The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-10-01

whether We'll or ill-founded, the conyie
ton prevails generally throughout tha
world that the Austrian empire is mort
bund, and that the only force which pre-
serves the national autonomy is the per-
sonal efforts of the reigninr monarch
The place in which that great empire is
being forced in international movements
seems to further suggest the correctness
of this view. Austria is no longer a
great force in the affairs of the world,
such as she once was. Yet no one will
say that the races which make up the
Austrian nationality are in any sense
decadent, or that the empire does mi
possess all the requirements to a great.
prosperous and powerful nation.
Why, then, is it that Aust:ia-is looked
upon almost universally as going to de-
cay, and as destined before long to take
Its place among the races like Spain and
Portugal, which have dropped out of the
race for national supremacy? The an
swer is embodied in the one word, dis
union Only last summer. the strange and
disgraeefui spectacle was witnessed in the
Austrian diet of the members of the CD
position engaging themselves in the bow
ing of horns, the beating of tin pans. tLe
blowing OF whistles and the ringing OF
bells, creating an absolute pandemonirm
for hours in succession, in the effort to
! prevent the transaction Of the business
| OF parliament. Nothing short of the dis
solution of the body could put an end to
1t; and 1t became necessary on the part
of the ministry, after council of war.
to awaken the venerable emperor after
midnight in order. to bring the unseemIy
scene to an end by dissolution
There is nothing behind such scenes
save the influence of racial bitterness run
| mad. of an unhealthy political activity
which apparently suffices to render re-
sponsible and highly trained Austrian
statesmen little better in certain crises
than SO many brawling tavern politicians.
All this foolish luminosity and bitter
| ness seems of late to have reached full
head. Referring to the difficulty thus ex-
perienced by Austrian administrators in
dealing with the national parliament. a
well-informed writer has recently describ-
| ed existing conditions in Austria in the
following terms:
! Apart from these external demonstra
! lions, the Austrian parliament has for
years ignored all legislative work of a
! serious nature. 1t has been found nee
essary to~pass most important enact
ments, such as the budget and the
Gecenniai compromise with Hungary in
| the form of defensive measures In the.
MIDST OF an7-uneXampled economic pros
gefty among neighboring nations Aus
! ira Is suffering from a. deep-Seated de-
preston. Commerce and traffic are Ian
gushing ana am industrial insecurity has
ensued which is gripping capital and
! 2arai wing enterprise Despite numerous
natural advantages and the frequently
undcffated industrial capacity of the
| country, economic opportunities have
| been lost, exports have declined. internal
consumption has decreased and the
! pouase, once SO .HouFishing, has become
| Impoverished. Within two years the
! government has changed six times while
a great proportion of those eligible to
the ministry have already been called to
the helm in vain. All attempts to re-
store order. whether proceeding from the
! FEDERAL government or the several par
Ties, have been futile. Fhe destinies of
the nation are involved in darkness and
obscurity; and though the humbIest CIT
tzen realizes that this situation cannot
long continue none has undertaken TO in
dictate the way in which order may be
Consututonally re-established"
The three great national divisions con
| shutting the Austrian people are the Ger
mans, the Hungarians and the Bohennians,
or Czechs. Between these two latter there
has existed intense feelings of racial i'll
will, which have been fomented most sed-
| ulously by the politicians who assume to
| lead each. There is no such radical sis
agreement there as in cirlse Or origin
reaches down to the foundation of Aus
trian unity. The race instinct among
both the slav and the Germanic elements
of Austrian society is very strong; but
it does not Ind expression, even in the
most exciting situations, in any spirit
which seeks 70 compass tho dissolution
of the empire What IS known as the
| language ordnance, by which it was
sought to reconcile the rights and prefen-
sions of the czechs and the Germans to
! having the respective languages recognize