The situation in Hungary is becoming more and more interesting,
the working of Parliamentary institutions having come apparently to a deadlock. Count Tisza, though defeated at the polls, still remains ad interim Premier, because no successor for him can be found. There are, in fact, three parties in the Chamber,—the Liberals, who desire the" dual" arrange- ment to continue; the Independents, who wish the "dual" ties to be loosened or out and the Clericals, who are governed mainly by fear of Liberal principles as regards the Church. Neither of these parties possesses a majority in the Chamber, and though the Independents and Clericals can unite for legislative purposes, they will not do it unless the Hungarian and Austrian Armies, as well as the commercial systems of Austria and Hungary, are separated. That programme cannot, however, be carried out because as regards the Army the Emperor-King utters a non possumus. The party leaders have all been consulted, and have all failed to suggest a way out of the impasse, and even the Emperor-King, with his unique experience in reconciling his conflicting States, seems for once to be at fault. The result should be a wide extension of the suffrage ; but the Magyars are afraid of this, as involving a transfer of power from themselves to the Slav majority.
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