The Colorado statesman., 1918-02-16

to the full the medieval ideas of abso-
lutism. 1t is only since 1906 that the
title of emperor of Austria has been
used; in fact the head of the House of
Hapsburg reigns in many of the crown
lands of the empire by Inheritance, as
duke, count or whatnot. In 1926 the
duke of Austria was elected king of
Bohemia, and in the same year he was
elected king of Hungary. These titles
and the regal authority which they
gave, although in each case the crown
was by right elective, the Hapsburgs
have kept as hereditary and despotic,
quite as much as in their hereditary
upper and lower Austria. Thus, in the
first place, we have as an essential
factor in the dual monarchy medieval
and aristocratic monarch-and mon
archy in German family.
The second striking fact is the di-
versity of races and languages. Ger
on its borders some non-Germanic sub
jects, inhabiting lands which represent
some of the plunder of Prussian wars
Poles in Posen, Danes in Schleswig,
French in Alsace-Lorraine. But the
great mass of the people of the empire
are German in blood and speech.
Germans in Dual Monarchy.
In Austria-Hungary, however, the
Germans are minority; in a total
population of about 50,000000 there
are only 100000 Germans. The 9th
er races are, in round numbers, Slavs,
24,000,O00; Magyars (Hungarians),
4 n A 000
In other words, the population is "a
per cent German, 48 per cent Slav, 20
per cent Magyar, and per cent Latin.
But note that the German Haps-
burgs, as long as they could, ruled au-
tocratically in the interest of German
izing the entire empire. German was
the official language. German were the
laws, German the officers. The col
lapse of the Austrian armies in 1859,
In the war with France and Sardinia,
and again in 1866, in the war with
Prussia, compelled the Hapsburgs to
modify their methods. A simulacrum
of elective parliaments was introduced,
| and in 1867 the empire was divided.
| The Magyars were taken into partner
ship and the dual monarchy was
formed. In Vienna the head Of the
house of Hapsburg reigns as emperor
of Austria; in Budapest he reigns
as king of Hungary. Each monarchy
| has its own parliament and cabinet,
and there are joint ministries of for
eign affairs, war and finance, with
sort of joint parliamentary committee
| for common purposes.
pt1f xxhi1 n
1867 the Magyars were given their
| freedom, pains were taken by both the
Germans of Austria and the Magyars
of Hungary that the Slavs should be
pushed to the wall. Said the Austrian
representative, Count Beust, at that
time to his Magyar colleague: ave
will take care of our barbarians; you
must take care of yours"
Whom did he mean?
Germans Control Austria.
Austria has a population of some
/ 2S,0OO,00O. OF these there are TO-
100000 Germans, the remaining 49,
100000 being mainly Slavs-Poles and
Bohemians, Serbs, Croats, and Slo-
venes, with many Italians in the prov
inces bordering Italy. 1t is these non
Germans, especially the Slavs, whom
Beust called "barbarians." The Aus
trian parliament is cunningly juggled
in the membership of its elective lower
house. At the sitting last spring-the
first meeting since the war broke out
rabid pan-German was elected to the
presidency of the lower house by vote
of 215 to 195-215 Germans to 1875 non
Germans in a nation in which the Ger
mans are in minority with a ratio of
| 10 to 1S. The electoral law puts about
an average of 1850 Germans in
parliamentary district, while it takes
about 65,479 Slavs to elect one deputy.
Polish Galicia is a fragment of Po-
land, the ancient kingdom destroyed by
Prussia, Austria and Russia near the
end of the eighteenth century; Galicia
was Austria's share of the loot.
The Bohemians, with their neighbors,
the Slovaks of Moravia, are descended
from the sturdy race of John Huss and
of Comenius. Their forefathers un-
wisely elected the head of the house
of Hapsburg as their king in 1926, and
the ancient constitution of st. Vaclav
| soon was disregarded, and the liberty
| loving Czechs became little more than
helots of their Austrian overlords.
The house of Hapsburg is not noted
| for fidelity to engagements.
Serbs Virtually Serfs.
The Croats, Serbs and Slovenes are
a remnant of the great Serbian mon
archy of the fourteenth century, which
was overrun and crushed by the Turks.
Austria protected them, gladly used
them in her armies, and in turn made
them virtual serfs. They are essen
TALLY the same people and speak the
same language as the Serbs of Serbia
and Montenegro.
The Italians in Austria are re-