The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 60, December 30, 1897

Persons who are able to look at both sides of the question are of opinion that separation would be a great misfortune for both countries. Austro-Hungary is now a great and powerful kingdom, holding a position in Europe which enables her to preserve the balance of peace in the eastern portion of that troubled continent.

With Austria and Hungary divided into two small kingdoms with separate aims and interests, Turkey could not be held in check any longer, and the Russians, who are so full of ambition for power in the East, could do pretty much as they pleased.

The Hungarians are supposed to be a very wide-awake people, and able to comprehend the true meaning of a political situation. It is therefore supposed that in the present crisis they are not striving so much for freedom, which would be a disadvantage to them, as for the supremacy in the two kingdoms.

This idea is outlined by Kossuth in a speech made by him the other day, in which he said: "We want a separate army and separate treasury. The King of Hungary should be Emperor of Austria as a sort of extra occupation. Vienna (the capital of Austria) is already a suburb of Budapest (the capital of Hungary), and in time Austria will become a collection of provinces attached to Hungary."

Rioting still continues in Prague. The troops are patrolling the street, and special guards have been stationed at the places where outbreaks are feared.

Numbers of arrests have been made, and it is said that the prisons are so full that it has been found necessary to take no note of the smaller offenders, and only hold those persons who are accused of serious crimes.

In Vienna there has been a demonstration, unfriendly to both Hungarians and Bohemians.

One morning the inhabitants of the city awoke to find the town covered with flaming red placards.

Some of them read, "No new compact between Austria and Hungary"; and others, "No language laws. German is the national language."

These placards naturally aroused a great deal of angry feeling between the opposing parties. The police tore them down, and made every effort to find the persons who had posted them, but without any result.

The Treaty of Peace between Turkey and Greece has been finally signed by the Powers interested.

Little notice has, however, been taken of the fact; matters in Europe are looking so threatening that the affair of Greece is almost forgotten.

It is said that war will break out in the Balkan provinces in the spring, a war which will involve both Turkey and Austria.

The Balkan provinces are Servia, Roumania, Bulgaria, and Montenegro. If you look at your map, you will see that they lie between Hungary and Turkey.

The Sultan of Turkey is so convinced that such a war cannot be avoided, that he is doing everything in his power to raise money for it.

He has given orders that the taxes must all be collected by the new year, instead of May, in which month they are generally paid.

To accomplish this the unfortunate people, particularly the Christian population, are being very roughly dealt with.

It is stated that the Sultan will not recall his troops from Thessaly until the war indemnity has been paid, and that Germany is upholding him in his determination.

The reports of the various officers of our Government have followed the Message of President McKinley.

Every one is somewhat shocked to find that the tariff bill, which was to put such a lot of money in our treasury, has fallen far short of the expected results, and, indeed, has not produced enough revenue to pay the expenses of the Government.

If the receipts from customs are not larger during the next few months than they have been during the last, the country will be $65,000,000 behind at the end of the year, and Congress will have to devise some plan for raising this sum of money.

This means that some new tax will be imposed upon us, for the Government must have the money it needs, and the people must help to make up what is lacking.

The friends of the Dingley Bill hope that the custom receipts will increase, and think that the reason they have been so small is that the merchants brought so much stuff into the country before the bill went into effect, that they have not needed to get fresh supplies so far. In short, they claim the Dingley Bill needs a longer trial.

The enemies of the measure point out that, as a means of providing an income for the Government, the Dingley Bill has been a failure.

We told you about the discussion as to the exact hour at which the bill became a law.

The question is not as yet settled.

The importers, if you remember, declared that the bill only became a law from the exact hour it was signed; the Government insists that it was a law from early morning of the day on which it was signed.

Seventy-three importers have protested against paying duty for all day July 24th, because the bill was not signed until six minutes past four in the afternoon.

It is expected that a final decision will be given shortly, which will put an end to the disagreement.

Side by side with the fact that there is not enough money in the treasury to meet the country's expenses, the armor-plate question has come into prominence once more.

The naval officers and experts are all crying out against the folly of the Government engaging in the manufacture of armor-plate.

The board of naval officers appointed to look into the subject stated, in their report to the Government, that if such a factory is to be maintained, Congress must order the building of three new battleships every year.

The reason they give for this is that specially trained workmen are required to operate an armor-plate factory. They think it would be necessary to provide sufficient work every year to keep the factory going. If the factory were to be shut down and the hands discharged, the naval officers declare that the time and money that would have to be spent in training fresh men to undertake the work then would cost the country more than keeping the works open right along.

The Carnegie and Bethlehem people have succeeded in getting the Government to test one of their plates made by the new Krupp process.

The result of the trial, it is expected, will decide whether the Government shall buy its armor-plate as of old, or enter into the manufacture itself.