Page:The Annual Register 1899.djvu/304

 296] FOREIGN HISTORY. [1899.

to both halves of the empire. To these the fourteenth article of the Austrian Constitution, which is for the western half only, cannot be made to apply ; and every effort was accordingly made by the Emperor and the chief members of the majority to in- duce the Germans not to carry their threat into execution. The first step taken with this object was to sacrifice the Ministry of Count Thun, which had become thoroughly unpopular among the Germans on account of its refusal to cancel the language de- crees and its application of the fourteenth article to various con- tentious measures such as the sugar tax. The Cabinet resigned at the end of September, and was succeeded by one composed entirely of Germans with the exception of two Poles, the Minister of Finance and the Minister for Galicia. The new Premier, Count Clary- Aldingen, and the other ministers were prominent public officials not identified with any party, but they showed a decided leaning towards the Germans, and their first act was to withdraw the language decrees. This produced a storm of indignation among the Czechs, who now took the place of the Germans in obstructing the work of Parliament, though they did not descend to the brutal methods of Herren Wolf and Schonerer. Riots broke out in various parts of Bohemia and Moravia, and at the annual roll-call of the reserves a Czech reservist, instead of answering as usual with the German word "Hier," used the equivalent in Czech (" Zde "). The man was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, but a large crowd accompanied him to the prison uttering seditious cries and singing Czech national songs. The object aimed at by the withdrawal of the language decrees — the election of German members to the delegation — was, however, attained, the Czechs not being disposed to push their opposition to the Government so far as to refuse to elect delegates of their own. But they rendered all legislation im- possible so far as the Reichsrath was concerned ; and as Count Clary-Aldingen was unwilling to resume Government under article 14, it became necessary to appoint another minister who would do so. On December 22 Dr. Wittek, a railway specialist, was " entrusted provisionally with the presidency of the Minis- terial Council/' and most of the other departments were also placed temporarily under the direction of officials. The Reichs- rath was then prorogued, and the measures which it had failed to pass were put in force under article 14.

In Hungary the political situation was also far from satis- factory, though not so desperate as in the western half of the empire. In both Parliaments the Opposition prevented all legislation by obstruction, but at Vienna it was possible to put in force, without the aid of Parliament, the measures necessary for carrying out the government under the emerjgency article of the Constitution, while in the Hungarian Constitution there is no such article, and the Ministry was therefore obliged to act unconstitutionally — or as it was called in a sort of dog-Latin, "ex lex" — in order to execute those measures (see Annual