=Copyright, 1897, by THE GREAT ROUND WORLD Publishing Company.=
* * * * *
The troubles in Austria have not been brought to a close by the downfall
of Count Badeni and the appointment of Baron von Gautsch.
Count Badeni was, as you will remember, particularly obnoxious to the
German element in Austria, and many people thought that his dismissal
would restore harmony. Instead, it has given rise to some very serious
rioting in Bohemia.
We explained to you in a former number that Austro-Hungary is composed
of a number of states and provinces.
The leading races in this much-disturbed country are the Germans, the
Slavs, and the Magyars.
The Germans number about ten and a half millions; the Slavs, who
comprise about nine distinct races, about twenty millions; and the
Magyars about seven and a half millions.
The most important of the Slavs are the Czechs, or Bohemians, who number
about five and a half of the total twenty millions.
While, as you can readily see, the Slavonic races considerably outnumber
the Germans and the Magyars, the government is vested in these two
latter races, and therefore the Slavs are forced to obey the will of the
governing people. They do so, as we have seen, with a very bad grace.
Between the Magyars and the Germans there is no great friendliness, but
the Hungarians have their own parliament, and are independent in many
things. Between the Austrians and the Czechs there is an intense and
undying antipathy, which it seems impossible to overcome.
The Bohemians would like to be as independent as the Hungarians, but
their desires are not heeded, and they are forced to submit to the
government of the Austrian Reichsrath or parliament.
In this assembly, however, they can show their true sentiments, and the
friction between the rival races is extraordinary. If the Bohemians want
any special laws made, the Germans oppose them. If the Germans try to
get a measure through the parliament that is for their benefit alone,
the Czechs combine to defeat it.
When, therefore, the German party succeeded in ousting Count Badeni, the
Czechs were furious.
The German Austrians foolishly celebrated their victory with bonfires
and illuminations, making a fête of the success which was so hateful to
the Czechs.
The angry Bohemians sought revenge in riot.
In Prague, the capital of Bohemia, there were fierce anti-German
risings.
The houses of the Germans were bombarded with stones, the German theatre
and German restaurants were attacked and damaged, and the German
Quarter, or portion of the city where most of the Germans live, was
visited by an angry mob which plundered the houses and shops.
All persons speaking the German language were subject to attack, and for
this reason the unfortunate and harmless Jews came in for their share of
the popular hatred. The majority of them do not speak Czech, and many of
the signs over their shops are in the hated German language. Many of
them were therefore robbed, beaten, and cruelly ill-treated.
The riots grew so serious that they almost amounted to a rebellion.
Thousands of Czechs streamed into Prague to assist the rioters. The
streets were filled with furious men, who attacked and beat any person
using words of German. The very women on their way to market were not
safe. They were obliged to wear the Bohemian national colors to save
themselves from attack.
One poor old woman was severely beaten because she could not speak
Czech. About three hundred Germans were taken to the hospitals,
suffering from wounds they had received.
The disturbances having assumed such a serious character, the troops
were ordered out to restore order.
They were greeted with showers of stones, broken glass, or any missile
that came handy. The soldiers were finally obliged to fire on the mob,
and in consequence many persons were injured.
The riots continuing, Prague was put under martial law, and regiments
were drafted from Vienna to assist in quelling them. Twelve thousand in
all have been massed in the city of Prague. It is evident that the
Government considers the situation grave, as the men have been sent out
armed as for war, and furnished with the various necessaries as for a
regular campaign.
When martial law is proclaimed in a district, it means that all persons
within a certain limit are to be subject to the rules and regulations in
use in times of war.
These rules are very strict. Persons who resist are arrested, tried, and
severely punished. Sometimes if they cannot give a good account of
themselves they are hanged as spies.
The law that has been proclaimed in Prague is known as the Standrecht,
and is not exactly martial law. Instead of the military officers sitting
in judgment on suspected persons, the civil judges of the law courts are
given military powers. They try and sentence people with military haste,
and their sentences are put into effect within a few hours after they
have been passed.
There is no appeal from the judgments of the Standrecht; and so quickly
are they carried out, that if a person is ordered to be hanged, and the
regular executioner is busy, the judge can call on the soldiers to carry
out the sentence.
No sooner were these severe measures enforced in Prague, than the wrath
of the people began to calm down.
Four men were handed over to the mercy of the judges; each received a
sentence of twenty years' imprisonment, and was immediately taken away
without time for farewells.
The hand of the law is very heavy in Prague at this moment, and for this
reason her citizens are gradually returning to their senses.
Throughout the length and breadth of this great city the people are
forced to live by military rules. Among other orders, the commanding
officer insists that the house doors must be closed at seven every
evening. Shops have to be closed at five, cafés must have their lights
out and doors closed at nine, and every person in the city has to give
an account of himself whenever it is required.
Under these laws the people of Prague will continue to live until peace
is restored. The condition of the city is very pitiable. The schools are
closed, the hotels are empty, and the tradespeople declare that
bankruptcy lies before them.
Amazing stories are told of the dreadful things done by the rioters in
their hatred of everything German. It is said that the Children's
Hospital was attacked, and pelted with stones until all the windows were
broken. The poor little invalids were for hours subjected to the
freezing cold, and all because the doctors and nurses were Austrian
Germans. In another part of the city an ambulance with a sick man in it
was attacked by the mob, because the doctor riding with the patient was
known to be a German.
* * * * *
While these horrors have been going forward in Prague, matters have not
improved much in Vienna.
The two parties are more furious against each other than ever. It is
asserted that if the Reichsrath reassembles with the same president, the
previous disgraceful riots will be repeated.
It is said, however, that there is a chance of an understanding on the
language question, but it is thought that it will be impossible to pass
the Austro-Hungarian Compromise Bill in the Reichsrath.
This bill is the contract which holds Austria and Hungary together as
one country, and which, as we have told you, expires on December 31st of
this year.
If it is not renewed, Austria and Hungary must be separated.
As it has been impossible for the two nations to agree as to the terms
of the new contract, it has, as we have told you, been suggested to make
a temporary one for one year, which will bind the kingdoms while the
permanent contract is being prepared.
It is this one-year agreement which it is supposed cannot be passed by
the Reichsrath.
If it becomes evident that the Reichsrath will not pass this necessary
bill, it is thought that the Emperor will finally take advantage of his
right under the constitution, and, dissolving the Reichsrath, act on his
own authority, and accept a one-year's agreement with Hungary.
If Francis Joseph is forced to take such a step it is likely that he may
not call a new parliament for some time, but govern the country himself.
In the mean while, Baron Banffy, the Hungarian Prime Minister, has
offered a bill in the Hungarian Reichstag (parliament) on this vexed
question.
The Austrian parliament is called the "Reichsrath," the Hungarian the
"Reichstag."
This bill provides that the contract between Hungary and Austria shall
remain in force for another year, till December, 1898, and that if new
arrangements have not been made by that time the compact shall be
finally broken.
If nothing satisfactory has been proposed by May, 1898, the Government
promises to submit proposals for the regulation of matters between the
two countries, which shall go into force when the contract expires in
December, 1898.
As soon as this bill had been read, Francis Kossuth (who, as we told
you, is the son of the great Hungarian patriot, Louis Kossuth) asked
leave to make suggestions in regard to the bill.
It being late, the house adjourned, after granting him permission to
speak on the following day.
Everybody was eager to know what Kossuth would do. His love for his
country and his desire to see her free were so well known that it was
supposed that he had some plan to secure his hoped-for project.
As was expected, he made a strong plea that Hungary should declare her
freedom.
Having pointed out to the members that the present was a golden
opportunity in which to throw off the Austrian yoke, he ended his speech
by asking that Baron Banffy's bill be referred to a committee.
Those who understand parliamentary procedure will see that this was a
very clever move. Kossuth hoped thus to delay the final discussion of
the bill until after the date of the treaty had expired, and then
Hungary would once more have her freedom.
In getting the matter referred to a committee, he was submitting it to
all the delays that attend parliamentary work. It would be placed in the
hands of men who would be obliged to discuss it thoroughly before they
could report it, and it would be unlikely that it could be returned to
parliament before the beginning of January, when it would be too late to
be of any use.
What the result of this clever move was, we have not yet heard.
It is thought by many people that the fall of the Austrian Empire is at
hand.
Some fear that the German element may appeal to Emperor William of
Germany, and that a war in which Germany, Austria, and Russia will be
concerned may be the upshot of the present troubles.
* * * * *
Germany has a good deal on her hands at this moment.
In regard to Haiti, the case of young Lueders seems to be more
complicated than it at first appeared.
By the laws of Haiti he is a Haitian, having been born on Haitian soil
of a native mother; but he was educated in Germany, and served his time
in the German army, so he has voluntarily assumed the duties of German
citizenship.
This makes the case hard to handle.
Haiti has a perfect right to insist that he is a citizen, and must be
treated according to her laws, but Germany has also some right to say
that he is a German citizen, and shall not be abused by a foreign
country. Were Haiti a more powerful country than she is, there is little
doubt that she would take a stand and insist on her rights, but as it
is, she does not dare to resist a strong power like Germany.
There was, as we told you, a report current that Germany did not intend
to send any ship to Haiti, but that the matter would be settled by
arbitration.
Three days after the announcement, two German cruisers entered the
harbor of Port-au-Prince, and sent in an ultimatum, which is a
government's final decision on a given subject.
The Haitian Government was informed that unless Germany's demands were
submitted to within eight hours, the town would be bombarded.
Germany had said that two of her schoolships would visit the West Indies
during the winter, and the two vessels which arrived at Port-au-Prince
are believed to have been the two in question. They were, however, so
fully equipped, and presented such a formidable appearance, that they
were quite sufficient to seriously alarm the Haitians.
Word had been sent a few days previously that two German vessels were
making all haste to Port-au-Prince, but thinking them the coming
schoolships, the Haitians felt no fear. They determined to resist these
German schoolboys to the last, and armed themselves to fight their foe.
When the German vessels finally made their appearance, and the Haitians
saw for themselves that these so-called schoolships seemed to have just
as many seamen and murderous-looking guns as the ordinary man-of-war,
their courage oozed out at their finger-tips.
Before the ships came in sight, they had paraded the city, crying "Down
with the Government!" in their fear that President Simon Sam might
submit.
Now, in face of the two cruisers, affairs took on a new complexion, and
when they heard that the town would be bombarded if Germany's demands
were not acceeded to within eight hours, the natives' only fear was that
the President would _not_ submit.
The foreign residents did not feel any more cheerful than the Haitians.
The members of the French colony took refuge on the French ships in the
harbor; the Germans hurried on board their own vessels; the English
sought shelter on their trading steamers; and the Americans, having no
vessels in the harbor, went to the house of the minister, carrying with
them the most valuable of their possessions.
President Simon Sam determined to resist as long as he dared. He sent a
request to the commander of the German vessels, for more time to
consider.
The German commander refused, and one of the "schoolships" cleared its
decks for action, and took up a position close to the Haitian
war-vessels.
Clearing the decks for action means that everything possible is removed
from the deck, and a clear space left for the sailors to work the ship
in.
The Haitians then became convinced that Germany would not be trifled
with, and the Government decided to yield.
President Simon Sam had feared that if he yielded too easily, the people
would be infuriated with him, and try to put down his Government, so he
held out until the cruiser was actually threatening the town, and then
submitted. The money demanded by Germany as damages for Lueders, $30,000
in all, was sent on board the German vessel.
The President at the same time issued a notice to the people of Haiti,
telling them he had been compelled to yield the rights of Haiti to the
superior force of Germany.
The Haitians, besides sending the money, saluted the German flag, and
sent a letter of apology to Germany.
Had the Haitians held out, and allowed the Germans to bombard their
city, the United States would have been bound to interfere. It is said
that the officials of our Government are very glad that the difficulty
has been settled without our being forced to take part in it.
* * * * *
Germany seems to be in great luck at this moment.
It is reported that China, not being strong enough to fight the Germans,
and drive them out of her country, has decided to give up Kiao-Chou to
them.
This rumor has not as yet been confirmed, and it seems hardly to be
believed, when we take into consideration the fact that only a week ago
the Chinese Emperor said he would rather give up his crown than yield to
the enormous demands of Germany.
The day after this announcement was made, two hundred German marines and
sailors entered the city of Kiao-Chou, which is eighteen miles from the
Bay, and took possession of it.
The Chinese forts protecting the town opened fire on the Germans; but
when the invaders replied with their splendid modern guns, the Chinese
retreated, and the Germans took possession of the city without further
trouble.
Several German sailors were injured by stones, flung at them by the
inhabitants of the villages through which they marched; but beyond that
they suffered no loss, and their second victory, the taking of the city,
was as easy as their first, when they captured the forts protecting
Kiao-Chou Bay.
Whether the reports that China has given up Kiao-Chou be true or false,
it is certain that Germany has no intention of letting the prize she
holds slip through her fingers.
She has just sent out a reinforcement of twelve hundred marines and two
hundred artillerymen, under the command of the Emperor's brother, Prince
Henry of Prussia.
Marines are soldiers who form a part of the equipment of war-vessels.
They have none of the sailors' duties, and do not handle the ships, but
are sea troops, so to speak, who fight on shipboard, or are landed to
attack a town, as in the case of Kiao-Chou.
They are a very useful body of men; but being neither soldiers nor
sailors, according to the recognized idea of the terms, they are looked
down upon by both soldiers and jack tars. In England it is a common
saying that a marine is "neither fish, flesh, fowl, nor good red
herring."
It is stated that the principal reason for the seizure of Kiao-Chou Bay
was that Germany desired to have her share of the China trade. Finding
that China was indifferent to her wishes, she determined to seize upon a
portion of Chinese soil, and put herself in a position to force the
Asiatic kingdom to listen to her demands and obey them.
A later telegram from China says that Germany has agreed to give up
Kiao-Chou Bay for a coaling-station at Sam-Sah, which is on the coast of
China, facing Formosa, the island Japan secured from China in the late
war.
This report is also as yet unconfirmed, and so we must wait until next
week to know which is the correct one.
* * * * *
From the latest Cuban news, it would seem that the insurgents are
gaining a good many victories.
The leader of the Spanish forces, General Pando, was met by the Cubans
in a heavy engagement in Santa Clara province. The first reports that
reached us were that the Cubans had won the victory, and General Pando
had been killed.
This report was denied by the Spaniards, but nevertheless no news has
been received from this leader since the engagement.
The Spanish authorities are awaiting information with the deepest
anxiety. The idea is growing daily stronger that some disaster must have
overtaken him, and that he has been cut off from communication with
Havana; otherwise no one can account for the fact that no news of any
kind has been received from him.
In addition to this, the towns of Guisa and Canto el Embarcadero have
been captured by the Cubans. A force of Spanish guerillas, fifty strong,
have gone over to the insurgents, carrying with them arms, ammunition,
and a large sum of money. Gomez is busy in Santa Clara, organizing his
forces to make a strong stand against the Spanish troops.
As we told you, the Government has issued an order permitting the
grinding of the sugar-cane.
Gomez is determined to prevent this. In the Western provinces, the
rebels have divided themselves into small bands, and are burning such
cane-fields as the desolation of the war has left growing.
Gomez himself will destroy the fields of Santa Clara.
You probably remember the methods employed by the insurgents for burning
the cane at the beginning of the war.
They caught snakes, which are very plentiful in the swampy districts of
Cuba, and rubbing their bodies with kerosene, set fire to them, and then
threw them into the cane-fields.
The agonized reptiles, in their efforts to rub the burning oil from
their bodies, twined around the cane, twisted from stem to stem, and set
the fields on fire in a hundred places at once.
A big engagement is reported near Sancti Spiritus, and it is also said
that the rebels have hanged fifteen persons who have approached them
with proposals of Home Rule.
This does not look as if the island would soon be pacified.
* * * * *
The Government in Spain appears to be satisfied with the President's
Message, the substance of which you will find in this number of THE
GREAT ROUND WORLD.
You will see, when you look at it, that the President does not think it
wise to interfere for the present, but thinks it right to give Spain
time to try what Home Rule will do.
It is doubtful, however, whether the proposed reforms can be made
acceptable to the majority of the Cubans.
A fresh proclamation, signed by a number of the lesser Cuban chiefs, has
been issued. In it the insurgents state very decidedly that they are
fighting for liberty, and will have nothing but liberty from Spain. They
declare, in so many words, that their watchword is "Freedom or Death."
It is not going to be easy to pacify so determined a people.
The Havana volunteers are now giving the Government much trouble and
putting fresh obstacles in the way of the success of the reforms.
We spoke about this body of men at the time of Weyler's leave-taking,
and told you how opposed they were to showing kindness or mercy to the
Cubans, believing only in Weyler's cruel methods.
These volunteers are violently enraged against the proposed Home Rule,
and in addition have another grievance against the Government.
They have been in the habit of doing the kid-glove soldiering of the
island, mustering and parading in handsome uniforms; their heaviest work
has been to occasionally go on guard duty at the palace, where the
Captain-General lives, or at the bank.
General Blanco is anxious to suppress the revolution, and, wishing to
make use of every man who can carry arms, decided to put this idle force
into the field.
This the volunteers refused to submit to. It is said that they will
mutiny rather than undertake any useful duties.
Perhaps a little ashamed to state the true cause of their anger, they
have laid it all to the score of Home Rule, and declare that if Spain
cannot protect them they would rather submit to American government than
be ruled by Cubans.
The disaffected volunteers have declared their intention of wearing the
white badge of Don Carlos, and will appeal to him rather than allow the
hated Home Rule to be carried out.
In Spain, also, the Carlist party is making strong protests against the
establishment of Home Rule, and it is thought that Don Carlos will seize
this measure as a pretext for coming forward and making one more effort
to gain the throne of Spain.
Several of the Spanish journals have begun to speak of him as "the
king," and, strange to say, this treasonable conduct has been allowed to
go unpunished.
* * * * *
The stone house at Tappan on the Hudson River, in which Major John André
was imprisoned before he was hanged as a spy, is about to be opened to
the public.
For forty years it has been owned by a gentleman who absolutely refused
to allow any one to enter it.
A few weeks ago a heavy storm of wind and rain threw down the whole
front of the house, and immediately scores of relic-hunters descended
upon the house, and, delighted that they no longer need be deterred from
satisfying their curiosity, roamed at will over the ruin, carrying away
scraps of wood and stone as mementos of their visit.
Disgusted that he could no longer keep his property to himself, the
owner sold the old house. The present proprietor intends to rebuild the
front wall and preserve the rest of the building as it is, using it as a
picnic resort.
This old house has a very interesting record.
During the Revolutionary times it was known as the Mabie Tavern, and the
old tap-room, with its ancient bar, is still as it was in those
troublous times.
Major André was the officer who, as the representative of the British
general, Sir Henry Clinton, made arrangements with the infamous traitor,
Benedict Arnold, for the surrender of West Point.
On returning from his interview with Arnold at Stony Point, André was
arrested at Tarrytown and taken across the Tappan Zee. He was tried by
court-martial and sentenced to be hanged as a spy. The sentence was
carried out in October, 1780.
The tavern was used as a prison, and the room in which André was visited
by Alexander Hamilton, and the window from which the doomed man was
supposed to have looked out on his place of execution, are still in good
preservation.