The Dominion. TUESDAY JUNE 30, 1914. THE AUSTRIAN TRAGEDY

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2189, 30 June 1914, Page 6

The Dominion. TUESDAY JUNE 30, 1914. THE AUSTRIAN TRAGEDY

During the early part of last year the civilised world was stocked by the assassination of King George of Greece at Saloniki. months previously an unsuccessful attempt had been made to kill ths Viceroy of India, and only a f.ew days age a cablegram was published giving par-, ticulars of what looked like a plot against the life of . the ' Tsar ' uf Russia,_ though, an official denial pi. the incident wftg sivtecquetttly 1 published. The latest outrage of this type is the assassination oi the Archduke Francis Fkrpi.nand of Austria " and its wife while driving in , the streets. of a Bosnian town. The Archduke- was heir to the throne of-Austria, attd Hungary, and in view of the great; ago of the Emperor Francis Joseph the death of the wan who was to •have been his successor may have no little influence on the -international situation in Europe. At a critical time like the pflSseat,' when the Rations of Europe ave annod to the, teeth, and are stiji_ piling up a.rniaincuts, any dynastic change cannot fail to give rise to a certain amount of uneasiness. The assassination $£■ the Archduke Francis Ferdinand naturally conc&ntrafcs attention on the new heir to the Austria© throne, the Archduke Ojtari.es Francis Joseph, nonhew «®f ti'ja murdered Archduke, but very little information appears to be" available at present in regard to his personal characteristics, nis political ideas, or his* international sympathies, During the present year the health of the Emperor of Austria, who is cighlythree years of age, has been extremely unsatisfactory, and cablegrams published in April last shriw.nl that his condition was so critical that it was deemed advisable tc; summon the members of the Royal Family. He succeeded, however, in throwing off the malady from which he was suffering, and according to latest information his health was as good as could be expected in the ' circumstances. The tragic death of his heir is sure to be a great shock to him, and there is a general impression abroad that when bis lo®g a-nd uveas tful reign comes' to an end AustriaHungary will have to pass through a very anxious period'. The Dual Monarchy is composed of a pumiber of more or less irr-ecmiciluble elements, and it is considered dunbhnl whether the nej£t Eiiiperoi ;ull be able to hold them togeth.e) r <mcis Joseph has handled a dif'icult and delicate situation with, wonderful ability, and it is hardly .to ba inspected that his successor will be able to exercise the .same otogi'ee- of itv fluencc in the maintenxj.iufe of peace at home and abroad.

The information flvaiLaWß nt time of writing is not su.ffi.ciisrit to gne to estimate tlw full and ))reei*; significance of 11 w itssassiiJiiitioH o£ tho Archduke I'kakcis Fchdixasd. If

it was merely the rockles® deed of a i frenzied student with a grievance, it would have little, if any, immediate political significance, however far-reaching its ultimate cousin qiwnces may be. The man who actually committed the murder declares that lie was actuated by Nationalist- motives, tb.mmh be denies having had any accomplices; bvifc the warnings of the Servian Ambasvudor and the fact that the assassi.nat.iofl *•85' pteecded by a bomb-throwing incident show that tho outrage was s-..mei.)ihig more serious than the sudden act of an isolated iwi.liTK:ua.l, - The ti ngedy occurred in one of ■ the disaffected terfters- of Austria-Hungary, auti this suggests the occurrence may not be entirely uneonriv-eUa with political discontent.. The administration of Bosnia was handed over to the Dual .Monarchy in 3878 by the Berlin Treaty, and the territory was an nex.ed in 1:908. The district,.. which had previously belonged t-o Turkey, is inhabited by Croats, Serbs, and Twks. .The Austrian ■occ.npatk® met with a gead deal of resiistattee, and prii.-r to the recent Jin Ik,m war ths Young Turks let it be known that f hey had not abandoned air hope of recovering the provinces of Bosnia. and Herzegovina; but the crushing defeat Of the Tilths by the Balkan Allies must have shattered ail such hopes. The annexation was viewed' with much disfavour by Russia, but her ifas-brous conflict with Japan had made her too weak at that time to take active' $te|>s to prevent Austria's bold-stroke in 1908. Ttie fact ■that tho Archduke was murdeie-d by &■ disaffected Servian possibly indicates that the Bosnians have not yet. become reconciled to Austrian domination, and this, combined with tlv? . 'persowftj unpopularity "of Vr.vseis 1 I-'):i!D<x*;;n in Hungary, lends supjSotfc to the widcly-hoi| opinion that ■ lie woukl not hate been able to maintain the . integrity of ' the Dual M onarchy if he had lived to ascend the ihroue. It is not. 011.lv crowned Ir.ads and mrmbprs of Royal families ■that have to fe,ar the assassin's road* ness* Ths present has not frwgofcten the murder of P'ssbsiw.nt Carsot, of France, and .the tragic ■death of .PbesjibeST iMv int.kv, of the United States, wh'o was shot- hy a Polish anarchist. The .Emperor of At stria and the ether relatives ©f the murdered Archduke and Diohass will have the sympathy of the civilised work! in their bereavement, for no reasonable p.~an, whatever his political opinions r.iav be, ran feel : any tiling but abhorrence for the msfcheds of the anarchist and assassin.