The Yale expositor., 1906-03-23
AUsTRo-HuNaARlAN DISPUTE
Something About the Cause of the
Parliamentary Trouble.

Something About the Cause Of the
Parliamentary Trouble.
The cause of dispute between Aus
tria and Hungary is of long standing
and must be settled by complete sur
render on one side or the other, says
the New Orleans Times-Democrat. 1t
was brought about by opportunists,
who, after the manner of that school
of politicians, in reaching the compact
in 1868, left disputes which they had
not the courage to settle to the set
Element of posterity. When the com
pact was formed in 1868 there were
several points of disagreement, the
chief of which referred to the military
prerogatives OF the crown. In the
drawing up of that compact, from
which was born the dual monarchy,
Koloman Tisza, father of the present
Count Tisza, one of the Hungarian
leaders, insisted on the introduction
of the Hungarian language of COM
mand in the army and the develop
ment of a separate Hungarian army.
But the king was unalterably opposed
TO this ard Deak and Andrassy the
elder, great slen of Hungary at that
time, saw that the compact was about
TO be wrecked, and they made a
bridge of the word constitutional"
which was meant to be ambiguous.
Ambiguity has always been the
mother of strife and il has proved to
be so in this case. Hungarians were
to understand that the royal preroga-
tives in respect of the army were to
be exercised under constitutions"
that is to say, parliamentary control,
while the king was expected to be-
lieve that these military prerogatives
in respect Of the Hungarian part OF
the army were constitutional in the
sense OF being recognized by Hungar-
ian constitutional law. but not essen
TALLY different from the military pre-
negatives of the emperor of Austria.
This is a statement of the case re-
Gently made by NJ. Kossuth, according
to the London Times. The Hungar-
ian leader admits that the phrase was
Intentionally made ambiguous, and
he added that Hungary had since
been living in a constitutional fools
paradise and now she saw the consti-
tuition tumbling about her ears.
1t seems a small thing to demand
that the words of command in an
army shall be in ones own language,
but it is to be remembered that the
Magyar language is not the language
of Hungary. though it is the dominant
one, as the Magyar is the dominant
race. There are Czech. Polak and
other races who constitute about one
half of the population to whom the
Magyar language is anathema, and
who would much prefer that the Ger
man words of command should be
used in the army. The Magyars and
the Jews of Hungary are in close COM
bination and stand firmly together on
all political questions. Together they
elect a majority of the members of
the diet, because they possess more
generally the privilege OF the fran
chise. When the parliament meets
its temper will be such that it will
probably be dissolved by royal COM
mand, or at least by order of Premier
Fejervary, who has already received
authority from the emperor-king to
that end. Then is expected to come
a revolution.
This is one of the sticks of dyna-
mite which have been lying around
loose in Europe for long time, await
ing the spark which is to set it off.
The aged emperor. while naturally
conciliatory, has fully made up his
mind on this subject, and II appears
that the Magyars have as fully made
up theirs. Should revolution result,
the trouble would not be confined 10 the
limits Of the dual kingdom in all
probability, for the neighboring ma
lions have long since had an eye on
the prospective carcass OF the empire.
upon the death of aged Franz Josef,
and Russia. Germany, Italy and per-
haps other states would demand
hand in whatever settlement is to be
reached.
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