TOPICS OF THE TIMES

Southland Times, Issue 19479, 31 March 1922, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE TIMES

The demand by Belgium, under the Treaty of St. Germains, for the restoration by Austria of the treasure of the Golden Fleece and the Rubens picture, known as “The Trypthych of St. Ildephonse,” has been rejected by the Reparations Commission, and the treasure and the picture will, therefore, remain with Austria. When the treasure of the Golden Fleece started on its long journey from Brussels to Vienna in 1794, on the occasion of the French invasion, the gold, the silver, the reliquaries, the robes, and the tapestries are said to have filled 90 carts. But their was much .leakage on the way, and to-day there is a good deal,

as to what the treasure actually does comprise. This r delicate question will not, however, have to be decided now, inasmuch as whatever there is left of it is in Austria, and will stay there. Briefly, the Belgium claim was that the Order of the Golden Fleece was a political institution attached to the soil of the Low Countries, and that the treasure consequently formed part of the property of the State. This argument the commission was unable to admit, and, after detailed study, gave their verdict in favour of the Austrian thesis, that the Golden Fleece was purely an order of chivalry, bound up with the succession of the Dukes of Burgundy, and attached, therefore, not to a country, but to the residence of the Sovereign. Therefore, it was decided that when the Hapsburg of the day received the treasure in Vienna, in 1794, he was exerting his normal rights. As to “The Tryptych of St. Ildephonsv.” bought by Maria Theresa, who incidentally outbid the Lord Granby of the day for it, and transferred it from Brussels to Vienna in 1777, the legal experts have found that she had a perfect right to dispose of the resources of the Low Countries as she liked, and that the picture, having been purchased “for her Majesty,” forms an integral part of the private property of the Hapsburgs. The Belgian argument was that the Tryptych had been bought for the Public Domain of the Low Countries.

The extent of the “good roads” movement in the United States is shown by the fact that in the five years, from 1916 to 1921, plans for the reconstruction of 35,379 miles, involving an expenditure of over £120,000,000 from State and Federal funds, have been completed or sanctioned. These impressive figures comprise the main highways of 21 States, in ten of which the schemes exceed 1000 miles of roads. Texas has 3276 miles and Nebraska 2224. In no State does the Federal Government pay more than half the cost, but in many the local contributions are greater than those of the Government, and on the average State and local funds represent nearly two-thirds of the total. The latter are raised in some States by loans, but in most cases the cost of construction is being defrayed from the yield of taxes on motor vehicles, while others use the revenue from income and inheritance taxes, contributions by counties and assessment on abutting properties. For maintenance motor vehicle revenues are used wholly or in part in 33 States, six States make appropriations from the general State revenues for at least part of their maintenance needs, and county funds are used in 16 States. A petrol tax helps the roads in repair in 12 States, two appropriate money from the treasury, three use part of the income tax, and one the inheritance tax.