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the rights of others might fairly suggest a respite, and that, too, without loss of dignity or interest to any class. Compulsory labor arbitration, a principle that has been vigorously resisted in some countries, has worked satisfactorily in New Zealand during the short time that the arbitration law has been in operation. Under the act the colony is divided into districts, in each of which a board of conciliation, composed of an equal number of workmen and employers, can be constituted. Over this is a special central tribunal, which possesses appellate functions and whose decision is final. The central arbitration court is presided over by a judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, who is assisted by two assessors, one chosen by the employers, the other by the workmen. The trade unions have power to sue and are themselves liable to be sued, not only the union funds being attachable, but the individual members responsible to the extent of £10 each should the common fund fail to cover the liabilities. The penalty for evading the award of the tribunal is limited to £500. Since this act has been in operation no strike or lockout has occurred in New Zealand. A protest was raised in England against the shipping act of 1896, which compels all masters of vessels engaged in the coasting trade in New Zealand to pay the scale of wages fixed by arbitration boards. As these wages are twice as much as seamen ordinarily get, the act prevents British vessels from engaging in that trade unless the contract wages of the sailors are doubled while the vessels are thus employed. New mining laws have been enacted in this colony, and to these some persons have attributed the decrease in the yield during last year, not withstanding the large amount of fresh capital employed. Mr. R. J. Seddon, the Premier, on the contrary, lays it to the delays caused by the initiation of a less primitive system of working the various properties. Time and labor that would otherwise have been spent on obtaining gold have been devoted to the erection of improved machinery and the driving of winzes and stopes. He claims that by the mining legislation of last year the New Zealand Government has acted in the interest of all concerned, as it has thereby defined the position of the various parties interested in mines instead of leaving it in doubt. The tenure given by the colony for mines on Crown lands is as good and permanent as though it were freehold, and in every case where a lease has expired the Government has been willing to grant a renewal. It offers special facilities for such renewals, subject to the conditions imposed being observed. The labor requirements, which some have complained of as being too severe, are only such as guarantee bona fide occupancy, and in fact the jumping of properties is unknown and impossible in New Zealand. Although £51,000,000 of gold has been dug in the colony from 1857 up to the present time, the deepest shafts have not been sunk more than 600 feet, and mining experts consider that only the surface has been scratched in the mining operations hitherto,

The Parliament which was opened on Sept. 23 passed laws promoting technical education, enacting a referendum, establishing Government fire insurance, providing old-age pensions for laborers, promoting the beet-sugar industry, and abolishing the tax on commercial travelers entering the colony. Fiji. The British flag was hoisted in the Fijian Islands at the invitation of the Queen and chiefs on Oct. 10, 1874. The Governor is assisted by an executive council, and laws are approved by an appointed legislative council, consisting of 6 official and 6 nonofficial members. In 12 of the 16 provinces a native chief, called the Roko Tui, governs the people, under the supervision of European ofVOL. XXXVII.-5 A

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ficials, after their native laws and customs. pean commissioners administer 3 Fijian provinces and Rotuma.

The population on Dec. 31, 1894, consisted of 2.666 Europeans, 1,167 half-castes, 9,130 East Indians, 2,232 Polynesians, 2,113 Rotumans, 103,750 Fijians, and 808 others; total, 121,867, divided into 67,152 males and 54.708 females. Of the Fijian natives 55,332 were males and 48,418 females. Among them 3,912 were born and 4,620 died in 1894.

The revenue from customs in 1894 was £37,677; from navigation dues, £4,754; from internal revenue and licenses, £4,754; from native taxes, £18,679; from court fees, etc., £7,058; from stamps, £1,868; total, £80,054. The expenditures were £36,889 for personal emoluments and £35,315 for other charges; total, £72,204.

There were 1,401 acres planted by European settlers to bananas in 1894, 18,603 acres planted to cocoanut palms, 19,382 acres under sugar cane, and small plantations of tea, sisal hemp, peanuts, yams, and tobacco. The export of sugar was 27,265 tons, valued at £436,245; of copra, 5,833 tons, value £57,261; of bananas and other green fruit, £49,115; of distilled spirits, 133,971 gallons, valued at £16,746.

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Dependencies of the Australian colonies are the British half of New Guinea (see Annual Cyclopædia" for 1896) and the southern Solomon Islands. The northern part of this archipelago belongs to Germany. The southern islands, which have only recently been placed under British protection and are subject to the jurisdiction of the High Commissioner of the Western Pacific, lie between 7 and 13 of south latitude and 150° and 163 of east longitude. The chief islands are Guadalcanar, San Christoval, Malaita, New Georgia, Gela, and Tulage. The number of foreign residents is about 50, mostly traders, scattered in twos and threes on the different islands and owning little trading schooners in which they collect produce and convey it to central stations, whence it is shipped to Sydney, There is a Government coaling station at Gavertu. The chief export is copra, which is smoke-dried, and hence less valuable than the sun-dried product of other South Sea islands. Next in importance are ivory nuts, growing in inexhaustible profusion on a species of sago palm and sent to Germany and Austria to be made into vegetable ivory buttons. Pearl shell, turtle shell, and bêche de mer are also exported. Tobacco is the chief article of barter. Pipes, matches, axes and other tools, cotton stuffs, and beads are also traded with the natives. Plantations of the cocoanut palm have been set out by some of the traders. The sago palm grows in vast numbers, and in New Georgia a kind of ebony is found.

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, a dual monarchy in central Europe, composed, under the fundamental law of Dec. 21, 1867, of the Empire of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary, two inseparable constitutional monarchies that are hereditary in the male line of the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine or, in the event of the extinction of the male line, in the female line. The legislative power for affairs common to both monarchies, viz., foreign relations, military and naval affairs, common finance, commercial and railroad affairs concerning both monarchies, the customs tariff, the coinage, and the administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is exercised by committees of the legislative bodies of the two halves of the empire, which meet alternately in Vienna and Buda Pesth. These committees, called the Delegations, are composed of 20 of its members elected every year by the Austrian House of Lords and the same number from the Hungarian Table of Mag

nates, and 40 from each of the lower houses, the Austrian House of Deputies and the Hungarian Table of Representatives. The two Delegations meet and vote separately, except when there is a disagreement, in which case the matter is decided by joint ballot. The common ministers are responsible to the Delegations and may be impeached for any dereliction of duty.

The Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary is Franz Josef I, born Aug. 18, 1830, who was proclaimed Emperor of Austria on Dec. 2, 1848, when his uncle Ferdinand I abdicated in consequence of a popular uprising. He was crowned King of Hungary on June 8, 1867, when the ancient privileges of that monarchy were restored. The heir presumptive is the Emperor's nephew, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, son of the late Archduke Karl Ludwig and the Princess Annunciata, daughter of King Ferdinando II of Naples.

The ministers for the whole monarchy at the beginning of 1897 were: Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of the Imperial House, Count Agenor Maria Adam Goluchowski, born March 25, 1849; Minister of War, Gen. Edmund Edler von Krieghammer; Minister of Finance, Benjamin de Kallay.

The Common Budget.-According to the Ausgleich or agreement in force in 1897 the expenses of the administration of common affairs, after deducting from the amount required the proceeds of the common customs and departmental receipts and 2 per cent. of the remainder, which is charged to Hungary, are borne by the two halves of the monarchy in the proportion of 70 per cent. for Austria and 30 per cent. for Hungary. The budget for 1897 was estimated at 160,584,751 florins, of which 2,618,871 florins are receipts of the Ministry of War, 122,412 florins those of other ministries, 50,573,136 florins the surplus from customs, 2,145,407 florius Hungary's 2 per cent., 73,578,452 florins Austria's quota, and 31,537,479 florins the quota of Hungary. The appropriations for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are 4,019,500 florins for ordinary and 77,400 florins for extraordinary expenses; of the Ministry of War, 125,382,512 florins for ordinary and 14,797,187 florins for extrordinary expenses of the army, and 10,481,060 florins for ordinary and 3,600,200 florins for extraordinary expenses of the navy; of the Ministry of Finance, 2,093,500 florins; of the Board of Control, 133,392 florins.

The revenue collected in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1896 was estimated at 14,413,590 florins, and the expenditure at 14,368,296 florins, exclusive of the extraordinary expenses of the army of occupation, estimated at 3,533,000 florins.

Public Debt.-The general debt, contracted before 1878, amounts to 2,766,183,000 florins. The interest and sinking fund in 1896 amounted to 127,377,468 florins, of which Austria paid 97,066,393 and Hungary 30,311,075 florins. There is a common floating debt, amounting at the end of 1896 to 192,846,145 florins. Austria's special debt was 1,435,338,000 florins in 1895, costing 70,696,391 florins a year. The special debt of Hungary has grown from 1,793,484,000 florins in 1890 to 2,144,786,000 florins in 1895.

Area and Population.—The area of AustriaHungary is 240,942 square miles. The population at the census of Dec. 31, 1890, was 41,231,342. Austria, with an area of 115,903 square miles, had a population of 23,895,413, composed of 11,689,129 males and 12,206,284 females. The number of marriages in 1894 was 194,233; of births, 928.739; of deaths, 682,803; excess of births, 245,936. The population of Vienna, the capital, in 1890 was 1,364,548; of Prague, 184,109; of Trieste, 158,344. There were 19.146 elementary schools in 1894, with 68,038 teachers and 3,312,530 pupils, out of a total

population of school age of 3,807,376. These schools are supported by the communes. The subjects of instruction are religion, reading, writing, language, arithmetic and elementary geometry, geography, history, some branches of natural history and physics, drawing, singing, gymnastics, and for girls domestic economy. The age of compulsory attendance is from six to fourteen. There are 81 training colleges for teachers.

The area of Hungary is 125,039 square miles. Its population in 1890 was 17,463,473, comprising 8,667,971 males and 8,795,502 females. The number of marriages in 1894 was 166,033; of births, 761,607; of deaths, 563,558; excess of births, 198,049. BudaPesth, the capital, had on Dec. 31, 1890, a population of 506,384. In Hungary education is compulsory between the ages of six and twelve. There were 16,536 primary schools in 1895, with 28,731 teachers and 2,540,183 pupils out of a total of 3,221,513 of school age. For teachers there are 70 normal schools.

The number of emigrants from Austria-Hungary in 1894 was 25,566, against 65,544 in 1893, 74,947 in 1892, and 78,524 in 1891. The destination of 22,965 in 1894 was North America. In 1895 the number of Austrians emigrating was 18,256, and of Hungarians 15,206; in 1896 there were 34,196 Austrian and 30,898 Hungarian emigrants.

The Army. The military system established by the Austrian and Hungarian laws of 1889 divides the military forces into the army and its Ersatz troops, or reserve, common to the whole monarchy, and the Landwehr, with its Ersatz reserve, a national institution in each half of the empire. Men who do not belong to either the army or the Landwehr and those who have served their time in the Landwehr are enrolled in the Landsturm for ten years. The period of service in the active army is three years, beginning at the age of twenty-one; then seven years in the reserve. Those not called into active service spend the whole ten years in the Ersatz reserve. Men transferred from the army serve two years with the Landwehr; others twelve years. There are 15 army corps, usually consisting of 2 divisions of 2 brigades of infantry, 1 brigade of cavalry, and 1 brigade of artillery. The annual contingent of recruits for the regular army is 103,100 men, 60,389 being furnished by Austria and 42,711 by Hungary. The annual contingent for the Austrian Landwehr is 10,500, and for the Hungarian Honved 12,500. The peace strength of the Austro-Hungarian army in 1896 was 25,176 officers and 334,717 men; total, 359,883, with 47,149 horses. There were 3,738 staff officers, with 3,843 men, 79 officers, and 2.854 men in the sanitary corps, 1,536 officers and 7,680 men in the military schools and other establishments, 10.047 infantry officers and 177,712 infantry men, 1,874 officers and 45,506 men in the cavalry, 1,636 officers and 28,152 men in the field artillery, 412 officers and 7.760 men in the fortress artillery, 575 officers and 9,918 men in the pioneers, railroad, and telegraph corps, etc., and 393 officers and 1,899 men in the artillery train of the regular army. The Austrian Landwehr consisted of 2,168 officers and 20,657 men in the infantry and 196 officers and 1,899 men in the cavalry; the Hungarian Honved of 2,132 infantry officers and 21,232 men, and 390 officers and 4,251 men in the cavalry. The war strength of the army is stated to be 45,238 officers and 1,826,940 men, with 281,886 horses, not counting the Landsturm, estimated at more than 4,000,000 men. There are 1,048 field guns in peace and 1,864 on the war footing.

The Navy.-The Austro-Hungarian navy is small, but is kept up to the modern requirements for the defense of the ports and commerce of the empire. There are 8 battle ships, 8 port-defense

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vessels, including 4 monitors for the Danube, 5 new cruisers, 23 third-class cruisers, and 25 firstclass, 5 second-class, and 26 third-class torpedo boats. The "Monarch," Wien," and "Budapest," sister ships launched in 1895 and 1896, have a displacement of 5,550 tons, 106 inches of side armor, engines of 8,500 horse power, giving a speed of 17 knots and an armament consisting of 4 94-inch guns and 6 59-inch and 14 47-millimetre quickfiring guns, besides machine guns and 4 torpedo ejectors. The ram cruiser Marie Theresa," launched in 1893, has a displacement of 5,250 tons and engines of 9,800 horse power, making 19 knots, and carries 2 9-4-inch, 6 6-inch, and 11 quick-firing guns and 4 torpedo ejectors. The "Kaiser Franz Josef" and "Kaiserin Elizabeth," of 4,000 tons, are similarly constructed. A new armored cruiser now building, of 6,100 tons, with a belt of 10-6-inch armor, is designed to carry 2 9-4-inch guns, 8 59inch quick firers, 18 smaller ones, 4 torpedo tubes, and to run 20 knots an hour with 12,000 horse power. The personnel of the navy consists of €28 officers, 446 petty officers and mechanics, 7,500 sailors, and 4,500 marines. The marines are raised by conscription like the army, and when the term of four years is past they are transferred to the reserve for five years, and then form part for three years longer of the Seewehr, created in 1888, which corresponds to the Landwehr.

Commerce and Production.-Austria is a country of diversified industry, though agriculture employs about half the working population. Hungary is mainly an agricultural country. The wheat crop of Hungary in 1894 was 53,085,000 hectolitres, while that of Austria was 16,982,000 hectolitres. Hungary produced 28,382,000 hectolitres of maize, and both countries grew large crops of oats, rye, and barley. The sugar beet is extensively grown in Austria, the crop amounting to 67,285,000 hectolitres, and potatoes cover as large an area as wheat. The exports of horses, of which there were 1,548,197 in Austria and 1,997,355 in Hungary at the last census, and of cattle and sheep, are much greater than the imports. There are 9,775,722 hectares of forest in Austria, over two thirds of it covered with pines, and in Hungary 9,074.000 hectares, of which 2,440,167 hectares are oak, 4,752,978 hectares beech, and 1,880,975 hectares beech forest. The exports of timber and forest produce from Hungary amount to 24,000,000 florins a year. The coal mined in Austria in 1895 was worth 69,000,000 florins; the Hungarian output was worth 23,700,000 florins. The iron produced in Hungary was 27,771,000 florins in value; the Austrian output, 12,490,000 florins The total value of the merchandise imports of Austria-Hungary in 1895 was 722,500,000 florins, and of the exports 741,800,000 florins. The chief imports were: Cotton, 51,687,000 florins; wool, 39,232,000 florins; coffee, 37,631,000 florins; coal, 33,501,000 florins; woolen yarn, 24,978,000 florins; machinery and carriages, 24,179,000 florins; leaf tobacco, 21,257,000 florins; silk, 20,295,000 florins: grain, 18,900,000 florins; hides and skins, 17,991,000 florins; instruments and clocks, 17,422,000 florins; leather, 16,700,000 florins; books and maps, 15,681,000 florins; silk goods, 14,499,000 florins: live animals, 14,018,000 florins; cotton yarn, 13.939.000 florins; manufactured tobacco, 4,221,000 florins. The principal exports were: Sugar, 63,003,000 florins: sawed timber, 39,500,000 florins; cattle, 39,396,000 florins; eggs, 39.357,000 florins; coal. 30,427,000 florins; grain, 28,722,000 florins; hardware and clocks, 26,106,000 florins; glassware, 23,048,000 florins; horses and mules, 22,756,000 florins; gloves, 21,457,000 florins; wood and bone goods, 18,824,000 florins; hides and skins, 18,409,000 florins; woolen goods, 17,837,000 florins; bev

erages, 13,464,000 florins; leather goods, 13,278,000 florins; iron goods, 12,423,000 florins; paper and paper goods, 11,848,000 florins; wool, 10,409,000 florins.

The imports into Hungary in 1895 were valued at 543,977,000 florins, the chief articles being cotton goods for 58,649,000 florins, woolens for 45,738,000 florins, clothing for 18,990,000 florins, silk goods for 17,719,000 florins, sugar for 10,104,000 florins, wine in casks for 9,990,000 florins, and cotton yarn for 9,004,000 florins. The total value of all Hungarian exports was 504,812,000 florins, of which 86,417,000 florins represent cattle, pigs, and horses; 71,671,000 wheat, corn, and barley; 69.618,000 flour; 19,287,000 wine in casks; 11,489,000 cask staves: 8,822,000 wool; and 8,739,000 eggs. Of the imports into Hungary 81-21 per cent. came from Austria, and of the Hungarian exports 77-24 per cent. went to Austria.

The value of gold and silver coin and bullion imported into Austria-Hungary during 1894 was 37.639,940 florins, and in 1895 it was 54,146,791 florins; the exports in 1894 were 27,361,456 florins, and in 1895 they were 24,257,737 florins in value.

The trade of Austria-Hungary was divided among foreign countries in 1895 as follows, values being given in Austrian florins:

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Navigation. The number of vessels entered at the ports of Austria increased from 66,271, of 8,773,713 tons, in 1890, to 87,503, of 9,494,229 tons, in 1895; the number cleared increased from 66,257, of 8,759,632 tons, to 87,421, of 9,472,485 tons. Austrian vessels formed 85 per cent. of the total number and 89 per cent. of the tonnage. At the port of Trieste 8,085 vessels in the foreign trade were entered, aggregating 1,760,055 tons, and 8,103, of 1.759.875 tons, were cleared in 1895; at the port of Fiume 7.023, of 1,063,970 tons, were entered and 7,006, of 1,060,538 tons, cleared.

The number of vessels owned in Austria and Hungary on Jan. 1, 1896, was 11,912, of 264,193 tons, employing 33,023 men in their crews. Of the total number, 244, of 202,352 tons, were seagoing merchant ships; 1,746, of 38,849 tons, coasting vessels; and 9,922, of 22,992 tons, vessels engaged in the fisheries.

Communications.—The railroads owned by the state had a total length of 4,950 miles in Austria in 1895, besides which the state operated 589 miles belonging to companies, while the railroad companies had 4,561 miles. In Hungary the Government owned 6,725 and companies 1,492 miles. The Austrian roads carried 102,898,000 passengers in 1894, and 92,865,000 tons of freight. The receipts were 243,208,000 florins, and the working expenses 136,227,000 florins. On the Hungarian lines in 1893 the number of passengers carried was 95,582,000, and the freight traffic was 124,460,000 tons. receipts were 102,591,000 florins, and expenses 53,702,000 florins.

The

The Austrian postal traffic in 1895 was 689,306,

140 letters and postal cards, 99.071,300 samples and printed packets, and 82,309,600 newspapers; receipts, 45,484,751 florins; expenses, 42,158,412 florins. The Hungarian post office in 1895 forwarded 152,889,000 letters and postal cards, not including official and franked letters, 31,283,000 book packets, samples, etc., and 89,081,000 newspapers; receipts, 16,771,000 florins; expenses, 12,153,000 florins.

The telegraphs of Austria had a total length of 29,750 miles in 1895, with 86,328 miles of wire. The number of dispatches sent during 1895 was 13,234,625. In Hungary there were 12,473 miles of telegraph lines, with 35,320 miles of wire. The number of dispatches in 1894 was 9,969,844. In Bosnia and Herzegovina the telegraphs had 1,784 miles of line and 4,262 miles of wire in 1893, and the number of messages that were sent in that year was 531,269.

Bosnia and Herzegovina.-The Turkish provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in accordance with a provision of the Berlin Treaty, have been administered by the Austro-Hungarian Government since 1878. The Bosnian Bureau is subject to the authority of the Imperial Minister of Finance, The provincial government in Sarajevo, divided into the departments of finance, internal affairs, and justice, is assisted by an advisory body consisting of the dignitaries of the Greek Church and 12 representatives of the people. Bosnia and Herzegovina have an area of 23,262 square miles. The sanjak of Novi Bazar is occupied by Austro-Hungarian troops, but is administered by Turkish officials. The population of the occupied provinces in 1895 was 1,568,092, comprising 828,190 males and 739,902 females. There were 673,246 Greek Orthodox, 334,142 Roman Catholics, 3,596 Evangelical, and 251 other Christian inhabitants, 548,632 Mohammedans, 8.213 Jews, and 12 of other religions. Except the Albanians of the southern part and scattered gypsies the people are of the Servian race. Tobacco is the most valuable product. Wheat. corn, and other grains, potatoes, flax, and hemp are cultivated. Dried prunes are exported largely. Cattle breeding is an important industry. There were 233,322 horses, 1,416,394 cattle, 1,447,049 goats, 3,230,720 sheep, and 662,242 hogs in 1895. Nearly half the country is covered with forest. Iron, copper, manganese, antimony, chromium, quicksilver, lead, and zinc are mined. Compulsory military service has been introduced, and 5,185 men were enrolled in the local forces in 1895. The Austrian army of occupation numbers 22,994 men.

Renewal of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise. The negotiations for the renewal of the Austro-Hungarian Ausgleich, the settlement of the amount to be contributed by each half of the monarchy to the common expenses, were not concluded by the Austrian and Hungarian deputations, which separated with mutual expressions of regret that they had failed to come to an agreement. Hence, in virtue of the constitutional law, the question was referred to the two governments, which submitted their decision to the parliaments in Vienna and Buda-Pesth. Count Badeni and Baron Banffy decided to continue the expiring treaty for one year more pending further negotiations. Under the present arrangement Austria pays 68.6 per cent. and Hungary 314 per cent. In view of the great economic development of Hungary it was urged by the Austrian deputation that the Hungarian quota ought to be raised to 43:16 per cent, and that of Austria reduced to 56-84 per cent. Hungary, which in the last decade has enjoyed a comparatively greater degree of growth and prosperity than Austria, though still possessing far less wealth and industrial development, was willing to bear a heavier

part of the imperial expenses than heretofore, but the Hungarian representatives objected strenuously to the principle put forth by their Austrian colleagues that the number of the population in the two halves of the dual monarchy should henceforth furnish the basis of calculation. They urged on the part of Hungary that the quota should be based on the revenue derived from taxation in each half of the monarchy, since the great majority of the population of Hungary is agricultural and comparatively poor. The deputation of the Austrian Reichsrath in May reduced the contribution demanded from Hungary to 364 per cent., but the Hungarian deputation would not agree to a higher quota than 33.2 per cent. The negotiations were broken off, and the Hungarian Government would not renew them, being unwilling to commit itself to any precise figures in the absence of an assurance that the Austrian Government could secure the sanction of the Reichsrath for any definitive agreement. The Austrian agricultural interests wanted protection against Hungarian flour, while the growing industrial interests of Hungary would willingly see the customs union lapse in order to establish protective duties against Austrian manufactures. Hence there were strong influences at work in both halves of the monarchy tending to retard a settlement. Negotiations were begun in September for the provisional extension of the existing Ausgleich. The two premiers agreed to an extension for twelve months, and bills to authorize this arrangement were introduced in both parliaments. The temporary extension includes the customs and commercial treaty and the understanding between the two governments and the Austro-Hungarian Bank.

International Politics.-The visit of Count Goluchowski, Austro-Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, in Berlin in January, 1897, showed with sufficient clearness that the rapprochement between Austria and Russia created no coldness between Austria and Germany and did not affect their defensive alliance. In the Grecian question Austria, which was the first to suggest coercive measures, acted throughout in evident harmony with Germany, and both in a spirit of compliance toward or agreement with Russia that contrasted with the wavering attitude of Russia's ally, the French Republic. The German Kaiser, instead of meeting the Emperor Franz Josef at a frontier watering place, this year visited Vienna, where he was received with royal honors on April 21.__The_Austrian Emperor visited the Czar at St. Petersburg, and there an understanding is supposed to have been reached regarding matters that might lead eventually to a rupture between Austria-Hungary and Russia, and causes of difference or suspicion to have been, for a time at least, smoothed away.

The Reichsrath in 1896 sanctioned a so-called investment loan, free of taxes and bearing 34 per cent. interest, to raise 53,500,000 florins for the payment of debts incurred by the various ministries, to cover the costs incurred in the transfer to the state of the telephone system, to increase the rolling stock of the state railroads, and to set aside a sum for new investments. In February the Government issued 58,000,000 florins, representing the amount of the new loan, which was taken at the net price of 92 per cent. by a syndicate composed of the firm of Rothschild, two Vienna banks, and the Post Office Savings Bank, with the understanding that all profits accruing to the syndicate from subscriptions over and above the price of 934 per cent. shall be shared equally with the Government. This is the first state issue in Austria that bears so low a rate as 3 per cent. interest, the previous average annual rate being 4 per cent.

Austria. The Austrian Reichsrath is composed of the Herrenhaus, or House of Lords, in which 21 princes of the imperial family, 67 territorial nobles, 2 cardinals, 8 archbishops, 7 bishops, and 120 life members have seats, and the House of Deputies, of 353 members elected for six years, partly by the direct votes of citizens twenty-four years of age who possess a small property or other qualification. The electors are divided into four classes: Landed proprietors paying from 50 to 250 florins in direct taxes, according to the province in which their estates are situated, who elect 85 Deputies; chambers of trade and commerce, represented by 21 Deputies; the towns, where every citizen who pays direct taxes of 5 florins or over or who possesses certain personal qualifications, has a direct vote, electing 118 Deputies; and rural communes, where a similarly qualified class of voters choose 1 elector for every 500 inhabitants, and these electors meet and vote for the 129 rural Deputies.

Bohemia is represented in the Reichsrath by 92 Deputies, Galicia by 63, Lower Austria by 37, Moravia by 36, Styria by 23, Tyrol by 18, Upper Austria by 17, the coast land by 12, Carniola by 10, Silesia by 10, Carinthia by 9, Bukowina by 9, Dalmatia by 9, Salzburg by 5, and Vorarlberg by 3. Each province has its own Landtag, or diet, and possesses a large degree of autonomy. The Landtage are single chambers, elected similarly to the Reichsrath, for six years, containing in Lower Austria 72 members, in Upper Austria 50, in Salzburg 26, in Styria 63, Carinthia 37, Carniola 37, Görz and Gradiska 22, Istria 33, Tyrol 68, Vorarlberg 21, Bohemia 242, Moravia 100, Silesia 31, Galicia 151, Bukowina 31, and Dalmatia 43.

The Austrian Cabinet, constituted on Sept. 29, 1895, consisted in the beginning of 1897 of the following members: President of the Council and Minister of the Interior, Count Casimir Badeni; Minister of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs, Baron D. Gautsch von Frankenthurn; Minister of Finance, Ritter von Bilinski; Minister of Agriculture, Count T. Ledebur Wicheln; Minister of Commerce and National Economy, Baron Hugo Glanz von Eicha; Minister of National Defense, FieldMarshal Count Zeno von Welsersheimb; Minister of Justice, Count Johann Gleispach; Minister for Railroads, E. von Guttenberg.

Finances. The budget estimate of revenue for 1897 was 692.703,959 florins, of which 681.083,783 florins were ordinary, and 11,620,176 florins extraordinary receipts. The following are the sources of revenue: Reichsrath and Council of Ministers, 813.485 florins; Ministry of the Interior, 1,175,373 florins of ordinary, and 52,370 florins of extraordinary receipts; Ministry of Defense, 394,126 florins; Ministry of Worship and Education, 6,594,274 florins of ordinary, and 133,709 florins of extraordinary receipts; Ministry of Finance, 494,303,807 florins of ordinary, and 1,260,629 florins of extraordinary receipts; Ministry of Commerce, 50,170,870 florins of ordinary, and 47,120 florins of extraordinary receipts; Ministry of Railroads, 108,959,780 florins of ordinary, and 9,129,300 florins of extraordinary receipts; Ministry of Agriculture, 13,869,782 florins of ordinary, and 2,948 florins of extraordinary receipts; Ministry of Justice, 1,039,479 florins of ordinary, and 8,800 florins of extraordinary receipts: pensions, subventions, etc., 1,320,123 florins of ordinary, and 255,300 florins of extraordinary receipts: state debt, 2,431,834 florins of ordinary, and 580,000 florins of extraordinary receipts; various sources, 10,850 florins of ordinary, and 150,000 florins of extraordinary receipts.

The total expenditure for 1897 was estimated at 692,161,183 florins, of which 655,775,446 florins are for ordinary, and 36,385,737 florins for extraordi

nary purposes. The ordinary expenditures are 4,650,000 florins for the imperial household, 79,500 florins for the Imperial Cabinet Chancery, 2,472,206 florins for the Reichsrath and Council of Ministers, 22,725 florins for the Supreme Court, 116,736,482 florins for the Austrian contribution to the common expenditure, 20,620,567 florins for the Ministry of the Interior, 22,677,650 fiorins for the Ministry of Defense, 26,093,219 florins for the Ministry of Worship and Education, 96,256,303 florins for the Ministry of Finance, 45,040,404 florins for the Ministry of Commerce, 85,344,500 florins for the Ministry of Railroads, 15.846,411 florins for the Ministry of Agriculture, 22,859,800 florins for the Ministry of Justice, 175,200 florins for the Board of Control, 28,125,030 florins for pensions, subventions, etc.. 168,137,859 florins for the public debt, and 637,990 florins for management of the debt. The extraordinary expenditures are 185,685 florins for the Reichsrath and Council of Ministers, 2,396,198 florins for common extraordinary expenditure, 3,789,284 florins for the Ministry of the Interior, 416,520 florins for the Ministry of Defense, 1,647,932 florins for the Ministry of Worship and Education, 7,131,374 florins for the Ministry of Finance, 2,182,800 florins for the Ministry of Commerce, 12,700,230 florins for the Ministry of Railroads, 1,875,706 florins for the Ministry of Agriculture, 2,127,008 florins for the Ministry of Justice, 1,904,500 florins for pensions and subventions, and 28,500 for debt. Agrarian Agitation.-The most remarkable social manifestation of the year was a movement akin to social democracy among the peasantry in certain parts of the country, particularly in Galicia. The leader of the movement among the Polish peasants was Father Stojaloffski, an eloquent priest, whose views partake of the social philosophy of Karl Marx, and whose sermons are a singular mixture of the style of the Hebrew prophets with modern socialistic phraseology. While a parish priest he began to inveigh against the tyranny of landlords and the injustice of Government officials, and for this he was repeatedly the object of disciplinary punishment on the part of the bishop of his diocese. Hence he resigned his living and joined the archdiocese of Antivari, in Albania, thereby placing himself outside the jurisdiction of the Galician episcopacy, though he remained in Galicia as a priest without a charge. He preached, whenever he could get an opportunity, against the iniquity of great people, editing at the same time two magazines, in which he advocated his principles. The Austrian Government prosecuted him on various minor charges, such as his having read mass in a public house and his having refused to comply with an order for the dissolution of a political meeting. The Pope ordered him to go to his own diocese of Antivari, and when he refused to do this he was excommunicated. He protested against his excommunication, declaring that it was contrary to the canons, and was therefore null and void, and that the bishops had perverted the intentions of the Pope. His excommunication did him least harm in the very part of the country that is considered the main stronghold of the Catholic religion. His followers declared that the Galician authorities wished to get rid of him in view of the coming elections. He continued his campaign, and continued also to say mass, thus infringing the Austrian law. His utterances had a Russophile tinge, and contained also an admixture of anti-Semitic sentiment, but their burden was the vindication of justice for the peasantry, which had been robbed by the nobility and was denied its rights by the civil authorities. After he was repeatedly prosecuted and imprisoned for offenses against the laws. Father Stojaloffski fled to Hungary, where he

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