Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-06-06
AusrRrAs SUGGESTIVE TROUBLE

AUSTRIA'S SUGGESTIVE TNVtnI"'
The closing OF the lower house OF the
| Austrian Diet by the Emperor AZ the
| instance of Premier Badeni,s IN order 10
| nreyent the undermining OF the FAR
liamentary institutions OF Austria -
| another exciting and suggestive CHAP
tor I'm the history Of the dual monar-
cby. The trouble that caused TINS sun"
mary. but necessary. step. IS race
trouble. The Government OF Austria
Hungary is the most complicated III
Europe. and the nation Is the most III
yided on the continent In respect vi
races and languages. In the chanioei
OF the Austrian division OF the ny
phenated "Empire-Kingdom," the raciai
divisions and the pclyglotism OF the
country are especially represented.
The Austrian chamber. now under sus-
pension. was chosen about three months
ago by an enlarged electorate, ana num-
bers 425 members. as against 353 men,
bers I'm the last body. 1t Is divided iu'o
twenty-five factions, or parties, with an
average Of seventeen members to each
faction, the broader or more general d.
vision being into Moderates, OF whom
there are 10. and Extremists, OF whom
there are i55. In the further splitting up
there are % Anti-Semites and ia Social
Democrats, and also sprinkiing OF
Italians and Roumanians. each OF these
two nationalities forming separate con-
tingent. Between the Ant-Semites and
the Social Democrats there Is constant
war. Both factions are violent TO the
last degree, and both openly proclaim con-
tempt for all forms Of power. or the
1853 Germans in the body. 50 are Liberals
~ Clericals. and ) Ant-Semtes. or the
III slavs. es are Poles an . are Czechs.
The former are. however. divided into
two factions. one Of which. numbering
ffty-three, is the only stcadfast support
the government can rely upon In the
Chamber. In the total membership,
some twenty-odd languages. or dialects,
are represented.
From the time the crazy-quilt assem-
bly, met It was apparent that Count
Badeni would have great trouble in Sc
curing a stable majority. and after seve-
raj failures to accomplish that task he
hit upon the expedient OF conciliating
the Czechs by conceding to them the
right of the official use Of their language
in Bohemia. But this concession set
afame race animosities, and finally PEE
cipitated a bear-garden performance in
the Chamber. The scenes that occurred
doubly discounted those in some of the
south's reconstruction hlack-and-taE
conventions. and compelled the Premier
to hand back temporarily the parlla-
mentary institutions of the country" to
his master who conferred them.
We have said that the episode Is sug-
gestive 1t suggests interesting comrati-
sions between the conditions in the
Austrian and the Hungarian divisions of
Austria Hungary and the result each
has been able to obtain from pro
gressive government. In Hungary, The
dominant race-the Magyar-has been
gradually making Magyars of the lesser
races-the Croats, the Wallachs, the
Serbs. etc.-and despite the religious
differences that have constituted the
bone Of contention in the country, has
been welding the whole into a. compact
nationality. In Austria, however, the
dominant race, which IS the German, fas
utterly failed TO make Germans OF the
lesser races, especially the Czechs, and
the more privileges that have been
granted these lesser races the more
trouble they have given the Emperor.
The Magyar has so used his parliament
tary rights as to ascend steadily IN the
scale of influence and power in the dual
monarchy. while in Austria these rights
have been taken advantage of 10 lower
the German in that scale. The question
is therefore, being asked, and 1t is
pertinent, How long will Il be. Z this
process continues, before the integrity Of
the "empire-kingdom" will depend upon
its being ruled in whole as II is low
ruled in large part from BudapestY