ALBANIA. 2 The independence of Albania, a former province of Turkey, was proclaimed at Avlona on 28 November 1912,1 and a provisional government was then formed under the leadership of Ismail Kemal Bey. On 20 December 1912, the London Conference of Ambassadors agreed that there should be an autonomous Albania and later approximately defined the frontiers of the new country. This Conference also appointed Prince William of Wied sovereign (pret), to be supported and advised by an International Commission of Control of six members. Prince William, having accepted the crown of the new country from an Albanian deputation which offered it to him at Neuwied 21 February 1914, arrived at Durazzo on 7 March 1914, but after the outbreak of the European War fled from the country with most of the members of the Commission. An attempt made by Essad Pasha to set up a military form of government failed (5 October 1914) and Albania fell into a state of anarchy. On 25 December 1914, the Italians captured Avlona. No written Constitution has yet been drafted.3 1 Annual Register, 1912, p. 356. * Official statement issued by the British Foreign Office and published in the London Times, 21 December 1912. * These paragraphs are based upon The Statesman's Year-book (1918) and W. M. PETROVITCH, Albania, in The Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 1 (New York, 1918), pp. 324 326. 1 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. Austria-Hungary, which presents a peculiar condition of political organization, may perhaps be more conveniently treated under three headings: 1. The Dual Monarchy, 2. Austria, and 3. Hungary. 1. THE DUAL MONARCHY. The unity of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy had its origin in the Pragmatic Sanction of 19 April 1713, whose principal object was to outline the rules for succession to the throne of the Hapsburgs, but the measure of Hungary's independence from Austrian control was a source of continual disturbance, and it was only in 1-67 that the establishment of the Dual Monarchy was made possible by Austria's defeat at the hands of Prussia and its exclusion from Germany and Italy. This event brought about a more conciliatory policy toward Hungary's insistent demands for entire independence in the management of its internal affairs, and on 17 February 1867 the laws of 1848, which recognized Hungary as an independent monarchy joined with Austria only by the bonds of a common ruler, were restored in force by imperial order. To the Hungarian Diet was left the final adoption of measures of compromise with Austria. This question was covered by the Hungarian Law 12 of 1867 and the Austrian Law of 21 December 1867, both of which also made provision for ten-year treaties relating principally to a uniform customs tariff for the two countries. the monetary system and Hungary's quota of expenses of the joint Austro-Hungarian government. In 1878 when Bosnia and Herzegovina were taken from Turkey and placed under the control of Austria-Hungary in accordance with Article 23 of the Treaty of Berlin,' identical laws were adopted in the two parts of the Empire for the administration of these territories, which were finally annexed by the Imperial Proclamation of 7 October 1908.2 French text in the British and Foreign State Papers, 69: pp. 749-767; English translation in EDWARD HERTSLET, Map of Europe by Treaty, vol. IV (London, 1891), pp. 2759 2799. 'These introductory paragraphs are based upon W. F. Dopp, Modern Constitutions (Chicago, 1909), vol. 1, pp. 113-114, and F. R. DARESTE ET P. DARESTE, Les Constitutions modernes (3d edition, Paris, 1910), vol. 1, pp. 391-394. AUSTRIAN LAW OF 21 DECEMBER 1867.1 LAW CONCERNING THE AFFAIRS COMMON TO ALL OF THE COUNTRIES ARTICLE 1. The following affairs are declared common to Austria and Hungary: a. Foreign affairs, including diplomatic and commercial representation abroad, as well as measures relating to international treaties, reserving the right of the representative bodies of both parts of the Empire (Reichsrat and Hungarian Diet) to approve such treaties, in so far as such approval is required by the Constitution.3 b. Military and naval affairs; excluding the voting of contingents and legislation concerning the manner of performing military service, the provisions relative to the local disposition and maintenance of the army, the civil relations of persons belonging to the army, and their rights and duties in matters not pertaining to the military service. c. The finances, with reference to matters of common expense, especially the establishment of the budget and the examination of accounts. 4 ART. 2. Besides these, the following affairs shall not indeed be administered in common, but shall be regulated upon uniform principles to be agreed upon from time to time: 1. Commercial affairs, especially customs legislation. 2. Legislation concerning indirect taxes which stand in close relation to industrial production. 3. The establishment of a monetary system and monetary standards. 4. Regulations concerning railway lines which affect the interests of both parts of the empire. 5. The establishment of a system of defense. ART. 3. The expenses of affairs common to both Austria and Hungary shall be borne by the two parts of the Empire in a proportion to be fixed from time to time by an agreement between the two legis 1 Translation based upon DODD, op. cit., pp. 114-122. German text in PAUL POSENER, Die Staatsverfassungen des Erdballs (Charlottenburg. 1909), pp. 736-741. French translation in DARESTE, op. cit., pp. 394-403. 2 The Hungarian Law 12 of 12 June 1867 contains provisions applicable to Hungary which are practically identical with those of this law. On this account it is not thought necessary to give the text of the Hungarian law, although there are some contradictory dispositions in the two laws. A German translation of the Hungarian Law appears in POSENER, op. cit., pp. 741-752, and French translation in DARESTE, op. cit., pp. 403–423. 3 The attributions of the Minister of Foreign Affairs are fixed by the imperial decision of 12 April and 27 May 1852. Articles 52 et seq. of the Hungarian Law do not carry this obligation. See DARESTE, op. cit., p. 395, note 3. lative bodies (Reichsrat and Diet), approved by the Emperor. If an agreement can not be reached between the two representative bodies, the proportion shall be fixed by the Emperor, but for the term of one year only.1 The method of defraying its quota of the common expense shall belong exclusively to each of the parts of the Empire.2 Nevertheless, joint loans may be made for affairs of common interest in such a case all that relates to the negotiation of the loan, as well as the method of employing and repaying it, shall be determined in common.3 The decision as to whether a joint loan shall be made is reserved for legislation by each of the two parts of the Empire. ART. 4. The contribution towards the expense of the present public debt shall be determined by an agreement between the two parts of the Empire.* ART. 5. The administration of common affairs shall be conducted by a joint responsible ministry, which is forbidden to direct at the same time the administration of the joint affairs and those of either part of the Empire. 5 The regulation of the management, conduct, and internal organization of the joint army shall belong exclusively to the Emperor. ART. 6. The legislative power belonging to the legislative bodies of each of the two parts of the Empire (Reichsrat and Hungarian Diet) shall be exercised by them, in so far as it relates to joint affairs, by means of delegations. ART. 7. The delegation from the Reichsrat shall consist of 60 members, of whom one third shall be taken from the House of Lords and two thirds from the House of Representatives." ART. 8. The House of Lords shall choose its 20 members of the delegation from among its own members by a majority vote. This phrase is omitted in the Hungarian Law (Article 21). By Section 36 of this law agreement regarding the distribution of the expense of affairs administered in common is reached by means of deputations from the Austrian Reichsrat and the Hungarian Diet. Each deputation is composed of 15 members. By a law of 24 December 1867 the ratio was fixed for 10 years as 70 per cent for Austria and 30 per cent for Hungary. New ten-year agreements were made by Laws of 27 June 1878 and 21 May 1887. No new agreement has been made since 1897, and the quota of the two parts of the monarchy has been annually fixed by the Emperor as 66 per cent for Austria and 33 per cent for Hungary. A new agreement, signed on 8 October 1907, and approved by the Hungarian Diet and Austrian Reichsrat, fixes Hungary's quota of common expenses as 36.4 per cent. No loan of this kind has yet been contracted. • By a law of 24 December 1867 Hungary made a permanent agreement to pay 29,188,000 florins annually toward the interest of the public debt; this was in 1867 bearly 24 per cent of the total joint debt and 30 per cent of the interest after the deduction of 25,000,000 florins of the debt, for which Hungary refused to assume any pon-ibility. This power is expressly refused to the delegations by the Hungarian Law (Article 37). By Hungarian Law 30 of 1868 5 members of the Hungarian delegation must be rhosen from among the Croatian members of the Hungarian Diet. 4 from the House of Representatives, and 1 from the Table of Magnates. The Hungarian delegation is also composed of 60 members. |