The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1848-05-08
AFT AIRS IN EUROPE.
State or the Austrian Empire.

81
The accounts. which we receive from Vienna
throw scanty light upon the actual posture of affairs
IN the Austrian Empire. We are inclined To hope
The best from the men who compose the present
Administration, and we can hardly doubt that they
are fully alive TO the extremely critical situation
IN which the Imperial throne, and the whole fabric
upon which It rests, are still placed. The removal
from offlce OF the unpopular princes of the blood
VINO could hardly be expected to exchange at once
the notions OF government entertained BY soldiers
and gentlemen OF the old school, for views of an
opposite complexion and the advances which
Count Harhg has been commissioned to make to
lnsurgent Lombardy, improbable as it seems that
those advances vii lead to any satisfactory result
tend to confirm these antlcipatons. The Bohe-
mlans have been gratified by the appointment of a
young captaln;generaI, with two popular noblemen
tor his counsellors the law relating to the press
has received further relaxation trial by jury is
to be introduced, and the courts of law are to be
thrown open to the public. All this is well, as far
as 1t goes To allay irritation to give way. where
concession Is imperatively needed, to avoid every
risk OF conclusion, to ascertain the strength and
weakness OF their own position, and to bring the
huge. vessel, by slow degrees, to obey her helm,
and breast the waves amongst which she is roll
llng-such as we may suppose TO be the immediate
plan and purpose OF the Austrian cabinet Right
enough, no doubt. But we look for still higher
aims, and more comprehensiv policy from the
men under whose superintendence Austria has
entered upon the stage of transition through which
she must pass from the old system to the new-a
passage beset with dangers and involved in uncer-
talntles.
A rumor was abroad day or two ago, that the
Hungarians had proclaimed the union dissolved,
and elected the Archduke Stephen as their King
In these stirring days we have learnt to give rumOr
no more credit than she deserves, and we left the
story to time and the electric telegraph to stamp it
as authentic, to withdraw it from circulation
We felt that the absolute truth falsehood of the
tale was, after all, of less importance than it seemed
to be. Were It true, clear-headed, determined
statesman might yet undo what had been done,
and convert matter of fact into matter of history;
were 1t false, lingering adherence to the tradi-
tons OF the Metternch school might turn it, with
In no long time, into truth. For Austria is now
in the very crisis of struggle to which, except in
one or two instances, we in western Europe are
almost strangers-the war waged on the one side
by the tendency to combine and centralZe for adj
mnstrative purposes, on the other by the ineradi-
cable instincts of blood and race. With us the
strife has generally been between unequal forces,
and the weakest has gone to the wall. But the
battle ground on which the contest has been again
and again renewed, IN the sight of Europe and un-
der the auspices of Kings and diplomats, lies with
In the Austrian. territories. Races, unlike each
other IN the primary features which distinguish
nation from nation, form the chequered mosaic on
which Austria has raised her throne. Aliens by
origin, they have acquired affinity by associa-
ton. 1t has been remarked, that the great mobiles,
who possess estates in two or more of these coun-
tries, have invariably confined their interests and
circumstances, Gallicans, Bohemians, or Hun
garians, but rarely, if ever, exercising then
political privileges beyond the limits of the
province to which they especially attached
| themselves. The Imperial Government, on
its part, neglecting the means adopted, with more
or less success, by Prussia in the Grand Duchy of
Posen, and by Denmark in Sleswic, has taken no
pains to promote the amalgamation of the races,
them the iron network of rigorous unbending adj
mlnistratlve system, which pressed heavily on
each without uniting all into whole. Perhaps,
had she tried 1t, the task would have been too much
tor har rpp of ratn the, 70,
the thirty odd years of peace which have elapsed
since the treaty of Vienna, and under the stress of
the arbitrary territorial arrangements which have
subssted during that period, the integral unity of
the Empire has been weakened rather than in
vlgorated, and was never, perhaps, in more pre-
carlous state than Immediately before the breaking
out OF the late revolution
The question is, how should the difficulty be
met! Towards which point of the compass
ought Austrian craftsmanship to shape its course
Practically, so far regards the great and fertile
country which constitutes the bulk of the empire,
this question is as good as answered. Hungary,
at least, will not be content without bona tide in
dependence. Absolute autonomy, or divorce
from the wedlock which has subsisted since the
crown was placed on the brows of Joseph l., is the
alternative on which she takes her stand-an al
tentative boldly and broadly insisted upon, in the
stormy debates of which the Presburg Chambers
were the theatre before the tidings of the French
revolution had reached its doors. "We must and
will have a responsible minister! Not at dis
that chair; or, by God, the Emperor shall wear the
crown of Hungary no longer" So spoke Kos
suth. on the 9th of March, whilst Prince Meter
Mich still sat dreaming of the deluge which four
bic government they have got. II is prize, the
tention of which must always depend far more on
the vigilance, independence, and political capacity
of the people themselves than upon any legal guar
antee; and the Hungarans likely to keep it
as any nation in Europe. The control of their
own budget, and the largest powers of regulating
their domestic concerns always having regard to
the condition and internal legislation of the rest of
the group of States with which they consent to re-
main in union,) follow of course. Bohemia and
the hereditary States must have their Parliaments
too Even Croatia, hitherto dependency of Hunga-
nv, has demanded one for herself, and we are told
has obtained IT. And the gentry of Gaicia, emu
latng their fellow-countrymen In Prusslan Poland,
have preferred a similar request:
We are very far from overlooking the practical
difficulties which stand in the way of the estab-
lishment of working government on the federal
principle. Half dozen paranents, sitting in as
many States, the material interests of which are
not wholly identical, will, doubtless, not be very
easy to keep in order. A cool head and light and
steady hand will he require, who shall undertake,
with such team to thread the crowded thorough
fare of European politics. But in the first place,
the thing seems unavoidable; and, in the second,
there is ground for anticipating, that under the in
huence of time and judcious management, many
OF the impedments which will arise at starting,
may eventually disappear. AS the people acquire
confidence IN their government, the rvarles and
jealousies which will at first clog the proceed
ings of the central executive, VIII, it may be
hoped, die away. The machine will run more
smoothly. Scope will be given to the action OF
that principle Of Capitalization which, within due
limits, and with proper safeguards against its
abuse, we, and all other civilized nations, find to
be indispensably necessary for enabling our go
vernments to fulfil their duties towards the COM
pick bodies with which they have to deal
We are, therefore, willing to hope that the shock
which Austria has experienced from the de-
thronement of the great statesman who was her
virtual sovereign, from the uprootng of her tradi
tonary policy, and from the overthrow of that adj
ministrative system, which, such as it was, held
her empire together, will not prove too violent TO
preclude the possibility Of speedy recovery. We
may yet her reaping the benefit of salutary and
necessary reforms, growing in strength and wealth,
developing her latent resources, and playing more
prominent and useful.pa in the affairs of Europe
than she has ever done before On the other hand