Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1921-07-08

New York.-An interesting picture
Of conditions in Austria Is given In the
following article written for the New
York Herald by W. John Lenglet, a
French journalist attached to the
Japanese military, mission In Vienna
After having been a year In Austria
! have come to the conclusion that the
country speciallzes In the art OF beg
cling and insulting. These two faults
combined have been brought to such
a height that the people have lost
every sense Of dignity and their whole
| character.
This is specially clear to the for
elgner who stays q good deal in Vienna.
The foreigner who merely passes
through brings nothing back but a
remembrance of more or less gay eve
nings and of fantastic figures Of worth
less currency; but he who has to live
there and take part in the everyday
life of Vienna, especially If he take
the trouble to look deeply into the
heart Of things is certainly convinced
that side by side with certain misery
In the lower middle classes and priya-
lions among the upper classes, there
exists among the new rich-"scheb-
ers"-an indifference to all the Inter-
ests of Austria which is hardly believ-
able.
The "schIeber" may be the middle
man of business transactions, or even
the business man quite simply. The
"schieber" Is also the bucket shop
keeper" who speculates illegally in
exchange, who leads the freihandel
Gree commerce), and 1t Is he who
piles up bundles of bank notes, a
single one of which he will not spend
unless II bring him the equivalent In
pleasures or goods. The interest of his
country? He laughs at 1t rs at
splendid joke-the starving children
can be looked after by foreigners. He
can eat white bread and he does so
without scruple. He can drink cham
payne at 5000 crowns bottle. He
provides his wife with magnificent furs
and precious jewels. He knows no
duty but that of spending the money,
which he has gained by exploiting his
In pleasures and luxuries.
He is the immoral being who has
sprung from the Austrian soil since
misery spread over the land.
The vaIute All important.
When the little bourgeois or shop
keeper smells the foreigner, he imme-
dlately sizes up his "valute." You are
treated In accordance with the value
Of your national currency and the shop
man tries to convince you that If he
charges you three times as much as
Austrians are charged he is still
you a great service: "Was
nacht das dem In hire ValuteT
What does 1t matter compared to
he value Of your money! This be-
zones as familiar as the greeting you
ret when you go into a shop. If you
ire good natured you will simply
lccept this as part of the business.
Worse things exist, for the Austrian
las brought the art of begging to such
pitch that he has made the whole
world believe, in him, and the whole
vorld-England and the United States
t the head--allows itself to be fooled
Committees have been formed-Aus-
ria has been helped on every side (
Ter children have been sent to every
ountry to be nourlshed and cared for t.;
nd when they come back from these {
ountries, dressed In new clothes and (
improved morally and physically, their {
arents say: After all, 1t is not much ,
you see, the clothes are not
hic; the stuff is not Of the best quality. |
nd the food, well, they do not trouble {
luch about food over there" 0
However, when one of their chill
rem comes back, they do their best to t
end another over to the same condl- |
ons that means another S
'ss to bother about! O
The man who lives in Vienna and d
,ads advertisements In the English t
lpers about starving Vienna cannot t