New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-10-09
ROBBITG A PROVINCE.
FRAUDS THAT iI,yT AROUSED TIE EMPIRE
OF AUSTRH-HUNGARY
Vienna. September 10.

OF ACSTRH-HVNGARY.
N'cnna. September II.
II is necessary 70 60 la. X 10 the DAYS Of the
Tweed Ring trial in Ncw-Y,'rk 20 find anything
approaching in extent and importance 70 the >ensi-
tional ca+c which Is now occupying III" attention
" special ulec and jury here. IN" sixty prs
oncrs now on trial constitute mere " small fra
ton Of The total number Of pcr-ors incriminatel
in tie affair. and belong to every social grade,
| from tho hgnblcst custom house official or Hebrew
poddcr up T. Ills Tycclcncy the Priyy Court
Counsellor. Baron Trc1eniccki. who. ill lately.
hold tho placr Of Drcct,r-G neral Of the entire
revenue AMI financial administration II the Prov
| inc. Of Iukowiun Tho latter borders Russia
| and Runlnia and anon all The provincial al
minstraiion- Of the Austrian Empir' has ALWAYS
borne the most evil reputation for corrupto" and
dishonesty n popular rumor is 70 j." credited II
! - probable that an official Of still HIGHER rnk
viii shortly Join the throng in the pri- n"r'> dock;
for ills openly asortc1-anl tic c.idcLc' pro irccd
until now tends 10 confirm these aS~crtions-that
Ire late Minister of Financo OF the Empire Baron
Duraicw>,. n party to Tic frauds that have
been committed. one thing. AZ any rate, is c"T-
tain. namely. that hc was cognizant % the NAL
administration which prevailed in Bukowinn, for
this j. proved hv official documents. Another sig
uihcant circumstance is the fact that whereas he
entered the office 80 poor that he Obliged 80
draw an advance Of salary within fcw days after
entering upon his new duties ho is now n wealthy
man. possessing a fortune which IS estimated nj
close upon Slo.oooo0o
Tho ac'r daccG,ltion Is document filing
nearly four hundred PAGES Of print and laws bare
the most astounding system Of corruption. II
mon, ons the fact that millions Of kloslammcs Of
maize. wheat, oats and other agricultural produce.
and al.u live stock have been admitted int, hu.-
'ria from Rumania without paving any duty
The ounntity hrs been asccrtnncd hy comparing
Tho official Rumanian lists Of exports with the
official lists q imports into BGlowina 50 openly
Was the Smuggling prac;iscd that m" papers sc1f-
Gngly wTot, that Austria had no need for . treaty
of commerce with Humania. as the cereals from the
latte. country found their way hithcr easily
enough. Wagons loaded with wheat maize. etc.
and long droyes OF cattle AMI swine ue,d TO come
across tie frontier uglt after night and some
times even in the DAYTIME The business soon in
crca.v1 in volume, and it va, found necessary 70
set apart special days for it. and thus MONDAYS
ard Friday became known ~ smuggling DAYS
Al other traffic was then suspended in order that
the officials might give their whole attention 10
tins special business OF course, for each wagon
load OF produce and for each head of cattle or
drove OF wine that smugglcd across tie from
tier the ring cNactcd bride which was equivalent
Ia about hitv per cent of what tine duty would
have been This they divided among Themselves
the higher officials. of course, receiving the lion,
share. The Dircctor-t;cncral Of Revenue OF liz.
Province wac enabled by these means 10 live with
the most, extraordinary splendor and extravaganza
and althou III man Of siNty-fOur. with wife, chit
drcn and even grandchildren living, his mode of
existence wa, Of such shameless protgacy that h.
l.. ~.
portion of the Empire as the "Pacha of Czerno.
WITT
Nor was this all. The entire civil service o1-
ministration of the Province became corrupted by
the knowledge of the fac that appointments and
promotion were 10 be secured only by means of
heavy brides, merit and long service going for
nothing in the eyes Of the principal officials Who
ever wanted an appointment had to pay the fixed
Gum of one thousand forms to the Dircctor-Gcp-
enl. like sum was levied for each step OF
promotion and if any official had too large an
income member Of sthc smuggling gang, he
was tccced on dismissed by the DircclorGencral,
who IA long the late Minister of Finance was
in power, seemed 10 have fear of any dis
closures. The latter, whether made by the press
or by those who declined TO share in the public
plumber, were for years Systematically ignored.
Whenever Il petition or accusation OH this subject
reached the Minister OF Financr, it passed on
to the tndcr-Sccrctary and he sent il on TO the
Director General Of Revenue Of IiukOwina, who il
the principal prisoner in to-day's trial Thus, in
fact, the complaint addressed TO the head Of
the very gang Of thieves whose cXtOrtionS were
complained Of. From him snch documents used
to I've passed on to the subordinate officials, from
the highest down TO the lowest ranks, all OF
whom members Of the thcVing syndicate.
They appended their several remarks, and fur
nishcd with these explanations the documents
went back 20 the Ministry of Finance 1T Vienna,
where the matter was considered as settled and
at an end.
The loss 10 the State amounts 10 many millions
OF dollars, and II /, believed tnat the frauds en-
tend TO an even still higher figure than tn" one
already discovered. a special cmmissiOn dele
gated BY the supreme Court proceeded 10 lInllo
wilma last spring III order to make an inquiry into
tn" frauds, but experienced great difficulty In
sitting the AFFAIR thoroughly, many VI the
witnesses examined were themselves implicated in
illegal proceedings, and thcrcf re- afraid Ia dis
close the whole truth. Although the commission
crs succeeded in bringing 10 light the facts on
which the present indictment is based. there is no
doubt that they only constitute a part of tn.
illcgalitic- committed The Governments In view
OF the fact that the local tribunals wcre liable
10 br preudiced in favor of the prisoners trans
fcrlrd the venue IF the case from CZr.nowitz 10
this city where the new Minister of Finance DIR
Steinbnch man renowned TO- lis integrity. is
pushing forward The prosecution with the utmost
energy apd with relcptless severity.