Chapter 149: Budget
Chapter 147 The Budget
After Christmas, the next annual budget meeting of the Austrian government started again.
In fact by this time, the battle for the budgets of the various departments was over, and now it was just a final round of finalization.
If the issue of determining the budget was really brought to the meeting for discussion, it was estimated that in the last few days, it would be too late to even review the project information prepared by everyone.
Prime Minister Felix handed over a report to Franz and said: ”Your Majesty, this is the annual budget plan for 1850, the main expenditures mainly include: military expenses, government administration, education expenses, land redemption money, infrastructure construction, and cultural unification, which are the six major items.
Among them, military expenditure has decreased by 27.percent compared to 1849, while education expenditure has increased by 31 percent, cultural promotion expenditure has increased by 32 percent, government administration expenditure has increased by 9 percent, and infrastructure construction expenditure has increased by 44.5 percent.”
All in all, spending has gone up considerably, except for military spending, which has gone down. The exception is land redemption money, something that wasn’t even there before.
The increase in spending was accompanied by an increase in government revenues, otherwise this budget would never have passed.
Franz took the budget report and just scanned the budget summary table.
The military expenditure was 61,568,400 guilders, including 10,652,300 guilders for the navy and 50,916,100 guilders for the army.
The war was over, and disarmament was accomplished in 1849. By 1850 it was normal for military expenditure to have dropped considerably.
However, the decline was only in the army’s military expenditure, and the navy’s military expenditure also increased by one and a half million guilders compared with the previous year, so it seems that the colonialist faction in the government had grown stronger.
The education expenditure was 68,509,400 guilders, of which 40,164,100 guilders were spent on compulsory education, 20,563,200 guilders on university education (including the expenditure on scientific research in the laboratories of the universities), and 7,782,100 guilders on secondary education;
The cost of education expenditure is much lower than Franz estimated, on the one hand, compulsory education is still in the process of universalization and has not yet been completed; on the other hand, the families who have the means to have a better future for their students choose the fee-paying schools with better education conditions.
On the face of it, the Ministry of Education allocates the same amount of money to all compulsory school students, but in fact compulsory schools also provide students with three free meals, uniforms and accommodation.
One child does not cost much, but a large number of children can be a big expense, and the initial estimate is that this will reduce the expenditure by 10 million guilders.
Infrastructure construction costs 48,203,800 rupiah, including the allocation for railroad construction of 20,152,000 rupiah, post-war reconstruction costs 15,416,000 rupiah, urban infrastructure renovation costs 10,263,200 rupiah, other ……
There is no way around it, there are railroads that have no commercial value at all, yet they have important military value and still have to be built.
There are still people in later times criticizing the Austro-Hungarian railroads for taking care of the military and affecting commerce.
In order to avoid this situation, this kind of railroad can only be Austrian government to pay for the repair, counting on private investment, it is estimated that the next century will not be able to start.
The good thing is that these railroads are not long, generally only one hundred and eighty kilometers, the longest is not more than four hundred kilometers, the total mileage adds up to only two or three thousand kilometers.
After the completion of the construction, and the Austrian railroad network a docking, is the shortest possible time, the domestic army into the front.
The government’s administrative expenses amounted to 53,282,100 guilders, of which 11,261,000 guilders were for business management and 42,021,100 guilders were for the administration of government agencies;
Seeing this, Franz frowned, it seemed that it was necessary to let the state enterprises carry out their own operations. There is no problem to merge them together in the short term, but in the long term relying on the government to manage the enterprises will sooner or later be out of line with the market.
Cultural promotion was funded at 23,160,800 guilders, which was an effort to unify the language and script.
Because of the Austrian government’s policy, everyone knows that it is better to learn the common language to find a job, and the promotion is relatively smooth in the city, but it is troublesome in the countryside.
Franz didn’t have a good solution, forcing was impossible, it would only make things worse. It looked like it was impossible to unify the language and writing in this generation, and it could only be done in the next generation.
All schools in the country, where Austrian language classes are mandated, are still training teachers for the early outlawing of local dialects.
That’s right, in the official documents of Austria, at this time there is no more word of national language, the whole country has only one language – Austrian, and the rest are all regional dialects.
If nothing else, from 1850 onwards, all primary and secondary school teachers were required to take the Austrian language examination, with those who passed being given a one-level increase in salary and those who failed being prepared to take a supplementary examination.
Those who failed the test for three consecutive years were ready to go home. In order to promote the Austrian language as soon as possible, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education took great pains.
Land redemption money this needless to say, a fixed annual expenditure of 105 million guilders, as compensation for the purchase of the land of the nobles, which is the acquisition of the land of the farmers to pay for, the government just turned a hand.
These six items of expenditure alone added up to 359,724,500 guilders, followed by a large number of small budgetary items, adding up the financial expenditure of Austria in 1850 to 423 million guilders.
If you saw this budget figure two years ago, it is estimated that the Austrian government officials will be shocked to faint, this is almost catch up with the government revenue of three times. Now, however, people do not feel anything.
(Remarks: Two years ago Hungarian finances were separate)
The farmers’ redemption money, around 158 million guilders, and the government’s payment of 1.05 guilders for the nobles’ land left 53 million guilders in the coffers.
Only this income is not too stable, subject to natural disasters, it will fluctuate. If there is a big natural disaster, the government may have to subsidize part of it.
There is also the church’s tithe, which fluctuates around 93.5 million rupiahs per year, subject to fluctuations in the price of agricultural products, which also deducts the twenty percent stratification paid to the church.
The clergy also has a cost to collect taxes, fortunately, not to mention, but also helped to take the blame, it is impossible to let them do it for nothing.
In the hands of the government there is only 74.8 million guilders, now pay for education seems to have a surplus, in fact, as soon as the compulsory education is fully universal, this money will not be enough, then the government will have to stick money into it.
Deduct these two expenses first, in fact, the Austrian government’s budget is not horrible.
423-0.748-1.58 = 243.2 million guilders.
And then there’s the remuneration of corporate executives, which is actually deductible from the profits contributed by the SOEs, only it’s merged over.
The Ministry of Finance gives an estimate of revenues for 1850 of 230 million guilders, and an estimate of total government revenues of 480 million guilders, including land redemption money, tithes, profits turned in by state enterprises, real estate property rentals and sales, and so on.
Subtracting the budget of 423 million, there seems to be a fiscal balance?
In reality, this is impossible. The Austrian government still has debts, which are repaid. As of today, the Austrian Government owes a total of 542 million guilders in bank loans, various debt rolls, and corporate and personal debt.
All of this money needs to be repaid on schedule, and theoretically, if nothing changes, the Austrian government achieves fiscal balance.
These are only ideal conditions. Whether we end up with a surplus or a deficit will be known by this time next year.
In 1848 the Austrian government realized a fiscal surplus by copping out, and in 1849 the Austrian government had a deficit of 7,256,800 guilders.
This figure doesn’t look like much, but it has been going on for a long time and it’s a problem.
Especially at the critical moment when the Crimean War was about to break out, being in debt to Britain and France made it unavoidable to suffer diplomatically.
This is reflected in history, and the Austrian government’s fall to Britain and France has a factor in this. The French even relied on loans to pull Russia out of the Three Emperors’ League.
Unless the study of the Kingdom of Prussia, the first debt development, and so on the development of almost launched a war, won the natural money to pay off the debt, lost the natural game is over.
Austria’s family is very thick, Franz is not ready to be a gambler. This is the strategy of the rise of small countries, in the big country does not apply.
Franz thought about it and said, “The financial budget, let’s implement it according to the above! Leave a budget of twenty million guilders as a special fee for emergencies.”
Cut the budget?
The contents of this budget report had long been reported to him by various departments, and unless it was best to exceed the limit, Franz would not mess things up.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Prime Minister Felix replied
Facing a strong monarch, the ministers naturally couldn’t be strong. The status of the monarch and ministers were not equal, and the monarch had a natural advantage.
At the beginning of the regency, Franz also had to use Metternich, the foreign minister, to check and balance Felix, the strong prime minister, after more than a year of bonding, this situation had changed completely.
……
Without waiting for a negotiating mission from the German Bundestag, and under strong pressure from the Russian Foreign Minister Karl Wasserrod, on January 6, 1850 the Prussian army withdrew completely from Danish territory, including the abandonment of the two duchies of Schleswig-Holstein, which had already been in their hands.
Everyone knew that the next day was Russian Christmas, and Nicholas I naturally needed to let off some steam after having repressed the situation for so long.
Karl Worcelrod, as a close friend, naturally had to offer a big gift on this special day, and the Prussian government was unfortunately reduced to a background plate.
At first Franz thought so, but after seeing Metternich’s big smile, he knew that things were not so simple, in which the Austrian Foreign Ministry probably played a dishonorable role.
Franz naturally does not know anything, the oldest suppressed the oldest two this is more than normal. As the two major states in the German region, Prussia and Austria are both cooperative and contradictory.
In recent decades, it seems that everyone is a friend. Only from the beginning of the Frankfurt Conference, Prussian-Austrian relations began to rapidly drift apart.
Yes, only estranged rather than deteriorating, and there was no direct conflict between the two sides yet. The Prussian government’s attempt to establish the “Three Kings’ Alliance” was just beginning to work when the Austrian Foreign Ministry sabotaged it.
The Austrian government also took advantage of the fact that the Prussian kingdom was deeply involved in the Prussian-Prussian War to form the Holy Roman Empire to isolate Prussia in Germany.
All these proved that one mountain could not accommodate two tigers. The Kingdom of Prussia was unlucky to meet Franz, and the Austrian government had settled the domestic conflicts in advance and had the energy to trip them up.
“Shall we send a note to the Kingdom of Prussia in the name of the German Federal Council and leave them to die?” Franz asked hesitantly
After thinking about it, Metternich replied, “Your Majesty, if we do that, the Prussian government will more than likely follow orders, and then the Russians won’t hate us to death?”
Indeed at this time, the German Confederation participated in it, the Prussian government could really drag everyone down.
Everyone knows that the Russians don’t really want to do it, and once the Prussian government breaks its back in a heroic way and gives up its independent diplomatic power and lets the German Federal Parliament take over, then it will be in big trouble.
If you wimp out, everyone and the Prussian government together to be scolded, who do not want to be good; if hard resistance, I guess the Russians really want to hate Austria.
Franz knew how vindictive the Tsarist government was. There was no point in making a fuss when the situation was already settled.
Franz shook his head and said: ”Then let’s forget about it, and wait for the Prussian government to withdraw its troops, and then mobilize the people to find them to ask for money.
At the same time, it is also necessary to expose the Prussian government’s sinister intention of using the war to divert domestic attention, so that the German public will spurn them.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Metternich replied
Even though he didn’t think that such a little trouble could strike the Prussian Kingdom, but it was still possible to be disgusted.
At least without clearing this bad reputation, it would become more difficult for the Kingdom of Prussia to annex North Germany.
Annexation by force is actually the least desirable, if you can’t get the approval of the people, it will be difficult to convert the increased land and population into national power.
(End of chapter)