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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Naofumi" data-source="post: 47486" data-attributes="member: 39">magine any other form of government. In light of my attitude towards theHouse of Habsburg, I would then have thought it a crime against libertyand reason to consider any kind of dictatorship as a possible form ofgovernment.I had a certain admiration for the British Parliament, and thiscontributed to the formation of my opinion. This feeling came almostunconsciously, much of it while reading the newspapers when I was young.I couldn't discard that admiration in an instant. The dignified way in whichthe British House of Commons fulfilled its function impressed me greatly,thanks largely to the glowing terms used by the Austrian press. Could therecould be any nobler form of government than self-government by thepeople?But these considerations furnished the very basis of my hostility to theAustrian Parliament. The way it was represented here seemed unworthy ofits great example. The following thoughts also influenced my attitude:The fate of the Germans in the Austrian State depended on theirposition in the Reichsrat. Prior to the introduction of universal suffrage bysecret ballot, the Germans had a majority in the Reichsrat-though not avery substantial one. This was a cause for concern because the SocialDemocratic faction of the German majority was unreliable regardingnational questions. In matters of critical concern to the Germans, the SocialDemocrats always took an anti-German stand because they were afraid oflosing support among the other national groups. Even before universalsuffrage, the Social-Democratic Party could no longer be considered aGerman Party. Universal suffrage put an end even to the purely numericaldominance of the German element. The way was now clear for the furtherde-Germanization of the state.My nationalist instinct of self-preservation made it impossible for meto welcome a system in which the German element was not reallyrepresented as such, but always betrayed by the Social-Democratic faction.Yet all these defects, and many others, could not be attributed to theparliamentary system as such, but rather to the Austrian State in particular.I still believed that if the German majority could be restored in therepresentative body, there would be no occasion to oppose such a systemas long as the old Austrian State continued to exist.Such was my general attitude at the time when I first entered thosesacred and contentious halls. For me, they were sacred only because of theradiant beauty of that majestic building. A Greek wonder on German soil.But I soon became enraged by the hideous spectacle that met my eyes!1 08CHAPTER 3Several hundred representatives were there to discuss a problem ofgreat economic importance, and each one had the right to have his say.That experience of a single day was enough to supply me with foodfor thought during several weeks afterwards.The intellectual level of the debate was quite low. Sometimes thedebaters didn't make themselves intelligible at all. Several of those presentdidn't speak German, but only their Slav vernaculars or dialects. Thus Ihad the opportunity of hearing with my own ears what I had previouslyknown only by reading the newspapers. A turbulent mass of people, allgesticulating and screaming at one another, with a pathetic old man shakinghis bell and making frantic efforts to call the House to order by friendlyappeals, exhortations, and grave wamings.4I had to laugh.I paid a second visit several weeks later. It was an entirely differentpicture-almost unrecognizable. The hall was nearly empty. They weresleeping in the other rooms below. Only a few deputies were in their places,yawning in each other's faces. One was ' speaking. ' A deputy speaker wasin the chair. He looked around with obvious boredom.Then I began to reflect seriously on the whole thing. I went to theParliament whenever I had any time to spare, and silently but attentivelywatched the spectacle. I listened to the debates, as far as they could beunderstood. And I studied the more or less intelligent features of thoseelected representatives of the various nationalities that composed thatmotley state. Gradually I formed my own ideas about what I saw.A year of such quiet observation was sufficient to transform orcompletely eliminate my former convictions regarding the character of thisinstitution. I no longer opposed merely the perverted form that the principleof parliamentary representation had assumed in Austria; no. It becameimpossible for me to accept the system in itself. Up to that time, I hadbelieved that the disastrous deficiencies of the Austrian Parliament weredue to the lack of a German majority. But now I recognized that the veryessence and form of the institution itself was wrong.A number of questions arose in my mind.</blockquote>

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