Francis Kossuth's effort to get the Austro-Hungarian bill delayed has not been successful.
You remember he tried to get the bill referred to a certain committee.
His motion was defeated by a large majority.
This looks rather promising for the bill which Baron Banffy is trying to get through the House, and which, you remember, is to prolong the contract between the two nations for another year; at the same time, the best friends of the measure are doubtful if it will be possible to pass it.
The mass of the Hungarian people are in sympathy with Kossuth, and would be glad if Hungary could regain her freedom. It is therefore supposed that when the bill comes up for a final hearing, Kossuth will use all his fiery eloquence to dissuade the people from passing it, and that it will be defeated.
Persons who are able to look at both sides of the question are of opinion that separation would be a great misfortune for both countries. Austro-Hungary is now a great and powerful kingdom, holding a position in Europe which enables her to preserve the balance of peace in the eastern portion of that troubled continent.
With Austria and Hungary divided into two small kingdoms with separate aims and interests, Turkey could not be held in check any longer, and the Russians, who are so full of ambition for power in the East, could do pretty much as they pleased.
The Hungarians are supposed to be a very wide-awake people, and able to comprehend the true meaning of a political situation. It is therefore supposed that in the present crisis they are not striving so much for freedom, which would be a disadvantage to them, as for the supremacy in the two kingdoms.
This idea is outlined by Kossuth in a speech made by him the other day, in which he said: "We want a separate army and separate treasury. The King of Hungary should be Emperor of Austria as a sort of extra occupation. Vienna (the capital of Austria) is already a suburb of Budapest (the capital of Hungary), and in time Austria will become a collection of provinces attached to Hungary."