Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-08-15
NEW CROWN VALUE
RETARDS AUSTRIA
FIuctuating Exchange Gives
Blow to Business and
Industrial Life.

VIENNA. August 14-Bountiful
crops of early fruit and vegetables
and promise of an abundance of
harder later yields from field and
orchard, with the big American flour
credit still available for the ration
| of daily bread, have given Austria a
reprieve from the terrible hardships
Of last winter.
Fats are as scarce as ever, how
| ever, but in this weather their need
is not so keenly felt. Meat. too, is
scanty and high. beyond reach of the
masses. The American -four credit
will be exhausted before the winter
sets fairly in and no man in Austria
knows from where or by what means
it will be replaced.
| Poor Fuel Situation. a
! Strikes and disturbances In the
Tescf1en coal fields, the situation In
Silesia, virtual suspension OF the
Hungarian supply. little as it was,
and, finally, Austria's inability to en-,
supplies from Bohemia, have prevent
ed the hoped-for accumulation of
modest fuel reserve during the sum-
| mer months.
| Public utilities Of Vienna are re-
ported to have but weeks reserve
| Y
than a month of gas coal at a mini
mum consumption. The last Austrian
pig iron oven in operation has just
| drawn it's fires. for lack of coke.
| Into this situation has been inject
ed a curious business phase resulting
| from the increased value of the crown
on foreign change. In the late win
ter and early spring the crown
dropped as low as $50 to the dollar
on private exchange. Encouraged py
this, small export trade was nour-
ished. Austrian factories, Famous Tor
certain forms of finished articles, be-
gan to resume operations on a lin
tied scale, foreign buyers seeing
good business chance in the low crown
| value against standard monies.
Increase in Prices.
Manufacturers were able to get 40,
vances of credit to secure coal ana
needed raw materials. 1t was a good
the minister of finance, DR.. Reisch,
dropped a hint one day during a de,
bate in the assembly that it would
be wise if Austrian retail sellers were
to raise their crown prices to the
did it. A suit of clothes that cost
from 5000 to 1000 crowns rose in
price to from $4,000 to $4,000 crowns.
Everything else went up in proper
ton.
Then the government, acting on the
same principle, is reported to have
gone on the Zurich exchange, which
controls crown quotations, with large
amounts of foreign money and forced
the crown up. Their efforts were as
sisted unexpectedly by an influx into
Austria of foreign money spectators.
Appreciation of the monies of the
other countries Of central and eastern
Europe made this their last field for
speculation. Pounds, dollars and
francs became plentiful, with small
demand, and the crown rose in value
until the official price was 100 to the
dollar and $50 in private deals.
"Cut Its Own Throat,
Retail prices continued to go up, so
that with the rise in the crown cut
ting foreign values one-half, the plan
literally 'cut its own throat"
Foreign buyers quit. Retail trade
stagnated. Native Austrians did not
know whether to laugh or cry at a
straw hat in a window bearing the
price mark of 1000 crowns. But they
were not sold.
The next step in the reaction hit
the basic industries The few fac
tories running have begun to curtail
or close down as orders are Cancelled
and new contracts fail to come. The
ministry of specialization is besieged
with requests from manufacturers to
be permitted to discharge employees,
lit being reported that as high as
twenty a day have been recently re-
ceived.