The Austrian Emperor has once more displayed his extra- ordinary
influence over all his dominions. He has persuaded the Ministries both of Hungary and Austria to agree to a renewal of the Auegleich or arrangement between the two halves of the Monarchy until 1907, by which time all circum- stances may have changed. He detected, it would seem, that the Hungarians were more annoyed by the form of the present arrangement, which, as they think, denies their right to make commercial treaties, than by its substance, and per- suaded the Austrians to give way upon the question which ex- cited sensitiveness in Budapest. The Hungarian Parliament thereupon accepted a Bill extending the amended arrangement for seven years, the Austrians rather sulkily promised to do the same, and the Empire obtains that period of respite from contention. In this, as in one or two other instances of his nflnence in carrying compromises, the success of the Emperor seems rather to have been due to his sympathy as Sovereign with the pride of the Magyars than to his diplomatic ability, but the sympathy has precisely the same effect, or rather it has more, for it conciliates the people as well as the politicians. The Austrians were anxious as to the substance of the agreement, and that is undiminished.
Previous page
