“Governmental Decree” issued by the Austrian Government [Present-day Austria]: “[…] The Viennese Magistrate is instructed to put an end to this intolerable nonsense* in collaboration with the Royal Imperial Chief Police-Authorities/Directive (‘k. k. Polizey-Oberdirection’) and to exclude the police-stations from [partaking in] this reward altogether in the future, and to let these be collected by other trustworthy individuals who have been chosen for this [task specifically], [… and] to properly educate all arrested Jews about the accusations he’s asked to face […] and depending on the magnitude of his (Jew’s) offense, [to require him to pay] not only 17 kr. as it was commonplace until now, but to pay 34 kr. and up to one Gulden, depending on the best estimation of the acquirer […] while on the other hand, to allow the innocent to leave without requiring any kind of payment. […]” [Researcher’s note: This ordinance was issued after complaints had reached the Austrian Government that Jews were being stopped by the ‘Police and other trusted individuals’ and asked to pay a fine of 17 kr. for having engaged in ‘unlawful trade’ which often turned out to be untrue and a pretext to extort money from Jews. But while this decree attempts to put an end to these extortions, it also doubles the fine for Jews who are found to be violating the law.]
Politische Verfassung der Israeliten im Lande unter der Enns und insbesondere in der k. k. Haupt- und Residenzstadt Wien. J. L. E. Graf von Barth-Barthenheim. (Wien; 1821). (Political Constitution of the Israelis in the Country under/near Enns and especially in the R[oyal] I[mperial] Capital and Royal Seat of Vienna. J. L. E. Count von Barth-Barthenheim.); (Vienna; 1821); Researched and Translated by Ziba Shadjaani 6/30/2018