| 1885 | 1895 | 1900 | 1905 | |
| Expenditure | £44,121,600 | £55,396,916 | £66,003,494 | £74,013,000 |
| Revenue | £43,714,666 | £57,446,091 | £66,020,475 | £74,079,000 |
The chief sources of revenue are direct taxes, indirect taxes, customs duties, post and telegraph and post-office savings banks receipts, railway receipts, and profits or royalties on forests, domains and mining. The direct taxes are divided into two groups, real and personal; the former include the land tax and house-rent tax, and the latter the personal income tax, tax on salaries, tax on commercial and industrial establishments, tax on all business with properly audited accounts (like the limited liability companies), and tax on investments. The principal indirect taxes are the tobacco monopoly, stamps and fees, excise duties on sugar, alcohol and beer, the salt monopoly, excise duty on mineral oil, and excise duty on meat and cattle for slaughtering.
The national debt of Austria is divided into two groups, a general national debt, incurred jointly by the two halves of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy for common affairs, and is therefore jointly borne by both parts, and a separate debt owed only by Austria alone. The following table shows the growth of the Austrian debt in millions sterling:—
| 1885 | 1890 | 1895 | 1900 | 1905 |
| 45. | 88.23 | 119.60 | 140.68 | 167.91 |
At the close of 1903 the debt of Austria was £156,724,000, an increase since 1900 of £16,044,000. This large increase is due to the great expenditure on public works, as railways, navigable canals, harbour works, &c., started by the Austrian government since 1900.
Railways.—As regards internal communications, Austria is provided with an extensive network of railways, the industrial provinces being specially favoured. This has been accomplished in spite of the engineering difficulties owing to the mountainous nature of the country and of the great financial expenses resulting therefrom. The construction of the Semmering railway, opened in 1854, for instance, was the first mountain railway built in the European continent, and marked an epoch in railway engineering. The first railway laid down in Austria was in 1824 between Budweis and Kerschbaum, over a distance of 40 m., and was at first used for horse tramway. The first steam railway was opened in 1837 over a distance of about 10 m. between Floridsdorf (near Vienna) and Wagram. From the first, the policy of the Austrian government was to construct and to work the railways itself; and in granting concessions to private companies it stipulated among its conditions the reversionary right of the state, whereby the line becomes the property of the state without compensation after the lapse of the period of concession. With various modifications, according to its financial means, it vigorously pursued its policy, by both building railways itself, and encouraging private companies to build. In 1905 the total length of railways in Austria was 13,590 m., of which 5017 m. belonged to and were worked by the state, and 3359 m. belonged to private companies, but were worked by the state.
Bibliography.—F. Umlauft, Die Länder Österreich-Ungarns in Wort und Bild (15 vols., Vienna, 1881-1889), Die österreichisch-ungarische Monarchic (3rd ed., Vienna, 1896), Die österreichische Monarchic in Wort und Bild (24 vols., Vienna, 1888-1902), and Die Volker Österreich-Ungarns (12 vols., Teschen, 1881-1885); A. Supan, “Österreich-Ungarn” (Vienna, 1889, in Kirchhoff’s Länderkunde von Europa, vol. ii.); Auerbach, Les Races et les nationalitiés en Autriche-Hongrie (Paris, 1897); Mayerhofer, Österreich-ungarisches Ortslexikon (Vienna, 1896). For geology see C. Diener, &c., Ban und Bild Österreichs (Vienna and Leipzig, 1903); F. von Hauer, Die Geologie (Vienna). The official statistical publications of the central statistical department, of the ministry of agriculture, and of the ministry of commerce, appearing annually.
(O. Br.)
[1] The census returns of 1857, and of 1869, which were the first systematic censuses taken, gave the population of Austria as 18,224,500 and 20,394,980 respectively. It must be noticed that between these two dates Austria lost its Lombardo-Venetian territories, with a population of about 5,000,000 inhabitants.