Haugwitz, however, agreed with the Supreme Chancellor, and all the other Ministers concurred, that this military system would not advance the welfare of the Monarchy unless the debt and the Camera were, at the same time, put in order.
The Cameral funds were insufficient for these two purposes, and Count Harrach himself was the less able to deny this because he had himself undertaken to draw up an estimate of what was needed for the Cameral expenditure and the debt.
Even here, however, I was unable to fall in with his ideas, which would again have involved robbing the Bank of the greater part of its funds, which would have ruined it completely, since the hypotheses on which he based his speculations were, by universal consent and most plainly, nonexistent and incapable of realization.
I was therefore forced to apply to Count von Haugwitz again, to work out the system for the debt and the Camera, and this he finally succeeded in doing, in spite of the unimaginable confusion reigning in both departments. His conclusion, however, was that, after allowance had been made for essential Cameral expenditure, for the service of the existing debt at 6 per cent (5 per cent interest and 1 per cent amortization) and for obligations to the Bank, a deficit of about 2.5 million would be left. This sum, which was necessary for the consolidation of the main system, had to be asked of the Provinces, and since the Bohemian and Moravian Deputies were in Vienna, I myself approached them and explained the situation to them in detail. I thus persuaded them to undertake themselves to put my proposals before their colleagues, and they did so in the subsequent Diets, with the effect that Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia granted the Cameral quotas needed for the debt.
Count von Harrach was acting Landmarschall in Lower Austria. He could not bring himself to ask the Estates to grant the two million that fell to them under the plan, so I was forced to appoint Count von Haugwitz Commissioner and Count von Bräuner the new Landmarschall. Here, too, there was success; the Lower Austrian Estates most readily accepted their quota of two million, and a ten years’ Recess was agreed with them, as with the Bohemian Provinces.
I had rather more difficulty in obtaining its million from Upper Austria, where I was unable to send Count von Haugwitz. When, however, its Deputies appeared for the closure of the Recess, the matter was eventually settled satisfactorily.
print version
return to list
previous document