Page:The New Europe - Volume 3.djvu/294

 Parliament was summoned for 30 May. This caused great alarm among the German parties, most of whom were undisguisedly hostile to the Reichsrat being summoned at all; and the two German ministers, Mr. Urban and Dr. Baernreither, could only be induced to remain in the Cabinet in return for explicit assurances from the Emperor’s own mouth that the position of the Germans would in no way be prejudiced.

Nothing has happened during May to suggest any approach to a Slavophile standpoint on the part of the Austrian Government; this is clearly indicated by the way in which the sixty vacancies in the Upper House have been filled. The list includes a number of the Austrian generals and ex-diplomats (among others, the notorious Dr. Dumba); while of the politicians selected almost all are uncompromising in their support of the old régime. Specially marked is the inclusion of Herr Benedikt, the proprietor and editor of the Neue Freie Presse, who for a generation past has exploited the unique position of one of the most brilliant Continental newspapers to the cause of Le Roi de Prusse and the Dual System, and has done more than any other living man to accentuate the feud between German and Slav, and to maintain the alliance of German and Magyar at the expense of the Slav.

The German parties showed themselves uncompromising from the very first, and their unanimous selection of Dr. Gross, the President of the German National Union, as their candidate for the post of Speaker was intended and accepted as a direct challenge to the Slavs. No less significant is the cordial support given to the present régime by the Radical Pangermans, who, only fifteen years ago, amid an orgy of obstruction, excelled themselves by cheering the Hohenzollerns and insulting the Habsburgs on the floor of the Reichsrat. To-day their leader, Karl Hermann Wolf, visits the Emperor at Laxenburg and his colleague, Herr Iro, writes pamphlets in favour of Mittel-Europa. A third member of their group, Herr Pacher, was specially selected as the spokesman of all the German parties during the opening debate of the session.

Among many signs that no real change of policy is intended is the significant fact that the Slav deputies who have been condemned for political offences have not been allowed to take their seats: that the Czech Radical