Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-03-22
Vol XrX1X2elIY. = XelIY. sraao



Ehe Bankrupteys ioG Gia1lle1 SEsGer-
sol.olsisss IsSOda fhaEyag HpE xfzsaR19
oOEheexposure for sale IN London .of the
famous Bsterhbzy4jewels,s the valdes of
'%hfc6 is too great to make it prtldeft for
any single person, whether prince. or com
lm0ner, ITO purchase the whole collection,
has given d new interest to the facts " fich
led to the bankr0p toy OF this noble house,
which used toasbe accounted among Elthe
richest in the world. The family estates
'areusaid 10 cover ninetyEthree square miles,
Of fS0, 600 acres Of ground. q They5 we're
lately valued at about E4, 100000, and have
in average years Vielded. n meE7return of
f170.00O; which sum, according to recent
estimates, might, under proper manage
ment,t have been augmented TO 82O0O08P per
ahnum.@ But an old Hung Am anage says:
The Esterhazys are either in sequestra-
ti0u QrOn the road thefeto." !" Austrian no.
bleS have, never been famous fof the scien-
tific care of their estates, and the Hungari-
ans in particular have proved themselves
.espeeiaffyg yggAFefSs4 lavish and impfoyld lent.
N s7648 4tBes eld feudal services and pay
ments in kind were superseded by the
modern system of money rents; which de.
manded even more than before scienee and
care IN Che management ofEprbperty : . The
Esterhazys were too proud, indolent and
Ind FetI6 f9 take care of their own inter-
ests,, and their affairs Went from bad, to
worse. Prince Paul Esterhazy, who took
possession of bis property in lS33sa found
hilnself e lssddied with heavy debts, and be-
fore 1913 had found it necessary to raise by
loan, about E140000. With cOmmendable
fragality he cut down the expenses of HIM
self and those of his SON. the now rFigning
Prince Nicholas, TO 1000 per annpm, but
it was in VAIN In 1850 his debts amounted
to 82, 100000 sterling while his revenue did
not exceed f10O,000 year. OF this sum
rf4S. 600. was absorbed by the family expen-
diture and the costs of the e1princely treas
tnfy, leaving E57, 900 per annum towards
payment of the debts AS this amount did
mot meet the mere interest on the Princes
liabilities, hissposition was becoming grave.
The Emperor Of Austria, as King of Hum
gary, now stepped in, at the Princes de-
sire, between him and his creditors, and a
commission of mobiles and accountants was
named to investigate the Princes affairs
and matllre a plan for their recovery, but
the Prince would not consent to sell atty
portion of the estate. .1s1cJ SsA @SAs2 .jF .
Next, negotiations were opened with a
Belgian company, which madetb fOllOW-
ing propositioIi: They would take the
whole property into. their own hands for
the term of forty years, paying the Prince
an annual rent of s640, 700, and, after the
first ten years of the bargain had expired,
a Quarter of tue ne6revenues of the estates /;
the company to furnish E2400,000 for the
extinctiOn of the Princes debts, which sum
was to be advanced on, the security of the
Esterhazy estates. and at a. rate of interest
not exceeding 6 per cent. Count Franz
Zichy, aspeculative Hungarian naghate
| well known In the Vienna financial world,
who was member of the commission, took
exception to this Iiplan,- and was himself
subsequently appointed by Imperial decree
sole administrator of the princely property
The Count took as his assistants a hofrath
and a speculation. land began his laDers.in
time,s 1861. The Counts first step was to
let the estates on farm for a period of twen-
| ty-nine years to large underholde (gener-
GEUerpdchtun0), which change OF system was
| to insure a large increase to the general
revenues, the gross returns were in fact
augmented to limited extent, but this adj
vantage was lost in other ways. Far from
being able to reduce the staff of the
| Princes Central Chaneery, or of his Ex-
| cheqder, the Count had to- increase the
number so as to be able to control the gen.
erdlpdchter, or farmers, and keep themto the
conditions of their contracts. Then it was
found that these new occupants could not
or would not fulfill their undertakings
Some of them asked and obtained remis-
sions of rent Others actually received from
the new, ad ADMINISTRATION moneys on Loan
In this way, after lapse of three years
arrears and loans had amounted to a tota
of nearly 100000 SstefIing, Under the
Counts management the floating debt was
considerably reduced; but, on the other
hands the general debt was increased by
/ &200 600; while on account ofvariors loans
| negotiated out of Austria at rates varying
from seven to nine per cent interest, no les;
than five-sixthsl of the Princes domains
were so heavii y~Enortgage as to make the
future negotiation of such operations task
of great difficulty. These and other points
Eof manag cement drew severe criticism upeI
Count Zichy. The new administration wa
accused of having spent 100000, in thu
purchase ofnew land, the returns for Whieh
at the highest, could not exceed three and
IA half per cent, while the interest on the
fdebts which could have been paid off with
lthat sum was not less than from seven Il
Enine per cent. It was also said that to farm
lout forests, as done under this system, Is Il
insure the certainty of wholesale destruc
ltion of valuable property; Ofkthe farmer
lis not interested in the future condition o
1.-THE wood that covers his forest land. HI
will not make the sacrifices of time. labol
and expense, nor has he the scientific
knowledge indispensable for the mainte
nance in proper order of the valubie prop
Iierty entrusted to him; while the owner o
4 large reaches of land can hardly hope, un
der existing conditions of Austrian man
Iagement TO keep the oecupiers to their du
ties through his own agents. For thes'
reasons it was alleged that the enormous
i capital locked up in the Esterhazy forests
would. under the plan inaugurated by
Count Zichy, suffer heavy dilapidation ant
ldepreciation. And then good deal wa
said about extraordinary favofs shown b.
j the management in dealing with certain O
the new tenants. The Count and his as
sistants were certainly rewarded for thei
i services on an astounding scale, if it b
true, as stated by malicious statistician Il
the OesterTeichiSche Re0ue5 (fron whom tn
above facts are chiefly borrowed), tina
these fortunate persons were remuneratet
4 at the rate of S34,500i ayeari sr'Ti8
4 In 1854 it had become apparent that th
new system would not produce the, expect
ed results. and it was proposed that Prime
Nicolas, the now reigning prince, shoul
take the management into his own hand!
; An imperial commission, presided over b.
J Count MensdOrff, recommended that Primo
Nicolas should be aided by a curatorium {
: five financial and territorial capacities, ths
One-third of the whole property should
sold. Before the curatorium could be CON
posed and the withdrawal of Count ri h
arranged, some time elapsed. Meanwhil
| the day was approaching when the ESteI
hazy lottery loan of 1886 was to be draw
: other pressing demands likewise fallin
= due The loan was to be drawn on the lot
Il pfsJune, and for payment the sum of 835
900 was wanted. But the treasury of Tn
, Esterhazys did not contain the require
3 money, and no advances could be obtaine
p while the curatorium was still in nubibu
e However, on the 10Th of June an Imperi
r order announced the formation of the CT
ratoriHm, which body assembled forth
? with, but only to report that they recon
a mended the immediate sequestration of tt
J. Princes whole property. A few days lat
: decree of the Emperor, as King of HUI
e gary, empowered the Hungarian Sept
= muir, NJ. Fabry, to proceed to that inevit
b BILE step. The first act of this authoril
: was to announce that the princely treasul
G had stopped payment, thus officially pu
fishing the bankruptcy of the noble hOu