Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 1923. SALVAGING A NATION.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 16121, 9 May 1923, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 1923. SALVAGING A NATION.

It is not improbable, in the view of an American writer, that a decade or so from now, when it is possible to look back upon the events of the past few years and see them in their just proportion, the saving of Austria by the League of Nations will stand out as the greatest achievement of these times making for world restoration. Thero is no need to reiterate the importance of Austria' in the world's economic chain. As far back a.s the .onys of the armistice economists wero loud in their insistence that Austria ■must be saved. Sir George Paish, tho eminent British economist, was maintaining that the saving of Vienna alone was worth untold treasure to the world, Avhilst some of the farsighted authorities on finance declared in favor of an international loan to Austria, even if the nations underwriting it were assured that not a penny of it would ever bo repaid. The trading activity resulting from-suck a lean, the throwing open of the doors of Austrian warehouses, and the rehabilitation of the Viennese banking system would moro than rcjmy all who came to the rescue of the new republic. Statesmen and economists recognised that Austria was oiro of the clearing-houses for Central Europe: that all the roads of finance converged ati this point. The difficulty was to agree upon a way. The struggle went en continuously between the economist and the politician, between those who sought to 6avo the country and those who sought to use its difficulties as a means of ulterior political ends. Because of all this every rescue party, whether led by a Ter Muelcn, a Bones,, or a Siepel, "ended in failure. Such was the condition when a little priest, Consignor Siepel, who had become Chancellor of Austria, set out on his desperate tour of tho capitals last summer, with a view to finding a Power willing to savo Austria from cold starvation. He went to Kome; ho went to Prague; he went to Berlin. Everywhere he found a genuine appreciation of the difficulties of, the situation, and of the urgent importance of relieving it, but nowhere was there any definite promise to help. London was his last hope, and in London no found, the. conference of Allied Prime Ministers sitting. He appealed to 'them. They kept him, in the ante•foom until the last five minutes of theiT session, and then received him

almost with alarm. They listened to his hard-luck story, and not being able to think of any other way to dismiss him, referred him to the League of Nalions.' So he hurried on to Genexa, and there found salvation for his conn- I tiy. Austria, it must be remembered, was bankrupt, inextricably involved in her finance, her currency gone, her people idle and unproductive. The Council of the League of Nations took the situation seriously. It appointed an Austrian sub-committee, of which such men sis Lord Balfour, of Britain, and Dr. Benes, of Czecho-Slovakia, were members, and instructed it to find a way to save this wrecked sister nation. This committee, backed by the whole machinery of the League, set about the rescue. Austria, must have money, a loan. She should have money enough to keep her going for two years, by which time, under careful guidance, she should have advanced to the point where she could collect sufficient taxes to pay expenses. But nobody would lend money to a nation that Was on the verge of dissolution. It must be assured that Austria would remain a nation. The first step was to assure Austria's territorial integrity and political independence. So the nations were brought together in a .pledge to respect the political nitcg-

rity of Austria. Thoso pbov' her agreed not to gobble her up. It was the first step. The second assurance was extended by Austria herself. She agreed to stop her printing presses and to organise a new bank of issue. It alone-should have authority to print money. Austrians subscribed 30 million gold crowns to this bank. It was got under way. It sold certain internal loans to take care temporarily of Government deficits. It tended to re-establish confidence. The next step was the reorganising of Government services. Austria was told that she must get rid of unnecessary people on the payroll of the State.] When the Austrian Empire went to pieces, its officialdom scurried to the capital. There they remained, still drawing pay. though useless. The railroads were ridiculously overmanned. In all there wero 100,000 people drawing pay who might readily bo dispensed with. Nobody was going to lend Austria money to maintain these useless functionaries. So perforce they had to be discharged. The first 25,000 were disposed of by January; the second 25,000 are now being dealt with. Because of these dismissals unemployment is increasing, but otherwise conditions are improving. Yet even these reforms did not make Austria a good rislc. She must go further. She must pledge her Customs and tobacco tax to its repayment. This she did. Money, however, is timid, and even this was not sufficient. There might not, be enough Customs and tobacco money to pay the debt. So this Austrian'committee of the League of Nations took further steps. It would have the Austrian loan so guaranteed that there would be no.question of its collectibility. The neighbor nations should be asked to endorse Austria's note. They agreed. The four most interested countries, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Czecho-Slovakia, each assumed responsibility for per cent, of the loan of 500,000,000 crowns. Other nations were asked to signify the amounts for which they would be responsible. Spain took on 5 per c.-nt., Switzerland 4 per cent., Belgium 2J per cent., and so on until the whole is now virtually covered. If Austria borrowed the money and could not pay it back, they would make good. The League appointed a. High Commissioner, one Dr. Zimmerman, of Holland, to sit down in Vienna, and see to it that all agreements were executed. Ho has been there now since December 1(5, and to his steadying hand is due much of the improved condition. The guaranteeing nations also have committees to insure the careful compliance with all agreements. All necessary machinery is in operation. Tho loans are ready for flotation. As a matter of fact, Austria has not as yet received a cent from the outside, and her improvement is due to the security and confidence that have been given her. Soon she will be getting the money she needs. She is financed for two years. During that time all her operations are being beneficently supervised. There is little doubt that she will be able to balance her budget by 1025. If so, the League of Nations will have demonstrated a workable scheme for rehabilitating wrecked nations, and this may mean much to a troubled world. The highest importance of the achievement rests in the fact that the League of Nations has accomplished something that all tho iesourees of all the nations, acting outside the League, could not accomplish. The League, in other words, has self a precedent for tho world. It has proved itself the new Powor, the advent of which thinking men everywkere recognise as essential if the new problems with which the world finds itself faced are to be solved.