HUNGARY AND HER NEIGHBORS.
Southeastern Europe is out of the line of travel and little known
to us, if I can measure the knowledge of others by my own. In
order to learn something of this section we came northwest from
Constantinople through Bulgaria, Servia and Hungary. We passed
through European Turkey in the night, and morning found us in
Bulgaria, where nothing but an occasional minaret remained to remind
us of the Orient. Strange that so great a difference exists between
two populations separated for centuries by nothing but an imaginary
line. No more the Turk with his wealth of leisure, his baggy
trousers and his gay headgear, but the sturdy peasant working in the
field with his unveiled wife or trudging along the road carrying
his produce to market; no more begging for baksheesh by lame and
halt and blind, but a busy, industrious throng, each laboring
apparently with a purpose and a hope. All day long we rode past
well cultivated fields and tidy villages. The Bulgarians, judged by
appearance, might be thought a mixture of German and Italian, but
they are really Slavic in their origin. I had the good fortune to
meet a former minister, a very intelligent man with a good command
of English, and learned from him that there is a strong democratic
sentiment in that country and that the people are making constant
progress in the matter of education and political intelligence.
He said that during his ministry he had introduced into Bulgaria the
American homestead law and that it had resulted in an increase in
the number of peasant proprietors. It was gratifying to know that
American example had been helpful to people so remote from us. He
also spoke of the establishment in his country of state insurance
against hail, that being one of the greatest perils the farmer has
to meet. He said that the system had worked well. The railroads and
telegraph lines are also owned by the state in Bulgaria and are
operated very successfully.
The capital, Sofia, is a prosperous looking city, viewed from the
railroad, and has an elevation of some fifteen hundred feet.
We crossed the Balkan mountains and the second morning reached
Belgrade, the capital of Servia. The city has a fine location on a
bluff at the junction of the Save with the Danube. A day's visit
here gave an opportunity to see something of the population, as it
was Sunday and the streets and parks were filled with well-dressed,
well-behaved and intelligent looking people. The Servians, who
are also Slavic in origin, are members of the Greek Church, and
at the principal church of this denomination there was that day a
large congregation and an impressive service. King Peter, it will
be remembered, is the present ruler, having been called to the
throne three years ago when his predecessor was assassinated. The
brutalities attending the murder of King Alexander and his wife were
widely discussed at the time, the bodies of the king and queen being
thrown from the window of the palace into the park. While the new
sovereign was recognized by most of the powers of Europe, England
refused to send a representative to his court because the king
retained some high officials who participated in the assassination.
As Servia has a parliament which controls the ministry, and as this
parliament was hostile to the former king, King Peter was powerless
to comply with the conditions imposed by England--at least this
was the explanation given to me. I heard next day at Budapest,
however, that some satisfactory settlement had been reached and
that England would soon be represented at Belgrade. King Peter is
not of humble ancestry, as I had supposed, but is a grandson of a
former king who was conspicuous in the war for independence. Peter
himself was in exile in Switzerland at the time of his elevation to
the throne, and having during his residence there imbibed something
of the spirit of constitutional liberty, is much more popular than
was his predecessor. There is quite a close connection between
Servia, Roumania, Bulgaria and European Turkey, and it will not be
surprising if the last remnant of Turkish territory in Europe is,
before many years, released from the sultan's rule and a federation
of Balkan states created. A majority of the sultan's European
subjects belong to different branches of the Christian Church, and
but for their quarrels among themselves they would long before
this have been able to imitate Servia and Bulgaria in emancipating
themselves.
The ride up the Danube valley from Belgrade to Budapest and from
Budapest to the Austrian boundary gives one a view of one of the
richest sections of Hungary. While the Danube hardly justifies
the poetic praise that has described its waters as blue, it is a
majestic stream, and its broad valley supports a large agricultural
population.
[Illustration: THE DANUBE AND PARLIAMENT BUILDING--BUDAPEST]
No American can visit Hungary without having his sympathies
enlisted in behalf of its people, for theirs is a fascinating
history. Their country is one of the most favored in Europe so far
as nature's blessings go. The Carpathian mountains which form a
wall around it on the north and east, shut out the cold winds and
by turning back the warmer winds from the south, give to Hungary a
more temperate climate than other European countries in the same
latitude, and in few countries has agriculture been more fostered by
the state.
[Illustration: A STREET IN BUDAPEST.]
The present minister of agriculture, Dr. Ignatius Daramyi, has
been at the head of this department for ten years, and being an
enthusiast on the subject, he has introduced many new features
and brought his department into close contact with the people.
During his administration the annual appropriations for agriculture
have increased from about eight million dollars to about thirteen
millions, and the income from his department has risen from six
million dollars to nine millions, leaving the net cost to the state
at present some four million dollars per year.
Hungary believes in furnishing technical training to those who
intend to farm; she had twenty-two industrial schools, with
about six hundred pupils, and these schools are so distributed
as to make them convenient for the small farmers. She has four
secondary schools of agriculture, with a total attendance of over
five hundred, and to complete her system she has an agricultural
academy with a student body of one hundred and fifty. In order to
accommodate adults who have not had the advantage of these schools,
she has short winter terms and traveling instructors. By systematic
effort the agricultural department is not only increasing the
efficiency of the Hungarian as a tiller of the soil, but it is
increasing his general intelligence and raising the standard of
citizenship.
The experiment station is also a prominent feature of the work of
the department of agriculture. All new agricultural implements
are tested and reports are furnished upon their merits; there are
several seed-testing stations where farmers can secure at cost
price, not only selected seeds, but seed shown by experiment to be
suited to the climate and soil of their locality. Then there are
a number of model farms located at convenient points, which are
intended to be object lessons to the neighborhoods in which they
are situated. At these model farms and at other centers breeding
establishments are conducted where horses, cattle, hogs and sheep
of the best breeds are kept and loaned to the farmers about. These
breeding farms have resulted in a marked improvement in the quality
and value of the stock.
Nor does the agricultural department confine its attention to
stock raising and ordinary farming; it is equally interested in
horticulture, vine dressing, forestry, and even bee culture.
Government nurseries furnish the hardiest varieties of young trees
and vines and train those who desire to give special attention to
these branches of industry. Instruction in the pruning of trees
and the training of vines has an artistic as well as a utilitarian
side, and taste is developed in the ornamentation of the arbors and
gardens. Here, as elsewhere in Europe, much attention is given to
forestry, and under the direction of the department of agriculture
the work of preserving the old forests and of planting new groves is
being intelligently and systematically done.
In addition to the work above outlined, the agricultural department
has taken in hand the matter of furnishing general information
to the farmers and farm laborers. It encourages the formation of
workingmen's clubs, co-operative societies and parochial relief
funds. It has established more than one thousand free libraries and
publishes a weekly paper with a circulation of about sixty thousand.
More than half of the copies are published in the Hungarian
language, the rest being divided between five other languages,
the Slavic coming next to the Hungarian and the German following,
although less than ten per cent are printed in the latter language.
To strengthen the ties between employers and employés, harvest
feasts have been inaugurated and the attendance at these feasts is
yearly increasing.
I have gone into detail somewhat in describing the scope of the
work undertaken by the agricultural department of Hungary because
I think that we might, with advantage, adopt some of its features.
Our national appropriation for agricultural purposes bears a small
proportion, not only to the amount of taxes paid by the farmer, but
to the appropriations made for other departments.
Budapest, the capital of Hungary, is one of the most attractive
cities in Europe. In 1896 I received a cablegram of congratulation
from a farmers' congress which was at that time in session in that
city. I remembered this because it was the only cablegram received
from any body of Europeans during the campaign.
Originally there were two cities, Buda on the south bank and
Pesth on the north bank, but they were united under one municipal
government some years ago, the names of the old towns being
preserved in the new. The foothills of the Alps extend to the very
bank of the Danube and furnish magnificent sites for villas, forts,
public buildings and the royal palace, while on the opposite bank
there is a broad plain, which affords ample room for the rapidly
extending limits of the commercial and manufacturing sections of
the city. Several bridges connect Buda and Pesth so that the river,
while a great thoroughfare, no longer divides the business and the
official sections. The streets of Budapest are wide, well paved,
clean and lined with buildings quite uniform in height, one of the
avenues rivaling the Champs-Elysees in Paris and Unter den Linden
in Berlin; the parks are large and near the city; the business
blocks are imposing and the public buildings models in design and
construction. The parliament building, only recently completed, is
one of the handsomest in the world.
The Hungarian people are distinct in language and history from all
their neighbors. In fact, the Hungarians differ in many respects
from all the other people of Europe, the inhabitants of Finland
being their nearest kinspeople. Their early history is unknown,
but they came from western Asia where the Mongolians, the Turks
and the Finn-Ugrians struggled for mastery about the beginning of
the Christian era. They were first known as Huns and claim Attila
as one of their race. They have more often, however, used the
word Magyars to describe their people, that name being a popular
one at present. Their occupation of the present territory dates
from about the ninth century, since which time they have figured
prominently in the history of Europe. About the beginning of the
eleventh century Hungary, under the leadership of King Stephen
(later known as St. Stephen) became a Christian nation, and since
that time she has been conspicuous in all the religious wars of
Europe. In the fifteenth century she furnished the leader of the
Christian army in the person of John Hunyadi, one of the greatest
military geniuses of that period. His prominence in war brought his
son Matthias to the throne of Hungary, a king who, when warned of a
plot against his life, exclaimed: "Let no king, ruling justly and
lawfully, fear the poison and assassin's dagger of his subjects."
[Illustration: BUDAPEST]
As early as the thirteenth century, Hungary began to inaugurate
political reforms, and in 1222 her nobility ended a struggle of a
hundred years by securing a concession which is regarded by her
people as equal in importance to England's Magna Charta of 1215. It
was in the form of a royal letter, issued by Andrew II. and called
the Golden Bull, owing to the fact that the seal attached to it by a
silk string rests in a box of gold. This document contained certain
promises to the nobles and admitted the binding force of certain
restrictions upon the king. The Golden Bull was the beginning of
constitutional government in Hungary, and while it has not always
been strictly observed by her rulers, it has served as a basis for
subsequent negotiations. For several centuries they elected their
kings.
During the nearly seven hundred years which have elapsed since 1222
Hungary has had a checkered career. Rival aspirants for the throne
have fought over the succession and been aided in their ambition
by neighboring nations; kings and nobles have fought over their
respective authority; the nobility and the peasants have fought over
their rights; different branches of the Christian Church have been
at war with each other, for Hungary has been the eastern outpost
of Protestantism as well as a champion of Christianity; and more
recently Hungary has been fighting for her political independence.
Hers has been a long drawn-out struggle in which her people, time
and again, have almost been exterminated, but she emerges from it
all a strong, vigorous and militant nation. She is now a part of the
Austro-Hungarian empire, and her people form the largest homogeneous
group in the empire: When we consider the numerous wars between
Austria and Hungary, the difference in race, history and language,
and the dissimilarity in political training, it is not strange that
there should be lack of harmony between the empire as a whole and
its largest single member.
When Hungary turned to Austria for help against the Turks and came
under the Hapsburg line, she insisted upon a recognition of her
national rights and secured a promise that her people should have
control of their own affairs. While this alliance did not save her
from the Mohammedans, it united her destiny to that of Austria, but
she has never surrendered her independence. The crown of Hungary
has always been distinct from that of Austria, and the emperor of
Austro-Hungary must visit Budapest and receive with the crown of St.
Stephen the title of king of Hungary. Joseph II., son of the beloved
Maria Theresa, was the first king to refuse to receive the crown and
swear fidelity to the Hungarian constitution, and the Hungarians
would never call him their "crowned king" until, on his deathbed, he
retracted his arbitrary measures and permitted the restoration of
the constitution.
[Illustration: PRIME MINISTER WEKERLE--HUNGARY.]
In her struggle for liberty Hungary has developed many patriots,
among whom Louis Kossuth is the best known. He and Francis Deak
were the leaders of the revolution of 1848 which resulted in the
constitution of that year. The constitution of 1867 was not quite so
liberal, and these two constitutions form the basis of the present
political division in Hungary; all Hungarians are jealous of the
rights of their nation but the majority of the members of parliament
insist upon the recognition of the constitution of 1848.
The elder Kossuth lived in exile after the revolution of 1867 and
was during his exile enthusiastically received in the United States
by congress and by the people in general. Kossuth's son is now a
member of the coalition ministry, and at a banquet to which I had
the good fortune to be invited, spoke feelingly of the treatment
which his father received in the United States and of the high
regard felt by Hungarians for America and Americans. Count Apponyi,
the foremost orator of Hungary, also paid his respects to the United
States and likened our country to the forwarding station in wireless
telegraphy, saying that the political current was so strong in our
country that its messages were carried to all the world.
[Illustration: COUNT APPONYI]
I happened to be in Budapest at the opening of parliament and heard
the speech of the new premier, Dr. Wekerle. The independence party
has a large majority in the parliament, having shown increasing
strength at each successive election. The emperor, Francis Joseph,
is resisting one of the demands made by the Hungarians, viz., that
the army shall use the Hungarian language instead of the German
language. Some years ago the fight was made and won for the use of
the Hungarian language in schools, in the courts and in parliament,
and the Hungarians feel that their nationality is endangered by the
fact that their army is taught only the German words of command. The
emperor takes the position that the use of the Hungarian language
would destroy the unity of the imperial army. To prevent a rupture
he proposed the formation of a coalition cabinet, to hold until
the suffrage could be extended and the question again submitted
to the people. There is no doubt that the people are practically
unanimous in favor of their own language and that an extension
of the suffrage will not change the complexion of parliament. The
relations between the emperor and Hungary have become very much
strained, and the aversion to the German language is so pronounced
that Hungarians who can speak the German language will often refuse
to answer a question addressed to them in German. For Francis Joseph
himself the Hungarians have a strong affection, and they would be
glad to contribute to the happiness of his closing days, but they
feel that the interests of their nation are vitally concerned and
they are anxious to have the point at issue settled before a new
sovereign ascends the throne. If the emperor were left to himself,
he would probably conclude that a Hungarian fighting force, attached
to the empire and grateful for consideration shown their country,
would form a more effective part of a joint army, even though the
Hungarians spoke their own language, than troops compelled to learn
a language hateful to them. History furnishes many examples of
successful armies made of corps, divisions and regiments speaking
different languages, but less numerous are the instances of nations
successfully held together by force when one part of the empire was
made subservient to the interests of another part. Hungary is being
alienated by insistence upon requirements which do not in reality
strengthen the empire, while she might be drawn closer to the throne
by a more liberal policy. The end is not yet.
[Illustration: MINISTER KOSSUTH.]