Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-08
EMPEROR FRANZ JOSEF
Report That He Avoids the King
of Belgium.

Special Cablegram 10 The Star
VIENNA. July There are few kinder
hearted men in Europe than the Emperor
Franz josef. 1t has therefore excited re-
mark for some years past the extent to
which he avoids King Leopold of Belgium.
His dislike to the king OF the Belgians Is so
deep-rooted and lasting that he always does
his best to steer clear of his majesty. Every
time King Leopold visits Vienna the en-
perer manages to find an excuse to leave
the city This is commonly said to be due
TO KING Leopolds refusal to put one OF his
many castles at the disposal of his
daughter, Princess Louise of Coburg who
who was for many years shut up Though
perfectly sane) in a lunatic asylum In Aus
tria 1t is also said that his persistent re-
fusai to recognize the marriage of his
daughter. Princess Stephanie formerly the
Austrian Crown Princess), to Count Ionyay
gave offense to Franz Josef
But these incidents, though they made
TIE relations of the two monarchs still
worse, are not the first cause of the cool
ness; rms dates back to the time OF the
death OF the Crown Prince Rudolf On that
occasion King Leopold, as father-in-law of
the unfortunate prince. came to Vienna
Tor the funeral. As soon as he arrived at
TIE station in Vienna, late in the evening.
ne sent message to Count Kalnoky Aus
train minister of foreign affairs that he
wanted to see him the very first thing the
following morning before the funeral This
mysterious rendezvous was much discussed
py the diplomatic corps, which wondered
what important question could lead King
Leopold to hold council with Count Kalnoky
on such day.
Foreign Minister Curious
The Austrian foreign minister was as Gu
rfous as any one about the rendezvous and
appeared punctually at the hour fixed
What was his establishment when King
Leopold received him with the following
words My dear count, I sent for you to
ask you to use all your influence to get
Congo Free State shares quoted on the
vienna Stock Exchange" After the funeral
the Emperor Franz Josef, who had heard
of King Leopold's summons to his minister
asked Count Kalnoky the subject of the
conference. His establishment his indigna-
tlon and his grief were boundless when he
learned the preoccupation of his Belgian
majesty beside the open grave of his daugh-
ters husband Since that day his relations
with King Leopold have been purely for
NAL.
The Hungarian press, during the kaiser's
flying visit to Schonbrunn, moderated TO
some extent the violence of its attacks on
Germany and everything German. The fact,
too, that the kaiser paid a visit to DR..
Wekerle, the Hungarian premier, still fur
Their contributed to bring about a better
state of mind. The attitude of the Hun
garian press {and that of the Hungarian
nation) is due to the fact that II believes
that the kaiser advised the Emperor Franz
Josef to take vigorous measures to bring the
Magyars to reason.
Kaiser's Autocratic Nature.
There is no doubt the kaiser's autocratc
nature and his belief in the divine right of
kings view with the deepest disapproval the
action and policy of the Hungarians, and
1t appears he has on several occasions ex-
pressed himself somewhat frankly on the
subject 1t is to be doubted II he would
take upon himself to interfere actively in
the internal affairs of Hungary by presum-
ing TO advise the Emperor Franz Josef on
the subject
The change in the feeling of the Hungar-
ians is the more remarkable that the kaiser
was formerly extremely popular in Hun
which obtained credence in. that half of
the dual monarchy to the effect that, on
the death of the Emperor Franz JOSEF, the
second son of William II, Prince Eitel
Fritz, would become King of Hungary 1t
was stated that he was learning the Hun
garian language with view to his new du-
ties. Strange to say, this legend was wide
ly believed and the princes portrait was
sold by hundreds of thousands OF copies
To this day his picture is hanging in the
hut of every Hungarian peasant. Probably
this is less due to the popularity of Prince
Eitel Fritz (whom 90 per cent of the Hun
garians have never seem than to the I'M
popularity of the heir of the Emperor Franz
Josef, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The
Magyars believe, rightly or wrongly, that
he detests Hungary and everything Hun
garian, and that when he comes to the
throne he will try to Dragon that half of
the empire into submission to Austria