The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1920-03-05
FOOD PROBLEM
GROWS ACUTE
IN AUSTRIA


VIENNA, Feb. 16.-(By Mail.)-.
The Austrian government has re-
fused longer to bear the burden OF
the loss of about 1s.000,o00 crowns
a week to cover the difference be-
tween the purchase and selling price
of cereals. and consequently has
raised the price Of bread and -four.
This problem of providing bread
and -four at prices which the people
can AFFORD has been made much more
difficult by the constantly declining
value of the crown. In the latter
part of January the treasury was
paying $50 crowns to a dollar. while
in some private trades as high as
$40 crowns were paid for a dollar.
The food problem has been made
worse by the failure of neighboring
countries to live up to agreements
and contracts. For months Jugo-
Slavia has had some 100000 r
dollars of Austrian money which
was given to pay for stipulated food
supplies. In not one week, il is
said, has more than a small per-
centage of the agreed upon amount
of foodstuffs been delivered. al
though. according to Allied investi-
gators. there is . food surplus in
Jugo-Siavia,
Neither the pressure of the En-
tente, the representations of the
sub-commission of the PREPARATIONS
commission, nor the visit of Chan
cellor Renner to Prague has brought
Czecho- Slovakia to the fulfllment of
her coal agreements. The proper
tion of the agreed upon coal de-
liveries from that country has been
negligible and is regarded as the
principal factor in Austria's present
plight.
The disruption of the railway sys-
tenn OF the old empire also plays a
vital part in present conditions. It
was designed al a single system and
adapted to the needs OF the then
existing state. But It has been
broken into separate systems in each
country. Austria. Bohemia and
Jpgo-Slayia each Il attempting to
operate its portion as an independent,
system. while railway experts Of the
Allies have pointed out In vain that
nonoe Of them can be made efacient
under the circumstances. There has
been ar unequal distribution Of cars
and locomotives and while the En-
tente representatives and commits
sioners are struggling with the
problem of a fair ALLEGATION Of roll
ing stock and motive power, each
country charges the other with d.
verting it's cars when sent across
the borders or using them to the de-
lay of their return.
Frontiers remain drawn with rigid
restriction sthroughout this part OF
Europe. There are prohibitions of
food impot and export, limits to the
mount of money the traveller may
take with him out of the countries,
police and passport regulations OF
appalling strictness, all carried al
most to the point of absurdity, gall
Ing personal and baggage examina-,
tions at every border, and every
where soldiers and armed men.
The foregoing applies to Austria
as a country. Vienna's situation is
the same with relation to the other
provinces. If Jugo-Slayia and Bo-
hemia will not send food and sup
plies into Austria, neither will the
Austrian provinces send them to the
capital. They too have utterly fail
ed to live up to their agreements OF
last summer to furnish certain
quotas of foodstuffs. They restrict
the visits of Viennese within their
boundaries, while the ~peasantry re-
fuses to sell for valueless crowns at
official prices and deals through the
smuggling trade at enormous profit.