The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-27
Would Austria Help Spain ?


What is the basis for the hints now and
then dropped at Madrid that Spain may
not be unassisted, should she be driven
Into war with the United States. and for the
occasional reports from Vienna that Aus.
tria would not allow the Spanish monarchy
TO contend against such odds alonel 1t will
be found upon reflection that, while the
wish may be father to the thought, so far
as Madrid officials are concerned, there is,
at the same time, some sentimental founda-
tion for the notion that the Hapsburg
Kaiser might be strongly impelled to aid
the Queen Regent CHRISTINA, who is an
Austrian Archduchess, hould the stability
of her sons throne be threatened, as it
might be in the event of an unsuccessful
conflict with our republic.
The H~APsBURGs have no reason to like
the United States. There is, In the first
place, q profound and irreconcilable antag-
onism between our free institutions and
the absolutist principles which have been
discarded only with reluctance and in part
at Vienna If there is, however, bad blood
between us, 1t is due to something less alb
stract and vague than the repugnance ex.
cited by our political system. 1t fell to our
lot to thwart, or to help to thwart, a far
reaching design Of Austria's in the first
quarter Of this century, and we nave given
her grave cause of offence on three subse-
quent occasions.
II is known that Austria, under the
guidance Of MErrERNIoH, was the soul
Of the Holy Alliance, and that, after she
had accepted the commission to stamp out
liberalism in Italy, and had forced the re-
akNNnd p1,-Lao -.no,oI. -
crush the Constitutionalists in Spain, she
contemplated the employment of the mill
tary and naval force of the Alliance for
the r~esubjugation of Spanish America.
When we recall with what stubbornness
and amid what domestic difficulties
Spain herself had kept up the struggle,
aud how she seemed more than once upon
the point of regaining control of Venezuela,
OF Mexico and of Peru, we cannot doubt
that the Hapsburg plan, had it been reso-
lutely tried, and had 1t met with no resist
ance except from the revolutionists, would
have been carried out. 1t was not tried.
because two irresistible maritime powers
set themselves against 1t, to-wit, England,
under the inspiration of GEORGE CANNING.
and the United States under the direction
of JAMES MONROE and his Secretary of
State, JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. The coopera-
tion of this country was an essential factor,
for, without 1t, CANNING would not have
vontured to defy Tory sentiment at West
minister, and the strong influence still ex-
erted upon the mind of the English SOW.
ereign by his former allies upon the Cont.
mont. M~ETTERNIcH, therefore, who saw to
his chagrin "a new world called into
existence to balance the old" had good
ground for regarding the United States
with peculiar animosity.
About q quarter of a century later took
place the insurrection of the Magyars,
which led, presently, to the proclamation
OF a Hungarian republic under the Presi
dency Of KossUTH. The new common
wealth naturally desired its independence ia
be recognized by its prototype on this sid
of the Atlantic, and 80 intense and wide
spread was the sympathy of our people fol
the Hungarian cause that our State Depart
ment despatched an agent to Europe for the
purpose of ascertaining, by personal obser
walton, whether the state OF things in
Hungary would justify such a proceeding
OF our part. The step impaired moi
. little encouragement to the Magyars
who, but for Russia's intervention
"ouiu pIooaDly nave maze good tleil
stand against Austrian domination. Or
the other hand it gave umbrage to the
Court OF Vienna, and. when remonstrance
were unheeded, the HAPsBuRGs and thei,
advisers made no secret of the irritation
which our attitude had aroused. This irri
tation became evaporation, and, indeed
famed forth In a fury of impotent resent
ment when a certain incident, still com
nemorated In our school histories, oc
CURED at Smyrna. We refer to the gallant
act performed by Capt. INGRAHAM, when
by the threat of a broadside, he compelled
an Austrian war vessel to surrender TN,
person of MARTIN KosrzA, a Hungarian
refugee who had more or less claim to b,
considered as an American citizen.
The humiliation suffered by Austria or
the occasion just named left a sting, which
continued to ankle until the thought of II
was lost in the shock of a terrible disaste,
which befell the imperial House, and fol
which the United States was held responsi