Washington sentinel., 1901-03-23
FOREIGN N f w S
zrGnSIaksa and Selected irons leading
EgIOosG1 6dberS(0V tie SENTINEL
ENGLAND.
DiscOrd la Austria.
pssfsr LZOVH
Poster LEoyd.

The Austrian House of Representa-.
tives seemed to have changed its char
| acter. For a short time it behaved as
respectfully, as nationally. and as seri'
ously as any Parliament in the civilized
world. There was great lamentstion in
some sections OF pothouse society, and
there were many regrets for the decay
| of Viennese humor, and the old Austrian
facetiousness. But it was soon to be
shown that Tespectability and reason
aud seriousness we're only assumed as a
was being prepared. On the appointed
day the House recurred as one man to
the stupid and apish frivoltY which is
its normal characteristic: sticks, stones,
and paperweights hurtled through the
| air, and no one was astonlshed. On the
contrary. every one would have been
surprised If there had been no storm.
1t is, all the same, absurd to cali what
was merely tavern orawI a storm; 1t
lacked all elements of majesty, and it
was engineered openly, as all could see,
by the Czech as well as by the Pan
German representatives, who loaded
themselves with missiles, verbal and
material, before the fight with the ex-
press object Of using them against one
another.
Meanwhile, however, the condition OF
unrest-whether springlng from natural
causes or provoked by artificial means,
has been again produced. and its con-
Nh~.,Na,- he
existence ofthat rotten institution called
Parliament
The immediate pretext which let loose
the wrath OF the Czechs and the Pam
Germans was the compromise proposed
by the President on the language ques
tion. The Czechs had taken up the
position that II was personal insult to
themselves that they we're debarTed
from MOVING amendments in their own
language. The Pan-Germans, on the
other hand, had firmly determined that
all amendments should be made exc
clusivelY in the German language. The
President attempted to mediate between
the two extremes by proposing as a
compromise, that amendments might be
introduced in languages other than
German, but should only be moved in
the German languags-the original
proposal with the report OF the debate
to be circulated in the language Of the
orig.Ha. written amendment. This pro-
posaI caused b .undless indignation
amoug .h= Czschs, and no less bitter
shrieEs OI fury rose from the Pau-G -r-
mauS. Which side. then, is righl7 II
one looks q1ite dispassionately on this
extraordinarily bitter quarrel one has to
admit that there is nothing very mOn-
sttous in this desire of the Czechs, and
they can pie ad further (as the President
admltted) that amendments have been
permitted to be made for the last FIVE
years in other languages than German.
1t IS therefore no innovation, but merely
an attempt to legItiuIze practice which
has prevailed, without authority, it is
true. tor severaly years. Setting questions
OF precedent aside, il would be hard to
explain why speeches can be made in
the Czech language in the Austrian
House oi Representatives, but amend
ments in that language cannot be moved
Is the point OF the German opposition
| TO be found in the idea that it would be
| necessary for a Minister to understand
Czech? Hardly, for the Minister can get
any sudden amendment or question
translated and answer 1t 10 German.
Either the right OF using more languages
than one must be taken away from
| Parliament. or the natural exercise of
an undsputed right must be denied.
We cannot help admitting that the
Czschs have only raised the present
question 10 order to develop a flank
attack on the position of German as the
Official language; and their object may
be right or wrong. But 1t is hardly fair
to drag other considerations into the
dispute, and to impute motives, Tor that
would make the points at issue abso-
lutely insoluble Again, whether one
feels sympathy for the Czechs or not, it
/ must be admitted oY all who dare to face
the facts that the unfortunate system (or
rather lack Of system) with which The
Czechs have been treated for many
years refused today what was given
them freely yesterday-would drive a
! people with the disposition OF sheep to
madness, The Language Ordinance
was issued to please them and then
revoked. The right to speak their own
language in Parliament was given to
them-and then taken away. All this
would never happen if the State was
governed in a proper manner, and not
in a spirit of mingled opportunism and
caprice; tits positively Iuconceivahle in
a well governed country, and who can
wonder # under such a brainless Coy
ernment the Nationalist groups throw
to the winds pretensions to sound and
sober pol.cyH