The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-24
The Ministerial Crisis I'm Austria
Hungary.

The Ministerial Crisis in Austria
Hungary.
The Polish Count GoLUCHowsKI, the
Austro-H Hungarian Minister for Foreign
Affairs, has been obliged to resign, al
though he is known to possess the entire
confidence Of the Emperor FRANCIS
JOSEPH and of the Reichsrath, or Aus
trian parliament, in which Galicia, his
native province, is represented. The
resignation was extorted by the Mag
vars, who, through their spokesman,
DR.. WEcKERLE, announced that IL the
common budget OF Austria Hungary was
laid before the delegations by Count
GoLUCHowsKI the Hungarian Delega-
| ton would refuse to vote it, and thus
/ the imperial Government would be
brought to a standstill. The incident
directs attention to the complicated
political machinery of Austria-H Hungary,
and especially to the so-called delega-
lions. or %deliberative body of the dual
monarchy, which is one Of the most
extraordinary political inventions of
modern times.
The methods OF governing the Aus
trian or cisleithan kingdom on the n
hand and the kingdom Of Hungary on
the other are relatively simple. Each
kingdom has a parliament Of it's own,
competent to deal with all the matters
with which that kingdom is exclusively
concerned. There are certain spheres
of activity, however, in which the two
kingdoms are jointly interested. Thus,
under the Constitution of 1857, the En-
peror-King commands the joint army
and navy, supervises the administration
Of all other matters common TO both
countries and has power to make ordi-
nances in regard to them. For the
direct management of these matters he
appoints joint Ministers for Foreign
Affairs, for War and for Finance, and his
consent is required for the validity Of
any act of the joint Legislature.
This joint legislature, which has no
counterpart in modern history, consists
of two delegations, n from Austria
the other from Hungary, each composed
of sixty members, OF whom twenty are
chosen by the upper and forty by the
lower house of each parliament. The
delegations must be reelected annually
by the Austrian Reichsrath on the one
hand and the Hungarian Diet on the
other. and they must be summoned by
the Emperor to meet at least once a year.
Not only are the delegations equal in
number, but other precautions are taken
to assure the absolute equality OF the
two countries. Thus the meetings OF
the Joint legislature must be held alter
nately at Vienna and Budapest, and the
proposals OF the Government must be
laid before both delegations at the same
time. In the Austrian delegation all
the proceedings are in German, in the
Hungarian in Magyar Except that the
Croats are allowed to speak their own
language, and all communications be-
tween the two are made in both tongues,
The delegations debate and vote sepa-
ratelv, except in case of a deadlock,
when, although they may vote together,
they are not permitted to debate.
Although on the face Of it this intri-
cate system seems calculated to assure
to each half Of the monarchy an abso'
lutely equal influence, 1t gives in prac'
tice an advantage to Hungary. For
under the existing parliamentary fran
chises the Magyars hold far more thar
half of the seats in each house Of the
Hungarian Diet-the Table Of Magnate'
and the Table Of Deputies-and, will
the exception Of five places which they
, are con~stitutionally bound to give the
Il r- oAl~ 30 ali khA HNnnvarfoW
delegation with representatives Of Their
interests. In the Reichsrath, or Aus
TRAN parliament, the Germans possess
3 no such preponderance, and there, more
over, the members of the delegation ar
3 chosen not by a majority vote, but b!
3 the Deputies from the several province
in certain proportions. The result il
that while the Hungarian delegation il
Q almost %univocal, the Austrian delega
n ton is composed Of a number Of hOetil
groups, some one Of which the Magyar
are often able to persuade to vote Of
! their side in the common session whicl
follows a deadlock between the delega
= tions. As a matter Of course the create
t solidity Of the Hungarian delegation
IL causes Jne MullbOcIB W NOiCikll sAiAaAIH
I for War and for Finance TO rely mainl,
upon it for support, and gives to it il
= return a disproportionate share Of in
n fluence. Hence the current saying tina
Hungary enjoys twO-thirds Of the powe
d Of the empire for one-third Of the cost
To be exact, il now pays - per cent
Of the common expenses and furnishe
Al per cent. Of the troops. Under th
circumstances IL il not surprising thS
n since the upfOn Of the two kingdoms th