AUSTRIA 141 Among the large moneyed institutions the Austrian national bank of Vienna (established in 1816) maintains the highest rank, although its importance is much more due to its inti- mate connection with the financial adminis- tration of the empire than to its commercial transactions. In 1869 it had 23 branches, nine of which were in the lands of the Hungarian crown. A most powerful institution is the Austrian Lloyd, at Trieste, a joint-stock com- pany established by Von Bruck in 1833, and unrivalled in the variety of its enterprises. It is divided into three sections : one devoted to the insurance business and the collection of statistics for the maritime trade, the second (established in 1857) to ocean-steamship navi- gation, the third (established in 1849) to the promotion of literature and art. This company has gradually been developed into gigantic pro- portions, almost monopolizing the Levant trade on the eastern portion of the Mediterranean. It has established regular steamship lines be- tween Trieste and almost every port on the Adriatic, ^Egean, and Black seas. The number of its steamships in 1853 was 56; in 1870, 70. Another great institution is the Danube steam navigation company. The first river steamboat in Europe built on the American pattern was built for this company in 1854. Early in 1856 the Credit- Anatalt at Vienna, an imitation of the Paris soeietede credit mob ilier, went into opera- tion, the subscription to its stock having reach- ed the enormous amount of 640,000,000 flor- ins, or upward of $300,000,000; but the strong impulse given by this institution to speculation and stock-jobbing led at the beginning of the year 1857 to a violent financial revulsion. An extraordinary impulse was given to the devel- opment of large moneyed institutions in 1862 and the following years. The Statutischeg Jakrbwh fur das Jahr 1870 (Vienna, 1872) enumerates 44 institutions of this kind in the Cisleithan provinces, all of which, with the exception of five, were established after 1862, and no fewer than 21 in 1869. The aggregate paid-up capital of these institutions amounted in 1870 to 231,800,000 florins. The following institutions had the largest capital: Austrian National bank, 90,000,000 fl. ; Austrian Credit Institution, 40,000,000; Austrian Land Credit Institution (established in 1864), 9,000,000; Anglo-Austrian bank (1863),14,000,000; Fran- co-Austrian bank (1869), 8,000,000; Austro- Egyptian bank (1869), 4,000,000 ; Union hank (1870), 12,000,000. The number of savings banks in the Cisleithan provinces at the close of 1870 was 184, with deposits amounting to 285,300,000 fl. The total value of the com- mercial movement of Austria (exclusive of precious metals) in 1870 is shown as follows : YEARS. Veueh. Toni. Men. 1841 5,574 215,598 27,886 1S49 6,088 259,5s} 1856 10,006 3SO 469 86,802 1S71 7,348 875,822 28,244 Imports. Export!. Anstro-Hungarian Customs Territory Florin*. . 416,100,000 Florins. 880,200.000 Customs Territory of Dalmatia 8,600,000 6,700,000 Total 424,700 000 895900000 In 1869 the imports into Austria from the Ger- man states represented a value of 301,900,000 fl. ; the exports from Austria into the German states, 241,000,000 fl. The development of the shipping of Austria since 1841 is shown by the following table : Of these 5,767, carrying 267,134 tons, were ocean vessels ; 91, carrying 49,977 tons, and 17,749 horse power, steamships. The appar- ent decrease during the period from 1856 to 1871 is due to the loss of the Italian provinces. In 1870 the maritime commerce of Trieste amounted to 226,290,000 fl., viz. : imports, 125,870,000; exports, 100,420,000. Trieste is by far the most important seaport of Austria, and, besides Marseilles, perhaps the only one on the European continent which has advanced at a very remarkable rate. The following ta- ble shows the most important among the other ports of the empire : PORTS. Entrlei In !86. Tom. Pols 2,588 260,489 Zara 828 191,837 640 160,791 2,646 189 566 1,250 129.193 2,720 126,004 Spalato 1,984 119,106 688 105,196 The fundamental law which divides the mon- archy into two states or divisions bears the date of Dec. 21, 1867. According to this law, each of the two divisions (the " countries repre- sented in the Reichsrath " and the " countries of the Hungarian crown ") has its own consti- tution, but they are united under the same monarchy and have in common an imperial ministry (Reichsministerium) for the adminis- tration of those affairs which have been con- stitutionally defined as common to both parts of the empire. Such are the foreign affairs, nearly the whole department of war, inclu- sive of the navy, and the finances of the joint monarchy. Several other subjects, though not defined as common affairs, are to be equally treated according to principles from time to time agreed upon by the two legislatures. In this class belongs legislation on duties, on cer- tain indirect taxes, and on railways in which both divisions are interested. For the coun- tries represented in the Reichsrath the fol- lowing fundamental laws are specially recog- nized as valid : 1, the " Pragmatic Sanction " of the emperor Charles VI. of Dec. 6, 1724, which regulates the order of succession and de- clares the indivisibility of the empire ; 2, the diploma of Francis Joseph I. of Oct. 20, 1860, which introduces the constitutional form of government ; 3, the six fundamental laws of
