VIENNA REBORN

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 48, 25 August 1923, Page 4

VIENNA REBORN

EVIDENCE OF LIFE AND HEALTH

THE RETURN OF CONFIDENCE.

A year ago Vienna' wa»: a dying city, declares a correspondent of that city in. a letter to tlio_ "Manchester Guardian." To-day the visitor would look in vain for death and decay. The phoenix has risen from its ashes.

There are still tragedies to be observed in. the Austrian capital.. The lot of,the student, earning their living ac waiters, cobblers, or barbers, ia''.tragic. And so is the lot o£ the middle-class'people who exist on the money yielded by the pawning of their last belongings, and the unemployed ■workers, or. those; * ■working short time, earning wages wholly insufficient to keep their' families. "But all' this distress is no longer. comparable with that of last year. Tha distress in Vienna'is now of the form.and dimensions of that in other countries following a deflation policy. ■ Even the unemployment .figures show considerable improvement. In February there were 168,000- unemployed; by the end of April the figure had decreased to 132,000, and it ig still on. .the decrease. The Schieber—that vulture of last year's Vienna—left hurriedly for Berlin and Frankfort as soon as the inflation ceased last September.. The' foreigner who came to Vienna to live cheaply is no longer to be seen in the fashionable restaurants and night clubs of -the ■' city. The stabilised exchange, high prices, high taies, restricted imports have converted the Austrian capital into a comparatively expensive place, and with a continuously increasing index number for the cost of living Vienna has-jiow reached and surpassed ..the level of her most expensive period, that-of Septem-, ber, 1922. . ■ '

. These eight years of war and peace have impoverished Vienna . immensely. Her population is still receiving salaries and wages much below thVold gold level, while the prices of commodities are above it. ■

But six months 1 reconstructional work has one _ all-important result to show: the return of confidence. Since September, 1922, the Austrian krone has remained stable, and not one in Austria now dreams even of the possibility of a fall of the currency; the industrials aye only afraid of a possible rise which may endanger, their chances of competition. Ihie stable financial basis has restored normal process of calculation in industry and trade. People realise that profits of 100 to 1000 per cent; are no longer possible, and now calculate on the ordinary pre-war business profit. Prices -ate iw longer fixed in Swiss francs and English pounds, but in kronen again. Gradually there is being established a deflation mentality It is, true. that the Heue Freie Presse" complained only a few days ago that the inflation epirit is still too strong and that people, despite their limited incomes, are still spending freely; which only helps the continuous rise of prices. Nevertheless the return of the spirit of thrift is shown by the huge increase of bank deposits:— ■ . . .

A third result of the reconstruction is the increase in the bona fide tourist* visiting the beautiful scenery of the country. The number of foreign visitors, compared with the same period last year, has increased considerably fhe foreign visitor in 1922 came here to live cheaply; this year he is visiting Austria as he would -visit Switzerland or Italy.

_ Foreign money is now being invested increasingly in Austrian industrial and banking enterprises, ad the returning confidence of the Austrians ia their own currency: is shown by the repaid recall of their deposits held- abroad. Important banking, mining, and other shares can etall be had for a. trifling, sum; first-class indiistrial chares are quoted at two to three gold francs per share; In ■the first half of April the Austrian banking shares rose 40 ..per cent. The index number rose, for banking shares, from 2 .ji?- t middle' °"f April to 209 in the middle of May; for transport companies from 1176 to 1445; building shares 6158 to 837;.ir0n and steel, 665 to 744; miniiur shares, from 23,244 to 23,847. ' Vienna to-day is moire than ever the capital; of Central Europe! \ She is the most important transit centre, handling the. exports and imports of almost the whole of. Central and South-eastern Europe. The Czech manufacturer who exports his goods to . Jugo-Slavia-, dispatches his wares, now via Vienna His goods are stored here • the foreign money needed for payment is bought in the Vienna banks, and the accounts are increasingly being handled in the Vienna banking, institutions. Confidence aiid enterprise are slowly breaking down the considerable barriers still existing

Deposit* in Sayings Banks. ■ Milliard Million Paper Gold September, 1922 '\. - SI™ 6"" October, 1922 49 3 November, 1922 74 5 December, 1922 HO 8 January, 1923 156 H February, 1923 192 13 March, 1923 221 15 April,. 192S .......;.... 261 "IS