The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-08-04
rHr AUSTRIAN CRISIS !


of Austrian. politics; and we propose to give
our readers brief statement of the more I'M
portant in the chain of events which have led
to the present condition of things. To do SO
it will be necessary to go back over a consider
able period. 9rgr..s ~ Is zss,s M
The kingdom of Hungary has never consti-
tinted an integral portion of the Austrian en-
ni,.e as Scotland and ireland do Of the en-
nire Of Great Britain. 1t was an Independent
nationality, not acquired by conquest, but unit
ed with it by the chances of inheritance I'M
der one dynasty. It's constitution was as old
as that of England; it had its own Diet its
own church establishments. Its position was
in short, somewhat analogous to that of Ire
land before the Union, though, on the whole
more advantageous and more honorable For
many years it had been the policy Of the
House Of HapsbuIg to curtaiI as far as possible
this Independence, and to center all power in
the government of Vienna The free spirit of
the Hungarians resisted these attempts at ag-
erosion. They did not forget that the time
had been when but for Hungary, the crown Of
Austria would have fallen from the brows Of
the present imperial family, when the gener-
Gus rally OF the Hungarian mobiles around the
Empress-queen, Maria Theresa saved her and
her dynasty. 1T was not in the nature of
things that they should submit patiently to the
treacherous tyrannies other descendants There
was incessant conflict. When in 1S4S-49, the
treacIery Of Gorgey, and the Intervention OF
Russia combined, crushed the revolution led
by Kossuth, and it was decided to inaugurate a
fresh system Of absolutism, in order to clear
the decks of all such obstructing rubbish as
old constitutions, imperial pledges, and SO
| FORTH the Emperor Ferdinand abdicated, and
Francis Joseph, the youthful son Of the Arch
duchess Sophia, took the crown as virtual
| git from the hands of the Gear, Russia. A
| system Of terrible severity was introduced. The
country yet heaving with the tumultuous
ground-sweH Of the subsiding revolutionary
storm, was pressed down by an iron hand. The
ancient constitution Of Hungary was declared
annulied; its territories were merged into the
/ body Of a centralized empire; and the country
was treated as a conquered province. The
chartered rights ofthe people were trampled I'M
/ sderfootand the dungeon and the scafold silenc-
! ed every rem onstrance. Martial law was the on
1y law in the country, the leaders Of the insur-
rection drought about by the Austrians them
selves,) and the generals Of the Hungarian ar
my were hanged, other prominent citizens
were sent into the forhesses, sentenced to ten
and twenty years of prison penitentiary, theil
estates were con6scated, and the commanding
generals did exactly as they pleased in theil
military districts.
% Abroad as well as at home Austria carried
4 things with high hand. Owing her success
in the contest with Hungary to the interven'
ton Of Russia, she repaid the obligation by the
meanest ingratitude during the Crimean War
when she threw the weight Of all the influence
she dared to use ON the side of the Allies
i Her armies shelped to betray and subjugate
Schleswig Holstein, by dint OF threatening hui
initiated Prussia" and her encroachments up
Q konthe liberties of Italy threatened to involve
all Europe inswar. 81 yrH
But this system was terribly expensive. Il
eostmore money than could be raised by tax
Z .es on customs. In spite of all the force the
government could use to repress it, discomfort
grew everywhere. The empire gained nothing
and its bankruptcy grew aggravated.
austria, which represents no nationality,
and is negation OF many that either have
lived or aspire to life and unity,--the Hunga-
). Iian, the Polish, the Italian, the German, etc.
I was animaed by no spirit capable of pre-
ser Ting an empire the spirit of allegiance tc
the imperial house having long ceased to be
effective, and in great part been replaced by q
q sentiment Of detestation. Napoleonn ,s1 III
pfoVsq u 70 ll1lI.4ii<4. campaign of 1850. Had
z both antagonists persisted in fighting it out
Austria would probably have crumbled tC
Epieces. The peace of Villafranca saved its ex
istence, but Lombardy was lost,-the false
prestige was gomez -. ~ e8n
The disasters Of 1859, in Italy, brought 3
crash.Ss In silence and in patience, but not il
indifference, Hungary had waited for ten years
) but the peace of Viilafranca, showing SO plain.
ly the weakness of Austria, stirred the whole
country to ferment. The Court of Vienna
was too weak and too poor to try the scaffold
or the dungeon now it was compelled
to compromise. The crown granted new
constitution. for the whole empire. 1t pur
ported to be liberal in character, and pro
Y vided for each province separate diet. Thai
Of Hungary met in 1861, but only to plant it
self firmly on the ground of the old Nationa
Constitution and the laws of 1S4S. The decla-
ration of Independence of 1S40, it agreed tc
surrender as unconstitutional; but it present
ed formidable list of grievances, the immedi-
ate removal of which was made the absolute
condition of its consent to the coronation Of
Francis Joseph as King of Hungary, without
g which he was regarded as a mere usurper
Now ensued remarkable game. The Court
kept up the farce ofconstitutionalsm, but all the
while it was employing martial law as far as il
dared, restricting the liberty of the press
maintaining system of petty prosecutions
and endeayoring, by stirring up strife and jeal-
ousy between the Magyar and Slavic popula-
tons, to weaken and neutralize the power Of
the Hungarian opposition. All these efforts
! were not without measure of success.
The Hungarians did not yield their ground
but they seemed to be losing strength, and the
csntralizing tendency of the Government poll
cY grew every moment more apparent Min
4 i5try followed ministry in rapid but unimport-
ant succession, until at last the chosen cham
pion Of the centralizing policy, Won Schmerling,
became the head Of the Government Things
went from bad to worse. The Federal or
Hungarian party seemed nearly powerless, and
itsopposition was treated with insulting dis
regard. Reaction seemed triumphant.
/ But unfortunately for the plans of the Court
of Vienna, with such a system as this cheap
administration is impossible. The budget al
ways closed with deficit. Heavy taxation
and forced loans aggravated instead Of dimin-
ishing the financial exhaustion, Hungary,
rich in resources Of wealth, would yield them
only to force, and foice crushed instead of de-
veoping them. She could not be coaxed OF
bullied into committing national suicide" and