Evening star., 1926-04-25
AUSTRO-CERMAN UNION
is SEEN AS INEVITABLE
Economic Necessity Will Force Amalga-
mation-Not Patriotic Issue, But
.Result of Circumstances.

rather an evidence Of the diminution
of purchasing power than of the
restoration of prosperity. Exports
have not risen. but poverty has
brought restriction of purchase.
Rich Government, Poor Country.
1t is true that through the League
Of Nations the national finances have
been adjusted. that the governments
income now exceeds its expenses. but
YOU have the rather extraordinary
phenomenon Of a rich government and
poor country. a phenomenon which
raises the inevitable question as To
how long the country can continue to
pay high taxes. il 1t does not expert
ence some Improvement in economic
conditions
You have. too certain rather strik-
ing local conditions. Thus in a city Of
two millions no one pays rent. Dur
Ing the war a law was passed forbid
ding the raising Of rent. Then came
imitation and the money lost its value.
But the law remains and although the
new currency has come. rents are paid
in the old, which means they are paid
In values which are nOn.existent. Thus
one whole class has been wiped out
Moreover, since real estate has no
mort tagging value. the consequences
In all commercial and financial life can
easily be appreciated. Again. all gov
ernment securities ceased To have
value In the imitation period and there
fore the whole class which lived on it's
income from investments as we'll as
that which lived from real estate has
been destroyed.
Vienna is a city Of great suffering
The old upper classes. the nobility,
those who had palaces and property.
are living in misery. in actual misery.
All the educated class. the teachers.
the intelligentsia. are in a tragic state.
Nevertheless II is necessary to es-
cape eXaggeration. Vienna is still a
rich city. It's investments scattered
all through the old empire continue to
pay relatively large returns These
returns certainly supply the invisible
which covers the visible unfavOrable
balance. Nor is ii in theory impOs-
sible that Vienna, that Austria. should
at one time live as a separate state
and that ii should prosper. Theoreti-
cally one can find some Austrians and
most Of the foreign observers agreeing
TO the possibility of a separate Aus
tria.
Tariff Rearangement Needed.
two different sets Of facts. II Austria
is to live separately, all Austrians
agree that much must be done for
them. There must he some general
rearrangement Of tariffs. some form of
tariff preference between the parts Of
the old monarchy. some arrangement
which would break down the barriers
erected by the peace treaties between
the many factions of the empire.
IF British and American bankers
would make use of the Austrian bank
ing facilities. use Vienna as the me
dium. use Viennese knowledge and ex-
perience in dealing with all the East
of Europe, then. and then only. could
Austria exist and Vienna come back"
This is the burden of comment in one
direction. Yet one will find Also
among the foreign observers very
caustic criticism Of state and city
finance and the conviction that this,
too, must be reorganized. that there
must be domestic improvement as well
as foreign aid.
Yet, and in the end, I am bound TO
! testify that no one believes among
the Austrians that foreign aid will
come, just as no one among the for
eign critics believes that the Austrians
will do the necessary for themselves.
With all the charm, culture. intelli-
gence of the people. there Is lacking
the iron which Is necessary to create
state. there is lacking the fire and
patriotism which are prerequisite to
make a people. whether great or small.
And so in the end one comes to the
single conclusion. Today anschluss
is impossible. The government is very
Loyalty and honestly avoiding any ac
ton to advance II Any such step
would be suicidal. given the certainty
that II would bring Italian, French.
Czech hostilityt given the certainty
that IL would mean invasion and mis-
cry. The political parties do not press
the issue. The government. the po-
litical parties. the people are simply
awaiting the inevitable.
Union Disturbing Prospect.
But consider that the union with
Germany means at once the addition
of 80, 900 square miles of territory and
nearly 1000, 900 people to Germany;
that ii means more than the restora-
ton of war losses: that it brings Ger
many to the frontiers of Italy. tn the
control of the Danube area: that it
means the practical encirClement of
CZechosloVakia and ii is manifest
what a disturbing prospect 1t must
have for Rome. fo~ Paris, for Prague.
ana SO lOudN IL Is lIUpOSSlDle, ITdDh-
ly impossible. But tomorrow? Is il
conceivable that conditions in Europe
will forever remain such that Italy or
France can interfere? | do not be
lieve 1t. On the contrary. nothing in
Europe seems to me more inevitable
than that one day Austria will be
Joined to Germany. l did not believe
this when I came to Vienna | have
tried to find any possible alternative.
-
any one here who believed that it eX-
listed. except in theory.
Two facts however, have to he con-
sidered. In America and in western
Europe there is belief that the Ger
mans of Austria and the Germans of
Germany are on either side of an i'm
aginary line passionately yearning for
union. I have tried to make 1t clear
that nothing of the sort exists in
Austria. In Germany. too, the situa-
ton Is far from simple. Precisely as
long as the allied nations forbid the
union of Austria with Germany, all
Germans are united in denouncing
the wrong. in celebrating the hypoC-
risy But in reality 1t is far from true
that all Germans are eager for
anschluss. Union of Austria with
Germany would have rather striking
consequences.
No MOnarchists for Austria.
First of all, there is in Austria no
monarchist party of any Importance.
Almost so per cent of the seats in the
Parliament are held by Christian So
cialists and 40 by Social Demo
Gratis. There is. to be sure, a little
modification of these figures due tn a
small group of an-Germans, but they
have no real Importance and no con-
siderable membership. Thus If Aus
tria joined Germany, the Social
Democrats would go instantly to the
camp of the German Social Democrats
and the Austrian Socialists IN the
Centrum-that is. to the German