Read Ebook: The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It Vol. 1 No. 58 December 16 1897 A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls by Various Bishop Julia Truitt Editor

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Editor: Julia Truitt Bishop

VOL. 1 DECEMBER 16, 1897. NO. 58

We have an opportunity of judging for ourselves how it feels, for we are now living through a very important chapter of history.

Cuba, Turkey, Haiti, and Hawaii are all making history for us that will make very stirring reading for the scholars that come after us, and now Austria has joined in the procession, and is giving us an episode that will make one of the most exciting pages in that country's history.

The present occurrences in Austria are of the utmost importance to the world. They show that the time has passed when kings can rule as absolute monarchs, and that the voice of the people must be listened to.

We told you of the anger of the Austrian people against Count Badeni and his Government, and how the Emperor approved of him and his work, and was determined to uphold him in spite of the opposition.

We also told you that there is a clause in the Austrian constitution which gives the Emperor power to act on his own authority without consulting the people, in case of emergency.

But Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, backed by this powerful clause, has not been strong enough to protect his Prime Minister, and in the face of the anger of the people has not dared to use the privilege which the constitution gives him.

This is a great chapter in history. It all happened in this way:

We told you in the last number how the Government rushed a resolution through the Reichsrath, which gave the President of the House the power to suspend unruly members and prevent them from entering the chamber.

As soon as the Reichsrath reassembled, it became evident to the opposition that the Government considered the resolution legally passed, and intended to act on it.

This so enraged the deputies that no sooner was the sitting declared open than they rushed to the President's tribune, seized the papers on his desk, tore them, and scattered them over the house.

The attendants had not been prepared for this rush, and had allowed some of the angry members to pass through the gate which had been made in the fence around the tribune.

As soon as they realized what was passing, they fought and buffeted the intruders, until they had expelled them from the enclosure, and the President declared the sitting adjourned.

This had no effect on the furious mob with which the chamber was filled.

One of the members again made a rush for the tribune. The gate had been closed, but, climbing over the fence, he made a dash for the President's bell and portfolio.

The President, amazed at this daring, pushed him away. In an instant a crowd of his friends, howling and shouting, swarmed over the fence, and a regular fight began on the tribune itself.

The deputies had by this time lost control of themselves, and proceeded with blows and kicks to drive the President and Vice-Presidents of the Reichsrath off the tribune, or raised platform, on which the President sits.

One of the Vice-Presidents was knocked down and trampled on, and one account of the affray said that the President was so roughly handled that he fainted.

Finally, the deputies drove the representatives of the Government from the tribune, and took possession of it themselves.

What new deed of violence they might have attempted it is impossible to say, but at this moment a door at the end of the chamber opened, and in marched a force of sixty policemen.

In their trim uniforms and their spiked steel helmets, they presented a very formidable appearance, and the effect on the house was magical.

The members were astounded that the Government should dare to infringe on their rights and privileges by sending police into the chamber that was sacred to the liberties of the people.

The Commissioner of Police was not in the least embarrassed. He treated the deputies as he would any other disorderly mob, and, marching his men to the foot of the tribune, ordered the deputies to come down from it.

The deputies firmly refused to do any such thing, whereupon the Commissioner took one man by the shoulder and ordered him off.

The deputy resisted, and was seized by six stalwart policemen, and carried bodily out of the chamber.

Five others who refused to obey the Commissioner were treated in the same unceremonious way.

Dr. Wolff, who up to this moment had been dumb with amazement, now called on the ministers to remove the police.

Order having been partially restored, the President returned and reopened the session. His appearance was greeted with a storm of whistles, shouts, beating and slamming of desk-lids, and the usual uproar, led by Dr. Wolff, who, too exhausted to do anything noisier, contented himself with blowing a shrill cab whistle.

It was impossible to restore order, for even the friends of the Government were indignant at the introduction of the police into the chamber.

Relying on their privileges as members of the Reichsrath, the deputies had for days behaved in a shameful and unmanly manner. The people were indignant that their representatives should so disgrace them, and the sympathy was all with the Government. The calling in of the police changed the situation. The Government had interfered with the rights of the people, and every lover of liberty was in arms against the outrage. The riotous deputies now became heroes and martyrs instead of noisy, foolish men, not fit to be intrusted with parliamentary privileges.

The President of the Reichsrath, having gone so far, was determined, if possible, to end the disturbance at once and for all. When the noisy demonstrations recommenced, he ordered Dr. Wolff to leave the house, suspending him for three days--that is to say, forbidding him to re-enter the Reichsrath for that space of time.

Wolff, of course, refused to obey, and the aid of the police was called for. A shameful struggle ensued, in which the deputy's chair and desk were smashed to pieces.

Twelve other members were seized by the police and turned out of the chamber.

While this was going on inside the house, excited crowds had gathered outside. As the torn and dishevelled members were expelled, the people, regarding them as martyrs in the cause of liberty, began to murmur against the Government, and finally grew so violent that a strong force of police had to be fetched to disperse them.

Forgetting that the foolish conduct of these deputies had blocked all legislation, and brought the Government and country to such a pass that the dissolution of the bond with Hungary was likely to occur at any moment, the people only realized that their liberties had been interfered with, and their rights had been taken from them.

The people do not brook interference in their rights.

In the days of King John of England, the people allowed the vicious king to get to a certain point, and then with their hands on their swords, ready to rebel if he resisted, they forced him to sign the great charter, Magna Charta, which has secured to Englishmen their rights from that day to this.

It was signed by King John at Runnymede, near Windsor, in 1215.

When the anger of the people is roused, there is trouble for the Government.

In Vienna, though the Government had so far won a victory in turning the turbulent members out of the chamber, they felt there was danger in the air when the students surrounded Dr. Wolff as he was thrown out of the Reichsrath, and marched with him to his home, honoring him as a hero.

Later, matters began to grow still more serious. Masses of workingmen left their work, and began to parade the streets, crying out against the government that had usurped their rights.

Soldiers were called out to guard the principal buildings, especially the house of Count Badeni, the unpopular Prime Minister. Squads of soldiers appeared in every street, forcing the crowds to move and disperse.

It was an almost impossible task. The crowd that was driven around one corner would reappear at the next. The soldiers would disperse the mob in front of them, and it would re-form at their heels.

It seemed as if Austria were on the verge of a revolution.

Realizing that nothing could stop the trouble but the resignation of Count Badeni, several members of the Reichsrath hurried to his home, and begged him to put an end to the disturbance.

The Minister would not yield. His sovereign had confidence in him, and he would not be driven out by an ignorant mob.

Another meeting of the Reichsrath was held, at which more violent scenes occurred. Dr. Wolff presented himself in the chamber and tried to take his place, whereupon he was seized and taken to prison.

The feeling among the people grew stronger, and at last one of the town officials, Burgomaster Luegers, waited on Count Badeni, and informed him that the people were now so excited that there would be bloodshed if he did not resign.

Hearing this, the Prime Minister went to the Emperor and resigned his office.

It is reported that the Emperor at first refused to accept the resignation, whereupon Badeni informed him that he would not undertake the responsibility of holding office longer, as he had been informed that the people were ready to rise.

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