Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-05-28
(By G. s. s~srandvold)

Berlin, May ll.--(by Md4IJ--lIAI 40
not the fault OF your correspondent
that a letter about conditions in Aus
tria has to be written from the Ger
man capital. There Is SO much
trouble-and. incidentally, outrageous
expense-in getting into Austria. and
Checho- Slovakia that the journey be-
comes well-nigh impossible, for even
IL you do succeed in your attempt TO
persuade the naughty officials that
your trip is absolutely necessary,.there
Is no guarantee that you will be able
to leave the Austrian or other Central
European domains whenever you
wish.
After all, It is not essential. to be
in Vienna in order to write about
life there. Berlin appears TO be as
we'll informed concerning Austrian
! conditions as are The cities in the for
mer Danube monarchy, and when
luck, or something else brings you in
contact with Viennese who were In
home, city only a day or two ago,
there is no real reason for complaint
! ing. saIs
J High Cost of Living Problem.
>. What, every Austrian knows today is
that the cost Of living keeps on soar
ing, and thai there is untold suffer-
ing throughout his country. Thou
sands Of children from Vienna are be-
ing sent out of the country for the
mere purpose of getting something to
eat. The word has gone forth that
foreigners wish to open their homes
only to little girls, but there are hun
dreds of stories which show that Wen
nese parents have exported their
boys dressed as girls, and that the
discovery has been made only, after
they arrived at their destination. I'm
der such circumstances, no n has
the heart to send the little fellows
back to what may be death by slow
starvation.
The .Austrians are looking perplex-
eddy in the direction of England
whence a great decline in the price
Of important commodities has been
reported. No such luck in Austria:
In Vienna they speak every minute of
the "masslos emporgetriebenen
Waarenpreise' (the unprecedented in
crease ia the price of commodities)--
sentence has become a stereotyped
way of. discussing conditions.
Need Of Money, Lack OF Credit
The continued increase in the cost
Of living is due to ar ever-Gro~ing
lack of currency and of commercial
credit. The demand for loans is be-
yond all reason, n fantastic amounts
are being paid out every day for bare
necessities. The farmers X advan-
tage of the abnormal situation by
asking .exorbitant prices for their pro-
ing harvest. will release billions Of
kronen, but in general there is a ten
and boarded during the war. These
dcncy to hold on to the notes issued
notes constitute, in a measure, a ma
tional fortune which will, however,
melt away when it becomes necessary
to mortgage the domestic animals as
~ell as h agricultural machinery;
The fruit harvest Is promising. but
will be devoured by the canning in
dustry-on notes, for currency is not
to be had. One small canning firm
which has been getting its fruits from
Upper Hungary, yesterday announced
according to word received here
this morning-that it requires 100000.
900 for the purchase OF fruit. sugar
wages, coal, etc. The annual. expense
quantities, used to be less than half a
million! d. ,
Instances of Cost Soaring.
A machinery manufacturing firm
in Vienna has halved its production
and yet it has to shoulder the burden
of an, expense amounting to. 10000
WV NlOiISu GU SAAhSS ~ p
for a full-production year prior t,
the war. a. publishing house, in, tn
Austrian capital spends this year: tel
million ,kronen on the printing of
new edition of a certain popular worl
(which before the war could be issu
ed for less than zoe. 900 kronen. TIL
salaries and wages paid u by tn
largest Austrian transportation com
pany have increased from 10 million
to $50 million kronen-in spite Of tn
fact that the personnel has been ma
teriallv reduced.
a However serious the direct effect
4 of the lack Of money and credit ma
be. it is in itself not quite as bad a
that absence Of initiative which fol
lows in its wake.
Nothing new is started. No me-
buildings have gone up in the prin
r cipa1 Austrian cities for several year.
\ Industry has been paralyzed becaus
: it is with the utmost difidence thu
Austrian manufacturers seek an out
let for their goods under the preser
uncertain conditions.
illegal Strikes Dangerous.
On top of all the other dihicultie
with which Austria is beset tn
fact that the country is s%ufferin
from countless illegal strikes in a
where there is no money, no credi
no prospect of impr> .emcnt in an ir
dustrial world that has been cor
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