In one important particular the Austro-Hungarian empire treats women more fairly than is the case in other European countries. Elise Krásnohorská, the Bohemian author, writes me:
Women have a voice in the municipal, provincial and national elections, though male citizens duly authorized by them cast their vote. With this single reserve—a very important one, it must be confessed—our women are politically the equals of men. At Prague, however, this is not the case. The Bohemian capital preserves an ancient privilege which is in contradiction to the Austrian electoral law, and which excludes us from the elective franchise. Universal suffrage does not exist in the empire, but the payment of a certain amount of taxes confers the right to vote. I do not enter into the details of the electoral law, which is somewhat complicated, which has its exceptions and contradictions, and is in fact an apple of discord in Austria in more than one respect; but, speaking generally, it may be said that a woman who owns property, who is in business, or who pays taxes, may designate a citizen possessing her confidence to represent her at the polls. Our women are satisfied with this system, and prefer it to casting their ballot in person.
It may be said, also, that women are eligible to office, or at least that there is no law against their accepting it, while there are instances of their having done so. In southern Bohemia, a short time ago, a countess was chosen member of a provincial assembly (okresni zastupitestvo) with the approval of the body, on the condition that she should not participate personally in its deliberations, but should be represented by a man having full power to act for her. At Agram in Croatia, a woman was elected, a few years ago, member of the municipal council, and no objection was made. Of course such cases are very rare, but they have their significance.
Carolina Svetlá, the distinguished poet and author, has done, perhaps, the most to awaken thought on the woman question in Bohemia. She stands at the head of a talented group of literary women, which plays a brilliant part in the fatherland of Huss. The means for woman's instruction, however, are most lamentable in Bohemia. The universities are shut against women, and though two women have been graduated in Switzerland, their degrees are not recognized in their native land. Beyond primary instruction the State does almost nothing for its women, though they outnumber the other sex by two hundred thousand. In several of the large cities of Bohemia something has been accomplished for girls' high-school and normal-school instruction; but, in general, we may say that the intellectual development of Bohemian girls is left to private instruction. Associations of women have done much to fill this void, one of which, founded by Carolina Svetlá, is devoted to the industrial and commercial instruction of girls. Two thousand women belong to this association, and five hundred girls attend its school annually, while many young women frequent its school for the training of nurses. This vigorous organization has disarmed prejudices by the success of its schools and by the arguments of its monthly organ, the Zenské Listy, ably edited by Elise Krásnohorská, one of the best known Bohemian poets, and a leader in the work of improving the condition of her countrywomen. Vojtá Náprstek, a man who has justly been named "the woman's advocate," has founded at Prague the Women's American Club, whose object is charity and the intellectual elevation of women, and has presented the club a valuable collection of books and objects of art. A lady, writing me from Prague, says:
The club has always been in a most flourishing condition, although it has never had a constitution or by-laws to hold it together,—nothing but the single bond of philanthropy. At first it had not even a name. But outsiders began to call its members 'the Americans,' because they adopted American improvements in their homes. The appellation was accepted by the club as an honorable title, and from that time it formally called itself the "American Club."
The Austrian code, in its treatment of women, is unsurpassed in contradictions. Women, for example, may testify in criminal actions, but they may not be witnesses to the simplest legal document. There are many absurdities of this sort in the existing law which were unknown in the ancient code of independent Bohemia, which was more liberal in its treatment of women. Divorce exists, but divorced persons cannot marry again. Bohemia being a part of Austria, women vote in the same way as has already been mentioned in what was said of the latter country. But at Prague, however, women do not vote, the capital still retaining its old laws on this subject.
Concerning the other grand division of the empire of the Hapsburgs, Hungary, much the same may be said as of Bohemia. It is only within the last forty years that Hungary has striven to attain to the level of occidental civilization and culture, so that the question of the amelioration of women's condition is of very recent origin in that country. Rose Revai, of Budapest, writes:
Hungarian legislators have always treated us favorably in all matters pertaining to the family, marriage and inheritance. By the mere act of marriage we attain our majority and are emancipated from tutelage. As heirs, our interests are not forgotten, and as widows, we have the control over our own children. In business and trade we enjoy equal rights with men. And Hungarian women have not been slow to take advantage of these privileges, as is shown by those of our sex who occupy worthy positions in literature, art, commerce, industry, the theater and the school-room.
Although the Hungarian universities are still closed against women, there are many girls' industrial and normal schools and colleges. The impetus given to female education in Hungary is chiefly due to the late Baron Joseph Eœtvœs, the savant, poet and philanthropist, who was minister of public instruction in 1867. Women are employed in the postal and telegraphic service.
Returning north, to Holland, we find much the same situation as in the other Teutonic nations. "The women of Holland are unquestionably better educated, and entertain as a body more liberal ideas than French women," said a Dutch lady to me, who had lived many years at Paris; "but, on the other hand, there is not the little group of women in the Netherlands who grasp the real meaning of the woman question as is the case here in France." Woman's social position is a little better in Holland than in the Catholic countries. In 1870 an essay on the woman question "by a lady" demanded political rights for women, and there are a few instances of women having lectured on that subject. The Dutch universities are open to female students, and Aletta Henriette Jacobs, the first and only female physician in Holland, has a successful practice at Amsterdam. Dr. Jacobs recently attempted to vote, and carried the question before the courts. Elise A. Haighton, of Amsterdam, writes: