Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 October 1905 — HUNGARIANS ASSAIL KING. [ARTICLE]

HUNGARIANS ASSAIL KING.

Wrath of Natio.i Inflamed by Speeches Against Ruler. Special dispatches from Buda-Pesth indicate that the excitement consequent on the strained relations between the crown and the united opposition in the Hungarian diet is increasing and that, while the leaders of the coalition parties are counseling tho people to refrain from violating the law, inflammatory upeechea are being mado by prominent in various sections of the country and that, probably for the first time, the personal popularity of the king-emperor is being assailed. At the meeting of the executive committee of the coalition 1 parties at Buda■J’esth, according to the dispatches, several sharp speeches were made and the conviction was expressed that a peaceable settlement was impossible, though there was no reference to other than a legal fight over the differences between the two parts of the mpire.

It is stated that tho coalition leaders proposed to Count Cziraky, at tho conference in Vienna Sunday, a compromise of the difficulties arising from the question of language to be used in the army in Hungary by the introduction of Hungarian words of command for sixteen hussar regiments only. It is understood that this proposition was carried to his majesty, whose failure to reply indicates that his ultimatum is unchangeable. Even should the present acute crisis in Ausiria-llungary be tided over the situation in the dual monarchy promises to be such as to give the world serious concern for some time to come. It seems improbable that the Hungarians can be induced to recede from the demands they have made for changes in the administration of their kingdom. On the other hand. Emperor Franz Josef’s'action in administering a rebuff to the Hungarian parliamentary leaders who called upon him Sunday shows little promise of any yielding on the Austrian side. The present clash is the outgrowth of a movement which has been steadily gaining headway in Hungary and which, to summarize its salient features broadly, is an effort toward a larger measure of independent national life. TJie integ-

rity of Hungarian institutions and the upholding of Hungary’s independence, as stipulated in the agreement uniting the two countries, were the popular issues in the elections early this year, when the so-called liberal party, then in power, was defeated by overwhelming majorities. Rallying upon these issues, the various factions in Hungarian polities formed a coalition which now dominates in the national parliament and which undoubto'llj- has a strong backing in popular sentiment. 4 The members of this coalition seek a number of reforms, most important of which is tlie demand for a regulation permitting the use of the Magyar tongue as the language of command in the Hungarian army. It is upon this last demand, which appeals peculiarly to popular sentiment, that tlie Hungarians are now making their firmest stand as a test issue. Franz Josef has rejected this demand, curtly and emphatically. The Hungarians have learned of his course with indignation and a committee of their parliament has adopted resolutions censuring him.