The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1897-12-06
The En1pire Of
Rustria- kunaarY

From the Washington Post
The conditions which have brought
| the empire of Austria Hungary danger
| ously near to a state of open rebellion
ale not only absolutely unique bat they
are little understood. They have COM
| bined 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 OBJ
| servers Of development in modern gov
eminent are upon the perturbed empire,
while in diplomatic circles the topic is
! one of intense concern.
Austria Hungary and Norway-S we-
den are two dual monarchies in Eu-
| rope. Alike in this one fact they new
erthelesS differ in almost every other
particular They are two kingdoms
united under single monarch, and
each of the countries involved in the
confederacieS preserves to a large eX-
tent its especial political Institutions.
Here the resemblance ends Norway
and Sweden are not only contiguous in
point of geographical location but their
peoples amalgamate naturally. having
many customs and traditions in COM
mon. and speaking practically the same
scandinavian tongue. Austria Hungary,
on the contrary, is a polyglot empire,
stretching across a vast area of dissim-
mar territory. Its western extremity
touches Switzerland and Italy; its
northern boundary cuts a large slice
cut OF Germany, and running beyond
the Carpathian mountains, is separated
from Russia by an arbitrary and not
by "a geographical line; on the east it
reaches almost to the Black sea. and
on the south it is bounded by the minor
principalities of Roumania and Servia.
1t is composed of 10 or more different
nationalities, each having it's own
| Ihr lot of
races under one domain of monarchy
exists nowhere else in the world. First
and most prominent is the three sided
contrast between German, Slav and
Magyar Within this gnera classifca-
ton of the population, again. Slav diff
fers from Slav by reason of many sharp
divergencies of history, of speech and
OF religion, and outside this classifca-
ton there is added to German Slay and
Magyar a miscellany Of Italians. Jews
and others before the sum of variety is
complete. The complete lack Of CO.
hesiveness in the states composing the
empire is shown in the fact that upon
the circulating notes of the government
| the denomination is printed in 10 diff
| ferent languages Imagine the United
! States as a republic comprising 40 eff
| ierent states, not differing alone in
name and in local government. but lack
| ing every tie of consanguinity and COM
mon interest. and it is easy to appre-
ciate the difficult task which confronrs
Emperor Francis Joseph in attempting
to preserve intact the monarchy over
which he rules.
In the present arrangement If the en-
| pile the PROVINCES of upper and lower
Austria, Vienna being situated in the
latter, are but very small section Of
the entire territory. For the purpose of
illustration, although the comparison is
| exaggerated. they bear the same reia
ton to the rest of the empire that the
, District of Columbia does to the United
! States Hungary, on the other hand,
extends over nearly as much territory
as all the other provinces put og-ther.
Prior to the Austrian Prussian war
however. the Austrian government WAS
| supreme over Hungary, Bohemia and
| the Polish provinces, and all the utker
! nationalitieS of the empire Hungary.
ii is true. had previously rebeiIed
against Austria, and so successfully
that the armed intervention Of .dssia
was necessary TO preVclt the final de-
feat of Austria and to accomplish Il
| resubjugation of her troublesome picV-
ince. This outcome If the struggle nat.
urally left a bitter fealn1 among the
Hungafans against Austria, ana II VIII
be remembered ,hat during the Austria
Prussian war. when Bismarck formed
an alliance with Italy. he received the
volunteer support of the hungarian sol
diery.
How far this anti-Austrian feeling
might have carried the desperate Hun
garians is question. Happily. all fur
Their trouble was prevented by q change
of ministry and 10y the adoption of a
new policy toward them. They had al
ways clamored for the right of auton-
omy under the Austrian empire This
was now conceded. Thus Hungary. the
land of the Magyars-a Turanian race
which retains even 10 the present day
its distinctive Oriental features, habits
and bearing among the native European
races about it--becam me elevated to a
practical equality beside its old enemy.
The present stitutiun of the Austro-
Hungarian monarchy recognizes but
two parties to the union. viz: Austria
and Hungary. Bohemia for all she has
SO much individuality and independ-
ence is swallowed un in Austria only
the Magyars Of Hungary. among all the
races in the Heterogeneous realm of the
HabSburgers. have obtained for the
kingdom of their making standing of
equality alongside OF dominant Aus
tria.
The place which Hungary thus occu-
pies has not been obtained through the
dspensation of favor II has been nobly
achieved Dominant i'm a larger coun-
Thy than Bohemia. perhaps politically
more capable than any Slayonic people
and certainly more enduring and def
nite IN their purposes, The Magyars.
though crushed by superior force i'm
battle. have been able to win a special
~ recognized and highly favored place
in the monarchy. For nearly seven
centuries they have hreathed the at
mosphefe of liberty. Even as long ago
u l222 their mobiles wen from their king,
Andreas H., a Magma Charta which
limited military service in the kings
army. regulated taxation. secured for
every noble Trial by his peers gave
order and propriety - judicial admin
istration and even enacted the right of
ARMED resistance Ia tyranny. The spirit
which compelled these reforms has
never been completely eXtinguished. II
Was partly smothered in the period of
reaction which followed the Napo-
leonic wars and the congress of Vienna,
when Metternch frightened the bonds
of absolutism with sinister force. 1t