The Washington times., 1920-12-28
AUSTRIA GOAT
OF THE ALLIES
Land 0verrun With Entente o.
fIcials Who Gorge While
People Starve.
By DOROTHY THOMPSON.


VIENNA. Dec. 2s.-Offcials are
che curse Of Vienna. The pensioners
of the army, the remnant Of the old
bureaucracy and the members Of the
new add to the great population Of
those who consume but do not pro-
duce, and help impoverish q country
already 80 poor that it is inconceiv-
able that it can fall further. And to
all these Viennese officials are added
the new officials OF the entente.
HAVE ALL THAT IS BEST.
The members OF the Internal ional
Commission and OF the various foreign
missions. generals. lieutenants, mil
itary officers, civil officials. occupy
all the leading hotels, MI the theaters.
and are to be seen Winning and dining
at the best restaurants and cafes.
their tables loaded with exquisitely
prepared meats, delicate white bread.
and the Viennese cakes and confec-
tions which devised from materials
furnished by spectators at unbeliev-
able prices. are still the most de-
licious to be had in Europe.
The fate OF the Austrian officials
Is the fate of the country. They are
not among those who wine and dine.
them black bread and bare lodgings,
II they do that much. and though
they add nothing to the prosperity OF
the country. still they furnish no con-
trast to the life around them
LUNCHEON AN EVENT.
But the officers OF the foreign mis-
sions are a world scandal
We were sitting at luncheon in
parliament on the opening day OF
the session. The luncheon was a
great event In the life of every men,
Der present. There was soup and
boiled beef. and potatoes, and
sweet. The member who sat on my
right, Emmy Freundlich. the food
controller of Austria, woman
universally acknowledged to be the
ablest woman in Aust rian public life
today, confessed that this was the
first meat she had had in two months.
She did not eat the "kuchen" that
was served for dessert but put 1t
in her pocket to take home.
On my right sat the outgoing
minister OF war. DR.. julius Deutsch.
He had just returned the previous
day from a conference with Clio
litti. the prime minister of Italy. in
regard to the foreign missions in
Vienna, and he COVE me the fol-
loving figures and facts:
SALARY COMPARISONS.
The military commission appoint
ed to Austria to control the fulfill
ment of the peace treaty is, of
course. paid by Austria. 1t is com
posed of an exceedingly largo num-
Der of officers and soldiers. A.
simple sergeant receives from 10000
10 $4,000 kronen a month. That Is,
by way Of comparison, seven times
the salary OF member Of the
Austrian parliament A lieutenant
of a foreign mission receives six
times the salary of the Austrian
minister of war. A general receives
about quarter of a million kro-
the entire Austrian government, in
Guiding the President Is paid.
The salaries of the foreign Of
fcers in Vienna today cost Austria
rs much as the total sum Of her
government expenditures"
Some of these officials have no
conceivable purpose. At the time
that the interallied commission to
watch over Austrian affairs was ap-
pointed Austria still had a navy.
Now she has no navy, but the naval
section of the commission still con.
tinues.
NEEDS RAW MATERIALS.
That Austria simply must have raw
materials for her industries unless
she Is to become increasingly a char
ity charge on the world is universally
conceded. The entente has time and
again expressed its willingness to
help Austria by supplying her with
raw materials But the military COM
mission appointed to Austria to con-
troll the fulfillment of Articles 1873 and
14S of the peace treaty, concerning
the delivery of arms and munitions
has under lock and key in Austria
today raw materials needed for in
dustries - copper, leather, brass,
aluminium, implements for construc-
ton. etc.--to the value Of from thirty
TO fifty billion kronen.
The greater part of the materials
confscated by this commission are
war materials that are equally Mt for