But since the year 1867 A. has been reconstructed as a twofold empire. con sisting of a German or " Cisleithan " monarchy, and a Magyar or " Transleithan" king dom. The former is generally known as Austria proper, and the latter as Hungary. Each of the two countries has its own laws, parliament, ministers, and government; and the formal tie between them is a body known as the delegations. These form a parlia ment of 120 members: the one-half is chosen by the legislature of German Austria, which is represented by it, and the other half represents Hungary. The person of the sovereign is another knot in the tie between the two members of the empire. The Magyars claim, under certain conditions, the right of freely electing their monarch. The delegations have jurisdiction over all matters affecting the common interests of the two countries, especially foreign affairs, war, and finance: the ministries of which three departments are responsible for the discharge of their official functions to the delegations, a committee of whom sits permanently. The acts of the delegations require lo be confirmed by the representative assemblies of their respective countries.; and in this manner it is attempted to leave the self-government of both Austria proper and Hungary free.
The administration of Austria proper is divided at present among seven ministries— public education and ecclesiastical affairs, agricultural, finance, interior, national defense, commerce, and justice. Formerly the ministry was merely the collective organ of the emperor, and was responsible tb him nlone. But a bill passed by the reichsrath in 1867, and sanctioned by the emperor, renders it responsible to that parliament of the western empire.
The reichsrath consists of an upper and a lower house. The upper house is consti tuted by princes, nobles, archbishops, bishops, and life members nominated by the emperor. The lower house numbers 353 members, elected by the 14 provincial diets of the empire in the following proportions: Bohemia, 92; Dalmatia, 9; Galicia, 63; Higher Austria, 17; Lower Austria, 34; Salzburg, 5; Styria, 23; Carinthia, 10; Carniola, 9; Dikowina, 9; Moravia, 36; Silesia, 10; Tyrol, 17; Vorarlberg, 3; Istria and Triest, 4. The members of the reichsrath are elected in the provincial diets, and no cue who is not a member of one of these is eligible to the wider sphere of legislation. The emperor nominates the presidents and vice-presidents of both houses. The rights claimed by the reichsrath are : 1. Consent to all military laws; 2. Co-operation, in legislature affecting trade and commerce, customs, banking, posting, telegraphs, and railways: 3. Exami nation of the estimates, and general control of the public debt. To give validity to bills
passed by the reichsrath, the consent of both chambers is required, as well as the sanction of the emperor.
The executive of is carried on in the name of "the king" by a responsible ministry.
Finamee.—The protracted wars of the first 15 years of the 19th c. had so exhausted the resources of A., and shattered her credit, that paper money, after being already twice reduced, had again sunk to 25 per cent of its nominal value; and even 5 per cent loans could only be obtained at a sacrifice of sometimes more than 50 per cent. During the 30 years that followed the war, much was done to restore the state credit, and 4 per cent state mier was bought at par. The revolution of 1848 brought new difficulties, from which the finances bad not recovered, when the Crimean war increased the expenditure; the war with Prussia and Italy in 1866 increased the public debt by about 300,000,000 florins, but ou the other hand freed A. from the Lombardo-Venetian debt of about 35,000,000 florins.
The budget estimates for the common affairs of the empire, for 1872, were—revenue, 17,208,883; expenditure, 110,647,498 florins; leaving a deficit of 93,438,615. The esti mated revenue for 1877 was 117,091,389 florins, which was balanced by the estimated revenue. On the 1st July, 1876, the national debt of the Austrian empire was 3,065,269,072 florins, or :L1306,526,906 sterling. The estimated revenue for Austria proper (the countries represented in the reichsrath) iu 1877 was 376,637,817 florins; the expenditure, 405,569,474 florins.
History.*—The nucleus around which this great empire has grown was that part of the archduchy of A. that lies below the Ens. In the age of Charlemagne, about 800, the defense of the south-eastern frontier of Germany against Asiatic hordes gave rise here to a margmviate, called the eastern mark or boundary of the empire, or Ostreich (Austria), the eastern government; which, being united in 1156 to the country above the Ens, was raised to a duchy. After conning, in into the possession of the house of Hapsburg (q.v.), it rapidly rose to a powerful state. The princes of that house extended their dominion by marriage, purchase, and otherwise, over a number of other states, and from 143S held almost uninterruptedly the throne of the German empire. By the acquisition (1526 and 1527) of the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary, the house of A. rose to the rank of a European monarchy. In 1804, Francis declared himself hereditary emperor of A., and, two years afterwards, laid down the title of emperor of Germany and king of the Romans.