AUSTRIAN MINISTERS RESIGN

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2634, 3 December 1915, Page 5

AUSTRIAN MINISTERS RESIGN

SENSATION FROM VIENNA

SEQUEL TO THE KAISER'S VISIT

PRO-GERMAN SUCCESSORS

APPOINTED

By TelejruDh—Press Association—Copyrlsht

London, December 1. A sensation has been created by an announcement from Vienna that the Austrian Ministers of the Interior, Commerce, and Finance have resigned. Ijince Hohenlohe Echiilingsfuerst, the Draconian ex-Governor ot Trieste, is the now Minister for the Interior. It is surmised that serious happen11have necessitated the ' changes, which are interpreted as being similar to tnose which filled the army with German tools and sympathisers. The Austrian Parliament, since the opening of the war, and the nation have been without means of influencing the Government, Tile public connects the crisis with the Kaiser's visit, though the German newspapers suggest that the visit was iioivtlie purpose of dis-' cussing tho ownership ot the conquered Serbian territory, and the possibility of inducing. Serbia to_ ccriclude peace. Tho "Daily News's" correspondent at . ra . e . states _ that the Kaiser's object m visiting Vienna was to dissuade the aged and obstinate Emperor Franz Josef from concluding a separate peace. The Pope's exhortations had already resulted iu Austria's fruitless attempt to negotiate a separate peacc ith Russia, and when the Emperor Franz .Joseph notified the Pape that ho welcomed the Papal efforts to end the disastrous war, tho Kaiser sent Cardinal Hartmann post-haste lo Rome to inform tho Pope that Germany would oppose any premature efforts to obtain peace.

The financial condition of AustroHungary is most serious. The loans during the past sixteen months only aggregate fifty-two million sterling, mostly compulsorily commandeered bank-savings. THE OTHER APPOINTMENTS. (Rec. December 2, 7.30 p.m.) Herr Ritter von Hal, Governor of the Foretall Savings Bank, is tho new Austrian Minister for Finance, ajid Herr von Fitr,muller is tho new Minister for Commerce. ' WHY DID THEY RESICN? DIFFERENCES OVER. GERMAN TARIFF UNION. (Rec. December 2, 10.15 p.m.) London, December 2. Tho Hungarian correspondent of the "Morning Post" states that the rumours or Austrian peace desires can be dismissed. The most probable explanation of tho Kaiser's visit to Vienna is a desire to establish an AustroGorman tariff union, to which the three retiring Ministers were hostile. Renter's correspondent at Zurich states that moderate circles in Vienna are concerned, believing-that the resignations indicate that Germany's control is extending to Austria's internal administration, lis the new have strong Gornian leanings.- Tlioy attribute the resignation of the Minister of Commerce to his strong opposition to an economic union with Germany, and point out that his successor,. von Fitzmuller, lias had intimate financial relations with Dr. Helfferich, the German Finance Minister.