fresh and prepared meat from non-European countries into Austria; and that importations are only permitted by special permit from the minister of the interior, and that an application must be made to the said ministry in every case, and under conditions fixed by the ministry. I have, etc., GEORGE BARCLAY RIVES. [Inclosure. Translation.] IMPERIAL AND ROYAL MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, 53.723/9. In compliance with the esteemed note of December 19, 1905, F. O., No. 179, the undersigned has not failed to request the competent ministries to make investigations regarding the refusal of the custom-house at Eger to admit a cask of salted beef, sent direct from Chicago. According to investigations made in this connection, it seems that the shipment in question consisted of a cask of salted beef (gross weight, 162 kilogrammes), which had arrived at the custom-house at Eger from Hamburg on November 15, 1905, addressed to the firm "Brüder Abeles." The said custom-house, when acting in regard to this shipment, has taken the view that by the decree of December 4, 1891, Law Bulletin No. 168, the importation of pork meat, bacon, and sausages of all kinds from the United States of America has been especially permitted on condition that for such products an official certificate, corresponding to the regulations of the United States of America, and stating that their absolutely unobjectionable quality in sanitary respects has been ascertained by an examination as prescribed, will be submitted. At the time of the arrival of the said shipment, no such instructions for admission of beef imported from the United States existed. The custom-house at Eger called the attention of the firm of "Brüder Abeles' to this state of affairs, as well as to the difficulties arising therefrom with regard to the treatment of the shipment; thereupon the firm of its own accord ordered the return shipment of the beef. According to this statement it would seem that the shipment had not been really refused, nevertheless the imperial and royal ministry of the interior has considered the case in the light of a disagreeable occurrence and has stated that it is unlikely that such cases shall occur again in the future, as in the meantime precautions have been taken by the decree of July 5, 1906, Law Bulletin 138, that the competent imperial and royal authorities on the arrival of shipments of meat from non-European countries may take such measures as are required by circumstances. The decree in question orders that the importation of cattle and of fresh and prepared meat of all kinds from non-European countries to the lands and provinces represented in Parliament be restricted, so that such an import is only permitted by special permit of the ministry of the interior-an application having been made in each case--and under conditions fixed by the said ministry. The stipulations of the order of December 4, 1891, Law Bulletin 168, regarding the importation of pork, pork meat, bacon, and sausages from the United States of America are not changed for the present by the stipulations of this new decree, as is especially mentioned in the new order. The statements published a short time ago in the newspapers regarding the conditions existing in the American, and especially in the Chicago, slaughterhouses (abattoirs), has not escaped the attention of the competent officials of this country, and it is not impossible that the question may come into serious consideration, whether a change of the decree of 1891, several times above referred to, might not be taken up for discussion. Having the honor of bringing the above to the knowledge of the chargé d'affaires of the United States of America, Mr. George Barclay Rives, the undersigned avails himself, etc., For the minister: Vienna, August 7, 1906. MÉREY. No. 40.] The Secretary of State to Ambassador Francis. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 20, 1906. SIR: Referring to your No. 45, of August 27 last, in regard to the Austrian decree of July 5, 1906, prohibiting the importation of meats from non-European countries into Austria except by special permit from the minister of the interior, I inclose a copy of a letter from the Secretary of Agriculture relative to the methods observed by his department for the inspection of meats and meat products intended for exportation. I also inclose two prints showing the regulations adopted by the Department of Agriculture for the inspection of these meats. Secretary Wilson desires that the attention of the Austrian Government may be invited to the manner in which the inspection is conducted with a view to obtaining a modification of the decree so as to admit into Austria meats from this country which have been inspected and passed and which are accompanied by a certificate of inspection. You will bring the matter to the attention of the Austrian Government. I am, etc., ELIHU ROOT. [Inclosure.] The SECRETARY OF STATE. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, SIR: I have the honor to refer to your letter of the 1st instant, inclosing a copy of a dispatch from the American chargé d'affaires ad interim at Vienna, which inclosure refers to a decree dated July 5, 1906, whereby the Austrian Government permits the importation of meats from non-European countries only by special permit from the minister of the interior in each instance. Considering the fact that this Government passed a law under date of June 30, 1906, prohibiting the exportation of any meats which have not been inspected by officials of the Government and which, when sent to the Continent of Europe, are unaccompanied by a certificate of inspection, and as this law became fully effective on October 1 last, it is respectfully suggested that this matter be called to the attention of the Austrian Government with a view to obtaining a modification of the decree so as to admit into that country meats which have been so inspected and passed and which are accompanied by a certificate of inspection. A copy of the law and the regulations governing inspection are inclosed herewith. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, JAMES WILSON, Secretary. COMMERCIAL TREATIES AUTONOMOUS CUSTOMS TARIFF AND SWITZERLAND. No. 311.] Chargé Rives to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN EMBASSY, Vienna, February 28, 1906. SIR: I have the honor to report that after fruitless negotiations, continued for months past, between the Crown and the Coalition (Hungarian opposition), with the only result that the political situa tion became graver than ever before, affairs in Hungary have now reached a deadlock. The King has made a final effort to put an end to this situation by dissolving the Hungarian Parliament sine die on February 19. General Nyiri has been appointed by the King as royal commissioner of Hungary with unlimited powers and was ordered to carry out the decree of dissolution of Parliament. He nominated as his deputy Colonel Fabritius, who, with the assistance of troops and police, entered the Chamber of Deputies after the sitting was closed and read the royal decree of dissolution, and at the same time all the deputies and officials were turned out of the building by troops with fixed bayonets and the building closed indefinitely. The Government of Hungary is now carried on by the King, the prime minister, Baron Fejervary, and his ministerial colleagues, without a parliament. I have the honor further to report that the autonomous (general) customs tariff and the commercial treaty with Germany have been enforced in Hungary by a decree of the ministry signed by the prime minister only. This was done with regard to the advanced date, the 21st of February, as both the new customs tariff and the commercial treaty with Germany are to take effect from March 1, 1906, on, and there was no possibility of carrying this out in any other way owing to the present political situation in Hungary as above described. At the same time the autonomous customs tariff and the commercial treaty with Germany have been put into force in Austria in the regular and legal manner. Also in Austria both the autonomous customs tariff and the commercial treaty with Germany take effect on March 1, 1906. I have the honor to transmit to the Department of State, under separate cover and addressed to the Diplomatic Bureau, two copies of the autonomous customs tariff and the commercial treaties with Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Russia. (Not printed.) The negotiations of the Austro-Hungarian Government with Switzerland and Servia for conclusion of commercial treaties are now in progress, and will probably soon be concluded. In the meantime-that is, from March 1 till the conclusion of the new commercial treaties with the said countries-a provisional arrangement on the basis of the most favored nation clause will take the place of the treaties with Switzerland and Servia. SIR: Referring to my dispatch No. 311 of February 28, 1906, reporting that negotiations of the Austro-Hungarian Government with Switzerland and Servia for the conclusion of commercial treaties were in progress, I now have the honor to report that the commercial treaty with Switzerland has been concluded and signed on the 9th of March, 1906. This treaty came in force on the 12th of March in the form of a provisional agreement (provisorium), which will last until the rati fications have been exchanged, but not longer than the 30th of June, 1906. I beg to inclose a clipping from the semiofficial" Fremden Blatt," which shows the principal tariff rates of this agreement. (Not printed.) The negotiations with Servia have finally ended in the conclusion of a provisional commercial agreement on the basis of the "mostfavored-nation clause," which will take effect on March 19, and continue until the definite conclusion of the commercial treaty between the two countries. I have, etc., GEORGE BARCLAY RIVES. No. 133.] FRANCHISE REFORM IN AUSTRIA. Ambassador Francis to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN EMBASSY, Vienna, December 28, 1906. SIR: The question of universal suffrage in Austria has been a subject that has commanded the closest attention of the people of this monarchy during the last year. Public opinion generally, outside of the circles of nobility and of the large landowners' class, has enthusiastically favored the measure. In November last the so-called "franchise reform bill" was considered by the lower house of Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, and, during debate, many interesting sessions of that body occurred in which acrimonious charges and countercharges were made against each other by prominent members. The situation became acute, and was only relieved when Emperor Francis Joseph called together at the Imperial Palace the political leaders and strenuously advised the prompt passage of the reform measure; and it was a significant. fact that the Chamber of Deputies passed the bill by a large majority on the fifty-eighth anniversary of His Majesty's accession to the throne-December 1. The upper house of Parliament, or House of Peers, progressed the franchise bill through a second reading, but declined to place it on final passage until the Chamber of Deputies agreed to vote for an amendment to the constitution which would give the Emperor the authority to appoint for life not more than 170 nor less than 150 members of the higher legislative body. This pledge has already been given by the Austrian premier, Baron Beck. It is believed the Chamber of Deputies will surely pass such a bill within a few weeks and the House of Peers act affirmatively on the franchise reform measure, thus assuring to Austria in the near future the universal right of suffrage to every male above 24 years of age. The proposed legislation, in order to avoid the conflicts which have frequently occurred in the past among the ten races residing in Austria, provides that separate constituencies shall be organized for electors of different races, so the Czech voters on a Czech register will vote only for a Czech, Germans will only vote for a German candidate, etc., and seats in the Chamber of Deputies will be allotted to the various races according to population and taxpaying capacity. In this way electoral struggles will be confined to political parties within racial limits, and the originators of the plan believe that it will accord the different races in Austria opportunities of compromise and agreement among themselves and prevent the open racial quarrels in the Chamber of Deputies that have so conspicuously marked past sessions of that legislative body. Austria is a country of multitudinous political parties as will be observed when it is stated that, upon the final passage of the franchise reform act in the Chamber of Deputies, the supporters of the measure included German Radicals, the young Czechs, Poles, most of the German Progressives, the Christian Socialist Antisemites, most of the Catholic Center, the southern Slavs, Italians, Social Democrats, and one Rumane. Those opposing the bill were the German Constitutional party of the large landed proprietors, with whom certain special privileges will be eliminated; the Bohemian Feudal party, the Pan-Germans, the Liberal Slovenes, the Czech Clericals, and a few German Progressives. It is said that the new Parliament, elected under the provisions of the franchise reform bill, will probably be more Clerical in its composition than its predecessors have been, and, as a consequence, there will be less likelihood of "deadlocks" similar to those that have so marked many previous sessions of the Austrian national assembly. I have, etc., CHARLES S. FRANCIS. TRANSPORTATION OF EMIGRANTS FROM HUNGARY. [NOTE. Continuation of correspondence in Foreign Relations, 1905, pp. 51-61.] The Secretary of State to Chargé Rives. No. 199.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 12, 1906. SIR: I inclose copy of a letter from Mr. M. E. Martin, of 9341 Lyons avenue, Chicago, bringing to the department's notice the complaint of Mrs. Nic. Roman of the seizure of her prepaid steamship ticket and her arrest by the Hungarian authorities. The action herein reported, namely, the stoppage of Mrs. Roman and the confiscation of her prepaid ticket via Rotterdam, bought in the United States, is in obvious disregard of the repeated assurances of the Hungarian Government that this class of emigration is not interfered with and calls for the rebuke of the superserviceable zeal of the minor authorities which the Hungarian Government has assured us is administered in such cases, with suitable reparations to Mrs. Roman. I am, etc., No. 97.] ELIHU ROOT. Ambassador Francis to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN EMBASSY, Vienna, November 20, 1906. SIR: The department, in No. 199, dated February 12, 1906, addressed my predecessor in the case of Mrs. Nic. Roman, of Chicago, Ill., who, returning to the United States, was arrested at Budapest by the police authorities. A prepaid steamship ticket via Rotterdam was taken from her and she was told that she could not proceed to her destination except by way of Fiume and the Cunard Line. 59605-FR 1906- 4 |