Page:The New Europe - Volume 3.djvu/409

 system of Autonomy (Autonomismus—it is extremely significant that he expressly avoids the word Federalism, which for generations past has been the alternative to Centralism in Austrian political theory), “but an autonomist Centralism would lead to our goal The fact that our races and fragments of races live under special territorial conditions, has led by historic necessity to the formation of our State, and thus has arisen its historic task of creating for them a home at this dangerous meeting place (Schniittpunkt) of national worlds, of protecting them externally and assuring to them internally free development. Thus, in all questions bearing on our ‘State Idea,’ we must neglect neither the inner essence of the State as consisting of races (Völkerstaat), nor its historic territorial genesis (Länderstaat), nor, above all, the necessary conditions of existence of the whole. Austria would certainly lose touch with its historic foundations, if she trampled on the rights of the provinces, or would not act up to her great European mission, if she thwarted her peoples in their national and cultural development; but she could be true to her task in neither direction, unless she could combine her various parts in an unitary whole, inspire that whole with a single will (Staatswille), and secure prestige abroad. The need for unity must not attain the degree which is natural in a State politically and nationally homogeneous, but it must also not rest satisfied with less than is by the necessities of the whole and of that whole’s position in the world (Machtstellung) The Government upholds with all the tried foundations of our constitution. It does not hesitate, in the face of exaggerated wishes such as are due to exceptional conditions of national psychology caused by the world-war, to declare its resolve to defend these foundations against every onslaught. But it recognises the need of an organic repair of our constitutional institutions Its idea is to strengthen and extend these institutions, with a view to safeguarding the State as a whole, and its functions, but, at the same time, to give the State the power and the freedom, while preserving its historical structure, to do fuller justice than hitherto to the wishes and needs of the peoples in the direction of natural and cultural development.”

Reduced to simple terms, the theme of this speech is that the federal solution is not the programme of the “new men” of Austria. So our Austrophils must try another tack.

Feeling strongly how much Norway owes to her sailors for maintaining not only the supply of food and raw materials for the country, but also the national honour, the Norwegian Colony in London lately decided to give an entertainment to the sailors landed from torpedoed ships.

The Norwegian Mercantile Marine stands to-day at about 2,400,000 tons. Naturally a considerable part of this fleet is taking care of Norwegian imports and exports; another portion has been