The Dominion. TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1918. SHAM REFORM IN AUSTRIA

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 284, 20 August 1918, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1918. SHAM REFORM IN AUSTRIA

The '.rffer o£ autonomy the Austriavi Government is snicl to have Viatic to tho Czcchs and Southern Slavs pvonld raise big questions if there were any reason to regard' it as sincore, or any likelihood of its .being accepted by those to whom it is addressed. Since the acute political and racial dissensions of tho ,Dual Monarchy arc the most dangerous weakness of tho Teutonic Alliance, a' settlement of theso dissensions promoted by the parties in Austria which stand for a firm, and fast alliance with Germany would bo a serious development I from the point of view of the Entente. . It would tend to prolong the war. _ And, for reasons . that will be evidont to anyone who has a nodding acquaintance with the history of the Hapsburg* Empire, it would gravely impair the prospects of a just and lasting peace. Such a settlement under the auspiccs named is, however, an absolute impossibility. The "home rule" proposals'of the Austrian Government have not yet been re-, ported in detail, but it is quite safe to set them dpwn as merely a lato examplo of the make-believe which .js never absent from the domestic politics of the Dual Mon-i archy. The real aim of the men who now rule in Austria-Hungary unquestionably is to weaken by trickery and deception the opposition of a majority of the population to the policy \yhich makes for virtual amalgamation with Germany and if possible to creato a- state of public opinion which will permit the dispatch of the greatest possible Austro-Hungarian reinforcement to tho Western theatre. It may be taken for granted that there is no thought of actually liberating tho Czechs and Southern Slavs, or of constituting a'ounitcd and autonomous Poland. The sequel to tho proposal of the Austrian Government trill be worth watching, not beoauso any prospccfc of reform is raised, but because it is likely to afford. a definite indication of the extent to which the Dual Monarchy, in ' its present political shape, has •been and is weakened by internal divisions and the strain of war.

Some, of the immediate questions raised by the Austrian proposal find a sufficient answer in the plainly stated attitude of tho§c who speak for- tho subject and oppressed races .of the Dual Monarchy. The Czechoslovaks are gallantly fighting and striving, not for limited redress, but for unqualified indopendence. The Poles similarly demand such a future as is. outlined in one- of the declared war aims of the United States:

Establishment of an independent Polish State, including territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populntion, with free access to the sea, and political and economic independence wl territorial integrity guaranteed by international covenant.

The position of the Southern Slavs was defined some months ago by Bit. Ante Tkumbic, presidenlO of tho Southern Slav Committtce in London. His statement might, have been made in anticipation of such proposals as the Austrian Government is now bringing forward. The causes of the discontent of the subject peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose plight had long been a danger to the general peace, could not, no declared, be removed bv the hope of an altogether problematical democratisation of AustriaHungary on the basis of autonomy alone. '

'J'he principle of government by tlio consent of the governed in regard to tlio .JuRO-Slav people (he added) was ii're-' 'vocably sanctioned in the declaration of Corfu of July 20, 1917, signed by tho Government, of the Kingdom (if Serbia,' and by the Jugo-Slav Committee as the authorised representative of tlip 8,01)0,001) Southern Slavs'of Austria-Hungary and of tho Southern Slav color,ies in both Americas' and in tlio Br.itish Dominions. This declaration, which constitutes a national programme approved of by our nrholo people, demands complete separation from Austria-Hungary _ and union with Serbia and Montenegro in ono State s on t'he basis of democratic freedom and equal rights for all citizens. For. this t<iea our whole people is fighting, For it Serbia and Montenegro have suffered terrible clisnster. For it the Southern Slav divisions, formed of volunteers from Austria-Hungary, shed their blood on the side of tbe Allies in the. Dobruja. For it, with equal self-sacrifice, our volunteers of the Southern Siav division on the Salonika, front are dying. For this idea tens of thousands of our men and women, subjects of Austria-Hungary, have perished on Austrian gallows and in Austrian prisons, mostly without any form of trial. None but a. people flshting for complete freedom and unity can endure such wrons. Persuaded that the very force of things and the inexorable requirement', of lasting peace will carry their idea to triumph, our people will never forsake it. '

Giving clue w&jght to Ihe facts just presented, it is evident that oven sincere proposals by the Austrian Government of reform on the lines of racial autonomy 'would bo ooldly received by the subject races. But this issue is not in reality raised. Wo may definitely conclude that the present rulers of AustriaHungary will make no attempt to promote genuine political reform because the inevitable result would be to overturn the policy of subservience to Germany to which they are irrevocably committed. It has been satd quite truly, though by a German newspaper, the Frankfurter 'AeilMiti, that the great Austrian cmestion of 'the day is whether the continued existence of' a separate Austrian State is possible, which the South Slavs, and now also the German provinces, deny. "One party," the Franl'.hirter '/•ritunu further remarks, "desires the Stare to consist Qf a number of small sovereign States, each having its own foreign policy; the .othor party demands a return to the German Federation, which would render the centrifugal efforts of the smaller nations harmless." The dividing line in Austria-Fungarv is drawn between a minority of Germans'and Magyars, ■ who stand for close political and economic nwaL gamiition with Germany, and a Slav and Latin majority who demand liberation. Generally speaking, the Austrians of Gorman race and the Magyars ' support« Pan-German aims..' The maintenance of the German-Magyar oligarchy in the Dual Monarchy is essential to the realisation of these aims. Idealising tbnir national aspirations the races now subject would be so many barriers to the extension of German domination. Coming as they do. from a Government which represents nnl>' the Germans and Magyars the "home rule" pronosals now advanced can be nothing but an insincere pretence, and a political artifice of the moment. ? The i antagonisms which divide the rul-

ing minority the subject majority iii the Dual Monarchy are irreconcilable and do not admit of compromise. If there ever was :i time when a schcmc of _ federal autonomy offered a solution of Austrian political problems that time has gone by. It is incredible that .the present rulers _ of the Dual Monarchy, committed as they are ~to Germany, have any serious thought of_ bringing forward such a solution at tho present stage. They have before now mado use of bogus offers of autonomy in an attempt to divide the subject races and play off one section against another. It is encouraging that at this critical stage in the war they have been able to devise no better means of countcrin;; the movement of liberation amongst the oppressed Austro-Hungarian nationalities. Stimulated on the one hand by the sympathy and recognition of the Allies and on the other by Germany's military failures and the increasing difficulties of the corrupt Austrian Gov•crmnent, the movement is rapidly assuming more formidable proportions. Political trickery and makebelieve will hardly sufl'uc to check its development. On tho other hand the calls Germany is now making upon her ally are well calculated to steel the determination of the oppressed raccs > in _ the Dual Monarchy' to attain independent liberty and to quicken Whatever action is in their power to that end.