Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-01-05

it n liks.s Sir William told his ex-
psrasncss e the American Lunoheon
Club here.
" felt upon leaving Vienna said
he. ~as u I had spent ton dAyn In the
cell Of . condemned murderer. who has
given up al hope OF q reprisvo. I
stayed at the best hotel but saw no
milk and no eggs the whole time ] was
there. In the bitter cold hall Of the
hotel, once the gaycst rendezvous IN
Europe. the visitors huddled together
In the gloom Of one light where there
used 10 be forty. They were more
like shadows than representatives Of
the rich. vienna's world famous
opera house II packed every afternoon.
why3 Women and men 20 there In
order 20 keep themselves warm and
because they have no work to do.
In my office made several ex-
per1ments ~ working In overcoat and
with blankets for the staff when the
thermometer inside was only one de-
gree above freezing point. Finally l
determined 70 9et wood enough to
light the ono small fire for two days.
It cost me s7e crowns. which, to the
vlcnnese. u equivalent to about 80
or eco.
DO you wonder that the well-to-
do people In Vienna are burning their
furniture to light their stoves1 Can
you imagine how the poor live or try
to liver Il = not unusual to see the
traffic in one Of the main streets
which leads 30 the cemetery held up
hy hearses. Nlns-tsnths carry The
bodies Of children.
In Vienna, In the palace Of . former
archduke, saw thousands q children
under the control Of young naval Of
ficer. whom was proud to recognise
as one Of those Americans who did sx-
cellent work In tho early days Of the
commission for relief in Belgium. Our
own British relief missions, both in
Austria and in Hungary, and q number
Of unofficial British workers arc do
ing everything possible to stem the
tide OF distress" In Serbia alone. Sll
william declared. there are 5O0, 900
fatheriess children, most Of whom are
suffering from hunger and exposure.
TT seems to me that you can not
trifle with starvation and privation in
central Europe such ~ prevails today
in Vienna without running the risk Of
a carnival g bolshev1sm which would
probably nOe b confined to this con-
tinent. do not want to cry wolf
and am rather inclined to think that
bolshevism has been used too much
as bogy, but anyone with half an
eye must realize that II. as result Of
apparently legitimate grievances.
forces Of unrest are loosed In the heart
Of Europa, the-twhols world, the 4Uni-
ted States as well ~ ourselves, win
be menaced."
Sir William declared that first and
foremost among the causes Of the
present situation in central Europe is
the delay in making peace.
1T scarcely seems to be realized in
the United Kingdom" he continued,
isolated from the continent Of Europe
by narrow strip OF water and still
less In the United States, isolated BY
the Atlantic ocean. that Austria,
Hungary. Bulgaria ana Turkey are
stu technically 1t war with the al
lies and. what II more important, ct
war with most Of their neighbors.
As one approaches the frontiers
one finds every little wayside station
packed with soldiers, bayonets fixed
and railway sidings conxested with
ammunition wagons. War, and all the
wasteful effect Of preparedness for
war upon economic and Industrial
progress. are visualized for miles -
one travels thru these countries.
In many corners Of central Europe
today the inhabitants do not even
know their own nationality. Until
universal peace 10 ratified, until
boundary commissions are able to ret
70 work. and until plcbiscitss can de-
termins the future Of darnocraoiss.
central Europe will be patchwork Of
ethnoloStoal dAlocation. An oyerpro.
longed armistice, following upon four
years Of war. has knocked away al
most every fundamental prop; polit-
ical. financial and economic,
States on the Danube--the main
avenue Of traffic-fear to send barges
out Of their own territorial waters lest
they should be appropriated by their.
next-door neighbor. Just as on land
the British Tommy IL the only safe
guard for . train Of supplies, 80 on the
Danube one Of Admiral Troubridee's
British mine layers, with a little Brit
ish MILDLY IN command, IL the only
guarantee OF safe conduct.
The other day. on the Jugo- Slay
frontier. trains OF food supplies ar,
ranged by the allied relief missions
and III psid for by the Austrian gov
eminent were on their way to miti.
rate starvation Ia Vienna. AT the last
moment the Jugo-Slav government
clappsd on an export duty Of 10 per
cent and refused to permit the trains
% 81 carward unless that tar was
paid II foreign exchange. ! vsnturcd
g take international law into my own
hands and, thanks to the rssouroeful.
Iess and intrepedity Of : couple Of
young British army officers. those
Trains arrived In Vienna.
Another interlocking difficulty m
Detwesn food and transport 10 the per-
sistent flocking Of peasants with eggs.
eacks o. flour live geese and ducks
and Al kinds Of agricultural produce
into the towns. In snow, rain. or any
Kind Of weather, ydA can 90, snoa onl,r
the inside but tho roof OF every rom
way \ carriage thronsed with this
quacking crowd Of food spectators.
Their traffic hns assumed such pro-
portions O. ~ make legitimate rail-
wAy trevslins alnost impossible. what
= nasans II the problem Of food dis
sfsbution VIII 10 apparent when tell
5ou that Z train q forty carriages fun
q these picturesque profiteoring ped.