New-York tribune., 1919-05-17

~'OA1Nt - KIM OL vi tu0 war the wealth
IL OF Vienna has disappeared The Ger
man-Austrlan landlords who derived
their wealth from Polish, Bohemian and
hungarian estates probably will be expro-
prlated by the Poles, Czechs and Magyars.
The arlstocratc idlers Of Vienna will have
TO turn to work. The wealthy fnanciers.
bankers and investors of Vienna. to whom
the whole empire was in debt. will be COM
PEELED to sell the bulk of their Investments
situated in non-German Austria. partly
owing to the pressure which probably will be
exercised upon them by the nom German
peoples who will decline to continue paving
tribute to Vienna, partly owing to the ruin
which the war undoubtedly will inhict upon
them. The Czecho-Slovaks, Poles, Serbjans.
ETC., Will create capitals of their own and
Will shun Vienna With the disappearance
OF the court and the wealthy aristocracv tho
glamour Of Vienna will go. Vienna. which
was the capital of great empire will be-
come the principal town of a small state Of
100000 inhabitants at stands to reason
that little nation of 100000 people can
not maintain q capital inhabited by 1000
ooo. Vlennas luxury industries will decline
and decay. Prague, Bucharest, Warsaw and
Belgrade may put Vienna in the shade.
Debt That Spells Ruin
The Austro Germans will suffer through
the war in twofod manner. Their in
come, which was principally derived from
the non-German districts, will be vastly re-
duced by the loss of their principal wealth.
creating resources. In addition, they will
be weighed down by the burden of the war
debt and of the indemnities which they will
have to pay to the countries which the Ans.
trian armies have devastated. During the
war the government of the Dual Monarchy
has raised enormous debt which was
taken UP chiefly by the financiers, bankers
and wealthy investors Of Vienna and Buda-
pest The non-German portions of the Aus
trian Empire will, Of course refuse to take
over their share. Consequently the 6,O0O-
GOO Austro- Germans will have to assume n
financial burden which would have been un
bearaoly heavy to the 3O,0000O0 inhabitants
OF the Austrian Empire. The Austrian gov
ernment will therefore be compelled to re-
pudiate the larger part or the whole of the
national debt. The Austro- German bankers.
fnancers and investors consequently will ha
ruined
F1enn0 Provincial TO,cn
The new Austria will be an exceedingly
small and poor country. German-Austria
Will, OF course, not be able to support a
capital of 100000 people. Vienna will in
course of time become an insignificant pro-
vlncial town, with rapidly declining popu-
lation, and house property should become
exceedingly cheap. Having lost its aer-
cultural, mineral and Industrial resources
and the bulk of it's paper wealth, German
Austria may become one of the poorest
countries in the world. Possibly its popula-
tion will decline very quickly. 1t is, of
course, conceivable that misfortune should
cause the Austrian people to pull them
selves together to make new start. Aeri
culture and forestry in crman-Austria NAV
be improved. Lack of coal may cause the
Austro-Germans to convert their water
power into electricity New resources may
be discovered in the country
However, the greater probability seems to
be that German-Austria will decline and
decay. for the population lacks energy and
enterprise. The Austrian manufacturers.
bankers and business men probably will 60
to Bohemia, Poland and other countries.