The Austrian budget has been submitted to the Reichs- rath,
and is far from satisfactory. The debt, which in 1846 was only 100,000,000/., is now 240,000,000Z., or eight years' revenue; the deficit of 1861 is 6,100,000/., and that of 1862, 5,800,000/., and the only resources suggested are borrowing and the sale of the Crown property. The former resource is only partially open, and the latter will soon be exhausted. But the end is not yet. Before bankruptcy arrives, the im- perial Government will seize the revenues of the Church, which are sufficient of themselves to tide over the difficulty, and which, if they could be retained to quieter times, would almost pay off the debt, and suffice to maintain an aristo- cracy pledged by its interests to war with Rome. The Emperor, of course, is a faithful Catholic, but, then, so is Isabella of Spain.
