The Rock Island Argus and daily union., 1922-03-22

will play to you of Vienna as she
! was. l cannot play of Vienna as
she is today-it would break your
heart. I can only play at all be-
cause of the hope which may come
! to Austria if you are kind" With
these plaintiff words Fritz kreisler
prefaeed his playing of a gay Wen
nese air at public mass meeting
held here in behalf of, Austria.
The meeting was told that the
$24, 90, 900 which America let Aus
tria have to save her from starva-
/ tion now threatens to force her into
starvation in a greater crisis. This
paradox is simply explained. We
and other nations let Austria have
money for grain and necessities and
we accepted as security her assets,
| including the state tobacco monop-
oily, cu,s.Jms receipts, forests, even
her tapestries and pictures.
Now Austria has sunk deeper un-
der her difficulties. Whereas five
| American crowns were once ex-
changed for an American dollar,
now 10000 crowns are needed to
balance our dollar A loaf of bread
costs 5000 in crowns in Vienna.
People in Austria see no advantage
in saving any money because the
longer they save it the less it will
buy.
Starved and in such a financial
state, a nation can scarcely survive
unless it can borrow money to start
on a new financial basis. The bar
rier which keeps Austria from boT-
rowing and instituting currency
reform is the lien that the United
States and other nations hold on
her assets. Unless we release our
hold on these assets, Austria can
have no security to offer to the
British and American flnanciers
who are willing to make her loans.
This is the desperate Austrian sit
uation explained at the meeting by
Senator Mccormick, the former
minister of finance of Austria and
by relief workers.
Now, when other nations are
slowly or rapidly recovering from
the war, Austria has 100000 chill
dren dependent on charity. This
army of chiIdren-a greater num-
Der than the population of Yer
mont or Arizona-has been kept
alive mainly by the Friends Ser
vice committee. Relief organiZa-
tions are not able to care for so
many charges indefinitely, how
ever. The Friends who have work
ed in many countries of Europe,
say that the Austrian children are
the most pitifuI Of all. One sea-
Iv had fn
leave Vienna Il could stand see
ing Russia's tragic need" she said.
because it seemed a crisis and we
were working toward betterment-
But Austria is slipping back, and
her plight is terrible
Austria. the United States is told, !
is not asking for charity now. She
has reached a place where gifts of
bread and clothing are not enough. /
The country is slipping into
morass of starvation and poverty, /
and the United States is watched as .
the nation that has power to save
Austria from complete downfall. |
{. S. Holds Key to Situation.
The United States is asked to ex-i
tend the time of payment on the !
urgently she is asked to release her /
hold on Austrian assets, so that the :
country may negotiate further /
loans
Miss Helen Todd, representing
the American Friends Service COM
mittee, the American Relief Com
mittee for Sufferers in Austria, and !.
the Women's International league, |
explains that there is no reason
why we should not do this, and d
number of reasons why we should.
Whether we agree to extend the
time limit on our loan or not, Aus
ria cannot pay as matters stand.
And if Austria cannot pay the $24, /
300. 900 which she borrowed in food
stuffs from the United States Grain
we could lose nothing
oy an extension of the time. With
his help the country may be able
o get on its feet and in that event
t expects to repay is creditors.
But even if the United States
loes so, the country cannot hope to /
pay unless it can borrow more
to tide it over the present I,
hopeless situation.
A year ago, the allies saw that
Austria was sinking further into
difficulties instead of getting on
irm ground. Consequently at the
of the supreme council,
England, France, Italy and Japan
agreed to release the Austrian as
;ets, given as security on loans,
md thus allow Austria to borrow