GERMAN-SLAV CONCILIATION.
ON Monday last the German and Czech Conciliation Board met for the first time in Vienna, under the presidency of the Austrian Premier, Dr. von Korber, and conferred for two hours. It will possibly be remembered (we say " possibly " since the Ministerial changes in Austria have been so swift and numerous) that Dr. von Barber is at the head of what may be called a " business " Ministry, composed largely of those who had filled subordinate offices in previous Ministries. It was hoped, perhaps, that, since the leading politicians with a political "past" could apparently do nothing to bring about a settlement, men with no past, but with a capacity for business, and in no way committed on the racial question, might do better in effecting a working arrangement. The appointment of this Conciliation Board seemed a promising way of attempting such a settlement. Dr. von Korber opened Monday's proceedings with a strong appeal to both sides, saying : "Gentlemen, the Empire looks to you to restore its happiness and tranquillity."
It cannot be said that the Empire is likely to find its wishes fulfilled, for when the Board came down to bard business, the old troubles instantly revealed themselves. The Premier recommended a committee for Bohemia of twenty-two members, and one for Moravia of fifteen members, the two sitting in joint session in certain cases. Dr. Engel then set forth the historical claims of the Czechs, which immediately called forth a demand from Dr. Rinke, of the German party, that German should be declared the official language throughout Austria. Each speaker seems to have been supported by his own party, and so no progress was made, and matters remain in data quo ante. The singularly deficient constitution of this Board makes against success, for it seems that the German Nationalists and Anti-Semites have only one delegate apiece, the Social Democrats were not invited at all, while the extreme Germans and extreme Czechs, apparently regarding the Board as a farce, de- clined to nominate delegates to its sittings. We fear that the hostile attitude of these two last opposing factions indicates failure. It is just possible that some minor compromises may be arrived at which might form the bases of more elaborate arrangements later on, assuming that both parties to the dispute were in a frame of mind to effect a peaceful settlement. But there is just the difficulty. So far as we can see the essential condition of things remains the same as it was on that dramatic day when Herr Wolff offered in the Chamber such an insult as to draw the Austrian Premier into a duel to protect his wounded honour. We do not like to say this, but facts are facts, and there is unhappily little reason for believing that the Board of Conciliation will effect what the Emperor himself has failed to accomplish.
Meanwhile the Reichsrath is summoned for the 19th inst., as a final chance of saving the situation, the failure to do which will lead to its dissolution. As the German party has already threatened obstruction and is capable of carrying out its threat, we fear that a renewal of the old disturbances may be looked for, with the result of closing the Reichsrath and precipitating a form of Absolutism. It may, indeed, chance at the last moment that a mod= vivendi may be secured, but it does not look like it, and we must be prepared for another important retrogressive movement in the affairs of Europe. For it cannot be denied that the closing of a Parliament, the admission that a Parliament is incompetent, that it adds to, rather than takes from, the existing chaos, is a very serious admission, especially just now when the Parlia- mentary rdgime is much shaken, and when Parliamentary institutions are being severely criticised by political thinkers both in Europe and America. Austria-Hungary is, of course, far from being a democracy ; but it has, since the Hungarians won autonomy, been regarded as a kind of mean between full constitutional countries, such as England and France, and a. powerful autocracy like the German Empire. It would have been desirable, it must be sorrowfully admitted, could the Dual Monarchy have remained in that category. The problem it offers will be increased in complexity by the difficulty of keeping within the same Empire Hungary, which has a vigorous Parliament, and Austria, which has a Parliament only in name, but which can make no effective use of it, and many Hungarians are saying that with ominous emphasis.
But, on the other hand, we must not 'exaggerate the importance of the Reichsrath, or the danger of resorting to Government without its sanction. To close or sus- pend the British Parliament or the American Congress would mean revolution ; but the Reichsrath is neither Parliament nor Congress. Its sittings excite little public interest save when there is a "scene," its constitution and functions are limited by law, Ministers pay little or no attention to its votes, many of the functions which here are assigned to Parliament are in Austria placed in the hands of other bodies. Above all, the many threads of Austrian administration are entirely in the hands of the Emperor, who wields in reality almost autocratic power, and in those of the Delegations who represent a super-parliamentary authority and who form a very strong and important political link, a binding as well as a. representative force. Parliamentary government, in any true sense of the word, does not exist, and never has existed, in Austria, though of course it has been the function of the Reichsrath to vote supplies and so exercise a control over public expenditure. The Reichsrath has never been able to extract serious information from the Ministry on foreign affairs, much less to control them ; all important foreign secrets are known only to the Emperor and the Foreign Minister, even the rest of the Ministry are ignorant. It will be seen, therefore, how limited the power, how narrow the energy of the Reichsrath is ; and hence how different the closing of its doors would be from the closing of the doors of any live, powerful, popular Chamber.
But still, when all this is said, the problem remains. How are German and Slav to be held together in the same political framework ? If we could persuade the angry disputants, we should address each of them thus. To the Germans we should say :—` Remember your in- effectual quarrel with Hungary, remember that you are and must be members of a composite Empire, which can only be held together by common respect for racial and religious differences. Have regard for the sentiments (or prejudices, if you choose to call them so) of your Slav neighbours in Bohemia, and so ward off an insurrection which may shake to the ground the entire edifice. Yield on this point of a legal language and stand to win on the larger issue of a harmonious and locally autonomous Empire.' To the Slays we should say :—` If you carry your quarrel with the Germans to the point of compelling them to seek union with Germany, your own lot may be to fall, like Poland, into the hands of Russia. You certainly could not,almost hemmed in by a great German population, stand alone. Abandon the attitude of hatred, and see whether, your loyalty being once made sun-clear, you cannot obtain greater regard for your nationality within the Empire.' This, we admit, is little else than generalisation, but we have no other reflection to make than that a different temper on both sides might reach a long way towards settlement. And when once the temper is changed, the influence of the Emperor and the action of the Reichsgericht which undertakes the balancing, as it were, of the separate interests of the Empire, might be trusted to effect a more solid union than Austria-Hungary has yet known. It is true that if the Germans and the Hungarians stood together against any ultra-Separatist movement of the minor peoples, they would soon bring it to an end. But that is now im- possible ; and so German and Slav must make their peace without the intervention of any third party.
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