The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-12-22
CENTRAL EMPIRES DISCUSS
WAYS AND MEANS TOWARDS
CLOSER ECONOMIC RELATION

tariffs, or perhaps by customs eunion.
In either case it is declared Germany
stands to- gain all the profit and Aus
tria to suffer all the injury. For
then German wares would swamp
Austrian markets. prices generally
would be forced down, and Austrian
competition for the trade in the Bal
kans and Ievant would be hopeless.
Hence it is easy to understand the
covert opposition in nearly all parts
of Austria, to Germany's efforts to
bring her ally in closer commercial
relationship. 1t is feared that eco
nomic dependence will surely follow
military. For since the war began
many things have occurred which
indicate Germany'ss aim at bringing
Austria Hungary under her CONNER
ciaIs subsection. Only a. short time
ago the big banks in Berlin sent cir
culars to the principal Austrian invest
ors in the first and second Austrian
war loans. offering to advance them
ninety per cent of the face value of
their holdings provided they would
use the money for investment in the
third loan The Austrian banks were
only advancing seventy-five per cent
of the former loans. Such incidents
have created much distrust in the Aus
TRAN capital, and shown the necessity
for exercising the utmost caution be-
fore entering into any new kind of
economic arrangements with Ger
many, which may be fraqght with the
most serious consequences. for the fu-
ture of the dual monarchy
Shoes have doubled in price in vi
emma in the last few months, and
this largely through the wearing of
the short skirt, which calls for higher
footwear. It is not that ray mate
rial is scarce at all; there is plenty
of it from OK. calf and goatskins, but
tanning materials are hardly obtain
able at any price. Most of these
came from abroad but their import
has been rendered impossible. by the
war for some time past With the
aid of these Austrian tanners could
convertaa. hide into leather in three
weeks; the same process now takes
four months. Some of these materials
are now costing seven times the orr
binary price.
And this has led to shortage in
the supply of shoemaker leather.
which has been further increased by
the women's demand for higher Shoes
which take much more leather. The
consequence is that prices have risen
tremendously Modern shoes of the
cheapest material formerly costing So
now cost from $12 to SIS, while for
better shoes SIS and even $40 are ask
ed Mems shoes have also gone up
in price in the same proportion, al
though in their case no change in
fashion has taken place.
Since a large quantity of tanner
materials has always been obtained
from Turkey, it is possible that now,
that communications have been re-
opened with Constantfnop1e, fresh
supplies may be obtained.
One of the most difficult of all so
ciaI problems, the care of the home
less, has been solved in Vienna by the
war. The number of these unfortun-
ate persons this winter is far less than
lin many years. Indeed so great has
been the falling off in this class of
mendicants that in many districts of
/ the city the buildings erected for their
accommodation have been converted
into military hispita1s, and homes for
refugees from the Italian theatre of
war.
The disappearance of these home
less persons is chiefly due to SO many
of the men having been called to the
army when their wives and families
are given relief pay placing them Of
ten in far better circumstances then
when their husbands were in work
Then, too, the younger classes of the
f'home1ess'' who were formerly I'M
able to obtain work in the city in the
winter. can now get employment cas-