Page:The Annual Register 1899.djvu/308

 300] FOREIGN HISTORY. [1899.

law, which decided that the police had not exceeded their duty, notwithstanding which the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Office submitted to the Government at Washington a claim for com- pensation for the relatives of the deceased Austrian miners who had been killed on the occasion. The United States rejected the claim on the ground that the matter had been decided by a competent court, and that the Government could not exercise any influence on the administration of the law. The Foreign Office at Vienna then proposed that the difference between the two Governments should be submitted to arbitration, but this also was declined, and the matter then dropped.

Sympathy with the Boers was expressed by the Germans in Austria as elsewhere, but not with such evident malevolence towards England as in the German Empire. Among the other nationalities, such as the Hungarians, the Poles, and the Czechs, the predominant feeling was a desire for the success of England as the propagator of liberty and civilisation.

CHAPTER III.

I. RUSSIA.

The year opened in Russia, as usual, with the publication of the Budget, the most remarkable feature of which, as in the previous year, was the large sum appropriated for the con- struction of railways, which created a considerable deficit. The amount to be expended for this purpose in 1899 was 109,073,413 roubles, or about 10,500,000Z., of which 30,500,000 roubles was for the Siberian Railway. The total sum allowed for the Ministry of Ways and Communications was 397,000,000 roubles, or 37,000,000 more than that allowed for the Army. The estimate for naval construction was 16,000,000 roubles more than in the previous year, not reckoning the 90,000,000 previously allotted for an increase of the Navy. The total sum required for all services during the year was fixed at 1,571,732,646 roubles, or 97,500,000 more than in the previous year. The Minister of Finance pointed out that although there would be a deficit of 98,604,443 roubles, this would not necessitate a new loan, as the reserve fund of the Treasury was more than sufficient to cover the amount. He added that the national debt of Russia had been increased during the past twelve years by 1,531,000,000 roubles, 1,139,000,000 of which was for the purchase and construction of railways ; that the gold in the State Bank and Exchequer, as well as that in circulation, had been increased during the past year by 121,000,000 roubles ; and that the whole of the limited issue of paper money is guaranteed by a metallic security of 168 per cent.

Serious disturbances again occurred in January at the cotton