Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/158

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138 AUSTRIA 11; Bukowina Germans Y, Ruthenians 40, Roumans 39, Jews 9; Dalmatia Croats and Serbs 87, Italians 13. Thus the Germans may always be expected to control, when the nationality question is at stake, the provincial diets of Upper and Lower Austria, Styria, Salz- burg, Carinthia, and Silesia. The Czechs pre- vail in Bohemia and Moravia, the Slovens (or Winds) in Carniola, the Croats and Serbs in Dalmatia. In Galicia, according to the above table, the Ruthenians exceed the Poles in num- ber ; but the Poles, to whom the higher classes of society belong, have an undisputed control of the diet, and in general of the province as a whole. The Germans, though only 35 per cent, of the population of the Cisleithan provinces, are the ruling race in this part of the mon- archy, while the Magyars dominate in the lands of the Hungarian crown, although they like- wise embrace no more than about 37 per cent, of the entire population. The number of lan- guages or dialects spoken in Austria exceeds 20, but German is the highest official language in the Cisleithan, and Magyar in the Trans- leithan provinces. It is a significant fact that at a Panslavic congress held at Prague in 1848, the delegates of the different Slavic nationali- ties found themselves under the necessity of using the German language, being unable to understand the different dialects of their own tongue. The density of population is very un- equal, but is generally greater in the eastern than in the western portions of the empire. The extremes are Lower Austria, which con- tains Vienna (259 to the sq. m.), and Salzburg (55 to the sq. m.). More than three fourths of the entire population of Austria acknowl- edge the religious supremacy of Rome; of these, in 1869, 23,954,233 were Roman Catho- lics proper, 3,941,796 United Greeks, and 8,279 Armeno-Catholics. The population connected with the Greek Oriental church amounts to 3,050,830 ; and that belonging to the Armenian proper (Gregorian) to 1,854. The Reformed church has 2,143,178 professors; the Lutheran, 1,365,835 ; the Unitarians, 55,070. The Jews number 1,372,300. The remainder belong to minor sects. The Roman Catholic church in Austria has 11 archbishoprics and 42 bishop- rics ; 2 archbishoprics and 7 bishoprics belong to the United Greek, and 1 archbishopric to the Anneno-Catholic. The Greek Oriental church has 3 archbishoprics and 10 bishoprics. In 1869 the number of Roman Catholic convents in Austria was 965, containing 8,743 monks and 5,671 nuns. By the concordat with the pope, concluded in September, 1855, the Ro- man Catholic church in Austria received great prerogatives ; but these were rescinded by the reform laws of 1868, and in consequence of the promulgation of papal infallibility as a doctrine of the church, the Austrian government in 1870 declared the concordat abrogated. The affairs of the Lutheran and Reformed churches are administered in the Cisleithan provinces by the evangelical supreme church council at Vienna and two general synods, one Lutheran and one Reformed. The Lutheran church is divided into 4 superintendencies and subdivided into 15 seniorates; the Reformed church consists of 4 superintendencies, which are divided into 6 seniorates. The Jews have about 500 rabbis in the entire monarchy. Public education has been in the course of thorough reorganization since 1848. In the Cisleithan provinces, it is chiefly regulated on the basis of the law of May 14, 1869. The number of common or primary schools has been steadily increased, until in 1869 it was 31,218, or one for every 1,159 inhabitants. The common schools are of two grades. In those of the lower grade reading, writing, ciphering, religion, the ele- ments of history and natural history, singing, and gymnastic exercises are taught; in those of the higher grade (Burgerscfiulen), composi- tion, arithmetic, geometry, bookkeeping, and drawing are added. In 1869, 2,852,843 children out of 3,624,295 went to the common schools. Education is compulsory, and in the Cisleithan provinces children are bound to attend school from their 6th to their 14th year. Nearly all the children of this age attended school in 1869 in Upper and Lower Austria, in Salzburg, Sty- ria, Tyrol, Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia; but in Galicia, Bukowina, and Dalmatia, only one out of three children received an education. The number of normal schools for the education of teachers was for the whole empire about 100. The middle schools (Mittelschulen) are divided into Gymnasien (colleges), whioh prepare their pupils for the universities ; Realschulen, which prepare them for the technical high schools; and Healgymnasien, recently instituted, which combine both courses. The monarchy in 1870 had 241 gymnasien, 20 realgymnasien, and 74 realschulen ; the Cisleithan provinces 99 gym- nasien, 19 realgymnaisen, and 49 realschulen. In 1871 Austria had 7 universities (Vienna, Prague, Pesth, Lemberg, Innspruck, Gratz, and Cracow), to which in 1872 a new one was added at Klausenburg in Transylvania, and 8 technical high schools (Technische HocJi- schuleri), most of which have been recently reorganized so as to comprise a number of special schools. The universities in 1870 had 707 professors and 10,877 students; the tech- nical high schools, 265 professors and 3,010 students. To the last-mentioned class of in- stitutions may be added 2 mining academies, 1 agricultural academy, 4 commercial acad- emies, and the academy for commerce and navigation at Trieste. Not included in the above statement are a number of special schools for theology, for law and political economy, for surgery, midwifery, and veterinary sur- gery, for commerce, trade, and navigation, for agriculture, for mining, the art schools, the schools for the education of military officers, and a large number of private schools. The largest of the public libraries are the imperial library at Vienna, numbering 410,000 volumes ; the university library at Vienna, containing up