinand I. became, partly by inheritance and partly by election, king of Hungary and Bohemia.

—We may pass over some acquisitions which the house of Hapsburg has not retained, as for example, Spain and Belgium, and recall that in 1740, at the extinction of the male line, the territory of the states of the crown was in extent not far from what it is to-day. The line of Hapsburg-Lorraine likewise extended the limits of the empire. With the exception of some countries of minor importance, such as Bukowina, it was Italy and Poland that furnished the elements of this later aggrandizement. Thus, in 1804, when Francis II. laid down the crown of the Roman or Germanic emperors, to assume the title of emperor of Austria, his states embraced a territory of 689,869 square kilometres.

—We shall not enumerate the vicissitudes through which Austria passed since this epoch, which is memorable on so many accounts, nor recall events of not less importance this generation has witnessed. We shall limit ourselves to the statement that, since 1867, the Austro Hungarian empire is made up of two portions divided in part, at least, by the little river Leitha, which falls into the Danube. One part of the empire is often called Cisleithania and the other Transleithania.

—The following table gives the area and population of 1870, or rather of Dec. 31, 1869, for Cisleithania:

—Those who formerly had the right to vote, retained it. That right is besides granted to all male inhabitants twenty years of age, not adjudged guilty of crime, and satisfying the following conditions: ownership of a house in the towns, or of land worth 300 florins, and in the country a certain small amount of property; being the head of a work-shop, factory, or other industrial or commercial establishment; or having a sure income of at least 100 florins. It is also granted to doctors, lawyers, professors, engineers, artists, members of the Hungarian academy, druggists, clergymen, and teachers, no matter what the amount of their income; finally, to all citizens of towns, even if they do not satisfy the above conditions.

—Every voter aged 24 and knowing how to speak the Hungarian language, is eligible to the diet. The lower house of the diet is composed of 337 deputies, of which 60 are from the communes or cities, 17 from Croatia, 15 from the military frontier. Transylvania was declared incorporated with Hungary. The insurrection in Hungary was seconded by revolts in other parts of Austria, and which reached as far as Vienna itself. The emperor, Ferdinand, was obliged at first to yield to the storm. But he abdicated Dec. 2, 1848. His brother did not accept the crown, which passed directly to his nephew, Francis Joseph, the present emperor. The government did not wish to yield to a state of things imposed on it by violence. This is not a matter of surprise. A signature to a document obtained from even a private person by force, would be cancelled by any court; and can it be asked that consent given when the revolt was at its height, should be considered valid by those who gave it? The new emperor did not ratify the concessions made by his uncle. The war, therefore, was violent, and Hungary profiting by its momentary victory, declared the house of Hapsburg deposed, April 14, 1849. This was a mistake. While showing that the emperor was not wrong in attributing dissimulation to Kossuth, then president of the republic of Hungary, all the acts of 1848 were annulled, and after victory, the emperor was able to avail himself of a new right, that of conquest.

—And this right of conquest, a right unfortunately recognized by the international law of Europe, was appealed to. It was appealed to not only as against Hungary, but in some regards also as against all the other states of the crown. In 1848 the government had been obliged to confer important privileges and real power on the diets of these states; but as soon as the Austrian armies had put down the revolution a reaction set in, and not only were the diets reduced to their former position in 1850, but the ancient privileges of Hungary were done away with, and the country was united to the rest of Austria. It was prince Schwarzenberg who undertook to fuse into one these naturally antipathetic countries. If the work had been begun three or four centuries ago, we might, perhaps, have found the measures initiated by Austria under Schwarzenberg and Bach great and admirable. Centralization might have accomplished real good; the country might have been pacified; unity of language, manners and of nationality might have been established. The magnitude of the result would have caused the methods employed to be overlooked.

—But times have changed, national feelings have grown more intense and vivid. Passive resistance on the part of Hungary was sufficient to force the government to yield. It is proper to add that Hungary was sustained in her resistance by liberal opinion in other states of the crown, and notably by the Germans. For this period of unification or centralization came to an end in the following manner. The government being in want of money convoked the consulting parliament of the time, but although composed of men chosen with care and mainly Germans, that parliament was hostile to it. After ten years of absolutism a constitutional régime was inaugurated anew in 1860.

—The essential parts of the document establishing that régime are as follows: “Wishing to reconcile the differences hitherto existing in our kingdoms and the countries composing them, and to bring about the regular co-operation of our subjects in legislative and administrative acts, we have thought proper, on the basis of the pragmatic sanction, and in virtue of our sovereignty, to decree and ordain the following fundamental law of the state, perpetual and irrevocable, during our own rule as well as that of our legal heirs.

—I. The right of changing or rescinding laws will be exercised by us and our successors only in concert with the diets legally assembled, and especially of the council of the empire, to which the diets will send the number of deputies fixed by us.

—II. All subjects of legislation which concern the rights, obligations and interests common to all our kingdoms and lands, notably legislation on the finances and public credit, the customs and commercial affairs, as well banks of issue, postal, telegraphic and railroad regulations and the organization of military service, will be discussed in future in and by a council of the empire and decided with its constitutional concurrence.

—And so the introduction of new imposts and charges, the increase of those now existing, notably the rise in the price of salt, the conclusion of new loans in conformity with our resolution of July 17, 1860, the conversion of actual debts of the state, the change of use and management of state property, can not be decreed except with consent of the council of the empire.

—Finally the examination and fixing of the budget of future expenses as well as the examination of the financial accounts and the annual result of the administration of the finances, must be with the assistance of the council of the empire.

—Since for a great number of years there has existed for other countries except Hungary a common legislation and administration on subjects not exclusively within the jurisdiction of the council of the empire, we reserve for ourselves the regulation of these subjects with the constitutional concurrence of the council of the empire, and by calling to our aid councillors belonging to said countries.”

—This document, emanating from the Goluchowski ministry, was far from satisfying public opinion. It was opposed by the Hungarians because its tendency was too much toward centralization, and by the Germans for not being liberal enough. The Slaves would have accepted it willingly because it had strong federal tendencies, and federalism is the only system which can transfer power into their hands. The ministry of Schmerling was formed Dec. 13, 1860, and Feb. 26, 1861, the government issued a new legal document which developed that of October in a liberal sense. The constitution established by the February document (
diploma) and its additions was this: The Austrian parliament (
Reichsrath) shall be composed of two houses, a house of lords or peers, and a house of representatives or deputies. The house of lords shall be composed of three classes of persons having seats: 1st, by right of birth, princes of the imperial house and heads of great families on whom the emperor has conferred the dignity of hereditary peerage; 2nd, by virtue of their offices, archbishops and bishops having the rank of princes; 3rd, in consequence of appointment for life, persons who by their merits or services have a claim on the gratitude of the state. The house of representatives shall be composed of 343 members, of whom 203 are from the different German and Slavic provinces, 85 from Hungary, 9 from Croatia, 26 from Transylvania, 20 from Venetia. The representatives were elected by the provincial diets from among their own members.

—The council of the empire was to act as a council restricted or special to the German, Slave and Italian provinces, when the representatives of these provinces deliberated on their own special interests. But when there were questions of the general interests of the monarchy, the council of the empire was to be completed by the addition of representatives from Hungary and the other countries beyond the Leitha. The questions for the deliberation of the council of the empire thus completed were general laws, and especially those touching military service, the budget of the empire, general imports, the public debt and public credit, banks, customs, commerce, postal arrangements, railroads, and telegraphs. The public debt was placed under the direct control of the council of the empire.

—The right of initiative in legislation still belongs as well to the government as to the two houses. The laws had to be passed by both houses and approved by the emperor. The sessions were annual, convoked, adjourned and dissolved by imperial decree. The emperor appointed presidents and vice-presidents from among the members of each house. The sessions were public, and could be secret only on motion of the president or ten members, approved by the house. Decisions were made by an absolute majority of the members present. A change, however, in the fundamental laws, required a two-thirds majority.

—The
diploma or fundamental law of February was accepted by Cisleithania only. Hungary held aloof in the name of its historic rights. More than one publicist supposed that the Hungarians had themselves broken the continuity of this right in 1848-9, but in practical politics less attention is paid to the subtleties of jurists than to possibilities. Surrounded as she was with difficulties, in 1866, it was of the first importance for Austria to come to terms with Hungary. Since Schmerling was not inclined to radical concessions. Beleredi was intrusted with the direction of affairs in July, 1865. The constitution was
suspended Sept. 20, of the same year, with the formal declaration on the part of the emperor that he would submit, before arriving at a decision, the result of the deliberations of the said oriental countries (Hungary) to the legal representatives of the other kingdoms and countries, in order to learn and weigh their opinions, which are not of less importance.

—The Beleredi ministry did not succeed. We need not recount the details of his negotiations with the parties interested. It was Count von Beust, prime minister from Feb. 7, 1867, until November, 1871, who succeeded in effecting the compromise, (
Ausgleich). It was signed by the emperor Feb. 17, and confirmed in the course of a year by parliament. The Austro-Hungarian constitution, therefore, of which we are now to give an account, dates from 1867.

—Each half of the empire has full and complete autonomy in all matters not expressly declared common to both. The following are declared common: Foreign affairs and the army, as well as the financial management pertaining to both branches of the service. The common ministry is composed of three ministers, one of whom, the minister of finance, disposes only of the direct receipt of the customs, which is common revenue; the rest of the expenses is covered by the quota of Hungary on one part, which contributes 30 per cent., and Austria on the other, which contributes 70. This arrangement to be valid for ten years, was concluded Sept. 25, 1867, by the delegates of both countries.

—Common expenses are regulated by a convention between the two parts of the empire, sanctioned by the emperor. If the two delegations do not agree on the amount, the emperor has the right to fix it, but not for longer than one year, (§ 3).

—The common ministry is responsible. No minister can at the same time be a member of the common and of a territorial ministry, (§ 5).

—Common affairs are regulated by parliamentary
delegations, (§§ 6 and 13). Each parliament chooses 60 members every year, 20 of whom are from the upper house, (§ 7). The 40 members of the second chamber are to be selected in such manner that each kingdom or country shall be represented as follows: Number of members: Bohemia, 10; Galicia, 7; upper Austria, 3; lower Austria, 2; Salzburg, 1; Styria, 2; Carinthia, 1; Carniola, 1; Bukowina, 1; Moravia, 4; Silesia, 1; Tyrol, 2; Vorarlberg, 1; Istria, 1; Gorizia, 1; Trieste, 1, (§§ 8 and 10). The propositions of the government are presented separately to each delegation by the common ministry. Each delegation has the right of initiative, (§ 14). The delegations deliberate separately; they communicate with each other in writing, and when necessary, meet in equal numbers to vote in common, but not to deliberate, (§§ 15, 30, 31). The common ministers have a right to seats and to a hearing, (§ 28). They may be impeached, (§§ 16, 18).

—What especially distinguishes the Austro-Hungarian compromise is, that it was not concluded between the emperor and the Hungarian diet only. The Cisleithanian parliament took part in the treaty at the express demand of Hungary. All the details of its execution were arranged by the delegations which sat in July, August and September, 1867; and it was after deliberating with the parliament of Cisleithania, that the new constitution was established (that of 1861 had been granted). This constitution of 1867 is composed of several laws of Dec. 21, two laws of Dec. 24, and one law on ministerial responsibility of July 25, 1867.

—The first law of Dec. 21, 1867, modifies “with the consent of both houses of parliament,” the
fundamental law (constitution) of Feb. 26, 1861. The composition of the upper house is unchanged. The house of representatives must be made up of 203 members, thus distributed among the different kingdoms and countries: Bohemia, 54; Dalmatia, 5; Galicia and Cracow, 38; upper Austria (Linz), 10; lower Austria (Vienna), 18, Salzburg, 3; Styria, 13; Carinthia, 5; Carniola, 6; Bukowina, 5; Moravia, 22; Silesia, 6; Tyrol, 10; Vorarlberg, 2; Istria, 2; Gorizia and Gradiska, 2; Trieste and environs, 2 (§ 6). The diets choose from among their own members representatives to parliament, being careful to apportion them among the districts, towns, corporations (universities, chambers of commerce) according to the special laws of each country. No change in the distribution or grouping of members can take place except by virtue of law
passed by the reichstag at the instance of the diet wishing the change. Should a diet refuse to send, or be prevented from sending representatives to the
reichstag the emperor may order direct elections by the districts, towns and corporations as was done in Bohemia in 1871.

—Officials elected to parliament do not need leave of absence from their posts (§ 8).

—The emperor appoints the president and vice-president of the upper house each year. The house of representatives elects presiding officers from among its own members, (§ 9). Parliament is convoked every year by the emperor, as far as possible in winter (§ 10). The powers of parliament extend over the following matters: 1, The examination and approval of treaties of commerce or those which impose a charge or effect a change in territorial divisions; 2, recruitment and the military service; 3, budgets, imposts and kindred matters; 4, monetary questions, the issue of paper, customs, postoffices, railroads, navigation and other means of communication; 5, credit, banks, industrial privileges, weights and measures, property in trade marks and models; 6, medical matters, epidemics and epizoötics; 7, laws on naturalization, aliens, passports and the census; 8, religion, rights of reunion and association, the press, literary property; 9, the organization of schools; 10, civil, penal and commercial laws, in so far as the drafting of them has not been specially reserved to the diets; 11, general principles for the organization of the judiciary; 12, organic laws; 13, laws concerning the relations of the different countries of Austria to one another; 14, laws on matters common to both parts of the empire, (§ 11).

—A second fundamental law of Dec. 21, relates “to the general rights of citizens.” It defines civil and political rights, assures to each citizen equality before the law, liberty of the person, safety of property, freedom of worship in all recognized religions, (art. 15). Article 16 ingeniously enough permits believers in an unrecognized religion to hold worship in their houses “provided it be not contrary to law or morals.” Education is free. All races have the same right to the protection of the state, (art. 19). It is the same with language.

—A third law, of Dec. 21, institutes a court with jurisdiction in cases of conflict between different countries or administrations. A fourth law of the same date regulates the administration of justice. The judges are named for life by the emperor, (art. 5). “It is not for tribunals to pass on the validity of laws regularly promulgated, but they may discuss the legality of an administrative regulation,” (art. 7). Publicity, (art. 16). Jury, (art. 11). A fifth law of the same date relates to the executive power. The person of the emperor is sacred; the ministers are responsible, but the emperor appoints them. He commands the armies, concludes treaties, coins money, and takes an oath “to observe faithfully the fundamental laws of the kingdoms and lands represented in the
reichstag and to govern according to law.”

—The provincial diets in the German and Slave countries are composed of archbishops, bishops, rectors of the universities, representatives of the great landed proprietors, (in Tyrol of noble land owners, in Dalmatia of the heaviest tax payers), the delegates of towns and burgs of chambers of commerce and manufacturing industries, and country deputies. In Trieste the municipal body takes the place of the diet.

—The country members alone are chosen indirectly (by electors each one of whom is selected by 500 inhabitants); other members are chosen directly by the voters. Voters must be Austrian citizens of age and in possession of all civil rights. A candidate to be eligible must be thirty years of age, at least. In addition, both voters and candidates must have property qualifications varying as follows in different countries: In Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia the great landed proprietors must pay 250 florins direct taxes, in lower Austria 200 florins, in Tyrol 50 florins, elsewhere (even in Dalmatia) 100 florins.

—In the towns and rural districts all citizens enjoying the rights of municipal election are voters; and in towns of such size that the voters in them may be divided into three bodies, classing them as tax payers according to the amount they pay, into three classes: (1, the most heavily taxed; 2, the less heavily taxed; 3, little taxed) members of the first two bodies, and of the third who pay at least 10 florins direct taxes (at Vienna and Brünn 20 florins, at Gratz 15 florins). The presidents of diets who have in Bohemia the title of
Oberstlandmarschall, in Galicia and lower Austria that of
Landmarschall, in other places that of
Landeshauptmann, as well as the vice-presidents, are named for six years by the emperor. The representatives are elected for six years also. The diets meet at the summons of the emperor and generally once a year. In the intervals between sessions there is an acting committee (
Landesausschuss) composed of a president and from four to eight members elected by the diet.

—In Hungary the diet is composed of two houses, that of the magnates and that of the representatives. The first is made up of the archbishops, bishops, barons of the empire, the guardians of the crown, the
Obergespans (chiefs of counties) and the other princes, counts and barons who assist there personally; their number is not limited. The house of representatives comprises the deputies of the chapters, monasteries and convents, the delegates of prelates and absent magnates, (that is, of those who are not sitting in the upper house), and 333 deputies of counties, free districts and towns. With the members from Croatia and Transylvania, which with Hungary form the “crown of St. Stephen,” there are 446 in all.

—To vote in Hungary, it is necessary to be at least 20-years old; to be eligible, to be at least 24 and to know the Hungarian language. Besides, it is requisite to own real estate worth 300 florins, an industrial establishment, or to have some kind of revenue amounting to 100 florins at least. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, professors, teachers, members of the academy, clergymen (
les capacités) are exempt from the property qualifications. Deputies are elected for three years. The diet meets usually once a year at Buda-Pesth. The president and vice-president of the upper house are appointed by the emperor; those of the lower house are elected by the members of the chamber.

—Croatia and Slavonia on one hand and Transylvania on the other, have diets organized in a similar manner, but slightly different from that of Hungary. The Croatian diet is presided over by the
Banus (governor).

—The diets of the different states of the crown deliberate upon all legislative and other affairs special to the countries in which they are held. Their sessions are public and the deputies are paid.

—These diets have powers similar to those of the
reichsrath, but these powers are limited on the one hand by extent of territory and on the other by rights
reserved exclusively to the reichsrath. But below the diets there are still consultative bodies whose action is restricted to a subdivision of one of the states of the crown. These councils are also elective bodies; only if the diets are called on to complete the work of the
reichsrath, the district assemblies are only intended to aid the administrative authorities.

—The political organization of Austria-Hungary of which we have been able to give here but the principal traits, is described in a general manner by the word
dualism. In this way there are more intimate relations between the two countries than if there had been simply what is called
a personal union. The party of the extreme left in the Hungarian diet demand, whenever an opportunity offers, that the two countries shall be connected only by the person of the sovereign: but the great majority of the Hungarian nation understand that they have too many interests in common with Austria not to desire to draw closer the ancient ties which bind Hungary to the Austrian empire.
Dualism presents difficulties enough to be overcome. There is no need of increasing them.

—Moreover difficulties abound in the interior of Cisleithania. The Slaves are not inclined to recognize the constitution of 1867. They would like to replace
dualism by a federation of states, which would weaken the Austrian empire still more. These tendencies are all the more surprising because, if realized in practice, the Slaves, aided by the ultramontanes and the feudalists, would always have the majority in parliament. Foreign publicists friendly to Austria and wishing to see her strong and prosperous do not sympathize with federalist tendencies. They do not see any advantage to humanity in the preservation of the autonomy and language of small nationalities, especially when these small nationalities have neither a history nor literature.

—However, one of the most remarkable of these nationalities and one which has a history closely bound up, it is true, with that of Austria, the Bohemians or Czechs, sulk and refuse to send representatives to the
reichsrath. They demand a position similar to that of Hungary. They made a solemn declaration of this in 1868 and renewed it in 1871, when the ministry of Hohenwarth had gone far in their favor. Their claims at the time were about to be granted, when count von Beust with count Andrassy, prime minister of Hungary, succeeded in defeating them. If the successors of Hohenwarth are not federalists they are none the less disposed to make every concession to the different nationalities compatible with the unity of the empire.

—We would consider as an evil the introduction of federalism in Austria, when Galatia, Croatia and other countries equally demand autonomy. Up to the present time there is no example of a confederation which has not been stained by blood in civil war. Greece did not escape it, and if we speak only of modern times neither Switzerland, the United States, nor the German confederation has escaped this fate. Why should such a fate be made to await Austria where the horrors of war would be increased in violence by the hatred of race?

—ADMINISTRATION. The provincial administration of Cisleithania, or the western part of the empire, differs from that of the countries of the Hungarian crown. The largest countries (Bohemia, upper and lower Austria, Moravia, Styria, Dalmatia) are lieutenancies (
Statthaltereien). The smaller states (Salzburg, Carinthia, Carniola, Silesia, Bukowina) are governed by
provincial authorities, (
Landesbehorden). In Galicia there is a governor general, to whom the provincial authorities of Lemberg and Cracow are subordinate.

—The authority of the lieutenants or provincial authorities was fixed by the laws of Sept. 14, 1852, and Jan. 10, 1853, as well as by various subsequent legal decisions. They are analogous to those conferred on prefects in France, with some differences the natural result of the different circumstances of the two countries. Thus the chiefs of provincial administrations represent the government within their respective jurisdictions. They render decisions in cases which the emperor has not reserved to himself, nor assigned to his ministers; they carry on the administration of affairs in conformity with the laws: they are representatives of the province in certain defined cases. They are also chiefs of the police department.

—The provinces or countries of the crown are subdivided either into districts or into departments composed of several districts. There are, therefore, countries where two intermediaries stand between the commune and the minister, and others where there are three.

—The communal organization was regulated in the German-Slave countries by the law of March 17, 1849, and in ten of the greater cities by special municipal statutes. a distinction is made between the members by right (
Gemeindebürger) and members in fact (
Gemeindeangehörige) on the one hand, and foreigners on the other. The commune is represented by a municipal council elected for three years. The members by right are voters, and among the members in fact are clergymen, public functionaries, officers, doctors of Austrian schools, professors and public teachers. All voters thirty years of age are eligible to office except members of the active army and communal officials.

—In populous communes voters are divided into three bodies according to the amount of taxes they pay. In small communes they form a single body.

—The municipal council (
Gemeinderath) elects from its own members a directory committee, which has to be confirmed by the government. In many of the towns, this committee forms a municipal authority known as the
magistracy. The burgomaster is president of the municipal council and chief of the directory committee. He represents the commune, carries out the decisions of the council, governs the police, and exercises, at the same time, the administrative functions in the interests of the state which have been confided to him by the laws.

—The commune has powers or rights which belong to it and others which were delegated to it. The powers proper to the communes are those which by their nature pertain to the municipal domain, such as the administration of municipal property, the security of persons and property, the establishment and maintenance of highways, the freedom of passage over roads and waterways, the adulteration of food, fairs and markets, and particularly to weights and measures, sanitary, industrial and moral police, public charity, primary and special education, the arbitration of cases, and the supervision of auctions of personal property.

—Delegated powers are determined by the various laws which established them; they confer on the municipal authorities the administrative powers necessary for the transaction of municipal affairs In Austria as elsewhere it is these authorities who act between the administration and the commune.

—To be a municipal voter it is necessary to have the right of citizenship in a commune, not to have lost one’s civil rights, not to have been condemned for crime or certain misdemeanors, and to be twenty-four years old. Property qualifications may be established in a certain measure by particular diets.

—The sessions of the municipal body are public. The chief of the executive committee (the burgomaster) or a number of members may demand the closing of the doors in certain cases, but never while the budget or municipal accounts are under discussion. The treasurer’s accounts must be exhibited to all who ask for them.

—When the communal expenses exceed the communal income, the deficit may be covered by a proportionate addition to the direct or indirect taxes or by the imposition of some other tax according to the will of the commune. Such additional taxes must be authorized by law. The government, however, has the right to oversee the action of the communes. It may dissolve municipal bodies through provincial authority, but on condition of ordering new elections within six weeks.

—The district and department councils may be charged with seeing that the communes preserve their property and institutions intact, with confirming certain important decisions of the communes in financial matters, with authorizing the increase of taxation within the limits of the law; finally, with taking cognizance of municipal affairs or with annulling such decisions as may be referred to them. Large towns with a special charter are exempt from this species of tutelage. The councils of the district or department are formed from the following elements, large proprietors, manufacturers, or merchants most heavily taxed, of the city and rural population. They are placed under the authority of the diets whose confirmation of certain of their important acts is necessary to the validity of such acts.

—Hungary is divided into 46 counties (
comitats) subdivided into districts, besides which there are five free districts.

—It has been said that the chiefs of counties (
Obergespans), are named by the emperor. The archbishops of Gran and Erlau, however, hold this position
de jure. The heads of certain families of magnates have the same position by hereditary right. These functionaries are assisted by two vice-
gespans and several other officials elected for three years by the county council. Their powers are analogous to those of other intermediary administrations in other parts of the empire with somewhat more of the right of initiative. In the districts a judge and deputy judge represent administrative authority. The free towns are administered by their magistrates and are directly subject to the lieutenant.

—Croatia is a lieutenancy presided over by the
Banns and is divided into seven counties.

—In Transylvania the chief administrative authority which still directs the administration of justice is called the
Gubernium. The country is divided into counties where the Hungarian population predominates, and into seats (
stuhle) where the Germans (called Saxons) are in the majority. The
obergespans are appointed by the sovereign at the recommendation of the
Gubernium; and the vice-
gespansand judges are elected for two years and confirmed by the government. The titles of the local authorities in this region, as well as in most others which form a part of Austria, are almost as varied as the languages of the people who inhabit it.

—The procedure is oral and public, even in civil affairs, since the law relating to judicial power of Dec. 21, 1867. The organization of the public ministry and the bar bears a great resemblance to that of France; it is regulated by the laws or decrees of Jan. 20, 1852, Aug. 16, 1849, and May 31, 1855.

—In Hungary the supreme court is formed of the chamber of septemvirs who with the royal council form the royal
curia presided over by the
judex curiœ (minister of justice). The council of septemvirs is the highest court in all civil and criminal matters. The royal council is the court of appeal in the case of all decisions of inferior tribunals brought before it, and it acts as a court of first resort in the construction of laws or in determining what the law is; also in criminal cases in which capital punishment or a punishment involving infamy may be inflicted.

—The inferior tribunals are, on the one hand, those of the counties, and under them the tribunals of district judges, and, on the other, the tribunals of the towns and the free districts, each one of these districts having a judge from whose decision an appeal may be made to the district court.

—An analogous judicial organization obtains in Croatia, Slavonia and Transylvania. Besides the courts above described Austria has special courts, such as the court of the grand marshal (
Obersthofmarschallamt), where matters are adjudged which concern members of the imperial family, princes and foreign envoys with their personnel; the military, naval and mercantile courts, the courts of experts who settle the disputes of fairs and markets, and of arbiters in commercial affairs; bank, industrial and other similar tribunals.

—FINANCES. The finances of Austria seem to be pursued by a malignant fate. It very frequently happens that she is asked for means to carry on gigantic wars against superior forces. This brings the country to the verge of ruin, and when after an interval of repose, her condition improves, some unexpected event comes to destroy the fruits of her statesmen’s efforts, and throw the country anew into financial difficulties for another period of indefinite duration.

—The treasury has thus far been sustained by enlarged revenues due partly to the increase of taxes but still more to increase in wealth. However, circumstances have not yet permitted Austria to make up its deficit, and its financial troubles seem so inveterate that their cure may almost be despaired of. Certain it is that the financial compromise of 1867 does not seem to have acted as a sovereign remedy.

—The space at our command does not permit us to give exhaustive information on the finances of Austria at previous epochs. The figures given below are from entirely reliable sources. We take them from official documents, and would remark that previous to 1860, the florin was worth 12 centimes more, the new coins having been slightly reduced in consequence of the treaty of the 24th of January, 1857, in order to bring them nearer in accord with the different monetary systems which Germany then had. The actual silver florin is worth two-thirds of a thaler, (two marks of the German currency introduced in 1871). The following figures give only the net revenue: In 1781 the receipts of the state were 69,100,000 florins, its expenses 68,300,000. During the last years of the eighteenth century the revenue varied between 65,000,000 and 80,000,000, but the necessities of the war against the French republic carried the expenses beyond 118,000,000, 121,000,000 and even 157,000,000. The greatest deficit of this epoch was that of 1796 when it went beyond 96,000,000.

—But the time of trial was not come to an end with the century. A new and more formidable athlete appeared upon the scene,—Napoleon. In the struggle against the emperor of the French a revenue of 142,000,000 to 147,000,000 was obtained by extraordinary efforts, but the expenses of the country increased in a still greater proportion. They reached the sum of 368,000,000 in 1810, causing a deficit of 226,500,000 in a single year.

—At length the great captain who had held all Europe so long in check, was conquered. It was again possible to take breath and wait for better times. The proverbial prosperity of Austria reappeared anew, and, from 1820 to 1832, the income rose from 126,000,000 to 140,000,000. Twelve years later 150,000,000 was reached, but the equilibrium of the budget was not yet attained, because the expenses followed the same law of progression.

—1848 and 1849 were disastrous years. The revenues were only 106,000,000, while the expenses reached 109,000,000 in 1848 and 268,000,000 in 1849. It was necessary to readjust the finances, to impose new taxes and raise the rate of taxation generally. By degrees the receipts were brought up to 333,000,000 florins in 1857, but war broke out and 388,000,000 were spent. In 1860 the net receipts were 318,000,000, and the gross expenses 523,000,000.

—Dating from 1861 great efforts were made to decrease the deficit, but the net revenue of the whole empire did not exceed 253,000,000 in 1861, 285,000,000 in 1862, 282,000,000 in 1863, 290,000,000 in 1864, 286,000,000 in 1865, with deficits in the corresponding years, of 127,000,000, 86,000,000, 84,000,000, 85,000,000 and 104,000,000. We shall say nothing about 1866, whose financial showing was influenced by the war. In 1867 the budget was ordered (the constitution being still suspended) by imperial decree of Dec. 26, 1866. It amounted for the whole empire to 407,297,000 receipts, and 433,896,000 expenses. The régime created by the compromise of 1867 established three distinct budgets which have been in use since 1868: 1, the common budget; 2, the budget of Cisleithania; 3, the budget of Transleithania.

Of this the 70 per cent. furnished from Cisleithania amounts to 65,407,315, and the 30 per cent. from Transleithania, 28,031,300 florins. The Germans complain of having been unjustly treated in the compromise. They have two grounds of complaint: 1st, that the estimate of the burdens laid on each part was based on the receipts of the six years from 1860 to 1865 inclusive. Now at Vienna, it is said that the arrears of direct taxes were for the respective years, 7, 7, 7, 6, 8, 11 per cent., while beyond the Leitha they were 28, 40, 19, 32, 38, 30 per cent. 2nd, the Hungarians contribute 30 per cent. and demand as much influence as men who contribute 70 per cent. Rights here are superior to duties, which means a privilege. The common budget is voted by the delegations. All moneys must be used for the purposes for which they were appropriated. The Austrian budget is voted by both houses of the
reichsrath. The common ministry has nothing to say as to the figures of this budget. The following are the figures:

—The other churches recognized in Austria are the Unitarians, who live mostly in Transylvania in 107 parishes, and the Jews, whose rabbis are elected by the congregation and by the administrative authorities.

—The different religions aided by the state cost it a sum of only 2,000,000 or 3,000,000 of florins in both parts of the empire. It is needless to add that the churches have incomes of their own either from property or the contributions of their members. The property of religious establishments in Cisleithania was estimated at 73,842,456 florins in 1869. Of this, only 8,500,000 were in real estate. The remainder was in different forms of property. Their income amounted to 3,429,372 florins, and the expenses to 4,616,306 florins. Total of their debt, 1,667,241 florins.

—PUBLIC EDUCATION. Education is primary (elementary), secondary, superior, and professional or special.

—The primary schools are subdivided into inferior, superior and city schools (
Bürgerschulen). The law requires that there should be at least one primary inferior school (
Trivialschule) in each rural or town district, and that wherever practicable the sexes should be taught separately. The higher primary schools (
Hauptschulen) carry primary instruction somewhat farther and are situated only in the towns. The city schools are established in the larger cities and the elements of the exact sciences are taught in them.

—Education is compulsory for children from six to twelve years of age. As far as the mixture of nationalities permits, the mother tongue of the children is employed in the schools.

—Special courses of study are established for the training of teachers in certain higher primary schools. Teachers are appointed and installed by the administration.

—The expenses of primary education are borne by the state, the commune, or are provided for by bequests and the tuition fees of children of well-to-do parents.

—In 1868 the Cisleithanian countries had 15,054 ordinary and higher primary schools, with 1,691,349 pupils and 13,391 male and female teachers. The Transleithanian countries had, in 1864, 16,164 schools, with 1,161,494 pupils and 28,000 teachers of both sexes. The number of schools is greater in Hungary on account of the mixture of religions and nationalities. Each religion and each nationality voluntarily establishes a separate school. Only four-fifths of the children go to school. In 1865-6 the number of young soldiers able to read and write was, in lower Austria, 83½ per cent.; in Silesia, 69½; in Bohemia, 60½; in Moravia, 45 8/4;; in Tyrol, 36½; in Hungary, 25½; in Croatia, 13; in Transylvania, 8 8/4;; in Galicia, 4½; in Carniola, 3½; in Dalmatia, 1¼.

—The intermediate schools (
Mittelschulen) are divided into gymnasia and schools of the exact science (
Realschulen). In the gymnasia, which are almost entirely supported and supervised by the state, there are eight classes. The ancient languages are taught in them, and students prepared in them for the universities. There are in Austria 94 gymnasia, with more than 30,000 students, and 26 scientific schools with 3,500 pupils. This is the total number of schools, excluding the 130 communal colleges (
Unter-Realschulen).

—Higher instruction is given in the universities, the polytechnic schools and certain special schools.

—There are 7 universities in Austria-Hungary. Those of Vienna, Prague, Pesth and Cracow have four faculties, (theology, law, medicine, philosophy). Those of Lemberg, Graz and Insbruck have not that of medicine. The Austrian universities have more than 600 professors and 9,000 students. Since 1848, they have an organization similar to that of the German universities.

—The seven Austrian polytechnic schools (Vienna, Prague, Graz, Brünn, Cracow, Lemberg and Buda), are intended to give technological instruction based on a profound study of mathematics. The Prague school is supported by Bohemia, that of Graz by Styria alone, that of Buda by Hungary, the others by the whole empire. To be admitted to these schools as an ordinary student, it is necessary to have gone successfully through a gymnasium or scientific school. Students may elect their course of study themselves. They may ask to be examined on subjects which they have studied and require a certificate showing the result of the examination. These schools have more than 225 professors and 3,000 students.

—The special or professional schools reckoned among the higher institutions of learning are the two faculties of theology (outside the university) and the 120 seminaries supported by the bishops or religious houses (3,500 students), and some similar institutions for ministers of other creeds.

—In addition to this there are 5 administration academies, 7 schools of surgery, 16 secondary schools of agriculture (500 students), 3 schools of forestry (100 students), an agricultural institute (147 students), one academy of forestry, several schools of mines, veterinary schools, 60 industrial and commercial schools (3,500 students), the mercantile academies of Vienna, Prague and Pesth (private institutions), 70 art schools, military and naval schools and others.

—PUBLIC CHARITY. Public charity is within the authority of the commune, and the state steps in only when local resources are insufficient. The dispensation of public charity is confided to the poor board (
Armeninstitut) created in the last century and established in almost all the provinces. The poor board is composed in each parish of the pastor presiding over a number of “fathers of the poor” (
Armenväter) and one responsible agent named by the pastor in accord with the municipality.

—The whole number of physicians in Austria-Hungary is about 6,000; of surgeons, 5,400; of druggists, 2,300.

—The system of public charity in Austria comprises, in addition, work houses, divided into two classes: voluntary, in which the labor of able-bodied persons, wishing to earn their living but unable to find employment, is lightly paid for; involuntary, where vagabonds and trampers seeking to avoid work, are confined; these institutions are supported by the provinces.

—There is in Austria a great number of savings banks, regulated by the decree of Sept. 26, 1846, and established by the communes or by companies. The statistics of Cisleithania furnish the following figures: Number of depositors Jan. 1, 1866, 694,421, on Dec. 31, 824,830; total of deposits at both periods, 196,800,000 and 247,700,000 florins.

—AGRICULTURE, INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE. Austria-Hungary may be considered more particularly an agricultural country. More than two-thirds of the population are employed in tilling the soil; it is only in Bohemia that the number of agriculturists falls below one-half. In lower Austria and Moravia the proportion is a little more than 50 per cent. The value of immovable property is estimated at 10,500 millions of florins and that of its product at more than 2 milliards of florins.

—The productive land is nearly 87 per cent. (86.9) of the whole area of the empire. Of this, 36 per cent. is arable and 33 per cent. under forests. Cereals are among the chief products of the country and reach in wheat 50,000,000
metzen (a German measure equal to 1.6775 of a bushel); wheat and rye mixed, 15,000,000; rye, 65,000,000; barley, 50,000,000; oats, 100 000,000; Indian corn, 44,000,000; buckwheat and millet, 10,000,000; 500,000 quintals of rice. Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Galicia and upper Austria produce sufficient grain to supply the lack of it in other provinces and to export it in considerable quantities.

—Among other products of the soil are, potatoes, 120,000,000
metzen; beans and pease, 5,000,000
metzen; cabbage, 60,000,000 quintals; beets, 20,000,000 quintals; hemp and flax, 3,000,000 quintals; hops (in Bohemia), 40,000 quintals, tobacco, 1,000,000 quintals; olive oil, 100,000 quintals. Wine deserves separate mention, for, next to France, Austria produces it in the greatest quantity. The vintage is estimated according to the year at from 330,000,000 to 440,000,000
cimers (1
cimer about 15 gallons). The forests, which yield annually 30,000,000
klafters of wood, are an important element of prosperity, especially in a country so rich in minerals.

—Cattle thrive well on the broad meadows and vast pasture lands of the Eastern empire (
Oesterreich). According to the census of Dec. 31, 1869, there were in Cisleithania 1,389,623 horses, 43,070 asses and mules, 7,425,212 horned cattle, 5,026,398 sheep, 979,104 goats, 2,551,473 hogs. In Hungary there were 2,095,000 horses, 5,026,398 horned cattle, 11,288,000 sheep, 431,000 goats, 4,505,000 hogs.

—Mining is a rich source of wealth to Austria, and employs directly and indirectly more than 120,000 workmen. The quantities of metal produced are in round numbers.

—Hemp, linen and wool have been woven in Austria from time immemorial. In the eastern provinces this work is done yet mainly by hand. In the west flax is spun in 33 establishments with 200,000 spindles; besides, 600,000 spindles are used for carded flax, and 30,000 for combed flax. The total value of the linen industry is estimated at 150,000,000 florins and the woolen at 130,000,000.

—Silk employs 100,000 persons, the value of the produce is 25,000,000 florins, leaving a small surplus for exportation.

—The progress of Austrian industry can not but be stimulated by the freedom of labor (the suppression of corporations) decreed Dec. 20, 1859. At present every person who is of age may engage in almost any industry. But a few remain, for the exercise of which training or a special permission (a concession) is necessary. Such are the following: Printing, reading rooms, common carriers, house building, the making and sale of arms and ammunition, manufacture of fire works, inn keeping, hawking and slaughtering of animals. Although the previous restrictions connected with the system of guilds have been suppressed, a certain organization for benevolent objects is retained among members of the same profession. The best proof of the advance of Austrian industry is found in the increased number of stationary steam engines. Cisleithania had of these in 1852, 534, with 7,110 horse-power, in 1863, 2325, with 35,837 horse-power. Transleithania had in 1852, 79 engines with 1,175 horse-power, and 480 engines with 8,134 in 1863.

—The commerce of Austria is of considerable importance and constantly increasing.

—There are no restrictions on internal commerce.

—The coasting trade is reserved to the Austrian flag. About 66,000 arrivals and departures are noted yearly. The mean capacity of vessels employed is 32 tons.

—The empire is divided into two tariff-districts with reference to foreign commerce. One is the whole empire except Dalmatia, the other is Dalmatia. Since 1851 Austria has abandoned the prohibitive for the protectionist system. Duties on imports are graduated according to the degree of protection which it is thought should be granted to different industries. The export duties are few, and are levied exclusively on raw materials.

—The merchant marine of Austria numbered, in 1871, 7,843 ships with 375,000 tons capacity and manned by 28,000 sailors. Transportation in the interior is facilitated by 7,055 kilometres of navigable rivers, and 112,500 kilometres of highways, and (1870) 6,553 kilometres of railroads in Cisleithania, and 3,628 in Hungary. Since 1850 Austria has formed a part of the German postal and telegraphic union. The mail carried, in 1830, 18,600,000 letters; in 1860, 105,600,000: in 1870, 144,000,000 in Cisleithania and 32,000,000 in Transleithania; 76,000,000 newspapers, besides 4,000,000 and 7,000,000 letters with samples, 111,000,000 stamped packages, 29,000,000 administrative letters.