The age-herald., 1897-12-03

the ministry Of war, by which the stand ing army Of the two kingdoms Is au- ministered, and the ministry of finance, which prepaTss the joint budget, appor- tions the cost of common administration and raises the relative quota. Beyond this, al the fact that the ruler cecupies the same relation to both countries, th=re is no common government. Austria and Hungary each have a separate ministry of their own; there Is no common citizen ship for the two kingdoms; they have their own laws, subject to the sanction of the emperor. Only upon questions or importance to both countries to they n eet n joint sessions, and tftn. with out debate and by a mere absolute ma jordty ts.e, they decide the matter at issue.
 It is the ReichsIath, the Austrian con gress or parliament, in which have oc- cured the troubles of t11a past few days. It consists of a house of lords and house of representatives, the former be- ing composed of princes, npbles, arch bishops and such other persons as are especially appointed by the emperor in recognition O fsipscial services, while to the other house come representatives of the people, elected by a franchise which rests upon property qualification, and which includes women among the voters. The emperor calls and opens the sessions of the reichsrath, and may close, ad-
 
 Hungary, which has many of the same general features, is calle the Reiehstag.
 Wsre Austria and Hungary the only factors in the pnoblem its successful working out to a satisfactory solution would not be difficult. Bohemia, "the Slavonic wedge thrust in the side of Ger many" the thorn in the side of Austria, the j=alous sister of Hungary, must be taken into consideration.
 Tn the Austrian Hungarian scheme of government Bohemia Is a nonentity. No emperor comes in state to the royal pai- aces at Prague, as he goes to Budapest; {; no parliament makes her laws; no niin- istry handles her reinS of government As Hungary has advanced in privileges and constitutional liberty, the restless, discontented, and envious Bohemians have become mere and more clamorous for their autonomy. Once a Kingdom, Bohemia wants to return to her former condition, and she has been noisily em- phatic in her demands. The Austrian and German natlonaltties turned deaf ear to her impatient and almost violent demands. They added Insult to injury, and untM the present. ministry came into power, required all public records in ]3o- hemia to be kept in the German tongue. Against this the Czechs rebelled, an1 de- marded the restora ton of their language with such vigor that when Count T.adeni came into power he reversed the former requirement, and once more the curious Czech characters were triumphant over the hated German. The Cezchs were ap- peased but the trouble, instead of be- ing ended, was only aggravated.
 The Czechs are the common people, tenacious of their traditions, their for mer greatness and their language. The aristocracy of Bohemia Is German, own ing large tracts of land and thereby dominant in the Austrian legislature. Tine concession to the Bohemians, as we'll as the fact that the BadenG minls- try included many n-Germans, alarm ed this powerful German element. Th2y believed that they were losing control. The whole nationality raised a cry of protest. The majority of the present parliament supported the ministry. Many questions arcela to widen the breach. notably the restoration of a financial compromise with Hungary by which the latter country was to pay about one third of the imperial expenses. The Germans at once complained that this was another discrimination, claiming that the amount was grossly dispropor- donate to the comparative wealth of the two sections. The mtnisry proposed a continuance of this compromise for apot1Dsr year. Hungary refused to pay a larger proportion. and in addition de- manded the revocation of the concession made to the Czechs in the question of the official language