*546. The Magyar Domination.*—The explanation of this state of affairs is to be sought in the ethnographical composition of Hungary's population. Like Austria, Hungary contains a melange of races and nationalities. The original Hungarians are the Magyars, and by the Magyar element attempt has been made always to preserve as against the affiliated German and Slavic peoples an absolute superiority of social, economic, and political power. The Magyars occupy almost exclusively the more desirable portion of the country, i.e., the great central plain intersected by the Danube and the Theiss, where they preponderate decidedly in as many as nineteen counties. Clustered around them, and in more or less immediate touch with kindred peoples beyond the borders, are the Germans and the Slavs—the Slovaks in the mountains of the north, the Ruthenes on the slopes of the Carpathians, the Serbs on the southeast, and the Croats on the southwest. When the census of 1900 was taken the total population of Hungary (including Croatia-Slavonia) was 19,254,559. Of this number 8,742,301 were Magyars; 8,029,316 were Slavs; 2,135,181 were Germans; and 397,761 were of various minor racial groups. To put it differently, the Magyars numbered 8,742,301; the non-Magyars, 10,512,258. The fundamental fault of the Hungarian electorate is that it has been shaped, and is deliberately maintained, in the interest of a race which comprises numerically but 45.4 per cent of the country's population.[697] So skillfully, indeed, have electoral qualifications and electoral proceedings been devised in the Magyar interest that the non-Magyar majority has but meager representation, and still less influence, at Budapest.[698] Even in Hungary proper the electorate in 1906 comprised but 24.4 per cent of the male population over twenty years of age; and, despite the disqualifications that have been mentioned one-fourth of the men who vote are officials or employees of the state.

[Footnote 697: It is but fair to say that in Hungary proper the Magyar percentage in 1900 was 51.4.]

[Footnote 698: Of the 413 representatives of Hungary at Budapest in 1909, but 26 were non-Magyars, and after the elections of June, 1910, but 7.]

*547. The Demand for Electoral Reform: the Franchise Reform Bill (p. 495) of 1908.*—In recent years, especially since the Austrian electoral reform of 1906-1907, there has been in Hungary an increasingly insistent demand that the Magyar parliamentary hegemony be overthrown, or at least that there be assured to the non-Magyar peoples something like a proportionate share of political influence. As early as 1905 the recurrence of legislative deadlocks at Budapest influenced Francis Joseph to ally himself with the democratic elements of the kingdom and to declare for manhood suffrage; and in the legislative programme of the Fejervary government, made public October 28, 1905, the place of principal importance was assigned to this reform. Fearing the swamping of the popular chamber by the Slavs and Germans, the Magyars steadily opposed all change, and for the time being the mere threat on the part of the Government was sufficient to restore tolerable, if not normal, parliamentary conditions. The Wekerle coalition cabinet of 1900 announced electoral reform as one of its projected tasks, but as time elapsed it became apparent that no positive action was likely to be taken. During 1907 and 1908 riotous demonstrations on the part of the disappointed populace were frequent, and at last, November 11, 1908, Count Andrassy, Minister of the Interior, introduced in the Chamber the long-awaited Franchise Reform Bill.

The measure fell far short of public expectation. It was drawn, as Count Andrassy himself admitted, in such a manner as not "to compromise the Magyar character of the Hungarian state." After a fashion, it conceded manhood suffrage. But, to the end that the Magyar hegemony might be preserved, it imposed upon the exercise of the franchise such a number of restrictions and assigned to plural voting such an aggregate of weight that its concessions were regarded by those who were expected to be benefited by it as practically valueless. The essentials of the measure were: (1) citizens unable to read and write Hungarian should be excluded from voting directly, though they might choose one elector for every ten of their number, and each elector so chosen should be entitled to one vote; (2) every male citizen able to read and write Hungarian should be invested, upon completing his twenty-fourth year and fulfilling a residence requirement of twelve months, with one vote; (3) electors who had passed four standards of a secondary school,[699] or who paid yearly a direct tax amounting to at least twenty crowns ($4.16), or who fulfilled various other conditions, should be entitled to two votes; and (4) electors who had completed the course of secondary instruction, or who paid a direct tax of 100 crowns (approximately $21), should (p. 496) be possessed of three votes. As before, voting was to be oral and public. In the preamble of the measure the cynical observation was offered that "the secret ballot protects electors in dependent positions only in so far as they break their promises under the veil of secrecy." It was announced that the passage of the bill would be followed by the presentation of a scheme for the redistribution of seats.

[Footnote 699: Equivalent to the completion of one-half of the course of secondary instruction.]

*548. Rejection of the Bill.*—According to calculations of the Neue Freie Presse, the effect of the measure would have been to increase the aggregate body of electors from 1,100,000 to 2,600,000, and the number of votes to something like 4,000,000. The number of persons entitled to three votes was estimated at 200,000; to two votes, at 860,000; to one vote, at 1,530,000; to no vote, at 1,270,000. An aggregate of 1,060,000 persons in the first two classes would cast 2,320,000 votes; an aggregate of 2,800,000 in the last two would cast 1,530,000 votes. The number of persons participating in parliamentary elections would be more than doubled, but political power would remain where it was already lodged. The measure would have operated, indeed, to strengthen the Magyar position, and while the Germans would have profited somewhat by it, the Slavs would have lost largely such power as they at present possess. Based as the scheme was upon a curious elaboration of the educational qualification, it was recognized instantly, both in the kingdom and outside, as an instrument of deliberate Magyar domination. Among the Slavic populations the prevalence of illiteracy is such that the number of persons who could attain the possession of even one direct vote would be insignificant. By the Socialists, and by the radical and Slavic elements generally, the scheme was denounced as a sheer caricature of the universal, equal, and direct suffrage for which demand had been made.

Upon the introduction of the bill parliamentary discord broke out afresh, and through 1909 there was a deadlock which effectually prevented the enactment of even the necessary measures of finance. In January, 1910, the sovereign at last succeeded in securing a new ministry, presided over by Count Hedervary, and in the programme of this Government the introduction of manhood suffrage was accorded a place of principal importance. June 26, 1910, the Speech from the Throne, at the opening of the newly elected parliament, announced that a franchise bill would be submitted "on the basis of universal suffrage and in complete maintenance of the unitary national character of the Hungarian state." Various circumstances co-operated, however, to impose delay and, despite the sovereign's reiterated interest in the reform, no action as yet has been taken. The Hungarian franchise remains the most illiberal and the most antiquated in Europe. The (p. 497) racial situation seems utterly to preclude the possibility of a reform that will be in all respects satisfactory; indeed, it seems almost to preclude the possibility of reform at all. Yet, that the pressure will be continued until eventually there shall be an overhauling of the present inadequate system can hardly be doubted.[700]

[Footnote 700: On the question of the Hungarian suffrage see S. Aberdam, La crise hongroise, in Revue Politique et Parlementaire, Oct. 10, 1909, and Les recentes crises politiques en Hongrie, in Revue des Sciences Politiques, May-June and July-Aug., 1912; G. Louis-Jaray, Le suffrage universel en Hongrie, in Questions Diplomatiques et Coloniales, February 16, 1909; R. Henry, La crise hongroise, ibid., June 1, 1910; J. Mailath, Les elections generales hongroises, ibid., Aug. 16, 1910, and The Hungarian Elections, in Contemporary Review, Oct., 1910; F. de Gerando, Le radicalisme hongroise, in Revue Politique et Parlementaire, July, 1911; A. Duboscq, La reforme electorale en Hongrie, in Questions Diplomatiques et Coloniales, July 1, 1912; S. Huszadik, La Hongrie contemporaine et le suffrage universel (Paris, 1909); and B. Auerbach, Races et nationalites en Autriche-Hongrie (2d ed., Paris, 1910).]

*549. Electoral Procedure.*—Elections are conducted in each town or comitat (county) by a central electoral committee of at least twelve members, chosen by the municipal council of the town or by the general council of the comitat. The list of voters in each district is drawn up by a sub-committee of this body. When an election is to be held, the Minister of the Interior fixes, thirty days in advance, a period of ten days during which the polling must be completed. As in Great Britain, the elections do not take place simultaneously, and a candidate defeated in one constituency may stand, and possibly be successful, in another. All polling within a particular town or comitat, however, is concluded within one day. Candidates may be nominated by any ten electors of the district, and candidacies may be declared until within thirty minutes of the hour (eight o'clock A. M.) for the polling to begin.

Voting is everywhere public and oral. Each elector, after giving his name and establishing his identity, simply proclaims in a loud voice the name of the candidate for whom he desires to have his vote recorded. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority, the central committee fixes a date (at least fourteen days distant) for a second polling, on which occasion the contest lies between the two candidates who at the first balloting polled the largest number of votes. Prior to a law of 1899 defining jurisdiction in electoral matters, Hungarian elections were tempestuous, and not infrequently scandalous. Beginning with the elections of 1901, however, electoral manners have shown considerable improvement; though ideal conditions can hardly be realized until oral voting shall have been replaced by the secret ballot.[701] Any elector who has attained the age of twenty-four, (p. 498) is a registered voter, and can speak Magyar (the official language of Hungarian parliamentary proceedings) is eligible as a candidate. Deputies receive a stipend of 4,800 crowns a year, with an allowance of 1,600 crowns for house rent.

[Footnote 701: Seatus Viator, Corruption and Reform in Hungary: a Study of Electoral Practice (London, 1911).]

*550. Parliamentary Organization and Procedure.*—The national parliament assembles in regular session once a year at Budapest. Following a general election, the Chamber of Deputies meets, under the presidency of its oldest member, after a lapse of time (not exceeding thirty days) fixed by the royal letters of convocation. The Chamber of Magnates being convoked by the crown at the same date, all members repair to the royal palace to hear the Speech from the Throne, which is delivered by the king in person or by an especially appointed royal commissioner.[702] The lower chamber then passes upon the validity of the election of its members, though by law of 1899 the actual exercise of this jurisdiction is committed in large part to the Royal High Court.[703] The president and vice-president of the Chamber of Magnates are appointed by the king from the members of that house; the secretaries are elected by the house from its own members, by secret ballot. The lower house elects, from its members, all of its officials—a president, two vice-presidents, and a number of secretaries. The presidents of the two houses are chosen for the entire period of the parliament; all other officials are chosen annually at the beginning of a session.

[Footnote 702: King Francis Joseph I. has been absent upon this important occasion but once since 1867. Apponyi, in Alden, Hungary of To-day, 166.]

[Footnote 703: Ibid., 166-175.]

Each house is authorized, at its first annual session after an election, to adopt an order of business and to make the necessary regulations for the maintenance of peace and propriety in its deliberations. The president, with the aid of sergeants-at-arms, is charged with the strict enforcement of all such rules. Sittings of the two houses are required to be public, but spectators who disturb the proceedings may be excluded. The maximum life of a parliament was raised, in 1886, from three years to five. It is within the power of the king, however, not only to extend or to adjourn the annual session, but to dissolve the lower chamber before the expiration of the five-year period. In the event of a dissolution, orders are required to be given for a national election, and these orders must be so timed that the new parliament may be assembled within, at the most, three months after the dissolution. And there is the further requirement that, in the event of a dissolution before the budget shall have (p. 499) been voted for the ensuing year, the convocation of the new parliament shall be provided for within such a period as will permit the estimates for the succeeding year to be considered before the close of the current year.

*551. The Powers of Parliament: the Parliamentary System.*—In the Hungarian constitutional system Parliament is in a very real sense supreme. The king can exercise his prerogatives only through ministers who are responsible to the lower chamber, and all arrangements pertaining to the welfare of the state fall within the competence of the legislative branch. Within Parliament it is the Chamber of Deputies that preponderates. Aside from the king and ministry, it alone enjoys the power of initiating legislation; and the opposition with which the Chamber of Magnates may be disposed to meet its measures invariably melts away after a show of opinion has been made. By a simple majority vote in the lower chamber a minister may be impeached for bribery, negligence, or any act detrimental to the independence of the country, the constitution, individual liberty, or property rights. Trial is held before a tribunal composed of men chosen by secret ballot by the Chamber of Magnates from its own members. For the purpose thirty-six members in all are required to be elected. Of the number, twelve may be rejected by the impeachment commission of the lower house, and twelve others by the minister or ministers under impeachment. Those remaining, at least twelve in number, try the case. Procedure is required to be public and the penalty to be "fixed in proportion to the offense."[704]

[Footnote 704: Law III. of 1848 concerning the Formation of a Responsible Hungarian Ministry, Secs. 33-34. Dodd, Modern Constitutions, I., 97.]

The statement which has sometimes been made that the parliamentary system operates to-day in the kingdom of Hungary in a fuller measure than in any other continental country requires qualification. Nominally, it is true, an unfavorable vote in the Deputies upon a Government measure or action involves the retirement of a minister, or of the entire cabinet, unless the crown is willing to dissolve the Chamber and appeal to the country; and no Government project of consequence can be carried through without parliamentary approval. Practical conditions within the kingdom, however, have never been favorable for the operation of parliamentarism in a normal manner. In the first place, the parliament itself is in no wise representative of the nation as a whole. In the second place, the proceedings of the body are not infrequently so stormy in character that for months at a time the essential principles of parliamentarism are hopelessly subverted. Finally, and most fundamental of all, at no period in the kingdom's history have there been two great parties, contending on (p. 500) fairly equal terms for the mastery of the state, each in a position to assume direction of the government upon the defeat or momentary discomfiture of the other. From 1867 to 1875, as will appear, there was but one party (that led by Deak) which accepted the Compromise, and hence could be intrusted with office; and from 1875 to the present day there has been but one great party, the Liberal, broken at times into groups and beset by more or less influential conservative elements, but always sufficiently compact and powerful to be able to retain control of the government. Under these conditions it has worked out in practice that ministries have retired repeatedly by reason of decline of popularity, internal friction, or request of the sovereign, and but rarely in consequence of an adverse vote in Parliament.

IV. POLITICAL PARTIES

*552. The Question of the Ausgleich.*—Throughout half a century the party history of Hungary has centered about two preponderating problems, first, the maintenance of the Compromise with Austria and, second, the preservation of the political ascendancy of the Magyars. Of these the first has been the more fundamental, because the ascendancy of the Magyars was, and is, an accomplished fact and upon the perpetuation of that ascendancy there can be, among the ruling Magyars themselves, no essential division. The issue upon which those elements of the population which are vested with political power (and which, consequently, compose the political parties in the true sense) have been always most prone to divide, is that of the perpetuation and character of the Ausgleich. To put it broadly, there have been regularly two schools of opinion in respect to this subject. There have been the men, on the one hand, who accept the arrangements of 1867 and maintain that by virtue of them Hungary, far from having surrendered any of her essential interests, has acquired an influence and prestige which otherwise she could not have enjoyed. And there have been those, on the other hand, who see in the Ausgleich nothing save an abandonment of national dignity and who, therefore, would have the arrangement thoroughly remodelled, or even abrogated outright. Under various names, and working by different methods, the parties of the kingdom have assumed almost invariably one or the other of these attitudes.

*553. Formation of the Liberal Party.*—As has been pointed out, the Compromise was carried through the Hungarian parliament in 1867 by the party of Deak. Opposed to it was the Left, who favored the maintenance of no union whatsoever with Austria save through the crown. The (p. 501) first ministry formed under the new arrangement, presided over by Count Andrassy, was composed of members of the Deak party, and at the national elections of 1869 this party obtained a substantial, though hard-won, majority. In 1871 Andrassy resigned to become the successor of Count Beust in the joint ministry of foreign affairs at Vienna, and two years later Deak himself, now an aged man, withdrew from active political life. There followed in Hungary an epoch of political unsettlement during the course of which ministries changed frequently, finances fell into disorder, and legislation was scant and haphazard. The Deak party disintegrated and, but for the fact that the Left gradually abandoned its determination to overthrow the Ausgleich, the outcome might well have been a constitutional crisis, if not war. As it was, when, in February, 1875, the leader of the Left, Kalman Tisza, publicly acknowledged his party's conversion to the Austrian affiliation, the fragments of the Deak party amalgamated readily with the Left to form the great Liberal party by which the destinies of Hungary have been guided almost uninterruptedly to the present day. Except for the followers of Kossuth, essentially irreconcilable, the Magyars were now united in the support of some sort of union with Austria, and most of them were content for the present to abide by the arrangement of 1867. Before the close of 1875 Tisza was established at the head of a Liberal cabinet, and from that time until his fall, in March, 1890, he was continuously the real ruler of Hungary.

*554. The Liberal Ascendancy: Tisza, Szapary, Wekerle, and Banffy.*—The primary policy of Tisza was to convert the polyglot Hungarian kingdom into a centralized and homogeneous Magyar state, and to this end he did not hesitate to employ the most relentless and sometimes unscrupulous means. Nominally a Liberal, he trampled the principles of liberalism systematically under foot. To the disordered country, however, his strong rule brought no small measure of benefit, especially in respect to economic conditions. He supported faithfully the Compromise of 1867; but when, in 1877, the commercial treaty between the two halves of the monarchy expired he contrived to procure increased advantages for Hungary, and among them the conversion of the Austrian National Bank into a joint institution of the two states. Opposition to the Tisza regime arose from two sources principally, i.e., the Kossuth party of Independence, which clung still to the principles of 1848, and the National party, led by the brilliant orator Count Albert Apponyi, distinguishable from the Independence group, on the one hand, by its provisional acquiescence in the Ausgleich and (p. 502) from the Liberals, on the other, by its still more enthusiastic advocacy of Magyarization. At Vienna, Tisza was regarded as indispensable; but growing discontent in Hungary undermined his position and March 13, 1890, he retired from office.

With the fall of Tisza there was inaugurated a period of short ministries whose history it would be unprofitable to attempt to recount in detail. The Liberal party continued in control, for there had appeared no rival group of sufficient strength to drive it from power. But the rise of a series of issues involving the relations of church and state injected into the political situation a number of new elements and occasioned frequent readjustments within the ministerial group. The ministry of Count Szapary, which succeeded that of Tisza was followed, November 21, 1892, by that of Dr. Sandor Wekerle, and it, in turn, after a number of the religious bills had been passed, was succeeded, January 11, 1895, by a cabinet presided over by Baron Banffy. At the elections of 1896 the Liberals were overwhelmingly triumphant, acquiring in the lower chamber a majority of two to one. The Nationalist contingent was reduced from 57 to 35.

*555. The Era of Parliamentary Obstructionism.*—The period covered by the Banffy ministry (January, 1895, to February, 1899) was one of the stormiest in Hungarian parliamentary history. At the close of 1897 the decennial economic agreement with Austria came automatically to an end, and despite its best efforts the Government was unable to procure from Parliament an approval of a renewal of the arrangement. Through two years successively the existing agreement was extended provisionally for twelve months at a time. It was only during the ministry of Szell, who took office in February, 1899, that a renewal was voted, covering the period to 1907. In Hungary there is no constitutional provision equivalent to Section 14 of the constitution of Austria, but during 1897-1899 the utter breakdown of legislation at Budapest drove Premier Banffy to a policy of government by decree very similar to that which was at the same time being employed at Vienna. The Government had all of the while a substantial majority, but the obstructionist tactics of the Independence group, the Apponyi Nationalists, and the Clericals were of such a nature that normal legislation was impossible. Under the regime of Szell (February, 1899, to May, 1903), who was a survivor of the old Deak group, constitutionalism was rehabilitated and the Liberals who had been alienated by Banffy's autocratic measures were won back to the Government's support. Nationalist obstruction likewise diminished, for the primary object of Apponyi's followers had been to drive Banffy from power.

The brief ministry of Count Khuen-Hedervary (May 1 to September (p. 503) 29, 1903) was followed by a ministry presided over by Count Istvan [Stephen] Tisza, son of Kalman Tisza, premier from 1875 to 1890. The principal task of the younger Tisza's ministry was to effect an arrangement whereby the Hungarian army, while remaining essentially Hungarian, should not be impaired in efficiency as a part of the dual monarchy's military establishment. During parliamentary consideration of this subject obstruction to the Government's proposals acquired again such force that, under the accustomed rules of procedure, no action could be taken. November 18, 1904, the opposition shouted down a Modification of the Standing Orders bill, designed to frustrate obstruction, and would permit no debate upon it; whereupon, the president of the Chamber declared the bill carried and adjourned the house until December 13, and subsequently until January 5, 1905. The opposition commanded now 190 votes in a total of 451. When the date for the reassembling arrived members of the obstructionist groups broke into the parliament house and by demolishing the furniture rendered a session for the time impossible. In disgust Tisza appealed to the country, only to be signally defeated. The Government carried but 152 seats. The Kossuth party of Independence alone carried 163; the Liberal dissenters under Andrassy got 23; the Clerical People's party, 23; the Banffy group, 11; and the non-Magyar nationalities, 8. Tisza sought to retire, but not until June 17, 1905, would the sovereign accept his resignation.

*556. The Government's Partial Triumph.*—Incensed by the prolonged, and in many respects indefensible, character of the parliamentary deadlock, Francis Joseph resolved to establish in office an essentially extra-constitutional ministry which should somehow contrive to override the opposition, and likewise to set on foot a movement looking toward the revolutionizing of Hungarian parliamentary conditions by the introduction of manhood suffrage. Under the ministry of Baron Fejervary, constituted June 21, 1905, there was inaugurated a period of frankly arbitrary government. Parliament was prorogued repeatedly, and by censorship of the press, the dragooning of towns, and the dismissal of officers the Magyar population was made to feel unmistakably the weight of the royal displeasure. For awhile there was dogged resistance, but in time the threat of electoral reform took the heart out of the opposition. Outwardly a show of resistance was maintained, but after the early months of 1906 the Government may be said once more to have had the situation well in hand. Two events of the year mentioned imparted emphasis to the profound change of political conditions which the period of conflict had produced. The first was the establishment, under the premiership of the Liberal (p. 504) leader Dr. Wekerle, of a coalition cabinet embracing a veritable galaxy of Hungarian statesmen, including Francis Kossuth, Count Andrassy, and Count Apponyi. The second was the all but complete annihilation, at the national elections which ensued, of the old Liberal party, and the substitution for it, in the role of political preponderance, of the Kossuth party of Independence. The number of seats carried by this rapidly developing party was 250, or more than one-half of the entire number in the Chamber.

*557. The Parliamentary Conflict Renewed.*—The Wekerle cabinet entered office pledged to electoral reform, although in the subject it in reality cherished but meager interest. In 1908, as has been related, it was impelled by popular pressure to submit a new electoral scheme;[705] but that scheme was conceived wholly in the Magyar interest and did not touch the real problem. It very properly failed of adoption. Meanwhile the ministry fell into hopeless disagreement upon the question of whether Hungary should consent to the renewal of the charter of the Austro-Hungarian Bank (to expire December 31, 1910) or should hold out for the establishment of a separate Hungarian Bank, and, April 27, 1909, Premier Wekerle tendered his resignation. At the solicitation of the sovereign he consented to retain office until a new ministry could be constituted, which, in point of fact, proved to be until January 17, 1910. Added to the problem of the Bank was an even more vexatious one, that, namely, of the Magyarization of the Hungarian regiments. The extremer demands in the matter of Magyarization emanated, of course, from the Independence party, though upon the issue the party itself became divided into two factions, the extremists being led by Justh and the more moderate element by Kossuth. The coalition was disrupted utterly; the Wekerle ministry dragged on simply because through many months no other could be brought together to take its place. The year 1909 passed without even the vote of a budget.

[Footnote 705: See p. 495.]

January 17, 1910, Count Hedervary succeeded in forming a cabinet, and there ensued a lull in the political struggle. At the elections of June, the Government—representing virtually the revived Liberal party—carried 246 seats, while the two wings of the Independence party secured together only 85. The Clericals were reduced to 13 and the non-Magyars to 7. Under the leadership of Istvan Tisza there was organized, at the beginning of 1910, a so-called "National Party of Work," which by the emphasis which it laid upon its purpose of practical achievement commended itself to large elements of the nation. By the Hedervary government it was announced that the (p. 505) franchise would be reformed in such a manner as to maintain, without the employment of the plural vote, the historical character of the Magyar state; but the bitterness of Magyar feeling upon the subject continued to preclude all possibility of action. The embarrassments continually suffered by the Hedervary ministry reached their culmination in the winter of 1911-1912, at which time the relations between Austria and Hungary became so strained that Emperor Francis Joseph threatened to abdicate unless pending difficulties should be adjusted. The question of most immediate seriousness pertained to the adoption of new regulations for the military establishment, but the electoral issue loomed large in the background. The retirement of the Hedervary cabinet, March 7, 1912, and the accession of a ministry presided over by Dr. de Lukacs affected the situation but slightly. The new premier made it clear that he would labor for electoral reform, and issue was joined with him squarely upon this part of his programme by the aristocracy, the gentry, the Chamber of Magnates, and all the adherents of Andrassy, Apponyi, and Kossuth, with the deliberately conceived purpose of frightening the Government, and especially the Emperor-King, into an abandonment of all plans to tamper with existing electoral arrangements. During the earlier months of the ministry efforts of the premier to effect a working agreement with the forces of opposition were but indifferently successful.[706]

[Footnote 706: For a brief account of Hungarian party politics to 1896 see Lowell, Governments and Parties, II., 152-161. For references to current periodicals see p. 497.]

V. THE JUDICIARY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

*558. Law and Justice.*—The law of Hungary, like that of England, is the product of long-continued growth. It consists fundamentally of the common law of the mediaeval period (first codified by the jurist Verboeczy in the sixteenth century), amplified and modernized in more recent times, especially since the reforms of 1867, so that what originally was little more than a body of feudal customs has been transformed into a comprehensive national code. Hungarian criminal law, codified in 1878, is recognized to be the equal of anything of the kind that the world possesses. Since 1896 there has been in progress a codification of the civil law, and the task is announced to be approaching completion. There are numerous special codes, pertaining to commerce, bankruptcy, and industry, whose promulgation from time to time has marked epochs in the economic development of the nation.

The lower Hungarian tribunals, or courts of first instance, comprise 458 county courts, with single judges, and 76 district courts, (p. 506) with two or more judges each. Both exercise jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases; but the jurisdiction of the county courts in civil cases extends only to suits involving not more than 1,200 crowns, while in criminal cases these tribunals are not competent to impose punishment exceeding a single year's imprisonment. The district courts serve as courts of appeal from the county courts. Of superior courts there are fourteen—twelve "royal tables," or courts of appeal, a Supreme Court of Justice at Agram, and a Royal Supreme Court at Budapest. The twelve contain, in all, 200 judges; the Royal Supreme Court contains 92. All judges are appointed by the king. Once appointed, they are independent and irremovable. Only Hungarian citizens may be appointed, and every appointee must have attained the age of twenty-six, must be of good moral character, must be familiar with the language of the court in which he is to serve, and must have passed the requisite legal examinations. Salaries vary from 3,840 to 10,000 crowns. Supreme administrative control of the judicial system is vested in the Minister of Justice. The sphere of his authority is regulated minutely by parliamentary statute. In the main, he supervises the judges, attends to the legal aspects of international relations, prepares bills, and oversees the execution of sentences.

*559. Local Government: the County.*—The principal unit of local government in Hungary is the county. The original Hungarian county instituted by St. Stephen about the year 1000, was simply a district, closely resembling the English county or the French department, at the head of which the king placed an officer to represent the crown in military and administrative affairs. Local self-government had its beginning in the opposition of the minor nobility to this centralizing agency, and in periods of royal weakness the nobles usurped a certain amount of control, first in justice, later in legislation, and finally in the election of local officials, which in time was extended legal recognition. At all points the county became substantially autonomous. Indeed, by 1848 Hungary was really a confederation of fifty-two counties, each not far removed from an aristocratic republic, rather than a centralized state. For a time after 1867 there was a tendency toward a revival of the centralization of earlier days. In 1876 laws were enacted which vested the administration of the county in a committee composed in part of members elected within the county, but also in part of officials designated by the crown; and a statute of 1891 went still further in the direction of bureaucratic centralization. More recently, however, the county has undergone a slight measure of democratization.

Exclusive of Croatia-Slavonia, there are in Hungary to-day 63 (p. 507) rural counties and 36 urban counties or towns with municipal rights. In Croatia-Slavonia the numbers are 8 and 4 respectively. The urban counties are in reality municipalities and are essentially separate from the rural counties in which they are situated. The governmental system of the county comprises a council of twenty, composed half of members chosen by the electors for six years and half of persons who pay the highest taxes, together with an especially appointed committee which serves as the local executive. At the head of the assembly is the foeispan, or lord lieutenant, appointed by the crown. Legally, the counties may withhold taxes and refuse to furnish troops, but there is no popular representation in the true sense in the county governments. The franchise is confined to the very restricted parliamentary electorate. The subject races and the working classes are unrepresented and the real possessors of power are the Magyar landowners.

*560. Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia.*—To the kingdom of Hungary proper are attached certain partes adnexae which enjoy a large measure of political autonomy. Dalmatia, united to Hungary at the beginning of the twelfth century, belongs de jure to Hungary and de facto to Austria; Croatia and Slavonia belong both de jure and de facto to Hungary.[707] Croatia and Slavonia, as Hungarian dominions, have always possessed a peculiar status. They are inalienable portions of the kingdom, and in all that pertains to war, trade, and finance they are on precisely the same footing as any other part of the state. In other matters, however, i.e., in religion, education, justice, and home affairs generally, they enjoy a wide range of independent control. The administration of common affairs is vested in the Hungarian ministry, which must always contain a minister with the special function of supervision of Croatian interests. In the parliament at Budapest Croatia-Slavonia is represented by 40 members (sent from its own diet) in the Chamber of Deputies and three members in the Chamber of Magnates. These arrangements exist in virtue originally of an agreement concluded between the Magyars and the Croats in 1868, and they are closely analogous to the relationships established by the Compromise of the previous year between Hungary and Austria. The compact of 1868 was renewed upon several occasions prior to 1898, (p. 508) since which time it has been intermittently under process of revision. Among the Croats there has long been insistent demand for its fundamental modification. The charge, in general, is that as at present administered the arrangement operates all but exclusively to the benefit of the Hungarians.[708] The Wekerle coalition ministry of 1906 promised a redress of grievances, but none was forthcoming, and in more recent years, especially 1907-1908, riots and other anti-Magyar demonstrations have been not uncommon in the territories.

[Footnote 707: Until 1848 the grand-principality of Transylvania also enjoyed a considerable measure of autonomy. In 1848 it was united with Hungary. In 1849 it regained its ancient independence, but in 1867 it was again joined with Hungary. By legislation of 1868 and 1876 it was fully incorporated in the kingdom, 75 seats being awarded it in the Chamber of Deputies at Budapest in lieu of its provincial diet, which was abolished.]

[Footnote 708: Under the agreement 44 per cent of the Croatian-Slavonian revenue is retained for local needs and the remaining 56 per cent is devoted to common expenditures of the kingdom upon the army, public works, and the national debt. It is alleged, among other things, that this apportionment is unjust, and, furthermore, that the Hungarian authorities systematically divert local funds to national uses.]

The local Croatian-Slavonian diet is a unicameral body consisting of 90 deputies elected by districts, and of dignitaries (ecclesiastics, prefects of counties, princes, counts, and barons) to the number of not more than half of the quota of elected members. The executive consists of the three departments of Interior and Finance, Culture and Education, and Justice. At the head of each is a chief, and over them all presides an official known as the Banus. The Banus is appointed by the crown on the nomination of the premier. He is ex-officio a member of the Chamber of Magnates, and it is his function to supervise all matters of administration in the provinces, under the general direction of the Croatian minister, who constitutes the vital tie between the central government at Budapest and the dependent territories. Local government is administered in eight rural and four urban counties.[709]

[Footnote 709: An English version of the statute of 1868 regulating the status of Croatia-Slavonia is printed in Drage, Austria-Hungary, 767-783. For extended discussions of the subject see Drage, op. cit., Chap. ii; Geosztanyi, in P. Alden (ed.), Hungary of To-day, Chap. ii; G. Horn, Le Compromis de 1868 entre la Croatie et la Hongrie (Paris, 1907); G. de Montbel, La condition politique de la Croatie-Slavonie dans la monarchie austro-hongroise (Toulouse, 1909); and R. Gonnard, Entre Drave et Save; etudes economiques, politiques, et sociales sur la Croatie-Slavonie (Paris, 1911). See also R. Henry, La Hongrie, la Croatie, et les nationalites, in Questions Diplomatiques et Coloniales, Aug. 16, 1907; J. Mailath Hongrie et Croatie, ibid., Nov. 1, 1907.]



CHAPTER XXVII (p. 509)

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: THE JOINT GOVERNMENT

*561. The Ausgleich.*—The unique political relation which subsists to-day between the Empire of Austria and the kingdom of Hungary rests upon the Ausgleich, or Compromise, of 1867, supplemented at certain points by agreements of more recent date. The fundamental terms of the arrangement, worked out by the Emperor Francis Joseph, Deak, and Baron Beust, were incorporated in essentially identical statutes enacted by the Hungarian Parliament and the Austrian Reichsrath December 21 and 24 of the year mentioned. Between the demand of Hungary, on the one hand, for independence (save only in respect to the crown), and that of Austria, on the other, for the thoroughgoing subordination of the Hungarian to an Imperial ministry, there was devised a compromise whose ruling principle is that of dualism rather than that of either absolute unity or subordination. Under the name Austria-Hungary there was established a novel type of state consisting of an empire and a kingdom, each of which, retaining its identity unimpaired, stands in law upon a plane of complete equality with the other. Each has its own constitution, its own parliament, its own ministry, its own administration, its own courts. Yet the two have but one sovereign and one flag, and within certain large and important fields the governmental machinery and public policy of the two are maintained in common. The laws which comprise the basis of the arrangement are the product of international compact. They provide no means by which they may be amended, and they can be amended only in the manner in which they were adopted, i.e., by international agreement supplemented by reciprocal parliamentary enactment.[710]

[Footnote 710: Drage, Austria-Hungary. Chap. 12; H. Friedjung, Der Ausgleich mit Ungarn (Leipzig, 1877); Count Andrassy, Ungarns Ausgleich mit Oesterreich von Jahre 1867 (Leipzig, 1897); L. Eisenmann, Le compromis austro-hongroise (Paris, 1904). The Austrian and Hungarian texts of the Ausgleich laws, with German versions in parallel columns, are printed in I. Zolger, Der staatsrechtliche Ausgleich zwischen Oesterreich und Ungarn (Leipzig, 1911). English versions are in Dodd, Modern Constitutions, I., 114-122, and Drage, Austria-Hungary, 744-750, 753-766. In a speech in the Hungarian Chamber November 23, 1903, Count Istvan Tisza sought to demonstrate that, properly, there is no such thing as an Austro-Hungarian Ausgleich—that the two instruments of 1867 are not only of different date but are essentially independent, each being revocable at will by the power by which it was enacted. An able polemic in opposition to the views of Tisza is to be found in F. Tezner, Ausgleichsrecht und Ausgleichspolitik (Vienna, 1907). Tezner is an Austrian publicist.]

I. THE COMMON ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT (p. 510)

*562. The Emperor-King.*—Of organs of government which the two dominions possess in common, and by which they are effectually tied together administratively, there are three: (1) the monarch; (2) the ministries of Foreign Affairs, War, and Finance; and (3) the Delegations. The functions and prerogatives of the monarch are three-fold, i.e., those which he possesses as emperor of Austria, those which belong to him as king of Hungary, and those vested in him as head of the Austro-Hungarian union. In theory, and largely in practice, the three sets of relationships are clearly distinguished. All, however, must be combined in the same individual. The law of succession is the same, and it would not be possible for Francis Joseph, for example, to vacate the kingship of Hungary while retaining the Imperial office in the co-ordinated state. But there is a coronation at Vienna and another at Budapest; the royal title reads "Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, etc., and Apostolic King of Hungary"; and the relations of the sovereign with each of the two governments are most of the time conducted precisely as if the other of the two were non-existent. In the capacity of dual sovereign the monarch's principal functions comprise the command of the army and navy,[711] the appointment of heads of the joint ministries, the promulgation of ordinances applying to the states in common, and the giving of assent to measures enacted by the dual legislative body.

[Footnote 711: As an illustration of the sensitiveness of the Hungarians in the matter of their Austrian relations the fact may be cited that in 1889, after prolonged effort, an arrangement was procured in accordance with which the joint sovereign, in the capacity of commander of the armed forces, is known as Emperor and King, not as Emperor-King.]

*563. The Joint Ministries.*—By the Compromise of 1867 the three departments of administration which most obviously require concentration and uniformity were established upon a basis of community between the two governmental systems. The first of these is the ministry of Foreign Affairs. Neither Austria nor Hungary as such maintains diplomatic intercourse with other powers; Under the direction of the Foreign Minister (known, until 1871, as the Imperial Chancellor) are maintained all relations with foreign governments, through a diplomatic and consular service which represents in every respect the monarchy as a whole. Commercial treaties, and treaties (p. 511) stipulating changes of territory or imposing burdens upon the state or upon any part of it, require the assent of both the parliament at Vienna and that at Budapest.

The second common ministry is that of War. With respect to military and naval administration there has been no little misunderstanding, and even ill-feeling, between the two states. The instruments of 1867 vest the supreme command of the army and navy in the joint monarch, yet the armed establishments of the states are maintained on the basis of separate, even if approximately identical, laws, and each is placed under the immediate supervision of a separate minister of national defence. Each country maintains its independent arrangements for the raising of the yearly contingent of recruits. It is only after the quotas have been raised that the dual monarch can exercise his power of appointing officers and regulating the organization of the forces. The authority of the joint war minister is confined largely to matters of secondary importance, such as equipment and the commissariat. Only a close understanding between the ministries at Vienna and Budapest can be depended upon, in the last analysis, to avert an utter breakdown of the admittedly precarious military establishment.[712]

[Footnote 712: V. Duruy, L'Armee austro-hongroise, in Revue de Paris, Jan. 15, 1909; M. B., L'Armee autrichienne, in Annales des Sciences Politiques, May, 1909; Com. Davin, La marine austro-hongroise, in Questions Diplomatiques et Coloniales, Aug. 16, 1909.]

The third common ministry is that of Finance. Each of the two states maintains an independent finance ministry and carries its own budget, because, within certain limitations, the administration of fiscal matters is left to the states in their separate capacities; but questions of joint expenditure, the establishment of the joint budget, and the examination of accounts are committed to a common ministry at Vienna. The powers of the joint minister of finance are, in point of fact, limited. Like the other joint ministers, he may not be a member of either the Austrian or the Hungarian cabinet, nor may he have access to the separate parliaments. His function is essentially that of a cashier. He receives the contributions made by the two states to the common expenses and hands them over to the several departments. Until the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1908, it devolved upon him, by special arrangement, to administer the affairs of these semi-dependent territories.

*564. Fiscal and Economic Arrangements.*—In 1867 it was agreed that the common expenditures of Austria and Hungary should be met, in so (p. 512) far as possible, from the joint revenues, especially the customs, and that all common outlays in excess of these revenues should be borne by the states in a proportion to be fixed at decennial intervals by the Reichsrath and the Hungarian Parliament. Other joint interests of an economic nature—trade, customs, the debt, and railway policy—were left likewise to be readjusted at ten-year intervals. In respect to contributions, the arrangement hit upon originally was that all common deficits should be made up by quotas proportioned to the tax returns of the two countries, namely, Austria 70 per cent and Hungary 30 per cent. As has been pointed out, the periodic overhauling of the economic relationships of the two states has been productive of frequent and disastrous controversy. The task was accomplished successfully in the law of June 27, 1878, and again in that of May 21, 1887. But the readjustment due in 1897 had the curious fortune not to be completed until the year in which another readjustment was due, i.e., 1907. To the parliamentary contests, at both Vienna and Budapest, by which the decade 1897—1907 was filled some allusion has been made.[713] They involved distinctly the most critical test of stability to which the Ausgleich has been subjected since its establishment. During the period various features of the pre-existing arrangements were continued in force by royal decree or by provisional parliamentary vote, but not until October, 1907, were the economic relation of the two states put once more upon a normal basis. Throughout the decade the Emperor-King exercised repeatedly the authority with which he is invested by law of 1867 to fix the ratio of contributions for one year at a time, when action cannot be had on the part of the legislative bodies. The ratio prevailing during the period was Austria 66-46/49 per cent and Hungary 33-3/49 per cent.

[Footnote 713: See pp. 479-481, 502-504.]

By the agreement of 1907, concluded for the usual ten-year period, the Hungarian quota was raised from the figure mentioned to 36.4 per cent. The customs alliance, established in 1867 and renewed in 1878 and 1887, was superseded by a customs and commercial treaty, in accordance with which each state maintains what is technically a separate customs system, although until the expiration of existing conventions with foreign powers in 1917 the tariff arrangements of the two states must remain identical. Under the conditions which have arisen the customs unity of the monarchy is likely to be disrupted in fact, as already it is in law, upon the advent of the year mentioned. Thereafter commercial treaties with foreign nations will be negotiated in the name of the two states concurrently and will be signed, not merely by the common minister of foreign affairs, but also by a special (p. 513) Austrian and a special Hungarian representative.[714]

[Footnote 714: L. Louis-Jaray, Les relations austro-hongroises et le nouveau compromis economique, in Questions Diplomatiques et Coloniales, Jan. 16 and Feb. 1, 1908; and Les dispositions economiques du nouveau compromis austro-hongrois, in Revue Economique Internationale, March, 1908.]

*565. The Delegations: Organization and Sessions.*—All legislative power of the Reichsrath and of the Hungarian Parliament, in so far as it relates to the joint affairs of the states, is exercised by two "delegations," one representing each of the two parliaments. The Austrian Delegation consists of sixty members, twenty of whom are chosen by the Herrenhaus from its own members, and the other forty of whom are elected by the Abgeordnetenhaus in such manner that the deputies from each province designate a number of delegates allotted to them by law. The Hungarian Delegation consists likewise of sixty members, twenty elected by and from the upper, forty by and from the lower, chamber, with the further requirement that there shall be included four of the Croatian members of the Chamber of Deputies and one of the Croatians in the Chamber of Magnates. All members of both Delegations are elected annually and may be re-elected. They must be convoked by the Emperor-King at least once a year. Every device is employed to lay emphasis upon the absolute equality of the two Delegations, and of the states they represent, even to the extent of having the sessions held alternately in Vienna and Budapest. The two bodies meet in separate chambers, each under a president whom it elects, but the proposals of the Government are laid before both at the same time by the joint ministry. In the Austrian Delegation all proceedings are conducted in the German tongue; in the Hungarian, in Magyar; and all communications between the two are couched in both languages. Sittings, as a rule, are public. In the event of a failure to agree after a third exchange of communications there may be, upon demand of either Delegation, a joint session. Upon this occasion there is no debate, but merely the taking of a vote, in which there must participate an absolutely equal number of members of the two organizations.

*566. The Delegations: Powers.*—The members of the common ministry have the right to share in all deliberations of the Delegations and to present their projects personally or through deputies. They must be heard whenever they desire. Each Delegation, on the other hand, has a right to address questions to the joint ministry, or to any one of its members, and to require answers and explanations. By concurrent vote of the two bodies a joint minister may be impeached. In such a (p. 514) case the judges consist of twenty-four independent and legally trained citizens representing equally the two countries, chosen by the Delegations, but not members thereof. The power is one very unlikely to be exercised; in truth, the responsibility of the ministers to the Delegations is more theoretical than actual.

The functions of the Delegations are severely restricted. They extend in no case beyond the common affairs of the two states; and they comprise little more than the voting of supplies asked by the Government and a certain supervision of the common administrative machinery. Of legislative power, in the proper sense, the two bodies possess virtually none. Practically all law in the dual monarchy takes the form of statutes enacted concurrently by the separate parliaments of Austria and Hungary. The system is not ideal. It involves delay, confusion, and an excess of partisan wrangling. Probably upon no other basis, however, would even the semblance of an Austro-Hungarian union be possible. The existing arrangement operates somewhat to the advantage of Hungary, because the Hungarian Delegation is a body which votes solidly together, whereas the Austrian is composed of mutually hostile racial and political groups.

II. THE TERRITORIES OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

*567. Annexation of the Provinces, 1908.*—By the Congress of Berlin, in 1878, Austria was authorized, ostensibly in the interest of the peace of Europe, to occupy and administer the neighboring provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina; and from that date until 1908, although the provinces continued under the nominal sovereignty of the Sultan of Turkey, their affairs were managed regularly by the Austro-Hungarian minister of finance. The eventual absorption of the territories by the dual monarchy was not unexpected, but it came in virtue of a coup by which the European world was thrown for a time into some agitation. The revolution at Constantinople during the summer of 1908, accompanied by the threatened dissolution of European Turkey, created precisely the opportunity for which the authorities at Vienna had long waited. October 5, Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria proclaimed the complete separation of Bulgaria from the Sultan's dominions and assumed the title of king. Two days later Emperor Francis Joseph proclaimed to the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina the immediate extension of Austro-Hungarian sovereignty over them, alleging that the hour had arrived when they ought to be raised to a higher political level and accorded the benefits of Austro-Hungarian constitutionalism. Among the population of the annexed provinces the Roman Catholic (p. 515) element approved the union, but the Greek Orthodox and Mohammedan majority warmly opposed it. The people of the provinces are Servian in race, and in the interest of the Servian union which it was hoped at some time to bring about Servia and Montenegro protested loudly, and even began preparations for war. The annexation constituted a flagrant infraction of the Berlin Treaty, and during some weeks the danger of international complications was grave. Eventually, however, on the understanding that the new possessor should render to Turkey certain financial compensation, the various powers more or less grudgingly yielded their assent to the change of status.

*568. The Constitution of 1910: the Diet.* At the time of the annexation it was promised that the provinces should be granted a constitution. The pledge was fulfilled in the fundamental laws which were promulgated by the Vienna Government February 22, 1910. The constitution proper consists of a preamble and three sections, of which the first relates to civil rights, the second to the composition of the Diet, and the third to the competence of the Diet. Under the terms of the preamble the pre-existing military and administrative arrangements are perpetuated. The civil rights section extends to the annexed provinces the principal provisions of the Austrian constitution in respect to equality before the law, freedom of personal movement, the protection of individual liberty, the independence of judges, freedom of conscience, autonomy of recognized religious communities, the right of free expression of opinion, the abolition of restrictive censorship, the freedom of scientific investigation, secrecy of postal and telegraphic communications, and the rights of association and public meeting.

The second section creates a diet of seventy-two elected and twenty ex-officio representatives, fifteen of the latter being dignitaries of the Mohammedan, Servian, Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic religious communities. The presidential bureau, consisting of one president and two vice-presidents, is appointed annually by the crown at the opening of the session. Each creed is regularly to be represented in the bureau, the presidential office being held by a Servian, a Mohammedan, and a Croat in annual rotation. To be valid, the decisions of the Diet require the presence of a majority of the members, except when ecclesiastical matters are under discussion. Upon such occasions the presence of four-fifths of the Diet, and a two-thirds majority, is required.

The third section excludes from the legislative competence of the Diet all joint Austro-Hungarian affairs and questions pertaining to the armed forces and to customs arrangements. The Diet is, however, (p. 516) empowered to elect a national council of nine members and to commission it to lay the views of the Diet before the Austro-Hungarian Government. In all other matters, such as civil, penal, police and commercial law, industrial and agrarian legislation, sanitation, communications, taxation, the provincial estimates, the issue and conversion of loans, and the sale or mortgaging of provincial property, the Diet has a free hand. Government measures to be submitted to the Diet require, however, the previous sanction of the Austrian and the Hungarian cabinets, whose assent is also necessary before bills passed by the Diet can receive the sanction of the crown.

*569. The Electoral System.*—Subsequent statutes regulate the franchise and electoral procedure. First of all, the seventy-two elective seats in the Diet are divided among the adherents of the various religious denominations, the Servians receiving 31, the Mohammedans 24, and the Catholic Croats 16. One seat is reserved for a representative of the Jews. The seats are divided, furthermore, into three curiae, or electoral classes, eighteen being allotted to a first class composed of large landed proprietors and the heaviest taxpayers, twenty to a second class composed of urban electors, and thirty-four to a third class composed of rural electors. The franchise is bestowed upon all subjects of the crown, born in the provinces or possessing one year's residential qualification, who are of the male sex and have completed their twenty-fourth year. In the first of the three classes women possess the franchise, although they may exercise it only by male deputy. Candidates for election must have completed their thirtieth year and must be of the male sex and in full enjoyment of civil rights. Civil and railway servants, as well as public school teachers, are not eligible. In the first and second classes votes are recorded in writing, but in the third, or rural, class, voting, by reason of the large proportion of illiterates, is oral. In the second and third (urban and rural) classes the system of single-member constituencies has been adopted. The provinces are divided into as many Servian, Mohammedan, and Catholic constituencies, with separate registers, as there are seats allotted to the respective creeds. For the Jews all the towns of the two provinces form a single constituency.[715]

[Footnote 715: The texts of the organic acts of 1910 are printed in K. Lamp, Die Rechtsnatur der Verfassung Bosniens und der Herzegowina vom 17 Februar 1910, in Jahrbuch des Oeffentlichen Rechts (Tuebingen, 1911), V.; L. Geller, Bosnisch-herzegowinische Verfassungs und politische Grundgesetze (Vienna, 1910); and in Zeitschrift fuer Voelkerrecht und Bundesstaatsrecht, IV., No. 5. See also F. Komloessy, Das Rechtsverhaeltniss Bosniens und des Herzegowina zu Ungarn (Pressburg, 1911).]



PART VII.—THE LOW COUNTRIES (p. 517)



CHAPTER XXVIII

THE GOVERNMENT OF HOLLAND

I. A CENTURY OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

Geographical juxtaposition, combined with historical circumstance, has determined that between the two modern kingdoms of Holland and Belgium, widely as they differ in many fundamental characteristics, relations should be continuous and close. Both nations have sprung from groups of provinces comprised within the original Low Countries, or Netherlands. Following the memorable contest of the Dutch with Philip II. of Spain, the seven provinces to the north achieved their independence at the beginning of the seventeenth century and, under the name of the United Provinces, built up a system of government, republican in form though in operation much of the time really autocratic, which survived through more than two hundred years. The ten provinces to the south continued under the sovereignty of Spain until 1713, when by the Treaty of Utrecht they were transferred to Austria. They did not attain the status of independent nationality until 1831.

*570. The French Domination, 1793-1814.*—The constitutional arrangements operative in the Holland and Belgium of to-day are to be regarded as products largely of the era of the French Revolution and of the Napoleonic domination. Between 1795 and 1810 both groups of Low Country provinces were absorbed by France, and both were forced quite out of their accustomed political channels. The provinces comprising the Austrian Netherlands were overrun by a French army early in 1793. By decree of October 1, 1795, they were incorporated in the French Republic, being erected into nine departments; and by the Treaty of Luneville, February 9, 1801, they were definitely ceded by Austria to France.[716] February 1, 1793, the French Republic declared war upon Holland. During the winter of 1794—1795 the Dutch provinces were (p. 518) occupied, and by the Treaty of The Hague, May 16, 1795, they were erected into a new nationality known as the Batavian Republic, under the protection of France.[717] The constitution of the old republic was thoroughly overhauled and the stadtholderate, long in the possession of the house of Orange, was abolished. To the considerable body of anti-Orange republicans the coming of the French was, indeed, not unwelcome. May 24, 1806, the Batavian Republic was converted by Napoleon into the kingdom of Holland, and Louis Bonaparte, younger brother of the French Emperor, was set up as the unwilling sovereign of an unwilling people. Nominally, the new kingdom was both constitutional and independent; practically, it was an autocracy and a dependency of France. King Louis labored conscientiously to safeguard the interests of his Dutch subjects, but in vain. After four years he abdicated, under pressure; whereupon, July 9, 1810, an Imperial edict swept away what remained of the independent status of the Dutch people and incorporated the kingdom absolutely with France. The ancient provinces were replaced by seven departments; to the Dutch were assigned six seats in the French Senate, three in the Council of State, and twenty-five in the Legislative Body; a lieutenant-general was established at the head of the administrative system; and no effort was spared to obliterate all survivals of Dutch nationality.

[Footnote 716: L. Delplace, La Belgique sous la domination francaise, 2 vols. (Louvain, 1896); L. de Lanzac de Laborie, La domination francaise en Belgique, 2 vols. (Paris, 1895).]

[Footnote 717: L. Legrand, La revolution francaise en Hollande: la republique batave (Paris, 1894).]

*571. The Settlement by the Congress of Vienna: the Constitution of 1815.*—With the overthrow of Napoleon the fate of both the Dutch and the Belgian provinces fell to the arbitrament of the allied powers. In the first Treaty of Paris, concluded May 30, 1814, between the Allies on the one side and France on the other, it was stipulated that the Belgian territories should be joined with Holland and that the whole, under the name of the Kingdom of the United Netherlands, should be assigned to the restored house of Orange, in the person of William I., son of the stadtholder William V. Already, consequent upon the Dutch revolt which followed the defeat of Napoleon at Leipzig, William had been recalled from his eighteen-year exile. December 1, 1813, he had accepted formally the sovereignty of the Dutch provinces, and early in 1814 a constitution had been drawn up and put in operation. The desire of the Allies, particularly of Great Britain, was that there should be brought into existence in the Low Countries a state which should be sufficiently powerful to constitute a barrier to possible aggressions of France upon the north. The union of the Belgian with the Dutch provinces, was intended furthermore, to compensate the Dutch in (p. 519) some measure for their losses of colonial possessions to Great Britain during the war. By the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna, June 9, 1815, and by the second Peace of Paris, November 20 following, the arrangement was ratified. With Holland and the Austrian Netherlands were united in the new state the bishopric of Liege, the duchy of Limburg, and the duchy (henceforth to be known as the grand-duchy) of Luxemburg. The last-mentioned territory, while included in the Germanic Confederation, was bestowed upon the Dutch sovereign in compensation for German principalities ceded by him at this time to Prussia.[718] March 15, 1815, William began his reign under the new regime in Holland, and September 27 following he was crowned at Brussels.

[Footnote 718: These ceded territories comprised the ancestral domains of the house of Nassau which lay in Germany—Dietz, Siegen, Hadamar, and Dillenburg. The grand-duchy of Luxemburg was joined with the Netherlands by a personal union only, and in its capital, as a fortress of the German Confederation, was maintained a Prussian garrison. William dealt with the territory, however, precisely as if it were an integral part of his kingdom, extending to it the constitution of 1815 and administering its affairs through the agency of Dutch officials. At the time of the Belgian revolt, in 1830, Luxemburg broke away from Dutch rule and there ensued in the history of the grand-duchy an anomalous period during which the legal status of the territory was hotly disputed. In 1839 the Conference of London assigned to Belgium that portion of the grand-duchy which was contiguous to her frontiers and remanded the remainder to the status of an hereditary possession of the house of Nassau. In 1856 a separate constitution was granted the people of the territory, and in 1867, following the dissolution of the old Germanic Confederation, the grand-duchy was declared by an international conference at London to be a sovereign and independent (but neutral) state, under the guaranty of the powers. The connection between Luxemburg and Holland was thereafter purely dynastic. Until the death of William III., in 1890, the king of the Netherlands was also grand-duke of Luxemburg; but with the accession of Queen Wilhelmina the union of the two countries was terminated, by reason of the fact that females were at that time excluded from the throne of the grand-duchy. A law of 1907, however, vested the succession in the princess Marie, eldest daughter of the reigning Grand-Duke William; and upon the death of her father, Feb. 26, 1912, this heiress succeeded to the grand-ducal throne. The head of the state is the grand-duke (or grand-duchess). There is a council of state nominated by the sovereign and a chamber of deputies of 53 members, elected directly by the cantons for six years. The state has an area of but 998 square miles and a population (in 1910) of 259,891. P. Eyschen, Das Staatsrecht des Grossherzogtums Luxemburg (Tuebingen, 1910).]

In fulfillment of a promise made his people, King William promulgated, August 24, 1815, a new constitution, drafted by a commission consisting of an equal number of Dutch and Belgian members. The instrument provided for a States-General of two chambers, one consisting of members appointed for life by the crown, the other composed of an equal number (55) of Dutch and Belgian deputies elected by the provincial estates. Bills might be rejected, but might not (p. 520) be originated or amended, by this assembly. The suffrage was severely restricted; trial by jury was not guaranteed; the budget was to be voted for a number of years at a time; ministers were declared responsible solely to the king; and, all in all, there was in the new system little enough of liberalism. When the instrument was laid before a Belgian assembly it was overwhelmingly rejected. None the less it was declared in effect, and it continued the fundamental law of the united dominions of William I. until 1830.

*572. The Belgian Revolution, 1830-1831.*—Friction between the Dutch and the Belgians was from the outset incessant. The union was essentially an artificial one, and the honest efforts of the king to bring about a genuine amalgamation but emphasized the irreconcilable differences of language, religion, economic interest, and political inheritance that separated the two peoples. The population of Belgium was 3,400,000; that of Holland but 2,000,000. Yet the voting power of the former in the lower legislative chamber was no greater than that of the latter, and in fact the Dutch were able all the while to maintain in that body a small working majority. Administrative offices were filled, in large part, by Dutchmen, and the attitude quite commonly assumed (in a measure, without doubt, unconsciously) by the public authorities strongly suggested that Holland was the preponderating power and Belgium little more than so much subjugated territory. The upshot was discontent and eventual rebellion. In 1828 the principal political parties of Belgium, the Catholics and the Liberals, drew together in the "Union," the object of which was to bring about the recognition of Belgian independence, or, in the event that this should prove impossible of attainment, the establishment of thoroughgoing Belgian autonomy, with no union with Holland save of a purely personal character through the crown. Inspired by the success of the July Revolution in France, and hopeful of obtaining French assistance, the Belgians in August, 1830, broke into open revolt. After a period of violence, a provisional government at Brussels, October 4, 1830, proclaimed Belgium's independence and summoned a national congress to which was committed the task of drawing up a scheme of government. Aroused by the imminent loss of half of his dominion, King William, after an ineffectual display of military force, offered concessions; and the States-General went so far as to authorize the establishment in the southern provinces of a separate administrative system, such as at one time would have met the Belgian demand. The day for compromise, however, had passed. The Belgian congress voted overwhelmingly for the establishment of an independent monarchy, adopted (February 7, 1831) a liberal constitution, and, (p. 521) after offering the throne without avail to the Duke of Nemours, second son of Louis Philippe of France, selected as king the German Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, who, under the title of Leopold I., was crowned July 21 of the same year.

*573. The Independence of Belgium.*—These proceedings involved the overturning of an arrangement which the Allies in 1815 had considered essential to the security of Europe. Several considerations, however,—among them the outbreak of insurrection in Poland,—induced the powers to acquiesce with unexpected readiness in the dissolution of the loose-jointed monarchy. December 20, 1830, a conference of the five principal powers at London formally pronounced in favor of a permanent separation, and when, in August, 1831, a Dutch army crossed the frontier and inflicted upon the Belgians an overwhelming defeat, a French force compelled the invaders to surrender the fruits of their victory and to retire from the country. A treaty of separation was drawn up by the London conference under date of November 25, 1831, under whose terms there were recognized both the independence and the neutrality of the new Belgian monarchy. William of Holland protested and flatly refused to sign the instrument. The British and French governments compelled him outwardly to acquiesce in the agreement, although it was not until April 19, 1839, that he gave it his formal assent. Embittered by his losses and chagrined by the constitutional amendments to which his own people compelled him to submit, he abdicated in 1840 in favor of his son.[719]

[Footnote 719: On the constitutional aspects of Dutch-Belgian history in the period 1815-1840 see Cambridge Modern History, X., Chap. 16 (bibliography, pp. 848-851); D. C. Boulger, History of Belgium, 2 vols. (London, 1909), I.; Stern, Geschichte Europas, IV., Chap. 2. General works of importance include J. B. Nothomb, Essai historique et politique sur la revolution belge, 3 vols. (4th ed., Brussels, 1876); C. White, The Belgian Revolution, 2 vols. (London, 1835); C. V. de Bavay, Histoire de la revolution belge de 1830 (Brussels, 1873); L. Hymans, Histoire politique et parlementaire de la Belgique de 1814 a 1830 (Brussels, 1869); J. J. Thonissen, La Belgique sous le regne de Leopold Ier, 3 vols. (Louvain, 1861).]

*574. Constitutional Revision in Holland.*—After 1831 the constitutional development of Holland and that of Belgium move in separate channels.[720] In Holland the fundamental law of 1815 was retained, but the modifications which have been introduced in it, notably in 1840, 1848, and 1887, have so altered its character as to have made of it an essentially new instrument. The revision of 1840 was forced upon the king by the Liberals, whose position was strengthened by the fiscal chaos into which the nation had fallen (p. 522) under the previous autocratic regime. The reformers got very much less than they demanded. Instead of the ministerial responsibility and the public control of the finances for which they asked they procured only an arrangement to the effect that the budget should be submitted to the States-General every two years and the colonial balance sheet yearly, together with certain changes of detail, including a curtailment of the civil list and a reduction of the membership of the States-General in consequence of the loss of Belgium. Yet these reforms were well worth while.

[Footnote 720: For that of Belgium see p. 534.]

During the reign of William II. (1840-1849) the demand for constitutional revision was incessant. The king was profuse in promises, but vacillating. In 1844, and again in 1845, a specific programme of revision failed of adoption. By 1848, however, economic distress and popular discontent had become so pronounced that the sovereign was forced to act. The overthrow of Louis Philippe at Paris, too, was not without effect. March 17 the king named a state commission of five members which was authorized to draft a revision of the constitution, and the resulting instrument, after being adopted in an extraordinary session of the States-General, was promulgated November 3. The revision of 1848 introduced into the Dutch constitutional system many fundamental changes. Instead of being appointed by the crown, members of the upper branch of the States-General were thereafter to be elected by the provincial estates; and in the choice of members of the lower house, direct popular elections were substituted for indirect. The ministers of the king were made responsible to the States-General, and the powers of the legislative body were otherwise increased through the extension of its authority over colonial affairs, provision for a regular annual budget, and, most of all, recognition of the right to initiate and to amend projects of legislation. Constitutional government in Holland may be said virtually to have had its beginning in 1848.

*575. The Constitution To-day.*—Through several decades following the accession of William III., in 1849, the political history of Holland comprises largely a story of party strife, accentuated by the efforts of the various political groups—especially the Liberals, the Conservatives, and the Catholics—to apply in practice the parliamentary system.[721] The death of Prince Alexander, June 21, 1884, occasioned a constitutional amendment to provide for the accession of a female sovereign and the establishment of a regency, and three years later a parliamentary deadlock compelled the king to authorize a general revision of the fundamental law whereby the (p. 523) number of citizens in possession of the franchise was more than tripled. The constitution of Holland at the present day is the amended instrument of November 6, 1887. It comprises more than two hundred articles, being, indeed, one of the lengthiest documents of its kind in existence. Like most European constitutions, it may be amended by the ordinary legislative organs, though under specially prescribed conditions. The first step in the amending process consists in the adoption by the legislative chambers of a resolution affirming that there is sufficient reason for taking under consideration the amendment or amendments in hand. Following the promulgation of this resolution the chambers are required to be dissolved. The newly elected houses then take up the project for final disposition, and if by a two-thirds vote they adopt it, and if the sovereign assents, it goes into operation.[722]

[Footnote 721: Cambridge Modern History, XI., Chap. 23.]

[Footnote 722: Arts. 194-197. Dodd, Modern Constitutions, II., 118. The text of the constitution, in English translation, is printed in Dodd, II., 80-119. An excellent annotated edition of the instrument, in Dutch, is G. L. van den Helm, De Grondwet voor het koningrijk der Nederlanden (The Hague, 1889). An elaborate commentary is contained in J. T. Buijs, De Grondwet, 3 vols. (Arnheim, 1883-1888). One of the best expositions of the Dutch constitutional system is L. de Hartog, Das Staatsrecht des Koenigreichs der Niederlande (Freiburg, 1886), in Marquardsen's Handbuch, though this work antedates the amendments of 1887. More recent is J. van Hamel, Staats-und Verwaltungsrecht des Koenigreichs der Niederlande (Hanover, 1910).]

II. THE CROWN AND THE MINISTRY

*576. Status of the Sovereign.*—The government of Holland[723] is in form a constitutional, hereditary monarchy. Until 1884 the royal succession was vested exclusively in the direct male line of the house of Orange-Nassau in the order of primogeniture. The death, however, in the year mentioned, of the sole surviving male heir occasioned, as has been stated, an amendment of the constitution authorizing the succession of a female heir, in default of a male; and, upon the death of William III., November 23, 1890, the throne accordingly passed to his only daughter, the present Queen Wilhelmina.[724] In default of a legal heir, the successor to the throne is to be designated by a law presented by the crown and acted upon by a joint meeting of the legislative chambers, each house containing for this purpose double its usual (p. 524) number of members. In the event of the minority or the incapacity of the sovereign a regency is established, and the regent is named by law enacted by the States-General in joint session.[725]

[Footnote 723: The official title is "The Kingdom of the Netherlands." In ordinary usage, however, the term "Holland" is more commonly employed.]

[Footnote 724: Wilhelmina was at the time but ten years of age. Until she attained her majority, August 31, 1898, a regency was exercised by the Queen-Dowager Emma. E. Lemonon, La succession au trone neerlandais, in Questions Diplomatiques et Coloniales, December 1, 1908.]

[Footnote 725: Arts. 20-21. Dodd, Modern Constitutions, II., 84.]

The sovereign, at accession, is installed in a public joint meeting of the two chambers in the city of Amsterdam, and is required to take oath always "to observe and maintain the constitution;" whereupon the members of the chambers solemnly pledge themselves "to do everything that a good and loyal States-General ought to do." The person of the monarch is declared inviolable. For the maintenance of the royal establishment the constitution stipulates that, in addition to the revenue from the crown lands, the sovereign shall be entitled to a yearly income, to be paid out of the national treasury, together with summer and winter residences, the maximum public expenditure upon which, however, is restricted to 50,000 florins a year. At each accession the amount of the annual stipend is fixed by law for the entire reign. William II.'s civil list was 1,000,000 guilders, but at the accession of William III. in 1849 the amount was reduced to 600,000, where it has remained to the present day. The family of Orange is possessed of a large private fortune, most of which was accumulated by William I. from a variety of commercial and industrial ventures. The Prince of Orange, as heir apparent, is accorded by the state an annual income of 100,000 florins, which is increased to 200,000 upon his contracting a marriage authorized by law.

*577. The Ministry.*—Associated with the sovereign is a Council of State, consisting of the Prince of Orange (when above eighteen years of age) and of a variable number of members appointed by the crown. The number of members is at present fourteen. By the terms of the constitution the sovereign is required to submit for discussion in the Council of State all matters to be presented to the States-General, and all general administrative questions of the kingdom and of its colonies and possessions throughout the world.[726] Besides this advisory Council of State there is a Council of Ministers, comprising the heads of nine executive departments established by the sovereign. Nominally the ministers are appointed and dismissed by the crown at will, but actually the parliamentary system has acquired sufficient foothold to impose upon the sovereign a considerable measure of restriction at this point. All decrees and orders must be countersigned by the head of one of the ministerial departments; and it is expressly stipulated that responsibility for all royal acts shall lie with the ministers.[727] The heads of ministerial (p. 525) departments are privileged to occupy seats in both branches of the States-General, but unless elected regularly as members they possess only a deliberative voice in the proceedings of the chamber in which they sit.[728]

[Footnote 726: Art. 75. Ibid., II., 94.]

[Footnote 727: Art. 54. Dodd, Modern Constitutions, II., 90.]

[Footnote 728: Art. 94. Ibid., II., 99.]

*578. The Exercise of Executive Powers.*—Despite the liberalizing tendencies which underlie Dutch constitutional history since 1815, the powers of the crown are still enormous. Executive authority is vested solely in the sovereign and the ministers, and there are not a few acts of importance which the sovereign may perform quite independently. The sovereign exercises supreme control over foreign relations, declares war, concludes and ratifies treaties,[729] confers titles of nobility, appoints to public offices, coins money, grants pardons in cases of penalties imposed by judicial sentence, maintains supreme control over the land and naval forces, settles certain types of disputes arising between provinces, or between provinces and communes or corporations, issues general administrative regulations, recommends projects of law to the States-General, and approves or rejects all measures adopted by that body. The sovereign is, however, in no sense above the law. Many things may not be done at all, save under the authority of a regularly enacted piece of legislation. Dispensations from legal provisions, for example, may be granted by the crown only under the authority of law. In still other respects the sweeping grants of power contained within the constitution are tempered by counter-balancing stipulations. Thus, the sovereign has the right to coin money; but it is also prescribed that "the monetary system shall be regulated by law."[730] And the crown has "supreme control of the colonies and possessions of the kingdom in other parts of the world;" but "the regulations for the conduct of the government in the colonies and possessions shall be established by law."[731]

[Footnote 729: Save that treaties which provide for modifications of the boundaries of the state, or impose a public pecuniary obligation, or contain any other provision touching legal rights, may not be approved by the crown until after sanction shall have been accorded by the States-General, unless the power has been reserved to the crown by law to conclude such a treaty. Art. 59. Dodd, Modern Constitutions, II., 91.]

[Footnote 730: Art. 61. Ibid., II., 91.]

[Footnote 731: Art. 61. Ibid.]

III. THE STATES-GENERAL AND POLITICAL PARTIES

*579. The Chambers: Earlier Electoral Arrangements.*—Legislative power within the kingdom is vested jointly in the sovereign and a States-General, or parliament, of two chambers. The upper chamber consists of (p. 526) fifty members elected in varying proportions by the "estates," or representative assemblies, of the eleven provinces.[732] The term of office is nine years, and one-third of the members retire triennially. Male citizens who have attained the age of thirty, who are in full control of their property, and who have not been disqualified by judicial sentence, are eligible to membership, provided either that they are among the heaviest payers of direct national taxes or that they hold, or have held, one or more principal public offices designated by law.[733]

[Footnote 732: The provincial quotas are as follows: South Holland, 10; North Holland, 9; North Brabant and Gelderland, 6 each; Friesland, 4; Overyssel, Groningen, and Limberg, 3 each; Zealand, Utrecht, and Drenthe, 2 each. Prior to the constitutional revision of 1848 members of the upper house were appointed by the king.]

[Footnote 733: Art. 90. Dodd, Modern Constitutions, II., 98.]

The lower chamber consists of one hundred members elected directly by the voters of the kingdom for a term of four years. Under the original constitution of 1815 members of the lower house were chosen by the provincial estates. Direct election was introduced by the constitutional revision of 1848. During several decades the franchise, based upon taxpaying qualifications, was narrowly restricted. After 1870 the Liberals carried on a persistent campaign in behalf of a broader electorate, and by a constitutional amendment of 1887 the franchise was extended to all males twenty-three years of age and over, who are householders paying a minimum house-duty, lodgers who for a time have paid a minimum rent, or who are possessed of "signs of fitness and social well-being." The provisions relating to householders and lodgers alone increased the electorate at a stroke from approximately 100,000 to 300,000. The precise meaning and application of the phrase "fitness and social well-being" were left to be defined by law, and through upwards of a decade political controversy in Holland centered principally about this question. The coalition Catholic-Conservative ministry of 1888-1891 refused flatly to sanction the enactment of any sort of law upon the subject. In 1893 the Liberal Minister of the Interior, Tak van Poortvliet, brought forward a project whereby it was proposed to put upon the qualifying phrase an interpretation of well-nigh the broadest possible character. A man was to be regarded as fulfilling the educational requirement if he were able to write, and the social requirement if simply he were not a recipient of public charity. By the adoption of this scheme the number of electors would have been raised to something like 800,000, and Holland would have attained a reasonable approximation of manhood suffrage. The Moderate Liberals, the Conservatives, and most of the Catholics opposed the proposition, and the elections of 1894 (p. 527) proved the supporters of the van Poortvliet programme to be in the minority. The total strength of the "Takkians" in the new chamber was 46, of whom 35 were Liberals; that of the "anti-Takkians" was 54, of whom 24 were Catholics.

*580. The Electoral Law of 1896 and the Question of Electoral Reform.*—In the newly constituted ministry it fell to Samuel van Houten, leader of a radical group that had opposed the van Poortvliet project, to prepare an alternative measure. In the notable electoral law of 1896 the compromise proposals of van Houten were definitely accepted, and they constitute the essential features of the electoral system at the present day. Under this arrangement the members of the lower chamber are elected in one hundred single-member districts by male citizens of the age of twenty-five and over, who meet any one of the following qualifications: (1) payment of a direct tax of at least one florin; (2) payment of a minimum rental as householders or lodgers; (3) proprietorship or rental of a vessel of at least twenty-four tons; (4) the earning of a wage or salary varying from 275 to 550 florins a year; (5) investment of one hundred florins in government bonds, or of fifty florins in a savings bank; and (6) the passing of an examination required for entrance upon a public office or upon a private employment. By the reform of 1896 the number of voters in the realm was increased to 700,000.

In 1905 there was created a royal commission of seven members to which was assigned the task of considering and reporting proposals relative to proportional representation, the salaries of members, and other questions of constitutional revision. The Government, however, reserved to itself specifically the right to bring forward proposals relating to the actual extension of the franchise. The report of this commission, submitted late in 1907, recommended, among other things, the introduction of proportional representation and (by a vote of six out of seven) the extension of the franchise to women. These suggestions failed of adoption, but late in 1910 a new commission was appointed, under the presidency of the Conservative premier Heemskerk, and to this body was given power to propose changes in any portion whatsoever of the governmental order. The successful operation of proportional representation in adjoining countries, especially Belgium and Sweden, renders it probable that the system will be adopted ultimately in Holland. The future of woman's suffrage is more problematical. Women already possess the right to vote in the proceedings of the dike associations if they are taxpayers or if they own property adjoining the dikes, and in June, 1908, the Lutheran Synod gave women the right to vote in ecclesiastical affairs on a (p. 528) footing with men. Since 1894 there has been a National Woman's Suffrage Society, to which was added, in 1906, a Woman's Suffrage League; and women are freely admitted to membership in the political clubs maintained by the adherents of the various parties.

Any male citizen who has attained his thirtieth year, who is in full possession of property, and who has not been disqualified by judicial sentence, is eligible to a seat in the popular chamber. By constitutional provision, members are allowed, in addition to travelling expenses, a salary of 2,000 florins a year; and, under law of May 4, 1889, members of the upper house who do not live in the place of meeting receive a per diem of ten florins during the continuance of each session.

*581. The States-General: Organization and Powers.*—The constitution requires that the States-General shall assemble at least once each year and that its regular annual session shall be opened on the third Tuesday in September. The sovereign may convoke an extraordinary session at any time; but regular sessions are not dependent upon the royal summons. The crown possesses the right to dissolve the houses, separately or simultaneously; but a decree of dissolution must contain an order for the election of the new house, or houses, within fourteen days, and for the assembling of the houses within two months.[734] Except in the event of a dissolution, a regular session is required to extend through at least twenty days; but upon the expiration of the twenty-day period the sovereign may terminate the sitting whenever in his judgment "the interests of the state no longer require its continuance."[735] The president of the upper house is appointed by the crown from among the members for the period of one session. The corresponding officer of the lower house is similarly appointed from a list of three members submitted by the chamber. Each house appoints, from non-members, its clerk and such other officials as may be required; each examines the credentials of its newly elected members and renders final verdict upon their validity; and each regulates the details of its own procedure. Except when one-tenth of the members of a chamber request the closing of the doors, or the president deems such a step necessary, sessions are public. Neither house may take action upon any matter unless at least half of its members are present, and final action upon all propositions is taken by an absolute majority of the members present. A portion of the business of the States-General is transacted in joint sessions of the two houses. In joint session the two are regarded as one chamber, under the presidency of the president of the upper house. For the changing (p. 529) of the order of royal succession or the appointment of an heir to the throne, the constitution requires that the membership of each chamber be doubled. In such an event there is added to the regular members of each house an equal number of extraordinary members, elected in the same manner as the regular members.[736]

[Footnote 734: Art. 73. Dodd, Modern Constitutions, II., 94.]

[Footnote 735: Art. 103. Ibid., II., 100.]

[Footnote 736: Art. 83. Dodd, Modern Constitutions, II., 96.]

In the proceedings of the States-General the lower chamber enjoys a distinct preponderance. The upper chamber, indeed, is commonly regarded as constitutionally the weakest body of its kind in Europe. It possesses neither the power to initiate legislation, general or financial, nor power to amend projects of law. Any measure which comes before it must be accepted or rejected as it stands. Bills may be originated either by the Government or by members of the lower chamber, and it is required that the sovereign shall send all recommendations, whether pertaining to laws or to other matters, to the lower house, in a written message or by committee.[737] The projects of the general financial laws must be presented annually to the lower house in the name of the crown, immediately after the opening of the regular session. No taxes may be levied save by law. In addition to its powers of a purely legislative character, the States-General is authorized to investigate, either as separate chambers or in joint session, the executive conduct of public affairs.[738] Under stipulated conditions, the States-General, by a two-thirds vote, and with the assent of the crown, may amend the constitution.[739]

[Footnote 737: Art. 110. Ibid., II., 101.]

[Footnote 738: Art. 95. Ibid., II., 99.]

[Footnote 739: See p. 523.]

*582. Political Parties: Election of 1903.*—Since the middle of the nineteenth century political preponderance has alternated irregularly between two principal party groups. One of these is the Liberals, representative especially of the commercial towns, and falling into the two general categories of Moderates and Progressives. The other is the Conservatives, consisting largely of orthodox Protestants, especially the Calvinistic peasantry, and supported, as a rule, by the Catholics. In more recent times the Socialists have made their appearance as a distinct political element, but thus far they have cast in their lot regularly with the Liberals. Between 1871 and 1888 the Liberals were in power continuously; and, after a brief interval covered by a Conservative-Catholic ministry, they regained control and kept it throughout the decade 1891-1901. In 1901 a coalition ministry was created, under the premiership of the Conservative Dr. Kuyper. This lasted until 1903.