Philip Lake and Oscar Briliant

“ All kinds of horses are represented from the heaviest to the lightest, from the largest to the smallest. The most beautiful horses are found in Bukovina, the largest and strongest in Salzburg; those of Styria, Carinthia, Northern Tirol and Upper Austria are also famous. In Dalmatia, the Küstenland and Southern Tirol, horses are less numerous, and mules and asses in a great measure take their place. The finest cattle are to be found in the Alpine region; of the Austrian provinces, Salzburg and Upper Austria contain the largest proportion of cattle. ”

“ Exceptions are the forest lands of the Karst region, where medium-sized trees and underwood occupy 80%, and of Dalmatia, where underwood occupies 92·6% of the whole forest land. The Alpine region is well wooded, and amongst the other provinces Bukovina is the most densely wooded, having 43·2% of its area under forests, while Galicia with 25·9% is the most thinly-wooded crown-land of Austria. The forests are chiefly composed of oak, pine, beech, ash, elm, and the like, and constitute one of the great sources of wealth of the country. Forestry is carried on in a thoroughly scientific manner. ”

“ The Germans are in a relative majority over the other peoples in the empire, their language is the vehicle of communication between all the other peoples both in official life and in the press; they are in a relatively more advanced state of culture, and they are spread over every part of the empire. Historically they have contributed most to the foundation and to the development of the Austrian monarchy, and think that for all the above-mentioned reasons they are entitled to the principal position amongst the various nationalities of Austria. ”

“ The industry in stitched stuffs is especially developed in northern Bohemia. Ready-made men’s clothes and oriental caps (fezes) are produced on a large scale in Bohemia and Moravia. The manufacture of silk goods is mainly carried on in Vienna, while the spinning of silk has its principal seat in southern Tirol, and to a smaller extent in the Küstenland.
The metallurgic industry forms one of the most important branches of industry, because iron ore of excellent quality is extracted annually in great quantities. ”

“ The textile industry in all its branches—cotton, woollen, linen, silk, flax and hemp—is mostly concentrated in Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Lower Austria. It is an old industry, and one which has made great progress since 1875. ”

“ Coasts.—Austria has amongst all the great European countries the most continental character, in so far as its frontiers are mostly land-frontiers, only about one-tenth of them being coast-land. The Adriatic coast, which stretches for a distance of about 1000 m., is greatly indented. The Gulf of Trieste on the west, and the Gulf of Fiume or Quarnero on the east, include between them the peninsula of Istria, which has many sheltered bays. ”

“ The numerous rivers of Austria swarm with a great variety of fishes. The lake fisheries are mostly pursued in Bohemia, where pisciculture is an art of old standing, and largely developed. The sea fisheries on the coast of Dalmatia and of the Küstenland constitute an important source of wealth to the inhabitants of these provinces. About 4000 vessels, with a number of over 16,000 fishermen are employed, and the average annual catch realizes £240,000.
In the mountainous regions of Austria game is plentiful, and constitutes a large source of income. ”

“ Coal is found in nearly every province of Austria, with the exception of Salzburg and Bukovina, but the richest coal-fields are in Bohemia, Silesia, Styria, Moravia and Carniola in the order named. Iron ores are found more or less in all the crown-lands except Upper Austria, the Küstenland and Dalmatia, but it is most plentiful in Styria, Carinthia, Bohemia and Moravia. Gold and silver ores are found in Bohemia, Salzburg and Tirol. ”

“ The produce of the ploughed land does not, on the whole, suffice for the home requirements. Large quantities in particular of wheat and maize are imported from Hungary for home consumption. Only barley and oats are usually reaped in quantity for export. The provinces which have the lowest proportion of arable land are Tirol and Salzburg. Besides these principal crops, other crops of considerable magnitude are: buckwheat in Styria, Galicia, Carniola and Carinthia; rape and rape-seed in Bohemia and Galicia, poppy in Moravia and Silesia; flax in Bohemia, Moravia, Styria and Galicia ”

“ The largest is the plain of Galicia, which is part of the extensive Sarmatic plain; while in the south, along the Isonzo, Austria comprises a small part of the Lombardo-Venetian plain. Several smaller plains are found along the Danube, as the Tulner Becken in Lower Austria, and the Wiener Becken, the plain on which the capital is situated; to the north of the Danube this plain is called the Marchfeld, and is continued under the name of the Marchebene into Moravia as far north as Olmütz. ”

“ The principal seat of the manufacture of cotton goods is in northern Bohemia, from the Eger to Reichenberg, which can be considered as the Lancashire of Austria, Lower Austria between the Wiener Wald and the Leitha, and in Vorarlberg. Woollen goods are manufactured in the above places, and besides in Moravia, at Brünn and at Iglau; in Silesia; and at Biala in Galicia. Vienna is also distinguished for its manufacture of shawls. The coarser kind of woollen goods are manufactured all over the country, principally in the people’s houses as a home industry. ”

“ The political divisions of Austria correspond, for the most part, so closely to natural physical divisions that the detailed account of the physical features, natural resources and the movement of the population has been given under those separate headings. ”

“ Live Stock.—Although richly endowed by nature, Austria cannot be said to be remarkable as a cattle-rearing country. Indeed, except in certain districts of the Alpine region, where this branch of human activity is carried on under excellent conditions, there is much room for improvement. The amount of live stock is registered every ten years along with the census of the population. ”

“ The crown land of Lower Austria far surpasses in this respect the other divisions of the country, having about four-ninths of the whole, and not less than 1700 species of flowering plants. As stated above, Austria is a very mountainous country and the mountains are frequently covered with vegetation to a great elevation. ”

“ The large area which is enclosed within the curve of the Carpathians is for the most part covered by loess, alluvium and other modern deposits, but Miocene and Pliocene beds appear around its borders. In the hilly region of western Transylvania a large mass of more ancient rocks is exposed; the Carboniferous system and all the Mesozoic systems have been recognized here, and granite and volcanic rocks occur. In the middle of Hungary a line of hills rises above the plain, striking from the Platten See towards the north-east, where it merges into the inner girdle of the Carpathian chain. ”

“ The judicial organization is independent of the executive power. There are also special courts for commercial, industrial, shipping, military and other matters. There is also the court of the Empire at Vienna, which has the power to decide in case of conflict between different authorities. ”

“ The Slavonic race, numbering 15,690,000, is numerically the principal race in Austria, but as it is divided into a number of peoples, differing from one another in language, religion, culture, customs and historical traditions, it does not possess a national unity. ”

“ In Vienna the average annual temperature is 50°, the highest temperature being 94°, the lowest 2° Fahr. In general the eastern part of the country receives less rain than the western. In the south the rains prevail chiefly in spring and autumn, and in the north and central parts during summer. Storms are frequent in the region of the south Alps and along the coast. In some parts in the vicinity of the Alps the rainfall is excessive, sometimes exceeding 60 in. It is less among the Carpathians, where it usually varies from 30 to 40 in. ”

“ Landed Property.—Of the whole territory of the state, 74,102,001 acres, about 29%, is appropriated to large landed estates; 71% is disposed of in medium and smaller properties. Large landed property is most strongly represented in Bukovina, where it absorbs 46% of the whole territory, and in Salzburg, Galicia, Silesia and Bohemia. To the state belongs 41/2% of the total territory. The Church, the communities, and the corporations are also in possession of large areas of land; 4% (speaking roundly) of the territory of Austria is held on the tenure of fidei-commissum. ”

“ Attendance is obligatory on all from the age of six to fourteen (in some provinces six to twelve) . Religious instruction is given by the parish priest, but in large schools a special grant is made or a teacher ad hoc appointed in the higher classes (law of June 17, 1888) . Private schools are also allowed which, if fulfilling the legal requirements, may be accorded the validity of public primary schools. The language of instruction is that of the nationality prevalent in the district. In about 40% of the schools the instruction is given in German ”

“ Including families and domestic servants, a little over 7,000,000 were dependent on industry for their livelihood.
Commerce.—Austria forms together with Hungary one customs and commercial territory, and the statistics for the foreign trade are given under Austria-Hungary. Owing to its situation, the bulk of the Austrian trade is carried on the railways and on the inland navigable rivers. Only a small portion is sea-borne trade, while the commercial interchange between the provinces lying on the Adriatic coast is very small. ”

“ The executive power is vested in the council of ministers, at whose head is the minister-president. There are eight ministries, namely, the ministry of the interior, of national defence, of worship and instruction, of finance, of commerce, of agriculture, of justice, and of railways. ”

“ Eagles and hawks are common, and many kinds of singing birds. The rivers and lakes abound in different kinds of fish, which are also plentiful on the sea-coast. Among the insects the bee and the silkworm are the most useful. ”

“ The chief sources of revenue are direct taxes, indirect taxes, customs duties, post and telegraph and post-office savings banks receipts, railway receipts, and profits or royalties on forests, domains and mining. ”

“ The general spirit of those modifications was to broaden the electoral basis, and to extend the franchise to a larger number of citizens. The law of the 26th of January 1907 granted universal franchise to Austrian male citizens over twenty-four years of age, who have resided for a year in the place of election. ”