CONDITIONS IN AUSTRIA.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15452, 3 December 1915, Page 7

CONDITIONS IN AUSTRIA.

SERIOUS FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES. EFFORTS TO SECURE SEPARATE PEACE. IMPORTANT. CABINET CHANGES. LONDON, December 1. A sensation was caused by tho announcement from Vienna that the Ministers of tho Interior and of Commerce and Finance had resigned. Prince Hohenlohe Schillings Fuerst, : the Draconian ex-Governor of Trieste, i s the new Minister of tho Interior. lfc is surmised that serious happenings necessitated tho changes which arc interpreted as being similar to those which filled the Austrian Army .with Gorman tools and sympathisers. Tho Austrian Parliament has not met since tho opening of tho war, and the nation is without tho means of influencing tho Government. Tho public connect the crisis with the Kaiser's visit to \ icnna, though the German newspapers suggest that his visit was for the purpose of discussing the ownership of the conquered Serbian territory and the possibility of inducing Serbia to concludo pcacc.

Tho Rome correspondent, of the Daily News ' states that the Kaiser's object in visiting Vienna was to dissuade the aged and obstinate Emperor i rancis Joseph from concluding a separate pcaee. The Pope's exhortations have already resulted in a fruitless attempt by Austria to negotiate a separate peace with Russia. When the Ilmpcror Francis Joseph notified the, Popo that he welcomed tho Papal efforts to end tho disastrous war, the Kaiser sent Cardinal ilartmann posthaste to Rome, to inform tho Pope that Germany would oppose premature efforts to secure peac\ Ihe financial condition of AustriaHungary is most serious. The loans raised in sixteen months only aggregate £52,000,000. 'I hey were mostly compuJsorily eommandeercd bank (savings. (Received December 2nd. 7.20 p.m.') ViENNA, December 1. Count Ritter von Governor of the Jborestaxil Savings .bank, is tho new Minister of Finauee, and Count von FritzmulJcr the new Minister of Commerce. LONDON, December 1. Tho Rome correspondent of the '"Daily Alan'' says mat tne Kaiser's visit to \ lenna was duo to acute Aus-tro-German dissensions, einelly on questions relating to Jt'oland.

'Writing on September 30th, the j Budapest correspondent of, the ••.\loru- ! ing Tost" said: "It is no oxa:yjeratiou ; to say that ttiere is practicaii~> a stale : of famine in iiunwary at present, esI pccially at" Budapest, and that the civil j population is on the brink of starvation. Trices are risii.g bv lraps and 1 bounds, so much so tuat the ia.,t four j weeks show an increase of 40 to 70 per ccnt., and that even with this rise one cannot get certain necessaries. For instance, the price- of fat, especially |ard. is unprecedented. A mouth ago it was G kronen (f>s) a ki]o (2 1-51 b); to-day it costs !) kronen (i\s 6d), and onlv the lucky can yet it at that price. The price of pork (live weight) is 6s a kilo, whereas in ordinary times it was k\>s than Is. The papers, cvcm the subsidised Government organs like the 'Az Est,' are openly accusing the Government of neglect, and most despairing articles appear on the subject. The journal named, in a leading article, says: 'We are a besieged city, one would think, for famine and starvation we:e never so acutc in an invested fortress as it is with us. We ought to have ■someone who could take the question in his strong hand and help us out of this mis«rj\ After all, ! we cannot believe that our authorities have decided to make us the prey of , hunger and starvation ard allow us to I perish like the loot wounded in a forlorn ditch. It is absolutely necessary that the Prime Minister himself should take the question of feeding the civil population in hand, for only he can

load this misery-stiickcn land out of i'-s diiliLiuties,"''

"Count iisza, the only hope, howerer. has too much to do, his hands are already too lull to allow him to organist- the iood supply of a nation; besides it was. ho who avowed tho food stuffs and cereals to be exported to Austria and Germany, whore people have cheap ar.d abundant icod — brought from Hungary, the land of famine arid starvation to-day. Tho* two meatiess days a week are seven meatless day* now, for only very well-to-do people can afford to have meat five times a week. The majority never see meat for months, lSutter exists only in one's dreams. a kilo of it cosiir.g six to seven shillings, chickens aro £1 each, bread three times as dear as in Germany, where Hungarian flour is used in tiie making o< it. It is surprising under such circumstances that tho fury of the deceived and outraged people docs not drag count Tis.ta and his accomplices fro a tneir well-guarded palaces, a fate which will sooner or later reach them. Whilst the Germans have organised their food problems, in Austria and Hungary the whole of tho organising capacity of the authorities has been concentrated on the mni.fying of public opinion, with the assistance of a bribed Press, the Censor, the police, and the snies

"The city authorities blame the Government, tho Government blame tho city authorities. There is such a muddle that the markets are tho.scenes of daily disturbances on the part of infuriated women impnssib'e to control. The cheapest dish of meat in a restaurant 2s <id, anil it, a better class place on. The limit, too. has not yet been reached, and «o we may !oo'; forward to a revolution, but as all the men are at the front it can only be a revolution of women and children.''

EE A SOX FOII THE RESIGN A TIOXS. OPPOSITION TO .KAISER'S PLANS. (Received December 2nd, 10.10 p.m.) LONDON, December 2. Tho Hungarian correspondent of the "Morning Post"' says tho rumours of Austrian desires' for peace can be dismissed. Tho most nrobable explanation of the Kaiser's visit to Vienna is his desire to establish an Austro-Ger-man Tariff Union, to which the three •retiring Ministers "were hostile. ileutors correspondent at Zurich says that moderate circles in Vienna ure concerned, believing that the rebignations indicate that Germany's control of the internal administration of Austria-Hungary is being extended. The new Ministers have strong proGerman leanings. Thp resignation of tho Minister of Commerce is attributed to his strong opposition to an economic union with Germany. It is pointed out that his successor, Count von Fitzmuller, lias intimate financial relations with Dr. Karl Helfferieh, the German Minister of Finance. IN GERMANY. MOVEMENTS OF TROOPS. (Received December 2nd, 0.0 p.m.) • ROTTERDAM, December 1. The railways in the west and south of Germany are congested. Tho Swiss frontier is closed. It is believed that there is a concentration of German troops towards the East. Because of the movements of troops, even Germans arc not permitted to enter tno Fatherland. NEW GERMAN AIRCRAFT. (Received December 2nd, 0.0 p.m.) , December 1. Germany is revolutionising her production of aircraft from light to heavy armoured biplanes, capable of carrying immense loads of bombs, besides guns and wireless apparatus. The ne>c machines include a giant battle aeroplane of enormous carrying power, and great stability and speed. It is three times the size of an ordinary Albatross, and has a "bridge'' for the pilot. DISCUSSION OF PEACE TERMS (Received December 2nd, o.~> p.m.) COPENHAGEN, December 1.

The Socialist newspaper "Vorwarts"' demands that the Government shall permit the Reichstag to freely and publicly discuss Germany's peace fornix, with view to ensuring the people's, support when negotiations open. LONDON, December 1. Lord Haldane, speaking at King's College, said that for the purposes of peacc the German nation did not exist. Peace could not be negotiated save with the' General Staff, into whose hands German democracy had let ail power go. IUOPORTED ORDIiR OF COPPER. (Received December 2nd. Jj.o p.m.) LONDON, December 1. 'I he New "iork correspondent of "The Times" says Germany has ordered 200,030,0' X) pounds of copper for delivery after the *.var. DROP IN THE GERMAN EXCHANGE RATE. NEW YORK, December 1. There has been a remarkable drop in the German exchange rate during tne last tflvo days. 'Jhe value of four marks is now quoted at 7f)g cents. 'Iho rate was 81 cents before the Serbian campaign. SOCIALIST PARTY'S DEMANDS. EVIDENCE OF DISTRESS. (Received December 2nd, 10.10 p.m.) COPENHAGEN. December 2. The Socialists are asking the Reichstag to vote 2CO,(XX) J GCO marks (£'10,COO,COO) to help the poor. They are also asking for an increase of oO per cent, in the ppy of uon-commis-sioned officers and orivatcs.