The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-25

question which was unpopular In Bo-
hemia and could not be carried out. The
Young Czechs demand what they term the
restoration Of the crow Of ST. WENoEs.
LAUs, which means q union OF Bohemia,
Morayia, and Austrian Silesia as a separate
kingdom, connected with the rest OF Aus
tria only by a tie similar to that which
binds Austria and Hungary together. They
complain that, under the existing regime,
the electoral districts are so arranged and
the parliamentary franchise is so adjusted
as to give a grossly unfair advantage to
the Germans; that, moreover, Bohemia
and Moravia pay far more than their share
Of the taxes levied for the general benefit
Of the Cis.Leithan monarchy, and receive
very little in return; and that FRANCIS
JOSEPH Is the first Emperor since JOSEPH
II. who has not been crowned at Prague
King OF Bohemia, although, In 1885, he
promised to perform the ceremony. Finally,
the Young Czechs are violently hostile to
the foreign policy Of the dual empire, hav-
ing especially In view the close alliance
with Germany.
It Is possible that the Emperor FRANCIS
JOSEPH might grant the wish Of the Young
Czechs for the resstablishment Of Bohemia
within its ancient limits as q semi-inde-
pendent kingdom, IL he could be certain
that the process of parcellation would stop
there. He might consent to be the head OF
q triple instead Of o dual monarchy. The
precedent. however, certainly would DO In
voked by the southern Slavs and by the
Italians, and IL their claims also were al.
lowed, q similar autonomy could not be
withheld from the Poles. But why, 1t may
be asked, should not the whole Of the Cis.
Lothian monarchy be broken up into q con.
federation, in which each of the five princi.
pal n%ationalities should hold toward the
sovereign a relation precisely analogous to
that which is now held BY the kingdom Of
hungary The answer is that the Magyars
would view such an experiment on the part
Of its sister monarchy with the utmost dis
favor and distrust, for the example would
render it almost impossible for them to
maintain their own a~scendancy in Hungary.
The latter kingdom has its own race
problem. According to the census of Dec.
81, 1890, the Magyars numbered 7,426,730:
the Croats and Serbs, 1904, geo other
Slavs, chiefly In the north. Of Hungary,
2,565, 2s5; Roumanians, 1851 ,905, and
Germans, chiefly In Transylvania, 2,107,-
1T. In Hungary. moreover, the race ques-
tion is complicated with the religious one,
whereas, in Austria, four-ffths Of the people
are Catholic. The Magyars are about half
Catholic and half Protestant; the Rou-
manians belong, partly. to the Orthodox
Greek Church, and. partly, to the so.called
United Greek Church, a body formerly
Orthodox Greek, which has become Joined
to the Roman Church. but has retained the
married clergy and the right to retain the
liturgy in the vernacular. The Slavs in
Hungary are divided into Catholics and
Orthodox and United Greeks. Speaking
generally, we may say that the Roman
Catholic Church contains only about one.
half of the people of Hungary, the other half
being divided between the Protestants and
the adherents of the Orthodox Greek and
United Greek churches.
Hitherto the Magyars, although a mi
nority in the kingdom of Hungary, have
maintained a great pr%eponderance in the
Table of Deputies, as the popular branch Of
the Diet is called, because the ability to
speak Magyar has been made by them an
essential condition Of the parliamentary
franchise. Their power has been used to
centralize the kingdom and to extinguish
local self.government to a very large ex.
tent, except in Croatia, which has the right
to regulate a large class of subjects in her
own Diet. BY law the Magyar language
exclusively must be used in Parliament,
except by the members from Croatia, who
are allowed to speak in their own tongue.
The outcome of the many measures taken
to Margarine Hungary is that, except fol
the forty members from Croatia, the Mag
vars now hold all but about a score of the
four hundred and f%fty-three seats in the
Table of Deputies. In other words, thu
course Of Hungary In dealing with the rac'
question has been exactly the reverse o
that pursued by Austria. It's aim has beer
not confederation, but Capitalization ant
absorption. and the aim has never been los
sight Of except in tho case Of the Croats
The task of fusion, however, Is yet incom
plete the completion of it is reserved 70
the present and next generations; and 70
that reason the Magyars would view wit
apprehension and hostility a thorough az
plication of the confederate principle |
the other half of the Hapsburg monarchy.
The Armor Factory.