WAR IMPRESSIONS IN AUSTRIA

Hokitika Guardian, 25 July 1917, Page 4

WAR IMPRESSIONS IN AUSTRIA

Traveller Returned). 5 Berne, May 8 ©faring m last few months a; • iiliiitbßr ‘ faf tit Of fa or less interesting -* commfanications -havfe appeared •ffom G'eritthny showing'the general attitude of Vie jiedple. News from Austria of this character has been rarer, and tile following brief report Of a conversation with a person who lias just left Vienna may not be without significance. The -person has been hi Austria since the beginning of. the war continuously, speaks Geriflau perfectly, and was thus able to •wet accurate rhipressidns. & Perhaps the riiost important staternent made was that through-, out the entire mass of the Austrian population there was apparently not the slightest suggestion of an idea that the Central Empires would not intimately win the war. "Several reason's \vere given for this. perfect confidence. In the first: place, it sfeems that the Austrians never report losses or reverses of any kind. The censorship is carried to such an extent that it is by no means unusual to open the morning paper and find half the front page blank. There is, again, of course, no circulation of Eng-' Ifeh, French, or Ithlian journals as in Germany. The result is that the Austrian people are fed men- . tally upon victories alone and know nothing whatever of anything unfavourable to Austrian arms. The war, ashlar aS the masses of the people are concerned, is a far away thing in France, Italy', or Poland. It causes them serious iudonvhfaience at tithes, but the actual horrors of battle, 'invasion, and occupation nTeaU nothing to them, for the reason that they knoW them not-. Someone has lost a brother or a cousin, but the thousands fallen in the great shambles far away in the east or - the west make no impression on their minds, for they hear nothing about thein. / As far as England is concerned, the Zeppelins, 'they think, have done enoriuous damage; while these, together with the submarines will soon bring the arch-eneiiiy to her knees. All that is necessary is to “hold out.” So much for the opinion of the masses. i ENGLAND 'THE CORNER-STONE “But,” it was askbd,” “what about the better-informed Austrians? They r are many Austrians who* know England and France perfectly', who receive the Allies’ and the BWisS journals regularly, and \Vho are thoroughly' familiar with nctuai conditions ; what about this class ?” The rich, educated Austrians, it was said, are in close touch with all outside information ; they know of a victory of the Allies on the Somme or the collapse of a Zeppelin almost as soon as it occurs. The informed Austrians have never cherished many illusions about the '■ Zeppelins, th'eir failure therefore leaves thein untouched. They put tii'eif faith ill the suhtiiarifae and base it upon the follovying reasons; The corner-stone of the Allies’ organisat on is England; they say. With England once reduced to her' knees the whole structure will fall. England is a very small island with an enormous populatiau. An effective blockade of this island by the submarine will "produce more 'effective result's than many' a spectacular laud victory'* and can most efficiently counter-balance many' a land defeat. England, being ah island; carilibt hold out indefinitely, for she cannot produce the food Essential for actual existence, While the Central Empires, no matter how great may' be the inconvenience and annoyance to which they' are subjected* can ahvay's exist. Therefore the oiie thing to do is “hold out.” Victories may be lacking, checks aiid losses may occur; they will make little ultimate difference “ if*” as they- say', “ We hold out.” -Again, the s upper classes ; “Took at the iudp. Tlie Central Empires are intact, tlieirpopiiiatiori knows nothing of war at home. The war on land is waged upon Allied territory, to an equivalent exteht at the Allies’ expense* and, consequently', the Central Powers can stand a long Siege of such warfare ; they have, in fact, nothing to do but‘hold out;’ Supposing the French and British trofaps push the Germans back a few kilometres on the librth* the defence caii always cause greater loss than the attack, and at the present rate of progress it will take years to reach Gerhian territory. Tile Submarine is at work. Can Eh gl aiid last until the FrenCli guns bombard Berlin ?” “ What about the condition of the people ? ” it Was asked. “ What is lacking chiefly ? Is there any real want ? ” Many of the import|St staples were faqL ffa had, it Wa§ |l|d, ifi c&rtaia neighbourhoods, Petroleum wa§ among these. But the people simply went to. bed at dusk and got up at daylight. Candles were h. too expensive. Meat and eggs were very scarce. The bread had long since deteriorated, blit there Was a certain amdiiht of it. It crumbled to pieefes on beiiig ciit, But it was edible and sustained life. Rice aijd buttfer were unobtainable* bfat there was enough fish and bread afad a few other necessaries to go round from day to day. In fact, it might be called a famine, but the Austrians say it is a “ well and there is always enough -for the

: day. Avith u 'little left forio-ftnpfrow. Milk is extremely scarce,’but there is enough for 'children .under two years Of age. « . ■ “ Holding out.” SOap has gone up enormously iu price.- A bar of common English soap which was worth a few pence before the War now sells for several shillings; but they say, one can hold out without Bofap if necessary. The lack of leather is one of the things which is causing the greatest inconvenience. An ordinary pair of •leather shoes doubled in price in a few’ lftbtttlis, Wodden soles .are being Used. Gfcbfarse leather soles are better, but one can “hold out ” with wooden ones. The masses thus have to put up Withunany'serious deprivations and annoyances* but they have enough to live 011 for to-morrow and the day after. Tlfe rich, on the other hand, it was said, can- buy' whatever they' want. Beyond poor bread and a shortage of butter they may be saidto suffer no inconvenience at all, While ihaiiS' Of thein, AT'course, are prospering as they never dreamed of-prospering before the war. it is easy for the rich to “bold out” under such conditions, and neither. the rich nor the poor have the slightest conception of doing any'thing else. “ What about America ? ” it was asked. The intervention 01 America - was regarded with regret, but in no Sense as kdecisive factor'in the Wqr. ' Owing to tlie British blockade the Central Empires had had little communication with America since the . war. There was thus no direct loss to fear, while the Allies had been importing all they could from the beginning. “Soldiers?” How long would it take America to send a real army to Europe ? That is, an army that will actually weigh in the balance against the big Krupps waiting for it?' Can England last that long ? If not, peace Will be made with America when England Sues. If she cati, there ate the Krupps. “ Money ? ” Money 'means shells, . and it tikes a long time to explode . a billion 'dollars’ worth of shells effectively, Caii England last as : long as that ?

These ate tlie dominant ideas,, it seems, in Austria, and no matter how erroneous they may appear, viewed from a diametrically nonAustfiaii point of view, they seem to indicate one thing of importance, which is that Austria is prepared to concentrate all her energies on “ holding but,” and a population kept in Complete ignorance of actual conditions and hearing of nothing hut victories may be made to “ hold out” for some time and to suffer many' losses ,before learning the futility of doing either.