The Washington times., 1922-08-13
(English Author, Lecture

vi SSllll-Std1VdGlWu
a FEW days ago I changed
"a five English pounds at q
viennese hank into Austrian
kronen. The rate was $4,000 to
the pound. where the figure in pre-
war days had been -. It was an
odd sensation to carry q quarter Of
q million In banknotes In ones
pocket. but as the days went on an
odder sensation stiil was to follow.
The money quietly evaporated.
In three days Il had lost q fifth
Of Its value. for the pound was
then worth $4,000 lSronen. One of
my pounds had silently dis
appeared. though could stiil
count the total intact.
Day by day the process con-
tinued until by the following Mon
day the pound stood at $1,000. A
little more than week had suf.
fioed to haive the value of my
miIiionairc's fortune.
To Q foreigner me experience
was novel and startling. The
Viennese on the whole took II
calmly. These crises have been too
frequent in the. years since the
peace to move them very deeply.
A LITTLE MARGIN.
Now at least the period Of semi.
starvation IL over. The children
look happy. and though there is
still under-nourishment. II does not
cry to you for pity in the streets.
The people IN the streets are no
longer clad in carefully-patched
pre-war clothes, and though most
Of the new garments look cheap,
they do mean that food no longer
consumes absolutely the whole OF
every weeks budget.
There is eyep a little margin for
modest pleasures. and the Sunday
trains which 60 out into the sio-
rious forest playground OF the
Wiener-Wald are thronged.
Everyone spends what he has,
for what is the use OF saving II
half your little hoard may evspo-
rate in a week7
must admit. however. that the
Viennese themselves were usually
startled when I spoke OF this i'm.
provement.
The broad fact 10 that the arti-
sans in well-organized trades were
earning, before the last collapse OF
the crown, q bare living wage,
which was even. for . few weeks,
slightly above the low German
average. But the lower cateEories
Of officials. clerks and professional
men are In the abyss. and few of
them earn a. much a. average un-
skilled day laborers. $50
The whole leisured and educated
class has gone under, and only the
sturdiest manage to live by manual
work. ..,a
THE DAY OF COLLAPSE.
heard Of field marshal who
applied for n place a. bank porter.
In one house which visited the
servant was a medical student. A
friend told me OF the fortunate
case Of his own nearest friend, a
philosopher Of some distinction,
who had Just succeeded In getting
work as a clerk in q cinema at q
wage which at today's exchange IL
less than $3.50 q month.
II goes III with the aged, tho
pensioners and the unemployed.
The unemployed are. indeed, re-
ceiving a dole Of 1000 crowns a
day. II looks like a large sum
until you reeoilect that It Ia only
Just enough to buy one loaf of
bread.
"It Il not 20 much the even,
steady. downhill pace Of the crown
that matters. One never knows
when It will break into q trot. and
from a trot to q headlong saIlop.
In everyone's mind turks the fear
that one day, soon. the final col
lapse win come, and neither by
credits. nor by pawninx her assets.
nor by printing money. win Aus.
fria cnnfrixa to hIlY ahroad ths