The grant of universal suffrage to Austria is one of the most peaceful, complete, and sudden revolutions of modern times. The whole principle of Parliamentary representation has been transformed, root and branch. It is no longer a question of classes or of interests electing delegates, but of the people choosing their own Members of Parliament. Under the Constitution of 1867 there was no direct representation of the people as such. There were four curias, to which various interests sent their own spokesmen. Thus the large landed proprietors chose 85, the Chambers of Commerce 21, the large towns 117, and the country districts 130 Members of Parliament-or 353 in all. In 1896 an advance was made in the direction of universal suffrage, and a fifth curia was added. In this case the people themselves proceeded to elect their own spokesmen, but this curia was limited to 72 members out of a chamber of 425 deputies; yet the suffrage was not necessarily direct. The electors chose "wahlmänner" or intermediaries between them and Parliament, and these "wahlmänner" elected the man who sat for them in the Lower House of Parliament. By the new Reform Act the old curias disappear, the "wahlmann" ceases to act as such, and, in words reechoed from platform to platform throughout the Empire of Austria, the new chamber of 516 members will be returned on the principle of "universal, equal, secret, and direct election." We may well say with Mr. Chamberlain, speaking of our own Reform Act of 1884, a very much smaller measure: "The change is a portentous one, and unparalleled in the history of Reform."

This change does not proceed from any very violent pressure on the part

of the people, for in Austria they are quiet and peaceable, without much political feeling, only asking for leave to live and to let live. The Social Democrats had been agitating; but their agitation was perhaps not the most important factor. The change comes from the Emperor himself, who was inspired by a multiplicity of motives. He saw that some kind of reform was bound to come, and thought it would prove better now than later on. It was not necessarily a dangerous one, or a "leap in the dark," for the members chosen by the fifth curia had proved to be far more Conservative than was anticipated; but the most important factor was the desire to set the example to Hungary and force the hand of that Magyar majority in the Chamber of Deputies who have hitherto been the most ardent advocates of Hungarian independence those who have proved the chief stumbling-block in all attempts to secure an advantageous settlement for Austria, whenever the "Ausgleich" or compromise between the two countries came up for consideration, which must occur this year, and again in 1917. As it is, they represent 8,740,000 Maygars out of a population of 19,255,000, the residue consisting of 2,800,000 Roumanians, 2,135,000 Germans, 2,019,000 Slovaks, 1,679,000 Croats, 1,052,000 Serbs, and 815,000 Jews, besides other nationalities. Of these, some Germans and Jews vote with the Magyars, while the Croats have a Parliament of their own in Agram, which is at least nominally independent. They only send 40 delegates to the Chamber in Buda Pesth. The Magyars had, it is true, promised universal suffrage, but it was slow in coming; and it was hoped that the example set by Austria, coupled with the

growing movement in its favor in Hungary itself, would go a long way towards inducing them to surrender their monopoly of the government, and to give what must secure proportional representation to the other nationalities in the sister kingdom. Besides this, the Reichsrat had itself declared in favor of the principle, and Count von Bylandt, one of the ablest members of the Austrian nobility, proposed that as the House had adopted a resolution in favor of universal suffrage they should be taken at their word. It was better to take time by the forelock, and for the Government to introduce this great reform of its own free will, to shape its clauses in peace, and to bargain with each nationality on a well understood basis, than to be forced into an unprepared and abject surrender later on. Finally, there were some men who feared complications at the Emperor's death, and others who dreaded subsequent difficulties many years hence with regard to the succession. It was, therefore, deemed urgent to found Parliamentary representation on as broad and as comprehensive a basis as possible, so as to strengthen the Government against all eventualities, by making it the living embodiment of the popular will. Thus it was that, with little preparation, Austria, the most conservative of all European parliamentary communities, found itself suddenly endowed with a Constitution far more democratic than that of Great Britain and Ireland.

The general principle of the new Bill was that national distinctions should be considered first and before all others. This had been the case in the old curia Parliament, which was so divided that the Germans could depend upon 205, the Czechs on 87, the Poles on 72, the Southern Slavs on 28, the Italians on 18, the Ruthenians on 10, and the Roumanians on 5, seats. Provision was therefore made that in the new

Parliament the Germans should have allotted to them 233, the Czechs 107, the Poles 82, the Southern Slavs 37, the Ruthenes 33, the Italians 19, and the Roumanians 5, seats. This division was not based purely upon population. Taxation was considered simultaneously, and a rough mean struck between the two. It would be tedious to go into all the statistics that have been published upon the subject; but two nationalities, the Czechs and the Ruthenes, have been particularly loud in formulating their complaints. The Czechs urge that whilst 52,729 Czechs are required to make up a constituency, 37,377 Germans are sufficient for this purpose; but then each German pays on an average 22 kr. 60 h., whilst each Czech only pays 10 kr. 70 heller in direct taxation. In the same way, whilst 45,335 Poles send a Member to Parliament, a population of 94,748 Ruthenes is needed to secure this end; but then each Pole pays 5 kr. 40 h., whilst each Ruthene pays but 3 kr. 50 h. in direct taxation. Both Czechs and Ruthenes have certainly been unfairly treated; but then both nationalities, and especially the Ruthenes, have made a very substantial advance on what their privileges were under the old law. Young Czechs were very anxious to get rid of the excessive influence of their landlords in the first curia, otherwise they would certainly have obstructed the Bill, which was necessarily a compromise between contending parties and peoples. The Czechs have also every right to complain that the Poles are far better off than they are, on whatever basis the principle of representation may have been founded. the other hand, Austria can urge in her defence that no form of parlimentary voting is ideal, and that she has secured far more equality between her various nationalities than exists in the United Kingdom, or than the changes of population have produced in the

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German Empire; and the fact remains that these various peoples find far more fault with their representatives for giving way than with the central Government for not having given them their rights.

Many precautions have been taken in parcelling out these constituencies and circumstances differ in every separate province of the empire. Thus, in Moravia, where the populations are very mixed, separate registers have been formed for Germans and for Czechs, who are each to return their own member; but in the province of Galicia exaggerated precautions have been taken to safeguard Polish interests. The Poles live in West Galicia and in the towns, whilst the Ruthenians predominate in the country districts of East Galicia. Everything has been done to secure Polish predominance. Each rural constituency returns two members, but each elector is only entitled to one vote. The Poles, therefore, not only monopolize the representation in the western, but are able to secure far more than their proper share in the eastern, part of the province. The Ruthenians will be able to return a member wherever their population exceeds 50 per cent. of the voters; but cases have occurred in which the Poles have secured the second seat where they number little more than 26 per cent. of the population. Beyond this, whole groups of villages, where either Jews or Poles are in a majority, have been taken out of agricultural constituencies. With all these anomalies it will, however, be admitted that the Austrian scheme is a far fairer one than can be found in most civilized countries. The Government have also declared that no pressure of any kind is to be exercised by the properly constituted authorities, and there is reason to believe that this undertaking has been carried out by its direct subordinates, who boast of their absolute im

partiality. On the other hand, local pressure is certainly being exercised by less responsible bodies. In Vienna, the town council, which is an overwhelmingly Christian Socialist body, is accused of exceeding its powers and of using its influence on behalf of its own candidates. The same accusations are being made against other representative bodies, and it is alleged that this pressure is being applied by local majorities, whether Catholic, Jewish, or Liberal. It is also stated that the leaders of the Christian Socialist party have sent out to the rural clergy forms to be filled up, setting out the political opinions of their parishioners. In many cases these forms are only such as are used by political organizations to satisfy themselves as to the feeling of the district. Then accusations are made against the standing committees for different districts, the poor law officials, and the magistrates; but, on the whole, even Social Democrats themselves admit that a very substantial progress has been made in Austria, which has now become, largely owing to the easy-going character of its people-and especially of its Governmentone of the freest countries in the world. In one respect, however, it is not free. The franchise was, according to the original scheme, to be not only universal but compulsory, and this precaution was taken to secure a full attendance at the polls of all those classes who are so difficult to move. It was feared, and justly feared, that the political enthusiasm of the Social Democrat would poll every man, whilst Liberals, Christian Socialists, and Conservatives would stop at home on the day of the poll. Power was eventually given to the provincial diets to determine whether the franchise should be compulsory or not, and five provincial diets resolved, on the same lines as the Provincial Diet of Upper Austria, that every man who, without good cause

given, does not exercise the franchise, shall be fined from one to fifty kroners, -that is to say, from tenpence to £2, 2s. Sickness and infirmity, absence on a journey outside the province, official duties or professional duties which cannot be postponed, illness in the family, or family business which cannot also be postponed, disorganization of the traffic, or any other absolutely compulsory circumstances, may be alleged in defence when the matter comes up for trial. Provision has not, however, been made for every case. By some error the name of an elector appeared at the same time and for the same qualification on both the German and Czech registers in a Moravian constituency, where the two registers exist for each separate nationality; but the fact was not noticed at the time, nor was the necessary protest lodged before the expiration of the legal period. It was discovered a fortnight subsequently, and the elector. appealed to the authorities to strike his name off the German register. They were in a great difficulty, as it was perfectly clear that they were powerless to interfere once their functions had ceased to operate. The situation is an interesting one. The elector must exercise both votes, or be liable to a fine: on the other hand, if he votes twice, he also breaks the law, for its fifth paragraph provides that each elector shall only have one vote.

A man's name can be struck off the register if he does not fulfil the necessary conditions. To vote he must have reached twenty-four years of age, be an Austrian citizen, and have lived or possess a qualification in the district for more than twelve months. In addition, he must not be an officer, a military chaplain, or a private in permanent or temporary active service, nor must he have been disfranchised on any legal ground. The following are absolutely disfranchised: (1) Those who, for sundry reasons, are subject to the author

ity of others, such as their parents, their guardians, or curators; (2) Those who have received poor-law relief within the year preceding the election; (3) Those who have gone bankrupt and who have not yet obtained their discharge; (4) Those who have been punished for certain specified crimes; (5) Those who have evaded military service, either by flight abroad or by selfmutilation; (6) Those who have violated the law by interfering with the exercise of the franchise by others, who are under police supervision, have been legally deprived of the custody of their children, or who have been sentenced more than twice to imprisonment for either drunkenness or chronic intemperance, within three years from the expiration of their last sentence.

The registers, which are made up by the local authority, must be exposed for inspection in the local official centre for fourteen days, and no one is to be refused the right to inspect on the ground that he is not entitled to the franchise or does not possess the right to exercise it in the particular district. Where there are more than five thousand of a population, the registers must be available for inspection at least eight hours during each one of these fourteen days. Only those who are entitled to vote in the district are authorized to make a claim or to lodge an objection before the presiding officer of the community, who is himself bound to deposit these claims and objections within three days with the presiding officer of the district. Where an objection has been Jodged, the voter concerned is given twenty-four hours more to lodge his reply with the presiding officer of the community. The decision of the district authority is subject to an appeal to the Government of the province, whose decision is final. Before the day of the poll each voter must receive in his home a card showing that he is entitled to vote (Legimations-Karte), on