Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-03-27
By George Weller
Foreign Correspondent Of The stor and
the Chieoao Daily Nawx

Z the Chicago Daily News
VIENNA, Austria, Mar. &c.
When If ever you, as an American
taxpayer, get a chance to look
at your bill for holding Austria,
q light like an atomic bomb may
dazzle your brain.
S. No. it's not the size of the bill.
ITS the items on it that are fan
taStic. .....
You have been paying for the
upkeep of the American forces
in Austria, though the peace
treaties do not oblige you to do so.
"All right I like and want to
help Austria" you say.
Wait! Here are some more
items:
/. You are PAYING for the
British forces here. ~ B 4
q Apnare paying for the
.Fne keep here.
81 You are paying for the Rus
sian army here.
4. In the case of the Russians
you are paying for the red-starred
army not once, but twice. Your
Soviet bill is half again more
than the other two.
Austria Is Bridgehead.
Austria is an invaluable bridge
head to the West, weaker but
more necessary than Czechoslova,
kia to the Communist East. To
keep its economy alive you, the
American taxpayer, spend $4,000
600 a week.
One OF the reasons is that you
are acting as host for three arm
les. none Of them your own.
The American Army paws its
own bills for its Austrian house
hold. The British, French and
Russian armies live off the Aus
trian economy.
And the Austrian economy lives
on the American taxpayer.
The Russians, under the smart
est little blackmail system west
OF the iron curtain, collect every
thing with an extra dividend.
The vexed question of how much
the Americans, through the Aus
TRAN government, should pay to
support everybody else here is al
most constantly under discussion
between the generals representing
the four powers.
Costs Often Discussed.
Sometimes one of the Western
generals will try to introduce the
idea Of occupation COSTS
But Col. Gen. L. v. Kurasov
SHES away. If you start pinning
down where American aid, going
into Austria. is going, the Russian
racket of extra collection for extra
troops sticks up like a mountain.
Nearly three years ago a low
level committee struggled to hogtie
Occupation costs" into a fixed
formula to include wages of SOL
diers and Austrian workers, rent
ais for. premises, and goods sup
piled by Austria. But when the
four-power board tried to outlaw
special Soviet charges for running
Russian q, business enterprises,
transport and administration, the
board itself disappeared in a puff
Of polemics.
Generals Quit Arguing.
; So now the four generals have
given up arguing why the Ameri-
can money is being collected.
They just bargain about the
amount.
1t. Gen. Godfrey Reyes, the
American, holds out for the lowest
amount possible, usually around 8
per cent of the Austrian budget.
Col. Gen. Kurasov wants IL per
cent or so. The Briton, 1t. Gen.
Alexander Galloway and the
Frenchman, 1t. Gen. M. E. Be-
thousart usually hover around 8
per cent.
Last year they compromised on
los per cent. For 1949 they may
60 down another point.
Method Called Blackmail.
Why do the Americans keep on
paying Russian bills?
Well at least one American off,
cial here has an answer.
Were scared of the Russians, :"
says he. TITS blackmail, but we
pay and keep on paying to avoid
trouble"
Riding the American gravy