El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-03-12
AUSTRIA NEAR BREAKING POINT;
PEOPLE READY To START REVOLT.
Food and Fuel Famine Dual Monarchy Hastens Crisis
Revolutionary Movement Is Spreading and the
Government Appears Unable to Check Out
! breaks; Soldiers Without Underwear.
By JOHN L. BALDERsTON.

= ONDON, Eng, March Histories
of the approaching collapse Of
Austria have been printed so
often-I am afraid I have written a
few of them myself-that the public
may well be tired Of the reiteration Of
this particular cry of welt" The
belief undoubtedly exists at present
in the best informed circles here,
however, that the Dual monarchy is
on the point Of dissolving into a So
cial revolutionary chaos like Russia.
and that this breakup was only post
pOned, not averted, by the removal
in the 1917 campaigns Of the Russian
and Italian military pressure from
the emperor's frontiers.
It is to America and president VII
son that the Hapsburg autocrats and
their satellites are looking TO protect
them from ruin by bringing pressure
on the allies to conclude peace be
fore they are swept into the dustbin
with the Romanoffs. The political
maneuvers of Austria, which are ex-
pected to increase as the end ap
the light of a few facts about the
present internal conditions They
have been obtained from a high au-
thority whose sources are unquestion-
able ms man declares.
Food Problem Acute.
THE food problem has been acute
in Austria for the last two years,
though IL has varied greatly accord
ing to districts. Last summer there
was real famine in Istria- Bosnia, and
the German districts OF Bohemia, put
comparatively plenty among the
Czech and Magyar peasantry- For
many months past there have been
all night queues for the barest neces-
sites of life, and the medical profess
sion has been loud in its complaints
OF the fatal injury caused TO the
health and morals of women and chill
dren-
asaIt, butter. eggs. and other
staples have often been unObtaiu-
able. The milk supply Of Vienna
has dropped from 10000 to $4,000
quarts per day. HOrsefIesh has
become n regular article of con-
sumption for the middle classes.
The output OF beer Is only six per-
cent of the pre-War period.
Fodder is hard to procure, and
there has been dangerous reduction
Of livestock in consequence Vienna
has been living from hand to mouth
for almost two years. and this ap-
plies to other urban districts. Numer-
Gus diseases due to bad food or
starvation are increasingly prevalent.
The rise Of mortality is only less
alarming than the falling birth rate.
The reduced capacity for work caused !
by undertaking is openly admitted. ]
is rampant at the front /
and in the rear.
No Underwear for Soldiers.
Equally serious is the clothing I
crisis. By the end Of September the I
stocks Of clothing for the general /
public were running short. and the /
of clothes cards came 4
90 late to regulate the impossible 4
prices. Thread is unobtainable. and 1
most tailors refuse to undertake re- I
lairs for customers who bring their i
Jwn thread. That the situation has /
,ecome too desperate for any attempt /
It concealment is best shown by the 4
lppeal issued to the press by a high I
medical officer on the general staff. 1