The age-herald., 1897-12-03
THE EMPIRE OF
 AUSTRIA-HtNGARY
Fram fine washineton Post.

From the W2Sn1TBlOn fOSI.
 The conditions which have brought the empire of Austria Hungary dangerously near to "a state of open rebellion are not only absolutely unique, bur they are lit- tie understood They have combined to produce a situation which is one of the most interesting of modern times. The outcome is yet in doubt. and it is no wonder that the eyes of all observers of development in modern government are upon uha peritrprbed empire, while in dip lomatfc circles the topic is one of intense concern.
 Austr.ia-Hungary and Norway y-Sweden are the two dual monarchies in Europe. Alike in this one fact, thsy nevertheless differ in almost every other particular. They are two kingdoms united under single monarch, and each of the countries involved in the confederacies preserve to "a large extent its especial political ingti- tultionS Here the resemblance ends. Norway and Sweden are not only contig- uous in point of geographical location, but their peoples amalgamate naturally, having many customs and traditions in common, and speaking practically the same Scandinavian tongue. Austria Hungary, on the contrary, is polyglot empire, stretching across a vast area of dissimiTar territory. Its western eNtrem-
 
 northern bourdary cuts a large slice out of Germany, and running beyond the Carpathian mountains, Is separ2lted from Russia by an arbitrary and not by geogra pIhtcal line; on the east it reaches almost to the Black sea, and on the south it is bounded by the minor principalbties of Roumania and Servia. It is composed of ten or more different nationalities, each having it's own speech and tongue. Such variety of rac;ls under one do-
 
 the world.
 Tn the present arrangement of the em- pire lthe provinces of upper and lower Austria, V1erna being situated in the latter, are but a very small section of the entire territory. For the purpose of Illustration, although the comparison is exaggerated, they bear the same relation to the rest of the empire thar the Dis trtcb of Columbia does to the United States. Hungary, on the other hand, ex- tends over nearly as much territory as all the other provinces put together. Prior to the Aus trian-Prussian war, however lthe Austrian government was supreme over Hungary, Bohemia and the Polish provinces, and all the other nationalites of the empire. Hungary, it is true, had previously reballed against Austria, and so successfully that the armed intervention of Russta was neces- sary to prevent the final defeat of Aus tria and to accomplish the resubjuga- ton of her troublesome province. This outcome of the struggle naturally left a bitter feeling among the Hungarian5 against Austria, and it will be remem- bered that during the Austria -Prussian war, when Bismarck formed an alE- ance with Italy, he received the volun- teer suppcnt of the Hungarian soldiery.
 The place which Hungary thus occu- pees has not been obtained through the dispensation of favor. It has been nobly achieved. Dominant in a larger country than Bohemia, perhaps politically more capable than any Slavonic people and certainly more enduring and definite in their purposes, the Magyars, though crushed by superior force in battle, have been able ito win specially recog- nized and highly favored place in the monarchy. For nearly seven centuries they have breathed the atmosphere of Mbefty. Even as long ago as 1922 their nobles won from their king, Andreas H., a Magma Charita which Emitted military service in the kings army, regulated taxation, secured for every noble trial by his peers, gave order and pHopriety to judicial administration and even en- acted the right of armed resistance to tyranny. The spirot which compelled these reforms has never been complete ly extinguished. It was partly smother ed in the period of reaction which fol- lowed the Napoleonic wars and the con- gress of Vienna when Metternich tight ened the bonds of absolutism with sinis- ter force, lit was prostrated when as ter force. let was prostrated when, as already stated, Russia hastened ito up- hold AusitriaS arm and Subdued the 1n- dependent Magyars by overpower-ng numbers. At the same moment, how ever Austria was thrust out from Ger many, and realizing the necessity of im- parting strength to her own people, she framed the dual monarchy which is now again sailing through turbulent seas.
 Hungary emphasizes in every possible manenr it's equality with Austria. The Emperor of Austria is also King of Bo- hemfa and Apostolic King of Hungary. As the nobleS of the lathsr country would not go to Vi@nna, the emperor proceeds once a year to hold court in Budapest and is welcomed as if he were indeed the sovereign of Hungary only. The empsror-king is assisted in his direction of the common affairs of his two king dom by the ministry of foreign affairs, which, beside the international functions indicated by it's name, is charged with the oversight eff 'blle foreign trade and shipping interests of 'the dual kingdom;