Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-12-24
AUSTRIA FEARING
POWER OF BERLIN
Important Conferences Between Poll.
tieians ef Two Countries Are
In Progress.


and Austro- Hungarian politicians and
leading representatives of finance and
commerce are now going on in Vienna
and Berlin, for the purpose Of finding
q basis for establishing closer eco
nomic relations between the allied
empires Although several meetings
have already taken place. no definite
results have yet been obtained. The
industrial and commercial interests Of
the two countries are SO divergent
that it is difficult to see how an I'M
Outstanding can be reached which viii
prove satisfactory to both sides And
so far every conference seems only to
have discovered new troubles in the
way OF reaching an agreement.
Austro-Hungarian fear that just as
at present they are under the DONNA
tion Of Germany In military affairs, SC
later their financial and economic in
dependence will also be lost before
the persistent and powerful monarch
Of Germany. The whole question Is
one of the most vital importance for
the future welfare of the dual mon
archy, and exeites far more interest III
the business community than the prog
ress Of the war.
Since the Franco-Prussian war Ger
many has become an industrial state
while Austro-Hungary has remained
essentially agricultural With the ex-
ception Of Bohemia, Moravia and Low
er Austria, which includes Vienna, all
the other provinces of Austria are
purely agricultural, and Hungary is
overwhelmingly so. In both parlia-
ments at Vienna and Budapest the
agrarians always possess a large ma
jority.
| Nevertheless, both politically and
militarily, a closer union between
Germany and Austria is generally re
garded as an absolute necessity. and
I will doubtless continue to be so long
after the war is ended But the prob
lem as to how this is to be brought
about is exceedingly complex,
| By high protective duties Austria
has long maintained an economic ex-
/ istence, independent of Germany, and,
indeed, even opposed to German in
| terests. In Austria everything is
much dearer than in Germany, from
| 20 to even so per cent The difference
in prices is especially great in heavy
wares, such as coal, iron, steel and
machinery 1t is only through these
protective duties that Austria has
managed to develop growing indus
/ try and prevent the country from be-
/ ing flooded with cheap German prod
ucts.
For some years Austria has almost
monopoii2ed the trade in the Balkans
and the Levant, but latterly German
merchants have been creeping in there
and capturing customers. This has
| been the case more than ever since
| the annexation by Austria Hungary of
I4S3nia and Herzegovina In 1909, when
both Turkey and Serbia boycotted
Austrian goods. The rapidly with
which Germany seized the opportun-
| ity to enter these markets caused in
/ tense irritation in Vienna and Buda-
| pest at the time Nor has this feeling
diminished since German trade has
steadily grown in southeastern Europe
while Austrias has as steadily de-
creased.
How all these matters will develop
after the war nobody can foresee. In
doubtedly Austria-Hungary is placed
under heavy obligations to Germany
for her military aid in the war. How
and in what form will Germany re-
quire payment for such service
Probably through preferential GUS
toms tariffs, or perhaps by customs
union. In either case it is declared
Germany stands to gain all the profit
and Austria to suffer all the injury,
For then German wares would sweep
Austrian markets, prices generally
would be forced down, and Austrian
competition for the trade in the Balk-
ans and Leyant 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. It is feared that econom.
ic dependence will surely follow mill
tary. For since the war begun many
things have occurred which indicates
Germanys aim at bringing Austria
Hungary under her commercial sub.
lection. Only a short time ago the
big banks in Berlin sent circulars &c
the principal Austrian investors IN thu
first and second Austrian war loans
offering to advance them 30 per cen
of the face value of their holdings
provided they would use the monej
for investment In the third loan The
Austrian banks were only advancins
Is per cent Of the former loans Sucl
incidents have created much distrus
in the Austrian capital, and shown thu
necessity for exercising the utmos
caution before entering into any new
kind Of economic angements witt
Germany, which may be fraught witt
the most serious consequences for tn
future OF the dual monarchy.
Shoes have doubled in price II
Vienna in the last few months, ant
this largely through the wearing 0
the short skirt. which calls for highe
footwear. It is not that raw materia
is scarce at all: there is plenty Of /
from OK. calf and goat skins, but tan
ming materials are hardly obtainabl