Omaha daily bee., 1893-06-10

may, to some extent, be counter balanced by
the reduction of the number of the national
liberals, which is looked upon as inevitable.
The election is now but five days distant,
yet all that can be foretold, with close APP
proach TO certainty, is the refusal of the
new Rcichstag TO pass the army bill IN its
original form. From this point of view the
dissolution seems to have been n mistake,
and the blundcr would have been greatly
aggravated if the kaiser had continued to
attempt to browbeat the electors. The
utmost that can be hoped for from the rep
resentatives OF the people to be chosen on
Thursday of next week, is that they may
consent to make the same moderate conces-
sions which Caprvi would gladly have
accepted month ago, but which were then
repudiated by the emperor.
".
Bohemian affairs are now assuming a
threatening attitude, which might become
revolutionary if the state of siege should be
proclaimed and if the young Czcchs should
be excluded from all committees of the i'm
peral delegations. The delegations are the
national parliament of Austria-Hun gary,
and decide all questions relating to the dual
empire at large, including the military and
foreign policy. They arc composed of l2O
members, elected by the Vienna Rechsrath
and the Buda-Pesth ReiChstag, which are
themselves composed of the representatives
OF their respective provinces, and each of
which sends sixty of its members to the
Chamber of Delegations Bohemia sends
her deputies to the Vienna Reichsrath, and
it is there that Herr Plener the leader of
the German faction, has proposed that no
young Czech be chosen to sit i'll the Dcega-
tions He, like everybody else, understood
that the Bohemian movement led by
the young Czech party was directed
less against the Austrian government
than against the Germans, who, though
in the minority in Bohemia, are accused by
their adversaries of expressing the Czech
population of the country The latter
strongly opposed to the triple alliance,
which ties up Austria Hungary to Germany,
and it was to be expected, as reported in the
cable dispatch, that the young Czechs would
decide to pursue a course of energetic Oppo-
sition to that alliance or drcibund if they
are admitted to the Delegations. Unfortu-
nately, passions have been terribly excited
of late. and the bohemian Diet at Prague
had to be dissolved on account of the dis
orderly scenes which occurred during the
last session, especially on May II. This
the Austrian premier. on learning that some
young Czechs had tied at night around the
! neck of the statue of Emperor Francis
Joseph at Prague, a rope, which was found
dangling there the next morning. This
insult, added to the dynamite explosion
which blew up the Rcichenberg bridge last
| year, soon after the passage of the emperor,
who had paid a visit to Bohemia, was not
| calculated to soften the STRAINED relations
already existing between the Czechs and
| the pro German Cabinet which actually GOV
| erns Austria.
In the past three decades of history the
militarism of Europe has been most notice
| able. Each year of that period has seen
| some fresh attempt to strain the patience
| of taxpayer to n greater limit The armies
| of France have increased from l, $50 900 men
| to 4,350,000. Germany has increased her
| military forces in even greater proportion
from 100000 to 100000; Russia in an
equal ratio. from 100000 to 4OOOOO
| Austria from 100000 to nearly 1000 600; 4;
! Italy from less than 100000 to more than
100000; Turkey from $4,000 to !, ,15O, 900;
Belgium from 5000 to 25S00O; Itoumania
| from $4,000 to 2SO,000. In all, the armies OF
| Europe have grown from less than 7,OOO,-
| 900 strong to more than % 600 ,000 an in
crease of 100 per cent for every decade
| Manifestly this increase cannot be much
| longer continued in time of peace without
! tho financial ruin of some of the smaller
nations. Italy has even now been
| forced almost to the verge of bank
ruptcy and national debts have been
| increased in other countries at an alarming
rate The war expenditure of Russia now
M nnn IN
as compared with less than half that amount
at the beginning of the period of militarism !;
that of Germany has grown from $40, 900 900
to 500 100000 and more. France has in
creased her war expenditure from Al, 900, 900
to nearly 7OO,OOO,00O francs; England from
$4,000 900 to e26 100000; Austria from lS2, :
| 100000 francs to 3l4,00O,000. Altogether
the increase amounts to about 1900, 600, ,OOO
francs of annual expenditure. Tho annual
outlay of the Europe of today upon standing
armies in time of peace is between 4 900,
600, 900 and 50)0,0O0000 francs. If the re-
ceivers of that money We're producers as
well as consumers; if they contributed to
the annual output of European industries
the case would be mitigated: but in large
degree these q, 100000 men are drones so far
as concerns the industries of the continent,
and serve as merely dead weight, so many
mouths to be fed and so many men to be
kept in ldleness a drain upon the nations
capability in manufacture or agriculture,
~.
The Greek people are among the most
patriotic people OF the world Their benevo
lent and even their penal institutions are
largely built up through gifts of wealthy
and devoted sons at homo and abroad, 1t is
not likely, therefore, that the country will
be suffered to go into bankruptcy for the
want of II 900 francs to pay in June the
semi-annual interest on the national debt.
A close study of the resources and possibli-
ties of Greece shows a capacity for recuper-
alton and development which under wis'
administration, ought to place it beyond the
need of fresh msiicaments in the shape Of
foreign loans If parts of Attiea are barren
for agriculture they are still available fo
their mineral resources, while Thessaly is on'
of the finest agricultural regions in the world
and Zante and Corfu are renowned fo
their fer Jility. Within the last ten year.
railroads have begun TO spread over thu