The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-16

Y 4ssA sSar vs@ss ma.sA in i'sssa'' s.Sisss 2aas s
Pest IN the POLITICALLY placed pro-
vincial capitals where landtags solemniy
sit the best politicians are laying IN
stores of arguments, and OF Ink bottles.
The Neue Freie Presse foretells that we
are on the eve of parliamentary storms
tnat Will break records" And that is SO.
There are the military proposals, and the
ettitude to Servia's five university anc
language problems, and in Hungary an
unsatisfactory franchise law. And all
these thorny problems are destined to be
deeided by the ablest orators with the
veightiest arguments in their mouths ana
ink bottles instheir fists.
During the last 20 years Austrla's
reichsrst and Hungary's diet have legls-
lated most successfully in this belligerent
way The population grows trade -four
ishes, art and literature are on high
level and perfect order is kept-every-
where outside the, legislatures The mer-
its of legisia ton by hurled Ink bottles
were never so clearly proved In 1904-1911
there were in Austria's reichsrat is sit
tngs at which actual violence was used.
and no less than 60 in which prolonged
obstruction. aouse and threats of vio-
lence We're the system of procedure. Hun
garys diet hardly falls short of Aus
tlia's reichsrat but with a modesty
rraiseworthy in such high spirited peo-
ple no statistics are kept. However, four
cases of violence in the diet have already
been befor ethe law courts. It is given
as rroof of Hungarian party moderation
that during the terrific scenes of last
midsummer only four ink bottles We're
thrown. Several members preferred to
detach bits of their desks and hurl them
ut al In
earian politicians argue even more en-
rhatically than Austrian In june 1912,
the highly respected and talented poll
tcian Julius Kovacs-an enthusiast for
the protection of administered his gun
at the highly respectable speaker, Count
Stephen Tsza, and then shot himself
rearly dead. Compared with this, the
record of two members of the Carinthian
lsndtag who lay in wait for one another
on a dark night and sprained one an
others slnews, is sneered at by Hun
garians as tame.
tt is the mistake Of Americans who read
such things to imagine that Austrians
and Hungariaps show nothing but vio-
lence in making and preventing the MAX
ing of laws. As a fact, their resources
are inexhaustibe Just as they hold the
record for arguing with Ink bottles, hsts
and sticks so they hold it for convincing
the other side by means of obstruction.
Inc 0DStfuCllDn Ol <AuSlfid iciSh9i'N
would make American members of Con-
gress turn green with envy. What Is
more, Austrian obstructionists are con-
stantly adding to their records. Every
wear a new obstructor breaks the record
of the year before. The present champion
IS the Czech radical Fresl. He won his
spurs during the obstruction of the South
lSlavs and Czechs against the budget COM
mission The object was to express Slav
dislike of a conflict over Servia with Rus
sia. Herr Fresl declared that he would
speak without interruption for four and
twenty hours; and he very nearly carried
out his threat
Fresl was inspired to his exploit by the
efforts of his colleague, Gorintian, Slo-
venian. who began his speech of obstruc-
ton at 6 In the evening and ended 1t
only at next morning. Gorintian spoke
I'm c.1ovenian, which only a handful of
reichsrat members understand and he
relapsed into German only now and then
in order to answer derisive comments OF