Page:EB1922 - Volume 30.djvu/513

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BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
473

(1895); Psychology of the Moral Self (1897); Principles of Individuality (1911); What Religion Is (1920) as well as translations of Hegel and Lotze.


BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA (sec 4. 279). Until Oct. 1918 Bosnia-Herzegovina remained a territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A proclamation issued on the occasion of its annexa- tion to the Habsburg Monarchy in 1908 promised these lands constitutional institutions, which should secure to their inhab- itants full civil rights and a share in the management of their own affairs by means of a local representative assembly. In performance of this promise a constitution was promulgated on Feb. 10 '1910. This included a Territorial Statute (Lan- desstatuf) with the setting up of a Territorial Diet, regulations for the election and procedure of the Diet, a law of associa- tions, a law of public meetings, and a law dealing with the district councils (Bezirksrdte) .

According to this statute Bosnia-Herzegovina formed a single administrative territory under the responsible direction and supervision of the Ministry of Finance of the Dual Monarchy in Vienna. The administration of the country, together with the carrying out of the laws, devolved upon the Territorial Govern- ment in Sarajevo, which was subordinate and responsible to the Common Ministry of Finance. The existing judicial and administrative authorities of the Territory retained their previous organization and functions. The statute guaranteed generally the civil rights of the inhabitants of the Territory, namely citizenship, personal liberty, protection by the com- petent judicial authorities, liberty of creed and conscience, preservation of the national individuality and language, freedom of speech, freedom of learning and education, inviolability of the domicile, secrecy of posts and telegraphs, inviolability of property, the right of petition, and finally the right of holding meetings.

The Diet (Sabor) set up consisted of a single Chamber, elected on the principle of the representation of interests. It numbered 92 members. Of these 20 consisted of representatives of all the religious confessions, the president of the Supreme Court, the president of the Chamber .of Advocates, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, and the mayor of Sarajevo. In addi- tion to these were 72 deputies, elected by three curiae or elec- toral groups. The first curia included the large landowners, the highest taxpayers, and people who had reached a certain standard of education without regard to the amount they paid in taxes. To the second curia belonged inhabitants of the towns not qualified to vote in the first; to the third, country dwellers disqualified in the same way. With this curial system was combined the grouping of the mandates and of the electors according to the three dominant creeds (Catholic, Serbian Orthodox, Moslem). To the adherents of other creeds the right was conceded of voting with one or other of the religious elec- toral bodies within the curia to which they belonged.

All males 24 years of age, and natives of and residing in the Territory, possessed the franchise, as also Austrian and Hun- garian citizens engaged as officials in the administration and on the railways in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Qualifications for elec- tion as deputy were the same as for the franchise, save that the minimum age limit was fixed at 30, and public officials and teachers were excluded. The law on district councils created a district council (Bezirksral) for every district (Bezirk) to take part in the administration of local public affairs.

The Diet. On June 25 1910 the first session of the Diet of Bosnia-Herzegovina was opened. Shortly before this the Emperor Francis Joseph had visited the country for the first time, and had met with an enthusiastic reception. The Diet was composed of three great religious parties. The strongest was that of the Serbs (Orthodox), the next that of the Moslems (Mahommedan), and lastly that of the Croats (Catholics). Each of these parties struggled for the hegemony, but since none commanded a majority, efforts at coalition began among the three groups. The opposition between Serbs and Croats, which had come more sharply into evidence after the annexa- tion, had become softened, and all three parties combined in a

demand for far-reaching autonomy. The constitution had not contented the political parties, since it did not satisfy the desire in the country for full self-government. The Government had not a strong majority on the opening of the Diet, but under the favourable impression produced by the Emperor's visit, the first budget laid before the Diet was approved even by the opposition groups, and in this the Government saw also a kind of vote of indemnity for their administration in pre-con- stitutional times. The Diet started a fruitful activity, and the Government was able to secure a majority, consisting of Croats, Moslems and moderate Serbs.

In the spring of 1911, during the discussion of the Road Con- struction Bill, the language question for the first time led to quarrels in the Diet in connexion with the notices on signposts; throughout the year party wrangles, discontent with the con- stitution, and the obstructive tactics of the radical Serbs hampered business; and the Government no longer had a cer- tain majority. Early in 1912 the Austro-Hungarian Minister of Finance, Baron Burian the author of the Bosnian con- stitution resigned office, and was succeeded by Ritter Leo von Bilinski. To the new minister the representatives of the various parties in the Diet presented a memorandum asking for a re- vision of the constitution and of the rules of procedure in the Diet; for an alteration of the electoral law; for a Government responsible to the Diet and at least partly recruited from among its members; for an extension of the sphere of activity of the Territorial Government in political and economic matters; for an independent policy of railway rates, the appointment of an audit office for the financial control of the Government, and the regulation of the language to be used by officials and function- aries. The object for which the parties were striving became more and more evident: the greatest possible autonomy for the Territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina and independence of the central Government of Vienna. With the rejection of tRe budget of 1912 began an open conflict between the Govern- ment and the parties in the Diet, which had as its result a long pause in the activity of the Diet.

After wearisome negotiations and the acceptance by the Government of a series of the demands set forth in the memo- randum, a combination of Croats, Moslems and moderate Serbs, in a working majority, was arrived at during the summer of 1912, under which conditions the third session of the Diet was opened on Oct. 22. The Government succeeded in obtaining the indemnity for the 1912 budget, and passed through the Diet a great number of the laws which it had drafted. New difficulties cropped up in the discussions of the proposed law on the language question. The draft law specified Serbo-Croatian as the future official language in all affairs, both internal and external, connected with the civil administration, with public educational establishments, and State railways so far as their external traffic was concerned. The parties also demanded Serbo-Croatian as the official language of the railways in Bosnia- Herzegovina itself; but this the Government refused to con- cede; and, since no agreement could be reached, the Diet was prorogued, and the fourth session was not opened until Dec. 20 1913.

For this session the Government had managed to secure a working majority consisting of Croats, Moslems and moderate Serbs. The language law and several other important meas- ures were passed. A resolution was also carried in support of a law drafted by the Government with a view to a solution of the agrarian question which should do equal justice to the interests of the landlords and the Kmets (see AGRARIAN QUESTION p. 474).

The business of the Diet was suddenly interrupted by the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand at Sarajevo on June 28 1914. The session was closed on July 9, and on Feb. 5 1915 the Diet was dissolved. Owing to later political developments, ending -with the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, there were no new elections. In spite of political obstacles the Diet had done much towards the development of the constitution, and during its four sessions had framed