Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1860-05-24
From the London Times.
r,a@rAa no~une1.

- L !,
There is an omen in States far more terrible than CON-
ct or eclipse There are signs of weakness and lmpend
ing ruin more certain even than lost battles ana osen
bered provinces Before the storm broke out 10 france
in 1848 black clouds had gathered round and an unusu
al heaviness had filed the air for months mere Dau
been vague and fearful expectation OF Impending evil
induced by the feeling that rulers stricken with o
dcial blindness and men in high places were democrat
lied and corrupt The unhappy empire OF austria SHOWS
signs of similar import To those who look below the
surface the late gigantic frauds are more
than the loss of Milan the threatened nsurrection IN
Hungary Not only the branches OF the State like
kelly to be torn away by the storms OF popular
but slow disease is whitening the trunk, and all will DE
dry and sapiess block together telegram when we
publish gives darker shade to this gloomy history we
now learn the melancholy circumstances OF Baron Brucks
death This statesman Justly considered one OF the aDes
in Austria and the only minister who was capable OF re-
trievng the finances of the state has just put end to
bis life in an agony of despair and shame 1t WILL De
remembered that few days since the resignation OF Ba-
ron Bruck was announced and that Immediately alter
came tdings of his death. The mysterious sequence,
which at gave rise to the most painful suspicious
is now fully explained and there need to be no more del
icacy on the subject The Minister dismissed tor
completely in the system of frauds which seems to have
extended from Bohemia to Trieste and he has expated
his offence by cutting his throat after having, as seems
to be suspected, swallowed poison.
The fate of this eminent politician IS one CT those ter
rble events which leave impress on history. That
the Finance Minister of great empire the trusted ad-
wiser of an ancient throne the friend of the chief states
in Europe the honored guest OF princes IN every
capital the liberal supporter enterprise and commerce.
the representative of enlightenment amid the bgotry OF
nobes soldiers and priests, should betray bis trust
plumber bis country and only escape by suicide from the
retrbution due to such offences, event which can
be easily forgotten The cause of progress and LIB
erasm in Austria has indeed been mperllled by the tall
of this unhappy statesman No one had done more to
break down the prejudice which the bane OF Aus
tria no one will prove to have done more to confirm
them The aristocrat will be always able to point to
the bloody corps of the auenu fnancier and to ask II
this what of raising men from the counting
house to the Council Chamber. The General will have
ready sneer for the administration which affected to
i curail military expenditure while it was embeZzDg
thousands with the assistance OF contractors and obbers
There WILL fancy, be something not unpeasng to the
Il highest society in Vienna in the fall of man who had
raised himself conspicuousy above his station Baron
Bruck in early lille engaged in business and was one
OF the founders Of the commercial prosperity OF Trieste
The Austrian Loyds was principally his own creation
His diplomatic and ministerial career IN all respects
most successful and when five years since he resigned
the embassy Constannope in order to take charge
of the finances of the Austrian Empire he may be con
sdered to have risen to the height OF his fortunes Ul
happily the system of fraud which is being disclosed
must have begun about the same time How far Bruch
implicated it is impossible for to say. lie may have
been leader in these mapractices, he may have
merely c0nnived at the illicit gains of Others But thai
the matters investigated extends long peroo
there be little doubt The luxury of Viennese anC
0 Triestine mOnaires has evidently been supplied to
# years out OF the plumber of the State.
We learn that the Emperor is carrying the examina
ton and the punishment of the wroDgdoers with
\ which verges cruelty. The Chevaer Revoltela, al
intimate friend of Bruck and the leading merchant O
Trieste, has been apprehended thrown into prison an
c treated like the lowest criminal Brambla and Man
dolto two other commercial magnat s. have shared tn
fate But it is not in the Aoratic provinces aon
nor in Lombardy that these frauds have taken place.
Arrests have been made other parts of the empire
and everywhere the accused have been treated wit
n equal severity. Commissions sit in Vienna, Prague
and Trieste to examine the documents which hro1
light on these transactions 1t Is said that tor week
before the apprehension OF Revotea and his companion
their books and papers under the scrutiny OF ennis
J. sares from Vienna. 1t may well be said that reig
of clear conscience may not fear for himself we d p 81
knows how far bis neighbor is free from the faint
that corruption which the government tardly Der
Furnishing. The details of the frauds still KEEP
strictly by the government but is known tha
the amount is enormous that they extended tn
greater portion of the empire ard that the parties in
pcated and of high station The mitar
1t advisers OF the Emperor urging him against sue
OF men Revotela. and with an obvious motive. Th
alleged vany OF the civil service and of the contractor
may serve to the ncapacy of the military
y thorites, even to their delinquences.
In this country we are not free from crimes of tn
D. gravest kind. AT this very moment the commerce.
D. world is excited by fraud which for magnitude an
b. Doldutss Is Almost without parallel. we Will nc
b. throw stones, which the Austrans might have RICH
b. to throw back, will make comparisons betwee
the service OF free country and that of autocrat
III One thing, however Englishmen may be proud Of
N Whatever the temptations of wealth may be, and how
ever much the commercial and specializing classes
yield to them, the higher official world in this counr
has never OF late years been found guilty, even bee
suspected OF pecuation. The officers of both service
have been equally free from the mputaton 1t strang
that Austria which has always laid claim to somethn
of the same high tone in the conduct of public bushes
should come before the world the victim of the mos
of nearlous practices carried out the most ggant
2 scale.