New-York tribune., 1919-07-13
Billions of Crowns of Aus
tro-Hungarian Depreciat-
ed Currency Is Being
Brought Into Serbia
sProblem Hard to Solve
New State Has Undertaken
to Redeem Supply and
Make Foes Square Bill
Ncso York 7'riJst4,e
= .f,,.,.fI,., D. H

rorci1H Press SitrCGl
The new state Of Jugo- Slavia is being
flooded with deprecated Austro- Hun
garian paper currency, according to Il
special correspondent of "The London
Morning Post who says:
That money OF impaired value drives
good money off the market If not an
economic axiom, is a self-evident propo-
sition which has been we'll exemplihed
in Serbia. The territories of the old
kingdom and those newly added to it
alike are simply inundated with Austro-
hungarian paper crowns, while OF Ser
bian paper currency little is ever seen
Why? Because all who can afford to
do so hoard their Serbian dinars and
spend the rapidly depreciating crowns.
There has been a remarkable recovery
in Serbian state credit since the arrnis-
tice--the paper dinar. OF Serbian franc,
being to-day worth so per cent of par,
against 46 during the war. This re-
covery has been due TO the large gold
reserve held for the Serbian government
in Paris quite as much as TO the i'm
proved political prospects Of the king
dom.
Cheap Money Floods Land
On the other hand, there is a swelling
food of Austro-Hungarian crowns that
is continually fed from Vienna and
Budapest, where the government print
ing presses are said to be issuing be-
tween them d round 100000 600 day
to meet current expenses, while 49,
000,O00,000 are already in circulation.
With view to stemming the influx
of this discredited currency the Serbian
government, soon after the armistice,
caused all the Austro-H Hungarian notes
that were already in its territory to be
counter stamped, declaring of no value
such as should not be thus endorsed, and
prohibited the further importation OF
crowns under severe penalties.
When the Croats and the Slovenes
proclaimed their union with Serbia they
also IN self-defence counter stamped vhe
crowns in their possession and inter
dicted their importation.
1t was hoped by these measures to
limit to 100000 900 the number OF
crowns that would have to be ultimately
redeemed by the Serbo-Croat- -Slovene
government, that government reserlne
to itself the right eventually to clam
gary at the par value at which thlS
mass Of paper had been forced upon the
Serbian people during the war.
SmnggIers Reap Harvest
Unfortunately the smuggler has been
and is still busy ali along the vide
flung coterminous line which the
Franco Serbian armies facing German
Austria and Hungary at present oc-
y,D and
wholesale confiscation, the lucrative
contraband importation of crowns goes
on anace. Dishonest officials are sald
to share the profits H this Illicit
traffic. and the whole prudent scheme
of the Serbo- -Croat-Slovene govern
ment seems doomed 10 failure.
In Lieu of the 5000 100000 originally
auticipated as the maximum with
which the treasury OF the new king
dom would have 10 deal, She Jugo-Slav
territories are believed TO harbor al
ready close on double that quantity
Of Austro- Hungarian crowns. OF Ser
bian paper dinars there exist less tnan
1000 100000 and there have been no
recent new issues.
Eor current expenses the government
Of Belgrade lately contracted short
dated loan OF three hundred million
crowns from Tie banks Of Aagreb, Lai-
bach and Serajevo.
The mi sfake originally made by the
Serbian government Was in not having
special stamp engraved for earmarh-
inc the crowns wh,cn il intended 10
sanction a stamp lhat should only
have been used 1T Ia grade and at the
chicf proYucia centres instead OF ac-
ceptirg. as j. nas done. the ordinary
Office stamp o. amy police station as d
valid indorseMcnt
In the former Austro-Hungarian ter
ritorics, now Incorporated in the Jugo-
Slav kingdom, There are literally mutt
tudes Of people who have become en-
riched in the course of the war. For
be it well Understood. the oppression
exercised ny the government OF the
Dual Empire was never OF that blind
lv selfish Oreutal type that reduces
the mass of The people to Indulgence
for the benefit Of the few. Il was al
WAYS the aim of Austro-Hungariar
statesmen, while pitilessly stamping
out any tendencies 70 political emanci.
patton. TO keep thcir Siav subjects con
tented by fostering their material pros
perity.
This aim was kept scrupulously II
view, even under the dire stress o1
war. While entire Croatian regiment