The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-27 00:00:00

FINANCES OP AUSTRIA.

A letter from Vienna, dated Sept. 22, says, on
.he 31st of last July, M. von Plener, the Chief of
the Finance Department, gave to the Council of
the Empire a detailed account of the state of the
finances, and yesterday Count Clam read to the
august assembly the report of the Committee of
Twenty-one on the subject. As the Committee did
not believe the unsatisfactory state of the finances
to be a consequence of "momentary difficulties," it
deemed it advisable to examine into the operations
of the Finance Department during the last ten
years. The result of the investigation was as fol-
lows :
" During the last ten years the nation has paid
in the way of taxation 800,000,000f1. more than it
did in'the preceding decennary. The national debt
is 1,300,000,000f1. larger than it was ten years ago,
and property belonging to the State (railroads,&c.)
has been sold for more than 100,000,000 fl."
The Committee acknowledged that the unsettled
state of affairs in Europe had largely contributed
to the financial embarrassments of Austria, but it
is of opinion that the outlay for the military and
civil administration of the empire has long been far
too large. Enormous sums have been expended in
trying administrative experiments :in Hungary,
and a great deal of money has been sunk in unsuc-
cessful financial operations. Notwithstanding the
retrenchments that have been made, the deficit in
1861 will, should peace be maintained;be 39,000,00f1.,
and 25,000,000f1. in the following year.* The ex-
traordinary " war contribution" (kriegs-zuschlag),
which amounts to 32,000,00011. per annum, figures
as part of the revenue in the budget for 1861, but
the tax is so exceedingly onerous that it cannot long
be levied. The committee is of opinion that the Go-
vernment cannot, for the time being, calculate on
any increase in the revenue, as a great part of the po-
pulation of the empire is impoverished. As no fur-
ther retrenchments can at present be made in the
different ministries, the only way of diminishing
the burden which weighs so heavily on the State
is, "to reduce the interest on the National Debt by
means of financial operations based on the prin-
ciples of freewill (freitailligkeit) and inviolability of
the obligations which have been entered into by
the State." After having made this suggestion,
the Committee expatiates on the evils arising from
the deterioration of the paper currency and the
continual variation in the rate of exchange, but it
at the same time advises the Finance Department
not to have recourse to any extraordinary financial
measures in order to remedy them. There is a pas-
sage in the report of the Committee which does not
admit of a literal translation, but the sense of it is,
that a bankruptcy must ensue if the Chief of the
Finance Department should attempt to uphold the
system which has hitherto been pursued. At the
end of the report it is said that a satisfactory
arrangement of the internal affairs of the empire,
and the consequent restoration of confidence, will
do much towards the restoration of the sunken
credit of Austria, " for it must be acknowledged,"
says the Committee, "that the present organization
of the empire has shaken rather than strengthened
the confidence of the public in its stability."
While Count Clam was reading the report he
was frequently interrupted by M. von Plener, who
declared that the opinions expressed were "exag-
gerated," and could not fail to produce a very bad
impression. He denied that the population of the
empire was impoverished, and in support of hie
assertion assertion told the Reichsrath that the consumption
of coffee and sugar was greater than ever. con In.

Clam, Prince Salm (Reichsrath for life), Dr.
Strasser (Tyrol), M. Toperczer (HunrarY), and
several other persons spoke on the subject of the
alleged impoverishment of the empire,
but they
might have saved themselves the trouble, for the
fact is so patent that it admits of no denial. The
necessities of life rise in price in proportion to the
deterioration of the paper currency, and conse-
quently the Austrians must be poorer, now that
silver is at a premium of 34 per cent., than they
were when bank-notes and silver were of the same
nominal value. National Loan, which was
issued at 95, is now 73, and it therefore stands
to reason that all the holders of that stock
must be less wealthy Szechennowthan they were for-
merly.lCounts Clam and
.declared that they
had done violence to their own feelings whe
drew up
i tna
affairs.
t aohi
reb
sye.
the report, but thaecyeaoln esitdaetreedof
their duty to give to their Soveriegn and the nation
a faithful account of the tu
Count Szechen said he earnestly
powerful and wealthy Austria.
state of the finances,' said he, e " The wretched
buted to the system of is mainly to be attri-
the system, and the State will thrive again." Count
government. Do but change
Szechen was loudly cheered by
the Reichsrath, to the an all the members of
noyance of the Minister-
President, who is said tohave looked as black as
thunder. M. Manger
hnot long since declared
observed that the Chief of the
Finance Departmenthad
that nothing but liberal
(gluckliche) institutions
would restore public
to ic confidence, but he had hesi-
tatedpronou
(Maa \ gerj was of opinion the word " constitution." He
inion that nothing but a consti-
tution for the whole Empire (reichsverfassung)
would restore
confidence at home and abroad. The
Minister-President replied . that
he was unable to
see what connexion there was between a constitu-
tion and the state of the currency, and then declared
that England had been " unable" to resume her
cash payments until the year 1820. As no one cor-
rected his statement Count Rechberginferred from
the
the supposed fact that Austria is notn
now in a
worse position than England was in 1819. Before
he resumed his seat the Minister-President
again
said Government would realise
the promises made
by his Majesty the Emperor in his autograph letter
of April 19, 1860. During the sitting there was a
sharp discussion between Count Andrassy and Dr.
Hein (a member of the minority in the Grand Com-
mittee.) The Hungarian nobleman said that the

*No one ever speaks of the deficit for the year IS6O, lout
it CRA9t leo tipn, 60,009 cAvri