HARD TIMES IN AUSTRIA AND HUNGARY.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 January 1917, Page 7

HARD TIMES IN AUSTRIA AND HUNGARY.

i£3 FOR-A PAIR OF BOOTS. Count Tisza, according to the Magyar i papers, has been talkirxr very frankly sbout the shortage of food in Hungary, and warning people that they must be prepared to do without a good many thing 3. , The shortage of fats', which is one of the. greatest troubles at the present time, cannot be helped, lie says, as the stock on hand are far below the normal demand, Maize is also very scarce. In peace times Hungary imported from abroad from 500,000 to GOO.OOO tons annually. In 1915 the harvest ol ■oats and barley was very bid, and maize wa; a poor average The greater part of the maize was require'] to feed the army horses In the. present year conditions are still worse. There is relatively much less fodder, viz, maize, barley, oats, and clover, and so the feeding of pigs is very difficult. Concluding, the Count said: "We arc to-day in the position of a beleagusred fortress, and we must reckon with the fact. Whatever we may do. a bcleagui'ed fortress remains a beleaguered fortress, and we must bear privations."

In Buda Pest butter and fats !.re now only sold thtee days a week, and then only a pound to each person Children under twelve years of age are not allowed any fats. To prevent long waiting in the streets numbers are distributed amongst people having fat-tickets, and the sale begins at four o'clock in the afternoon.

In Vienna the situation is no better, if indeed as good as in the Hungarian capital. The supply of meat is constantly smaller. At the last weekly market the arrivals of caUK- were less than half those of the previous week. As for pics, hardly any ever come to tlie Vienna market. The Hungaiian farmers, dissatisfied with the maximum prices, have boycotted the markets. It was thought that when their pigs were ready for slaughter, the farmers raotud be obliged to market them, but so many agents have been travelling through the country offering prices higher than those fi::cd by the Government, that tlie farmer'- have easily disposed of their stocks Viennese butchers are now asking; five shillings a pound for lard and though this is a shilling above the maximum price they find ready customers. Recently the police have been paying surprise visits to private families and on the first day found over a hundred Viennese households eating meat on "meatless days." They are all being prosecuted, and the. police threaten to publish thir names in future. They are also warned that the maximum penalty is a fine of 5000 crowns, over £2OO, and six months' imprisonment will in future be enforced

EGGS DISAPPEAR. For several days (this was written on October ID) eggs' have disappeared Iron-, the Vienna market. Not even for' ad apiece could any be had. Owing to tlie'inanipulatioris of middlemen, rice has reached an exorbitant price in Vienna, going as high us'lod a lb. One firm bought 100.0001 bs before the war at a little'over Id a lb. Within six months it was sold at ">d a lb. A year ago a bank brought into Austria SO.OOOIbs, and sold it at just under Is. It passed through three or four hands, and the last 40.00011)9 were sold at lfid a lb. Four middlemen who were concerned in these deals have just been prosecuted, not being provision dealers, and have been sent to prison for three months, and fined from €lO to t-1 —r> each. Nothing was said about th:: bank's share in the business, though the bank is hardly a provision dealer. Many'complaints have been made Unit both in Hungary and Austria the big banks have been speculating in foodstuffs, and been largely responsible for tbe enormous increase::. in prices of dairlv necessities. Wooden-soled boots and shoes are now being sold in large quantities in Vienna, leather being almost unobtainable at anv price. As much as £3 is asked for a really good pair of leatiur boots, and for less than half that price no leather boots or shoes of any quality can be had. Those wooden-soled boots arc fold at 5s a pair, and children's at :is. The municipality is arranging to furnish poor school children and the city street-clean-ers with free boots and shoes. ' Tlie Austrian Government has confiscated the entire stocks of string in the monarchy, taking all quantities ovev 21b in weight. It will used in making overshoes for the soldiers in the field. Postal rates have been raised all round in Austria-Hungary, causing great publi. discontent and innumerable complaints from the commercial community. Letter postage has been increased from a penny to three halfpence, postcards- from a halfpenny to four-fifths of a penny, and picture postcards from a halfpenny to a I penny. The postage on letter above weight and on parcels, and the ices for money orders, have all been raised, as well as the telegraph rates.