The Dominion. MONDAY, JUNE 23, 1917. DISRUPTING INFLUENCES IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3119, 25 June 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, JUNE 23, 1917. DISRUPTING INFLUENCES IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

Reports transmitted during tho last few days show that the rulers and factions at presenfclominant in the. Dual Monarchy arc finding-it increasingly difficult to maintain its present Constitution, under which one part of the population rules and oppresses the other and larger part by methods of terrorism. The latest message dealing with Austro-Hun-garian politics, which has come to hand.at time of writing, .states that Count Clam-Martinitz has failed to. form a Cabinet. view of tho lino which Count Clam-Martinitz is said to have taken in his efforts to form a Cabinet, this is distinctly good news. His leading idea apparently was to repeat the .tactics which tho Hapsburgs in 1867. Ed and strengthened ".their tj'fanny over the, largest racing g ro ap amongst their snbjccts p^ 6 th e cos j; o f granting autonomy to, Magyars. The Compromise' of ig67 which gave Hungary autonomy an d made Austna:Hungary a dual monarchy established dual tyranny. Apparently Co-jnt Clam-Martinitz hoped to mep/c the 'existing crisis not by terminating the German-Magyar tyranny but by making some political concessions :to the Poles of Galicia, who are already in some respects distinctly better off than the other Slav groups in the Dual Mon- ; archy. A message dealing with the negotiations between 'Clah-Martin-itz and the Poles' indicates that tho latter were prepared to barter their support, but demanded, more than the Minister was prepared to offer. It js likely, however, that the , larger prospects which the war has opened for the Poles and for other Slav races now living in subjection had a great deal to. Ho with'the collapse of theso negotiations. Apart from the sympathy they may be cxpectedto h'A for their Slav kinsmen in Bonemia and other parts of the Dual Monarchy, the Poles-of Galicia arc bound td\ be strongly influenced, in any dealings with Austria, by the consideration that-the complete victory of the Allies will involve the restoration of Poland as an autonomous kingdom, and not merely tho concession of autonomy to the dismembered provinces into which it is now divided.

An illuminating feature of tho recent political negotiations at Vienna as they are reported is that Count Clam-Mahtinitz evidently set himself not to meet, but to checkmate, the demand of the Czechs and Slovaks for the restoration of their anciont liberties. It is thus hardly open to doubt that his defeat indicates the vitality of . the CzcehoSlovak agitation. Years ago ClajiMartinmz was an intimate of tho lato Franz- Ferdinand, but long before the present crisis arose he was accused of opposing tho conversion of tho Hapsburg Monarchy into a federalised State, with tho Slavs on a level with the Magyars and Teutons. Ho is a Bohemian territorial magnate, but one who has been denounced by_th© Czechs as a renegade. They have worked for his

fall, and though this event does not promise the. early triumph of their agitation, it brings them to some extent nearer to their goal. It is of course very possible that tho Emperor Charles has definitely accepted his late uncle's views in favour of granting political autonomy to tho Slavs, and that his attitude has hastened tho' downfall; of Claji.Martinitz. Tho Allies have raado it clear that they regard the GermanMagyar tyranny over the Slav races "of the Monarchy a£ not only in itself evil but as constituting a'menace to the future peace of Europe. Liberation of they' Czecho-Slovaks was specified in the joint Note in which they replied to President Wilson's request for a statement of the terms on which they were prepared to conclude peace. The stand taken by tho Allies on behalf of the Czech nation is justified by the fact that it has not only seized every opportunity of reviving the demand for the restoration of its independence, but consistently struggled against tho Germans and Magyars of the Dual Monarchy as they became more and more tho tools of Germany. A correspondent of the Spectator' remarked recently that during these struggles, and in spite of persecution and oppression which culminated in a regime of terrorism during this war, tho Czechs remained true to their national Slav

policy, of which the present desire of independence is the logical outcome. The place the Czechs-Slovaks are entitled to take in a reconstructed Europe was described by the samewriter in the following terms:— , The Czecho-Slovaks arothoweetern vanguard of tho Slay raco in-Europe, inhabiting. Bohemia, Morana, Silesia, and Slovakia/(northern part of Hungary), an area four times as large as Belgium, which would occupy eighth plnco among tho European States (after tho kingdom of Poland) in the reconstructed Europe. The economic independence of these countries would )>« assured'owing to their natural resources supplying almost everything except silt. They aro called the pearl of Austria," being the richest countries in the Monarchy, and aro paying the greater part of tho Austrian expenses. Thoir population is about thirteen millions, with a German minority

of n I)oiit three millions. Owing to tho strategic importance of the present natural frontiers between Bohemia and Germany, it wojikl be impossible to leave out this minority, which is largely mixed with tho £?.ech population; but tlio problem cou'd bo satisfactorily solved by granting them a full political and natiOKal freedom. On Die other bund, there would bo a. Cxecho-fJlovalc-minority of about 800,00(1 left under the Austrian, Magyar, and German domination. Tho lack of an outlet to tho sea could be easily counterbalanced by commercial treaties with neighbouring countries. Switzerland's industrial and commercial development is in no way hindered for tho same reason.

Existing conditions and the indica-1 tions thoy afford of a steadily rising I demand on. .the part of the Slavs ol the Monarchy for political freedom are at onco of good import as they bear upon tho war, and a striking vindication of tho claim of the Allies ttftt they are fighting for the- liberation of oppressed nationalities. As it bears upon the war tho existing political tension in the Dual Monarchy will, of course, take on added importance and significance if the Russians resume activity on their fighting fionts. It is in the relief of pressups on Austria-Hungary, seriously weakened by internal dissensions as well as by tho drain of tho war, that the Germanic Alliance has fliost obviously profited by the ■ results afforded this year on tho Russian front. German reports to-day speak of serious, fighting in Southern Russia and Galicia, and' General Beusiloff is quoted as reporting a gratifying improvement in the .moral of the armies under his command. If these reports justify their promise, tho reigning political dissension in the Dual Monarchy may soon assume an oven more formidable aspect than it wears at present, and so lessen tho task of the Entente Powers and thoir Allies.