Chapter XXV: (p. 460) (2)

The Gautsch ministry which succeeded proposed to maintain the equality of the Czech and German tongues in Bohemia; wherefore the German Liberals persisted in their obstructionist policy and declared that they would continue to do so until the objectionable ordinances should have been rescinded. March 5, 1898, the Government promulgated a provisional decree in accordance with which in one portion of Bohemia the official tongue was to be Czech, in another German, and in the third the two together. But no one was satisfied and the ministry resigned. The coalition government of Count Thun Hohenstein which succeeded labored in the interest of conciliation, but with absolutely no success. Parliamentary sittings became but occasions for the display of obstructive tactics, and even for resort to violence, and legislation came to a standstill. By the use of every known device the turbulent German parties rendered impossible the passage of even the most necessary money bills, and the upshot was that, in the summer of 1898, the Government was obliged to fall back upon that extraordinary portion of the Austrian constitution, commonly known as Section 14, by which, in default of parliamentary legislation, the crown is authorized to promulgate ordinances with the force of law. The period of extra parliamentary government here inaugurated was destined to be extended through more than six years and to comprise one of the most remarkable chapters in recent political history.

*532. The Nadir of Parliamentarism.*--Following the retirement of the Thun Hohenstein ministry, at the end of September, 1899, the government of Count Clary-Aldingen revoked the language decrees; but the parliamentary situation was not improved, for the Czechs resorted forthwith to the same obstructionist tactics of which the Germans had been guilty and the government had still to be operated principally on the basis of Section 14. A provisional government under Dr. Wittek, at the close of 1899, was followed by the ministry of Dr. Körber, established January 20, 1900; but all attempts at conciliation continued to be unavailing. In September, 1900, the Reichsrath was (p. 481) dissolved and the order for the new elections was accompanied by the ominous declaration of the Emperor that the present appeal to the nation would be the last constitutional means which would be employed to bring the crisis to an end. Amid widespread depression, threats of Hungarian independence, and rumors of an impending _coup d'état_, the elections took place, in January, 1901. The German parties realized the largest gains, but the parliamentary situation was not materially altered, and thereafter, until its fall, December 31, 1904, the Körber ministry continued to govern substantially without parliamentary assistance. In 1901-1902, by various promises, the premier induced the combatants to lay aside their animosities long enough to vote the yearly estimates, a military contingent, and certain much-needed economic reforms. But this was virtually the sole interruption of a six-year deadlock.

*533. Electoral Reform and the Elections of 1907.*--With the establishment of the second Gautsch ministry, December 31, 1904, a truce was declared and interest shifted to the carrying out of the Imperial programme of electoral reform. From the proposed liberalization of the suffrage many of the party groups were certain to profit and others had at least a chance of doing so; and thus it came about that the great electoral law of 1907 was carried through its various stages under parliamentary conditions which were substantially normal. Its progress was attended by the fall, in April, 1906, of the Gautsch ministry and, six weeks later, by that of its provisional successor. But by the coalition government of Baron Beck (June 2, 1906 to November 8, 1908) the project was pushed to a successful conclusion, and in its final form the law was approved by the Emperor, January 26, 1907.

The promulgation of the new electoral measure was followed, May 14, by a general election, the results of which may be tabulated as shown on the following page.

Each of the twenty-six groups here enumerated maintained at the time of the election an independent party organization, although in the Chamber the representatives of certain of them were accustomed to act in close co-operation. To the clericals and conservatives of all shades fell an aggregate of 230 seats; but among the various groups of this type there has never been sufficient coherence to permit the formation of a compact conservative party. Among the liberal and radical groups lack of coherence was, and remains, still more pronounced. The most striking feature of the election of 1907 was the gains made by the Social Democrats and the Christian Socialists, to be explained largely by the extension of the franchise to the non-taxpaying and small taxpaying population. (p. 482) _Seats after _Seats in election of previous 1907_ Chamber_

Social Democrats 90 11
Christian Socialists 67 26
German Clericals 29 29
German Progressives 23 60
German Radicals 24 46
German Agrarians 21 4
Independent Pan-Germans 8 7
Pan-Germans 3 15
Polish Club 54 66
Polish Radicals 16 0
Polish Independent Socialists 3 0
Ruthenes 28 9
Jewish Zionists 3 0
Young Czechs 19 47
Old Czechs 6 3
Czech Realists 2 0
Czech Agrarians 25 5
Czech Clericals 19 2
Czech Radicals 10 8
Slovene Clericals 22 19
Slovene Liberals 3 6
Italian Liberals 4 12
Italian Clericals 10 6
Croats 9 7
Serbs 2 0
Roumanians 5 4

*534. The Elections of 1911.*--The truce by which the election of 1907 was accompanied was not of long duration, and November 8, 1908, the ministry of Baron Beck was driven by German obstructionism to resign. After three months as provisional premier Baron von Bienerth, former Minister of the Interior, made up a cabinet which included representatives of a number of parties and which, despite occasional readjustments of portfolios, exhibited a fair measure of stability throughout upwards of two years. In December, 1910, the Czechs and Poles precipitated a cabinet crisis in consequence of which the ministry was reconstructed (January 9, 1911) in such a manner as to strengthen the Slavic and weaken the Germanic element. But the forces of opposition were not appeased, and as a last resort the Government determined upon a dissolution and an appeal to the country. The results, however, were by no means those which were desired. At the general elections, which took place June 13 and 20, the Christian Socialists, from whom the Government had drawn its most consistent support, were roundly beaten, and June 26 Baron von Bienerth and his colleagues resigned. The ministry thereupon made up was presided (p. 483) over by Baron Gautsch. It, however, endured only until October 31, when it was succeeded by that of Count Stuergkh.

The elections of 1911 were hotly contested. The 516 seats to be filled were sought by 2,987 candidates, representing no fewer than fifty-one parties and factions, and second ballotings were required in almost two-thirds of the constituencies. The Czechs returned with undiminished strength, and the German Radicals and Progressives realized substantial gains. The most notable feature, however, was the victory of the Social Democrats over the Christian Socialists, especially in the capital, where the quota of deputies of the one party was raised from ten to nineteen and that of the other was cut from twenty to four. The Christian Socialists, it must be observed, are not socialists in the ordinary meaning of the term. The party was founded by Dr. Lüger a few years ago in the hope that, despite the establishment of manhood suffrage in the Empire, the Social Democrats might yet be prevented from acquiring a primacy among the German parties. It is composed largely of clericals, and in tone and purpose it is essentially reactionary. By maintaining an active alliance with the German Clerical party it contrived to hold in check the Social Democracy throughout the larger portion of the period 1907-1911. But it was handicapped all the while by internal dissension, and the defeat which it suffered at the last elections has relegated it, at least for the time being, to a subordinate place.[681]

[Footnote 681: On Austrian party politics see
Lowell, Governments and Parties, II., 94-123;
Drage, Austria-Hungary, Chaps, 1, 3, 12; K.
Schwechler, Die österreichische Sozialdemokratie
(Graz, 1907); S. Marmorek, L'Obstruction au
parlement autrichien (Paris, 1908); and E. Benés,
Le problème autrichien et la question tchèque;
étude sur les luttes politiques des nationalités
slaves en Autriche (Paris, 1908). Among valuable
articles in periodicals may be mentioned: W.
Beaumont, La crise du parlementarisme au Autriche;
les élections législatives et la situation
politique, in _Annales des Sciences Politiques_,
March 15, 1901; K. Kramer, La situation politique
en Autriche, ibid., October 15, 1901; G. L. Jaray,
L'Autriche nouvelle: sentiments nationaux et
préoccupations sociales, ibid., May 15 and Sept.
15, 1908, and La physionomie nouvelle de la
question austro-hongroise, in _Questions
Diplomatiques et Coloniales_, Dec. 16, 1910;
Kolmer, La vie politique et parlementaire en
Autriche, in _Revue Politique et Parlementaire_,
July 10, 1911; and G. Blondel, Les dernières
élections en Autriche-Hongrie, in _La Réforme
Sociale_, Aug. 1 and 15, 1911.]

V. THE JUDICIARY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

*535. General Principles: the Ordinary Tribunals.*--All judicial power in the Austrian Empire is exercised, and all judgments and sentences are executed, in the name of the Emperor. Judges are appointed for life, by the Emperor or in his name, and they may be removed from (p. 484) office only under circumstances specified by law and by virtue of a formal judicial sentence. On taking the oath of office all judicial officials are required to pledge themselves to an inviolable observance of the fundamental laws. The Law of December 21, 1867, concerning the Judicial Power withholds from the courts the power to pronounce upon the validity of statutes properly promulgated, though they may render judgment on the validity of Imperial ordinances involved in cases before them.[682] With some exceptions, fixed by law, proceedings in both civil and criminal cases are required to be oral and public; and in all cases involving severe penalties, as well as in all actions arising from political crimes and misdemeanors and offenses committed by the press, the guilt or innocence of the accused must be determined by jury.

[Footnote 682: Art. 7. Dodd, Modern Constitutions,
I., 86.]

By the law of 1867 it is stipulated that there shall be maintained at Vienna a Supreme Court of Justice and Cassation (_Oberste Gerichts-und Kassationshof_) for all of the kingdoms and countries represented in the Reichsrath, and that the organization and jurisdiction of inferior courts shall be determined by law. Of inferior tribunals there have been established 9 higher provincial courts (_Oberlandesgerichte_),[683] 74 provincial and district courts (_Landes-und Kreisgerichte_), and 96 county courts (_Bezirksgerichte_). The provincial and district courts and the county courts, together with a group of jury courts maintained in connection with the provincial and district tribunals, are courts of first instance; the higher provincial courts and the Supreme Court exercise a jurisdiction that is almost wholly appellate. There exist also special courts for commercial, industrial, military, fiscal, and other varieties of jurisdiction.

[Footnote 683: Located at Vienna, Graz, Trieste,
Innsbrück, Zara, Prague, Brünn, Cracow, and
Lemberg.]

*536. The Imperial Court.*--In Austria, as in France and other continental countries, cases affecting administration and the administrative officials are withheld from the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts and are committed to special administrative tribunals. By law of 1867 provision was made for an Imperial Court (_Reichsgericht_), to exercise final decision in conflicts of jurisdiction between the two sets of courts and, in general, in all disputed questions of public law, after the manner of the Court of Conflicts in France. The Imperial Court was organized by law of April 18, 1869. It sits at Vienna, and it is composed of a president and deputy president, appointed by the Emperor for life, and of twelve members and four substitutes, also appointed for life by the Emperor upon nomination by the Reichsrath. It decides finally all conflicts of competence (p. 485) between the administrative and the ordinary judicial tribunals, between a provincial diet and the Imperial authorities, and between the independent public authorities of the several provinces of the Empire. Very important in a country so dominated by a bureaucracy as is Austria is the power which by fundamental law is vested in the Imperial Court to pass final verdict upon the merits of all complaints of citizens arising out of the alleged violation of political rights guaranteed to them by the constitution, after the matter shall have been made the subject of an administrative decision. The purpose involved is to afford the citizen who, believing himself deprived of his constitutional rights, has failed to obtain redress in the administrative courts, an opportunity to have his case reviewed by a tribunal constituted with special view to permanence, independence, and impartiality. High-handed administrative acts which are covered by statute, however, are beyond its reach, for, like all Austrian tribunals, it is forbidden to question the validity of a duly promulgated law.[684]

[Footnote 684: Dodd, Modern Constitutions, I.,
84-85.]

*537. The Provincial Governments: Composition of the Diet.*--Each of the seventeen political divisions of the Empire has a government of its own, established on the basis of its Landesordnung, or provincial constitution. The executive, for affairs that are considered strictly divisional, consists of a provincial council, the _Landesausschuss_, composed of the president of the diet (nominated by the Emperor) as _ex-officio_ chairman and from four to eight members variously elected within the province. Imperial interests are specially represented in the province, however, by a _Statthalter_, or _Landespräsident_, appointed by the crown, and independent of local control.

Functions of legislation are vested in a Landtag, or diet. The provincial diet of the modern type came into being under the operation of the Imperial diploma of October 20, 1860 (superseded by that of February 26, 1861), replacing the ancient assembly of estates which in most provinces had persisted until 1848. From 1860 onwards diets were established in one after another of the provinces, until eventually all were so equipped. Originally the diets were substantially uniform in respect to both composition and powers. Aside from certain _ex-officio_ members, they were composed of deputies chosen for six years by four electoral curiæ: the great proprietors, the chambers of commerce, the towns, and the rural communes; and, until 1873, one of their principal functions was the election of the provincial delegation in the lower house of the Reichsrath. Each of the seventeen provincial diets as to-day constituted consists of a single chamber, and in most instances the body is composed of (1) the archbishops (p. 486) and bishops of the Catholic and Orthodox Greek churches; (2) the rectors of universities, and, in Galicia, the rector of the technical high school of Lemberg and the president of the Academy of Sciences of Cracow; (3) the representatives of great estates, elected by all landowners paying land taxes of not less than 100, 200, 400, or 500 crowns, according to the provinces in which their estates are situated; (4) the representatives of towns, elected by citizens who possess municipal rights or pay a stipulated amount of direct taxes; (5) the representatives of boards of commerce and industry, chosen by the members of these bodies; and (6) representatives of the rural communes, elected in eight provinces directly, in the others indirectly, by deputies (Wahlmänner) returned by all inhabitants who pay direct taxes to the amount of 8 crowns yearly. In a few of the provinces there is, besides these, a general electoral class composed of all qualified male subjects of the state over twenty-four years of age;[685] and there are some other variations, as for example, in Moravia, where, by a law of November 27, 1905, the proportional system of representation was introduced. The diets vary in membership from 26 in Vorarlberg and 30 in Görz and Gradisca to 151 in Moravia, 161 in Galicia, and 242 in Bohemia. The deputies are elected in all cases for a period of six years, and the diets assemble annually. But a session may be closed, and the diet may be dissolved, at any time by the presiding officer, under the direction of the Emperor.

[Footnote 685: When the class system of voting for
members of the Reichsrath was on the point of being
abolished by the law of January 26, 1907, there was
raised the question as to whether a similar step
should not be taken in respect to provincial
elections. It was generally agreed, however, that
the absence of an aristocratic upper chamber in the
provincial diet renders the class system within the
province not wholly undesirable. The provinces were
encouraged to liberalize their franchise
regulations, but not to abandon the prevailing
electoral system. The province of Lower Austria led
the way by increasing the membership of its diet
from 79 to 127, to be elected as follows: 58 by
manhood suffrage throughout the province, 31 by the
rural communes, 16 by the large landholders, 15 by
the towns, and 4 by the chambers of commerce. Two
bishops and the rector of the University of Vienna
were continued as members.]

*538. Functions of the Diet.*--The powers of the diets are not enumerated, but, rather, are residual. By fundamental law of 1867 it is stipulated that "all matters of legislation other than those expressly reserved to the Reichsrath by the present law belong within the power of the Provincial Diets of the kingdoms and countries represented in the Reichsrath and are constitutionally regulated by such Diets."[686] In certain matters, naturally those of an (p. 487) essentially local character, the diet may act with absolute freedom, save that it is within the competence of the Emperor to veto any of its measures. In other matters, such as education and finance, which fall within the range of the Reichsrath's competence, the powers of the diet are limited and subsidiary. A policy very generally pursued has been that of formulating at Vienna general regulations for the entire Empire, leaving to the diets the task of devising legislation of a local and specific character for the execution of these regulations; though it can hardly be maintained that the results have been satisfactory. The diets are not infrequently radical, and even turbulent, bodies, and it has been deemed expedient ordinarily by the Imperial authorities to maintain a close watch upon their proceedings.

[Footnote 686: Law of December 21, 1867, concerning
Imperial Representation, § 12. Dodd, Modern
Constitutions, I., 79.]

*539. The Commune.*--Throughout the Empire the vital unit of local government is the commune. As is true of the province, the commune is an administrative district, and one of its functions is that of serving as an agency of the central government in the conduct of public affairs. Fundamentally, however, the commune is an autonomous organism, rooted in local interest and tradition. As such, it exercises broad powers of community control. It makes provision for the safety of person and property, for the maintenance of the local peace, for the supervision of traffic, for elementary and secondary education, and for a variety of other local interests. Except in respect to affairs managed by the commune as agent of the Imperial government, the local authorities are exempt from discipline at the hand of their superiors, and, indeed, an eminent Austrian authority has gone so far as to maintain that the communes of Austria possess a larger independent competence than do the communes of any other European state.[687]

[Footnote 687: J. Redlich, Das Wesen der
österreichischen Kommunalverfassung (Leipzig,
1910).]

Except in the case of some of the larger towns, which have special constitutions, the rural and urban communes of the Empire are organized upon the same pattern. The executive authority is vested in an elective committee, or council, presided over by a _Vorsteher_, or burgomaster, chosen from the members of the committee. The _Vorsteher_ is not removable by the central authorities, and over his election they possess no control. In certain of the towns the place of the communal committee is taken by a corporation. In every commune there is an assembly (the _Gemeindevertretung_), the members of which are elected for three (in Galicia six) years by all resident citizens who are payers of a direct tax. For the purpose of electing assemblymen the voters are divided into three classes, very much as under the (p. 488) Prussian electoral system, and this arrangement, indeed, comprises virtually the only non-democratic aspect of the communal constitution. In Galicia, Styria, and Bohemia there exists also a district assembly, elected for three years (in Galicia six) and made up of representatives of great estates, the most highly taxed industries and trades, towns and markets, and rural communes. A committee of this body, known as the _Bezirksausschuss_, administers the affairs of the district.