Russia should draw together in independence from Berhnnand Moscow. This, however, leaves the question open howna central, but not a centralizing, government ought andncould, at least theoretically, be constituted. Again a onenman-one vote parliament? Should that failure with thenceaseless, idiotic, and offensive talk about “majorities” andn”minorities” be repeated?nI remember my childhood days, when above the beds ofnsimple people one saw the Emperor and the Empress (innHungary, they figured as King and Queen). These were thenadditional parents. The monarch was trained from hisnearliest years for his difficult, grueling, thankless job (usuallynwithout retirement), which hardly left him time for anprivate life. (Francis Joseph? His brother was executed innMexico by Benito Juarez; his wife, Elisabeth, was murderednby an Italian anarchist; his son committed suicide; and hisnnephew and heir was assassinated by the minions of Serbia.)nThis was a world, admittedly, with very modest livingnstandards since technology had not yet made the averagenperson a very productive worker. But people looked withnconfidence into the future, honesty prevailed, the artisticnand intellectual life flourished, security was great, socialnrise was frequent, tolerance amazing. The foundations ofnthe “libertarian” Austrian School of Economics had beennlaid (Carl von Menger, Bohm von Bawerk, Ludwig vonnMises), and (genuine) liberalism was rampant. (FrancisnJoseph’s daily newspaper was the liberal Fremdenblatt—notnthe Catholic and conservative Reichspost.) “Anti-Semitism”nadmittedly existed, but it was far less virulent than in thenUnited States. Whereas the Prussian army had only over 80nJewish career officers, the Imperial-Royal army had overn2,000. Only after the great triumph of democracy in 1918nthere were (in the words of Winston Churchill) loathsomenmonsters crawling out of the sewers.nAustria-Hungary was in size the second largest (in populationnthe third largest) country in Europe, and it providednits citizens with a feeling of space, freedom of motion,nvariety, color, and a richness of life which is gone but notnentirely forgotten. There were areas where within one orntwo miles entirely different cultures could be found—innthe southern parts of the Tyrol, for instance, churches andnhouses suddenly appeared in a different style, while melodies,nthe popular dress, food, and inscriptions changed.nThere were cities where the farmers, coming in from thenrural districts to sell their products, seemed to come fromnanother world. Hungary had different stamps (so hadnBosnia), but the banknotes were in German on one side, innHungarian on the other. The bodyguard of the Emperornwore fezzes, since they were Muslims from Bosnia, wherenpolygamy was legally permitted for them. (No jailings, asnfor Mormon fundamentalists in the United States!) Austrianwas more “democratic” than Hungary, but Hungary wasnmore “liberal.” (There were two citizenships!) The deathnpenalty was in force, but between 1889 and 1914 thenEmperor had signed only one order of execution. Thenadministration was modestiy rewarded, and cases of corruptionnwere extremely rare; but sticking to written law when itnobviously made no sense was equally rare. (The “Majesty ofnthe Law” is a republican phrase.) There was school onnSaturday, but Jewish pupils did not have to write a singlenline. Old Austria was a Catholic country, but the (salaried)nEvangelical minister and the rabbi came to the publicnschool for instruction, and their marks, like that of thenCatholic priest, headed the report card.nAustria was a real Reich with the Crown of the HolynRoman Empire (still!) in its treasury. It was a “rich”ncountry, rich in a welter of forms and institutions. In thennorth, in Bohemia and Moravia, people frequently crossednethnic lines, and this happened often between brothers andnsisters, parents and children. There were Germanic aristocratsnwho spoke Czech to each other and Czech noblemennwho conversed in German. Asked whether they werenGermans or Czechs, they insisted they were Bohemians,nreferring to an ancient kingdom, not a race. There werenSaxons who figured as Hungarian citizens and Eastern RitenUkrainian Catholics (with married priests) who were just asnmuch Catholics and “Austrians” as the people from thenTyrolean mountains, with their leather shorts and plumednhats.nI well remember how my good mother broke into tears inn1964, when she heard a man on the radio sing with a thicknHungarian accent. (A Czech or Polish accent would havenhad the same effect on her.) “The old monarchy,” shenexplained sobbing, “I shall never forget it.” Indeed, neitherncan I, although for me it was a mere childhood experience,nlater mixed with my Hungarian years as a universitynstudent. Here we have to remember the words of LordnActon, a great Catholic and a great liberal of partly Germanndescent, who wrote: “Those states are substantially the mostnperfect which, like the British and Austrian Empires,ninclude various distinct nationalities without oppressingnthem.” This notion is very much in the same vein as thenwords in the testament of Saint Stephen, King of Hungary,nto his son. Saint Imre: “Remember, my son, that a countrynof only one language and one custom is a feeble and foolishnthing.” Such sentiments are totally unacceptable to thenleftist mind which dreams of a country with one race, onenlanguage, one class, one type of education, one ideology,none party, one income, and so forth. Imre’s name, mynreaders should recall, was translated into German as Emmerich,nand Emmerich was Italianized into Amerigo,nwhich is at the root of “America.”nAre there other options to thenAIDSnISSUE?nFind out in “A SOUNDER ANTI-AIDS OPTION”nby John A. HowardnSend this coupon and a check for $2.50 to:nOccasional Papers #16nThe Roclcford Instituten934 N. Main Street, Rockford, IL 61103nnnNOVEMBER 1987 I 15n