exigencies of colonial finance, to advise a reduction in the rates of postage to Great Britain in conformity with the recent action of the British Government. A uniform customs tariff is to be adopted within two years from the establishment of the commonwealth, with intercolonial free trade immediately thereafter, exception being made of goods imported into a free-trade colony before the imposition of the federal tariff, which must pay the federal duties if re-exported within two years to other colonies.

The Victorian delegates desired to preserve to the states the right to grant bonuses for the encouragement of their industries, but the convention confined such power to the commonwealth. Preferential treatment of the produce and manufactures of the United Kingdom was promised in a resolution and, in default of a federal tariff, recommended to the individual states. An interstate commission will be constituted to execute the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce. From New South Wales came a vigorous protest against empowering the Federal Parliament to prohibit differential railway rates, in consequence of which it was decided to give to an interstate railway commission the power to sanction special rates that may be deemed necessary for the development of territory. The powers of the Federal High Court include the decision of disputes between individual states and between a state and the commonwealth. It will also decide appeals from the state courts. It was at first decided that the Federal Parliament should alone have power to make exceptions and to allow appeals to the Privy Council in England, which should be sanctioned in cases where the interests of the commonwealth, or of one of the states, or of other parts of the Queen's dominions are concerned. The abolition of the private right to appeal to the highest imperial tribunal roused such opposition that the clause was amended so as to permit such appeal from the Supreme Court conditionally on obtaining the consent of the Privy Council itself. From the Federal High Court no appeal would be conceded. To enact an amendment to the Constitution an absolute majority of both houses of Parliament is requisite, and in addition to that a majority vote of the people of each state. It was resolved that all the colonies except South Australia should continue their contributions to the auxiliary squadron. Joint action of the colonies in supporting antarctic exploration was disapproved, also a joint exhibit at the Paris Exhibition. France was urged to prohibit the sale of arms in the New Hebrides; if this were not done, Great Britain ought to remove her prohibition. The last resolution adopted presented a request for permission to mint silver.

An exciting campaign for and against the bill was carried on in all the colonies. The referendum was taken on June 3 in three colonies. In Victoria there were 100,520 votes for and 22.099 against the bill; in Tasmania, 13,496 to 2,900. In New South Wales, where the contest was heated, 70,990 voters favored federation, while 65,619 opposed the scheme embodied in the bill. The majority thus fell short of the statutory minimum, and left the question to be decided by another election. In Western Australia a popular vote could not be taken until the colonial Parliament first voted to approve the bill as finally adopted in the convention. South Australia held its election on June 4, and decided in favor of the bill by 25,659 votes to 15,121.

G. H. Reid, the Premier of New South Wales, proposed a conference of Australian Premiers to consider a modification of the commonwealth bill, with a view of making it acceptable to New South Wales. Sir George Turner, of Victoria, agreed on

the understanding that the bill as amended must be accepted by the electors of New South Wales before being submitted to the people of the other colonies. Charles C. Kingston, in behalf of South Australia, and Sir E. Braddon, speaking for Tasmania, declined to go behind the backs of the people to alter the work which their vote had approved. The Queensland Premier accepted the invitation to a conference; Sir John Forrest, the Premier of Western Australia, declined. The New South Wales Government proposed to solve deadlocks by making a majority instead of three fifths effective in joint sessions of the Federal Parliament; to recast the financial proposals; to take from the Senate the power to amend money bills; to remodel appellate jurisdiction; to adopt the Canadian plan for the seat of government; and to establish safeguards for the territorial rights of the states, including definite provisions regarding internal waters.

New South Wales.-The Parliament consists of a Legislative Council of 65 members, who are appointed for life, and a Legislative Assembly of 125 members elected by universal male suffrage. The duration of Parliament is not more than three years. The Governor is Viscount Hampden. The Cabinet in the beginning of 1898 was as follows: Premier, Treasurer, and Minister for Railways, George Houston Reid; Chief Secretary, James Nixon Brunker; Attorney-General, John Henry Want; Secretary for Lands, Joseph Hector Carruthers; Secretary for Public Works, James Henry Young: Minister of Public Instruction and of Industry and Labor, Jacob Garrard; Minister of Justice, Albert John Gould; Postmaster-General, Joseph Cook; Secretary for Mines and Agriculture, Sydney Smith; Vice-President of the Executive Council and Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council, Andrew Garran.

The democratic Premier announced in January, 1898, a plan for reforming the Legislative Council by requiring a fifth of its members to retire every five years. Large areas have been withdrawn from pastoral lessees to make additional lands available for occupation by farmers. The early expiration of Parliament caused the ministry to limit its legisla tive programme to measures already in an advanced stage. Such were a bill for restricting immigration and one dealing with the value of improvements on Crown lands. Agricultural returns showed an increase in two years of 35 per cent. in the area under cultivation; in the wheat area, 66 per cent. In dairy farming the progress was not less astonishing, while in mining and manufacturing there was a marked expansion.

Parliament was prorogued on July 9 and new elections were held on July 27. The principal question was that of federation, which the leader of the Opposition, Mr. Barton, believed would be defeated by Mr. Reid's proposal of amendments to the federation bill that the other colonies were unlikely to accept, such as a simple majority decision in joint session or a national referendum in case of a deadlock between the houses, and a stipulation that the federal capital be located in New South Wales. The Protectionists joined the Barton party, while the Labor men coalesced with the Ministerialists. The elections gave 63 seats to the Ministerialists, 57 to the Federalists, and 5 to the Independents, who were allies of the Federalists. In the last Parliament the Government party numbered 81 and the Opposi tion 44. The Labor wing of the Ministerial party, which advocates the popular referendum and initiative, old-age pensions, a state bank, and local gov ernment on a residential instead of on a rate-paying basis, returned 30 members, the same as in the last house. Parliament was opened on Aug. 16. The defeat of Ministers Gould, Garrard, and Smith in

the elections left three vacancies in the Cabinet, which were filled by the appointment of Mr. Lee as Minister of Justice, Mr. Hague as Minister of Education, and Mr. Parker as Postmaster-General. Victoria. The Legislative Council is composed of 48 members, of whom one third retire every two years; they are elected by limited suffrage. The Legislative Assembly has 95 members, elected for three years by universal male suffrage.

The Governor is Lord Brassey, appointed in 1895. The Cabinet in the beginning of 1898 was composed as follows: Premier and Treasurer, Sir George Turner; Chief Secretary and Minister of Education, A. J. Peacock; Attorney-General, Isaac Isaacs; Solicitor-General, Sir Henry Cuthbert; Commissioner of Trade and Customs, President of the Board of Land and Works, and Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey, R. W. Best; Postmaster-General, J. G. Duffy; Minister of Defense, W. McCulloch; Minister of Mines and Water Supply, H. Foster; Minister of Agriculture and Commissioner of Public Works, J. W. Taverner; Minister of Railways and Minister of Public Health, H. R. Williams; without portfolios, A. McLean and S. Williamson.

Abundant rains arrived in June, 1898, to end a drought in the south of Australia, which was accompanied by the severest heat felt in forty years, and by destructive bush fires in Victoria and Tasmania. The Victorian Government has plans for the irrigation of the country on a vast scale, for the erection of public cold-storage warehouses for meat and dairy products, and for subsidizing a company to develop the wine industry by establishing central vaults for blending and storing wines. British capitalists complain because they have to pay an income tax in Australia as well as in England on the interest derived from Australian investments. Sir George Turner replied that the colonial tax was legitimate, and that the English Government should cease to levy a double tax.

Queensland. The Legislative Council consists of 41 nominated life members, the Legislative Assembly of 72 members elected for three years. The Governor is Lord Lamington, appointed in 1895. The Executive Council was composed in the beginning of 1898 as follows: Premier, Vice-President of the Executive Council, Chief Secretary, and Treasurer, Sir Hugh Muir Nelson; Secretary for Agriculture, A. J. Thynne; Minister for Lands, J. F. G. Foxton; Postmaster-General and Secretary for Railroads, J. R. Dickson; Secretary for Mines, Robert Philp; Secretary for Public Instruction and Secretary for Public Works, D. H. Dalrymple; Home Secretary, Sir H. Tozer; Attorney-General, T. J. Byrnes; without portfolio, W. H. Wilson and A. H. Barlow.

In Queensland agriculture is advancing rapidly. The acreage of sugar cane in the north is increasing, but grain cultivation in the temperate zone shows the most remarkable development. The acreage of wheat increased 50 per cent. in 1897. The Government in 1898 threw open for agricultural settlement 1,000,000 acres more of pastoral lands. Sir H. M. Nelson in March resigned the premiership to accept the presidency of the Legislative Council. The Cabinet was reorganized with Mr. Byrnes as Pre

mier.

South Australia.-The Legislative Council has 24 members, a third of whom are replaced every three years by popular vote. The House of Assembly consists of 54 members elected for three years. In 1894 the franchise was extended to women. There were 138,344 registered voters in 1896.

The Governor is Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, appointed in 1895. The ministry was composed at the beginning of 1898 as follows: Premier and Attorney-General, C. C. Kingston; Chief Secretary,

J. V. O'Loghlin; Treasurer, F. W. Holder; Commissioner of Crown Lands, L. O'Loghlin; Commissioner of Public Works, J. G. Jenkins; Minister of Education and of Agriculture, J. A. Cockburn.

Western Australia.-The Legislative Council consists of 24 members elected for six years. The Legislative Assembly has 44 members, who serve for four years. The Governor is Col. Sir Gerard Smith, appointed in 1895. The Cabinet in the beginning of 1898 was composed of the fellowing members; Premier, Treasurer, and Colonial Secretary, Sir John Forrest; Minister for Mines, E. H. Wittenoom; Commissioner for Railways and Director of Public Works, F. H. Piesse; Commissioner of Lands, George Throssell; Minister of Education, Henry Bruce Lefroy; Attorney-General, Richard William Pennefather.

The water scheme for supplying the mines, which the energetic Premier is determined to carry out, will cost £2,250,000 and £300,000 yearly to keep up, but will pay for itself within twenty years. The gold production of the colony is already greater than that of Victoria and Queensland combined, and the annual trade amounts to £10,000,000. A decree of the Government prohibiting diggers from working alluvial deposits below 10 feet from the surface on land leased from mining companies created such indignation_among the miners that they mobbed Sir John Forrest when he visited Kalgoorlie in March. Mr. Wittenoom resigned the Ministry of Mines to succeed Sir Malcolm Fraser as agent general in London, and Mr. Lefroy was transferred on April 29 to the vacant ministry, while George Randell became Minister of Education and Posts and Telegraphs and at the same time Colonial Secretary, relieving Sir John Forrest of the work of this office. The new post of Minister for the Aborigines was given to H. L. Prinsep. When the Legislature met on June 16 a bill was presented amending the tariff so as to give preferential treatment to British goods.

Tasmania. There is an elective Legislative Council of 18 members. The House of Assembly has 37 members elected under a low property and income qualification for three years. The electors for the Council form 4.43 per cent. of the total population and those for the Assembly 18.26 per cent. The Governor at the beginning of 1898 was Viscount Gormanstown, appointed in 1893.

The ministry was composed in the beginning of 1898 of the following members: Premier, Sir E. N. C. Braddon; Chief Secretary, W. Moore; Treasurer, Sir P. O. Fysh; Attorney-General, D. C. Urquhart; Minister of Lands and Works, A. T. Pillinger; without portfolio, Thomas Reibey.

New Zealand.-The Legislative Council contains 46 members, nominated for life previous to Sept. 17, 1891, and since then for seven years, and the House of Representatives has 74 members, elected for the duration of Parliament by the votes of all citizens, male and female. The Maori community is represented by 4 members. The registered vote for the 70 European members in 1896 was 339,230, of which number 196,925 were men and 142,305 women, and for the native members 13,008 of both

sexes.

The Governor is the Earl of Ranfurly, appointed Aug. 10, 1897. The Cabinet in the beginning of 1898 was composed as follows: Premier, Colonial Treasurer, Postmaster-General and Electric Telegraph Commissioner, Minister of Native Affairs, and Minister of Labor, R. J. Seddon; Acting Colonial Secretary, Commissioner of Stamp Duties, and Representative of the Native Race in the Executive Council, J. Carroll; Minister of Justice, Minister of Industry and Commerce, and Minister of Defense, T. Thompson; Minister of Lands, Minister of

Agriculture, Commissioner of Forests, and Minister in Charge of Advances to Settlers, J. Mackenzie; Minister of Public Works, Minister of Marine, and Minister in Charge of Public Printing Office, W. Hall-Jones; Minister of Railways and Minister of Mines, A. J. Cadman; Minister of Education and Immigration and Minister in Charge of Hospitals and Charitable Aid, W. C. Walker.

While the public finances of the Australian colonies show a gratifying recovery, achieved by the aid of strenuous retrenchments, the balance sheet of New Zealand is still more favorable. There was a large surplus at the end of the financial year 1898, and the Government contemplated, after long abstention from borrowing, the issue of a new loan of £2,000,000 to be expended on railroads and irrigation for the more speedy development of the country. Customs, stamps, railroads, post-office, land, income, excise, and territorial revenue all exceeded the estimates. The Government proposes to establish an accident and insurance department. Maori lands have lately been sold to whites by authority of the colonial Parliament, but the Premier in the session that began on June 24, 1898, carried a bill stopping the sales and permitting only leases granted by a board containing representatives of both races, the rent going to native owners, thereby preventing the Maoris from becoming destitute and landless. The imposition of a dog tax of 10s., designed to accustom the Maoris to direct taxation and reduce the number of dogs kept by them, which were a danger to sheep and cattle, occasioned an insurrection in the remote northern district of the Hausaus. This was quickly suppressed in May by an artillery detachment with Maxims.

In the parliamentary session that began on June 24, 1898, the Government brought forward bills increasing the volunteer corps and providing them with magazine rifles and other improved armaments, establishing old-age pensions, putting the municipal franchise on a more equitable basis, abolishing life tenure in the Legislative Council, and remedying the electoral system. The old-age-pension scheme, which had failed to pass in the previous session, was approved by the House of Representatives in September.

Fiji. The Governor, who is also High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, is Sir G. T. M. O'Brien. The Legislative Council consists of 6 official and 6 non-official nominated members. Twelve of the 16 provinces are administered by native chiefs and 3 of them and Rotuma by European commissioners.

British New Guinea.-The southeastern part of New Guinea, with the D'Entrecasteaux and Louisiade Islands, was annexed to the British Empire in 1887. The area is 88,460 square miles and the population, which includes 250 Europeans, about 350,000. The cost of administration, about £15,000 a year, is borne in equal shares by Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales. The Lieutenant Governor is Sir William MacGregor. The revenue raised on the island, chiefly from customs duties, was £6,547 in 1896. The island is rich in cocoa and sago palms, sandalwood, ebony, gums, rattan, and other forest produce. Trepang, copra, pearl shell, pearls, sandalwood, and gold are the chief exports, the total value of which in 1896 was £19,401, exclusive of pearls and of gold, which is dug by about 60 Australian miners and numerous natives in Woodlark and the Louisiade Islands and on the coast.

The governments of Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria agreed in January, 1898, to continue the present arrangement in regard to British New Guinea for four years longer, at the

end of which time the territory is expected to be self-supporting. The British Secretary of the Colonies contemplated departing from the policy of preserving all the land for the natives, which the discovery of gold makes it more difficult to pursue, when a group of English capitalists, the SomersVine-Lowles syndicate, applied for a concession of a tract containing 250,000 acres for the purpose of cultivating rubber and other products or for mining. When Mr. Chamberlain agreed to make the sale, subject to the approval of the Queensland Legislature, the Premiers of the three colonies that support the administration of New Guinea entered a protest, which blocked the transaction. The action of the Queensland Government in approving the cession of land to the syndicate gave rise to serious objections on the part of the governments of New South Wales and Victoria. It gave incalculable advantages to a speculative syndicate of Englishmen with small capital and was likely to prove detrimental to Australian explorers and gold seekers. At a conference of colonial Premiers in August the British Government was requested to revoke the land grant, for which Sir William MacGregor assumed all the responsibility. The New South Wales and Victoria governments agreed to continue their contributions for the support of the administration of New Guinea only on condition that their representations regarding the concession should be heeded.

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, a dual monarchy in central Europe, constituted by the fundamental law of Dec. 21, 1867, and composed of the Empire of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary, two inseparable constitutional monarchies, declared to be hereditary in the male line of the house of Hapsburg and in the female line in default of male heirs. Legislative authority in matters common to both monarchies-viz., foreign affairs, the army and navy, common finances, indirect taxation, the coinage, railroads in which both monarchies are interested, and the administration of the occupied provinces of Turkey-is committed to the Delegations, elected from among their members by the legislative bodies of the two halves of the empire, composed of 20 members from the upper and 40 from the lower chamber of each parliament. The Delegations deliberate and vote separately on every question, and when they come to different decisions they reach a final conclusion by a joint ballot without debate.

The reigning Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary is Franz Josef 1, born Aug. 18, 1830, and proclaimed Emperor on Dec. 2, 1848, upon the abdication of his uncle, Ferdinand I. He assumed the crown of St. Stephen upon the restoration of the Hungarian Constitution, June, 8, 1867. The heir presumptive is Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este, born Dec. 18, 1863, son of the Archduke Karl Ludwig and nephew of the Emperor.

The common ministers, heads of the three executive departments for common affairs, were in the beginning of 1898: Minister of Foreign Affairs and of the Imperial House for the Whole Monarchy, Count Agenor Maria Adam Goluchowski; Minister of War, Gen. Edmund, Edler von Krieghammer; Minister of Common Finance, Benjamin de Kallay. Area and Population.-The area of the AustroHungarian dominions, not including the occupied Turkish provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is 240,942 square miles, and the total population on Dec. 31, 1890, was 41,358,886.

The area of Austria proper is 115,903 square miles, and the population at the last census was 23,895,413, consisting of 11,689,129 males and 12,206,284 females. Divided on the basis of language, there were 8,461,580 German Austrians, 5,472,871 Bohemians, Moravians, and Slovakians, 3,719,232

Poles, 3,105,221 Ruthenians, 1,176,672 Slovenes, 644,926 Servians and Croatians, 675,307 Italians and Ladins, 209,110 Roumanians, and 8,139 Magyars. There were 228,647 Hungarian citizens and 193,710 foreigners, of whom 103,433 were Germans, 46,312 Italians, 18,149 Russians, 6.777 Swiss, 2,726 French, 2.384 Turks, 2,261 British, and 1,729 Americans. The population of the Austrian dominions at the end of 1895 was estimated at 24,977,439, of whom 12,245,114 were of the male and 12.732,325 of the female sex. Vienna, the capital, had 1,364,548 inhabitants in 1890; Prague, 184,109; Trieste, 158.344. The number of marriages in 1896 was 198,554; of births, 974.903; of deaths, 657,153; excess of births, 290,064.

Hungary has an area of 125,039 square miles, including Croatia and Slavonia. The population in 1890 was 17,463,473, consisting of 8,667,971 males and 8,795,502 females. In respect of race as indicated by language there were 7,426,730 Magyars, 2,604,260 Servians and Croatians, 2,591,905 Roumanians, 2,107,279 Germans, 1,910,279 Bohemians and Slovakians, 383,392 Ruthenians, 94,679 Slovenes, $2.256 gypsies, and 94,679 others. The population of Buda-Pesth, the Hungarian capital, was 506,384. The number of marriages in 1896 was 147,477; of births, 760,854; of deaths, 657,153; excess of births, 212,562.

The emigration from Austria-Hungary in 1895 was 66,101, of which number 50,951 went to North America, 10,511 to Brazil, 549 to the Argentine Republic, and 3,591 to other countries.

The Common Budget.-The budget for common affairs for the financial year 1898 makes the total expenditure 161,185,025 florins, of which 53,598,890 florins are derived from customs, 2,660,372 florins from the Army and Navy Department, and 138,905 florins from other departments, 71,883,785 florins are Austria's quota, 30,807,336 florins Hungary's quota, and 2,095,737 florins Hungary's 2 per cent. Of the expenditure 4,067,500 florins are for ordinary and 77,400 florins for extraordinary expenses of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 128,194,793 florins for ordinary and 11,980,407 florins for extraordinary expenses of the Ministry of War for the army, 10,663,060 florins for ordinary and 3,918,200 florins for extraordinary naval expenses of the Ministry of War, 2,134,307 florins for ordinary and 11,900 florins for extraordinary expenses of the Ministry of Finance, and 137,458 florins for the Board of Control. The supplementary credits of the army and navy for 1898 amount to 30,646,030 florins. In the estimates for 1899 the expenditure for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is reckoned at 4,274,000 florins; army, 143,685,251 florins; navy, 16,941,260 florins; Ministry of Finance and Pension fund, 2,137,184 florins; Board of Control, 138,045 florins. The total expenditure is set down at 167,175,940 florins, inclusive of 2,797,558 florins of departmental revenues. The receipts from customs are estimated at 59,589,530 florins; the surplus, after deducing expenses of the régie, 57,139,530 florins. The extraordinary credit for the military occupation of Bosnia is 3,479,000 florins. Deducting the customs receipts from the net expenditure of 164,378,382 florins, there remains the sum of 107,238,852 florins to be apportioned between Austria and Hungary in accordance with the quota to be fixed by law.

The Public Debt.-The general debt of the whole monarchy amounted in 1897 to 2,762,752,000 florins: the annual charge is 126,799,554 florins, of which Austria pays 96,488,601 and Hungary 30,310,953 florins. The common floating debt amounted on Jan. 1, 1897, to 138,949,109 florins. Austria's special debt amounted to 1,490,373,000 florins, costing 71,649,258 florins a year, Hungary has a separate debt amounting to 2,177,685 florins.

VOL. XXXVIII-5 A

The Army.-Austrians and Hungarians are alike liable for service in the army, in which the term is three years of active service and seven years in the reserve. Those not drawn for the active army or navy are enrolled in the supplementary reserve or in the national Austrian or Hungarian Landwehr, in which the period of service is twelve years. Soldiers whose time has expired in the army are also inscribed for two years in the Landwehr, which in time of peace is only called out for drill and in war can not be mobilized without the express command of the Emperor-King, Young men who have received an academical education' are required to serve a year only either in the army or in the Landwehr. The army is organized in 15 corps, mostly of 2 infantry divisions of 2 brigades, 1 brigade of cavalry and 1 of artillery. The annual contingent for the army is 60,389 Austrians and 42,711 Hungarians; for the Austrian Landwehr, 10,500; for the Hungarian Honved, 12,500.

The peace footing of the Austro-Hungarian army in 1897 was as follows: 3,738 officers and 3,843 men attached to the staff; 79 officers and 2,854 men in the sanitary troops; 1,536 officers and 7,680 men in the establishments: 9,454 officers and 177,109 men in the infantry; 1,874 officers and 45,506 men in the cavalry; 1,636 officers and 28,152 men in the field artillery; 412 officers and 7,760 men in the fortress artillery; 575 officers and 9.918 men in the pioneers; 393 officers and 3,253 men in the train; 2,168 infantry officers and 20,657 men and 196 cavalry officers and 1,899 men in the Austrian Landwehr; and 2,132 infantry officers and 21,232 men and 390 cavalry officers and 4,251 men in the Hungarian Honved; total, 24,583 officers and 334,114 men, 358,697 in all, with 47,149 horses and 1,048 field pieces.

The war footing is 45,238 officers and 1,826,940 men, with 281,886 horses and 1,864 field pieces. The army is kept in a state of readiness and high military efficiency. In 1898 an extensive acquisition of new arms and war material was begun.

The Navy. The navy, designed mainly for coast defense, is kept in a high state of efficiency. It comprises 1 second-class and 8 third-class battleships, 8 vessels for port defense, including 4 monitors in the Danube, 3 second-class and 14 smaller cruisers, 12 gunboats, and of torpedo craft 26 of the first, 5 of the second, and 26 of the third class. A ram cruiser of 6,100 tons, with 10.6 feet of armor over the vital parts, 12,000 horse power, giving a speed of 20 knots, and an armament of 2 9.4-inch and 8 5.9-inch quick-firing guns, besides 18 smaller ones, not including machine guns, is nearly completed at Trieste, where also a torpedo cruiser has been built. The most modern of the effective vessels are the "Monarch," "Wien," and "Buda-Pesth,” of 5,550 tons, 10.6-inch Harveyized armor, a speed of 17 knots, developed by engines of 8,500 horse power, carrying 4 9.4-inch guns in two turrets and 6 5.9inch and 14 small quick firers.

Commerce and Production.-Austria in 1896 produced 15,507,000 hectolitres of wheat, 19,318,000 of barley, 36,727,000 of oats, 27,074,000 of rye, and 6,164,000 of corn, 88,180,000 quintals of potatoes, 59,348,000 of sugar beets and 24,426,000 of other beets, 3,485,000 hectolitres of wine, 66,000 quintals of tobacco, 100,000 of hops, 221,000 of hemp, and 85,000 of flax. Hungary produced 56,349,000 hectolitres of wheat, 21,448,000 of barley, 26,341,000 of oats, 18,120,000 of rye, and 51,620,000 of maize, and 35,644,000 quintals of potatoes, 15,469,000 of sugar beets and 31,159,000 of other beets. Of silk cocoons 1,499,845 kilogrammes were produced in Hungary and 2,027,423 in Austria in 1895. The values of the principal mineral products of Austria in 1895 were: Coal, 34,104,000 florins; lignite, 34,923,000 florins:

raw iron, 29,771,000 florins. The total value of mining products was 84,181,329 florins; that of furnace products, 35,262,727 florins. The chief mineral products of Hungary were coal valued at 5,640,000 florins, lignite valued at 11,218,000 florins, and iron valued at 12,490,000 florins.

The total value of the imports in the special commerce of the Austro-Hungarian customs union for 1896 was 705,800,000 florins, and of the exports 774,000,000 florins. The principal imports were cotton of the value of 57,389,000 florins; wool, 40,847,000 florins; coffee, 31,886,000 florins; coal, 31,391,000 florins; tobacco, 27,611,000 florins; woolen yarn, 23,612,000 florins; machinery, 21,342,000 florins; leather, 18,983,000 florins; hides and skins, 18,325,000 florins; metals, 17,087,000 florins; silk goods, 14,403,000 florins; eggs, 13,027,000 florins; wine, 11,763,000 florins; cereals, 11,684,000 florins; woolen goods, 11,303,000 florins; cotton yarn, 10,732,000 florins; cattle, 9,487,000 florins. The principal exports were sugar of the value of 75,137,000 florins; cereals, 41,977,000 florins; eggs, 39,902,000 florins lumber, 31,515,000 florins; lignite, 24,321,000 florins; glassware, 24,294,000 florins; horses, 23,841,000 florins; cattle, 22,997,000 florins; leather gloves, 22,791,000 florins; timber, 21,996,000 florins; malt, 20,510,000 florins; woolen goods, 18,599,000 florins; hides and skins, 14,830,000 florins; barrel staves, 11,402,000 florins; feathers, 10,296,000 florins; shoes, 10,020,000 florins; beer, 7,981,000 florins; wine, 4,757,000 florins.

The imports of coin and bullion in 1896 were 68,806,845 florins in value, and the exports 42,534,439. The extent of the trade of Austria-Hungary with particular countries is shown in the following table, values being given in florins:

The imports of Hungary alone were valued in 1896 at 548,975,000 florins, and the exports from Hungary at 544,704,000. Of the imports 444,679,000 florins came from Austria, and of the exports 417,092,000 florins went to Austria. Germany furnished 29,042,000 florins of imports and took 53,905,000 florins of exports. The rest of the trade was with Servia, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Switzerland. Of the total value of the imports 79 per cent. consisted of manufactured articles, and of the exports 38 per cent. Some of the chief imports were cotton goods for 66,307,000 florins, woolen goods for 44,317,000 florins, clothing for 19,001,000 florins, silk goods for 13,273,000 florins, wine in casks for 14,543,000 florins, refined sugar for 10,655,000 florins, and cotton yarn for 8,506,000 florins. The chief exports were wheat, barley, and maize for 99,647,000 florins, flour for 81,596,000 florins, live animals for 69,902,000 florins, wine in casks for 19,588,000 florins, cask staves for 10,312,000 florins, eggs for 9,431,000 florins, and wool for 8,604,000 florins.

Communications.-The railroads of Austria in 1896 had a total length of 10,240 miles, the Hungarian lines a length of 8,375 miles, and in Bosnia

and Herzegovina there were 480 miles; total, 19,095 miles. The capital expended on 18,317 miles of Austro-Hungarian railroads up to 1895 was 2,628,344,000 florins. Of the Austrian lines 4,533 miles belong to the state, and of the companies' lines 933 miles were operated by the state and 4,774 miles by the companies. The total receipts from 106,443,000 passengers and 93,879,000 tons of freight carried in 1895 were 89,586,000 florins, and the operating expenses were 145,842,000 florins. In Hungary 9,299 miles were state lines, 3,051 miles companies' lines leased to the state, and 6,265 miles were both owned and operated by companies. The receipts from all the lines in 1893 were 102,591,000 florins, and working expenses 53,702,000 florins; the number of passengers carried 95,582,000; tons of freight, 24,460,000.

The Austrian postal traffic in 1896 was 740,904,060 letters and postal cards, 104,816,660 samples and books, and 87,592,600 newspapers; the receipts were 44,373,724 florins and expenses 41,742,829 florins. In the Hungarian post office 152,889,000 letters and postal cards, 31,283,000 samples and book packets, and 89,081,000 newspapers were forwarded in 1895 ; the receipts were 16,771,000 florins and expenses 12,153,000 florins.

The telegraphs of Austria in 1896 had 30,495 miles of posts and 89,100 miles of wire. In Hungary there were 13,604 miles of line and 39,828 miles of wire in 1895. The telegraphs constructed in Bosnia and Herzegovina have 2.002 miles of line and 3,311 miles of wire. There were 13,213,633 messages sent over the Austrian lines in 1896; in Hungary the number for 1895 was 6,969,643; and in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1896 there were 547,046 messages transmitted.

Navigation. There were 92,637 vessels, of 10.695,978 tons, entered at Austrian ports during 1895, and 92,566 vessels, of 10,692,058 tons, cleared. Of the total number 88 per cent., and of the tonnage 90 per cent., was Austrian, Italy, and then Greece, having the next largest proportion.

The Austro-Hungarian merchant navy in the beginning of 1896 consisted of 244 vessels, of 202,352 tons, engaged in foreign commerce, 1,746 coasting vessels, of 38,849 tons, and 9,922 fishing vessels and harbor craft, of 22,992 tons; total, 11,912 vessels, of 264,193 tons, having 33,023 men in their crews, and comprising 202 steamers, of 146,098 tons, and 11,710 sailing vessels, of 118,095 tons. Not included in these figures are 231 steamboats and 978 barges on the Danube and Elbe.

The Austro-Hungarian Ausgleich.-The negotiations for the renewal of the ten years' Ausgleich between Austria and Hungary were prolonged beyond the term of the treaty on account of the deadlock in the Austrian Reichsrath, caused by the conflict between the Government and the German minority over the language question. The position taken by the Hungarian Government was based on the Constitution of the kingdom, which did not admit of treating for the renewal of the Ausgleich otherwise than with the Austrian Parliament. The act passed by the Hungarian Parliament provided for the maintenance of the status quo only up to the end of the year. In case the Austrian Government failed to secure the co-operation of the Reichsrath in time to renew the decennial compromise before May 1, then the only alternative left for Hungary was to negotiate an ordinary treaty of commerce between the two countries as independent states. This would not affect the permanent, non-renewable parts of the Ausgleich, including the obligations of both states to provide for the common defense, which Hungary could discharge by contributing her share, both of men and of money, according to the Hungarian Constitution and laws, leaving