, 1865-09-08
From the Spectator, august 81
THE AUSTRIAN PROPOSAL.

Events have sometimes an irony almost as
visible as if il were embodied in words, and the
settlement Of the Schl swig Holstein question
reported his week suggests their most ironicai
m1od. Everybody concerned is NOR or less
mi lred, or disappointed, or Inundated in the
iac Of the word. The statement, which comes
through Reuter- and has not been denied as
r ,uter's ~statemcntS when erroneous usually
are, is that Au,tr.a, weary Of giving way be-
fore constant insult, has submitted a final pro-
posal to the Cabinet Of Berlin. With a humili.
~ we can scarcely believe she surrcnders every
thing, the proprietary rights she has fought to
secure, the claims Of the lesser powers she has
always p detected, the pretensions Of the Duke
she has always favoured, the independence OF
the Duc1ieS she has always m intalnod, the
marine leadership of which she has hitherto
been so proud In ro,ur0, she is simply per
mi ted 10 retire from a territory where her
Commissions is d.fed by her al y, whore she
cannot pro'ect an EDITOR, or authorize a meeting,
aud where the inhnbitanfs petition her FOR the
assistance which, though the DUchle3 are gar
risoned by her troops, she is unable TO afford.
II is affirmed that the Kaiser has offered to give
up his cop rprietary rights, to suffer Prussia to
retain KEEL aud Rend burg, and to allow any
9th + s,izlre OF territory, provided he himself
receives compensation in Silrsia. Moreover.
be will recognize tn. Duke Of O.denburg, thu
cAnd dl'e favoured by Berlin-and S., Peters.
burg-I6 Duke Of Sonl .swig-H %olstein, AM will
allow the Prussian propo8 Is rs to tho marine
Inscription, and the post office, aud the electric
teleg aph, to be settled by the treaty between
the new Duke and Berlin Oaly the King Of
Prussia, receiving all these s~weeties, must pro.
mise to be a good boy aud nor to ask for more,
must no., in diplomatic language Eat any flu
t4re time revert 10 the 63letno Of annexation
rt - -.-H I,kAi. 80 kl-& ALSr
Offer will b. rejected by the Pru,si,n court, for
short of the direct annexation for which 1t
hoped, AMI in which it is disappointed, the
Austrian prof 7 comedies everything Herr Won
B,sua,k has veuIured to ask. He promised in
Parliament to keep KEEL, and Prussia has kept
it, aud with It tho right to construct, maintain,
and command The future German feet. He
has, ever since the Dake Of Augusteuburg re-
fused to cede away rig is Of which he was not
possessed, tavoured the claim of The Duke OF
O.denbu,g, and the Duke is to be seated as
S ,vereIgn VI Schleswig-H ,lStein. He has all
ways d, mln1ed the right to levy a maritime
cousrripti n for The future feet, to regulate the
tel grrph, and to control the post, and Prussia
has doubtless obtained them all, for the
Duk5 OF Oldtnburg cannot resist. Indeed,
we are not quite certain that she has not
oil. ained a great deal more, for although Aus.
tia demands compensations for any slices
cut out of Schleswig, say, for example, the isl
ands, she does not d mand compensation for ees-
SONS which Oldenburg may be induced to make.
There h. s been Il great deal of talk in Germany
aboat Jaada and the territory around it, and
Frederic William, as High Admiral Of Germany,
with a port on the Baltic, and "a full supply Of
excellent salons, may very well believe that
Prussia ought also to be seated on the North
Sea. AS for future annexations promises do
not cost a great deal, and more particularly
when made TO a Power who may be induced or
compelled to declare them no longer binding.