The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-09-15
AUSTRIA DRIFTING
INTO CHAOS WITH
VIENNA HELPLESS
Leading Men ApprehenSive as
to Results Unless Strong
Central Government Is Able
to End Rivalry of Cities.

VIENNA, Sept. l5.-Austria con-
tnues to drift toward an internal situ-
alton approaching the chaotic, and
leading men and the newspapers are
beginning TO voice apprehension as to
what may follow unless a strong central
government can weld the country into
a more harmonious national whole.
AT the present time it is apparent
Ihat each region or district is fer it.
self and hat vail of them are against
Vienna. At the bottom seemingly lie
TWO principal factors-the continued de-
crease in the value Of the crown and
fear of famine. The central govern
ment thus far seems to nave been uu-
able to. cope with either,
Inc Neue Tag remarks editoriallv AFT
er saying now is the time for the people
sternnly to face the situation in which
<hey find themselves, instead we find
a demoralized, spiritless, t~rreSolute>g gen
GRAFTON walking the streets seeking
nothing but pleasure. and only to out
ward appearances are we an organized
state"
Dispatches described recently the ex-
pulsion of all visitors from all rural and
summer resort regions by q decree of
the provincial government and in some
instances of the village authorities, all
in |contravention to the state laws, In
NhBtA AuSNEl Id, winch is lIle ETtlntifN OF
the empire, h farmers and district Of
ficials have decided, on top Of this, that
AL grain shall be milled and stored In
the districts where grown and none en-
ported to Vienna or other parts of the
state. This would mean actual starVa-
ton for the cities and less favored re-
gions OF lower Austria,
A delegate sent to the upper Austrian
Diet made an impassioned statement
h a II the decision were adhered to 1t
meant civil war. He declared that the
people would invade the regions aud
seize the food. The diet then issued a
manifesto prohibiting food boarding and
p%icturing the terrible results that would
follow, but there is apparently no au-
thority to enforce 1t.
Expell Nonresidents.
The village of Mauer, which is a sub
urb OF Vienna, has expelled all nom
residents, n Niennese can not reside
there. In its frantic effort to COPE with
the food and fuel conditions which
threaten the central government has
just issued a decree eNpelling from the
country all persons not legally resi-
dents, This decree, effective Sept. 20.
Galicians and those Hungarians who re-
manned after they were ordered to leave
the country by n former decree.
notwithstanding this decree, the min
lister OF finance has placed an embargo
preventing aliens from removing their
money from banks; thus thousands in
this class will find themselves expelled
within a few days without being able
to get their money. The Polish govern
ment has entered a strong protest.
In the meantime the city itself lives
from hand TO mouth, congested beyond
description. A large population, COM
posed of idle persons-tdle either by
choice or n~ecessity-and drifters have
come in from other districts, seeking
aimleSsly a mecca here.
Strikes prevail in all trades, even pro.
fessions. The physicians of the public
health department threaten toe strike,
complaining hat their pay amounts to
5000 orowns a year while lamp lighters
receive II 900 and street car conductors
$4,000.
Into the already tangled political eco
nomic situation a new element has Just
been injected by the formation OF the
so-called citizens committee as an off,
set to the ~workingmen's council. 1t il
composed largely of employers of labor.
shopkeepers and the mercantile element
generally. The program of the commit
tee Is practically in opposition to the
aims of the socialists and other groups