Page:EB1922 - Volume 30.djvu/361

Rh TABLE II. (Thousands of tons.)

1909.

1910.

1911.

1912.

1913-

Wheat .... Barley .... Maize .... Other varieties of grain.

+0-720 -0-185

+O-IOO

4-0-127

+0-278

0-170 +0-036 +0-076

+0-130 -0-648

+0-193 +0-216

+0-008 0-196 +0-726 +0-083

+0-017 0-166 +0-643

+0-061

In Table III. are given the average prices of the most important varieties of grain.

TABLE III. Average Prices, Vienna (in kronen).

1909.

1910.

1911.

1912.

I9I3-

Wheat .... Rye ....

I5-50 10-47

12-94 8-55

12-96 9-86

12-69 10-80

12-31 9'47

Barley ....

9-83

9-02

10-32

10-67

9-19

The prices of the principal kinds of meat do not show the same tendency as those of corn; it is only after 1911 that a certain pause can be remarked in the rise of prices, as Table IV. shows:

TABLE IV. Retail Price of Meat, Vienna (in kronen).

1909.

1910.

1911.

1912.

1913-

Beef .... Pork .... Veal ....

I7I-53 172.00 145.00

177-90 195.00 153-00

195-68 200.00 160.00

207-12 200.00 160.00

217-46 200.00 180.00

The statistics of sugar are given in Table V. :

TABLE V. Sugar. (Thousands of tons.)

1909-10.

1910-1.

1911-2.

1912-3.

Raw sugar produced Internal consumption. Number of workmen employed.

1,246 592

72,205

1,523 669 73,908

I.I43 577 70,907

1,899 672 72,960

The price of sugar in Vienna showed in 1913 a considerable fall, following the good harvest. The total production for the year 1912-3, and also the amount of consumption, are the highest recorded in Austria.

As to the products of other industries closely related to agriculture that of beer and brandy varied, and was at times extraordinarily large.

The old Austria was very richly provided with raw materials; the coal and iron supply was especially rich ; in the years immediately preceding the war the production of these two commodities followed in general a rising curve. Table VI. gives the quantities of important mineral products.

TABLE VI. Mineral Production. (Thousands of tons.)

1909.

1910.

1911.

191%.

I9I3-

Coal Brown coal. Iron-stone ....

13,466

25,575 2,475

13,526 24,680 2,580

14,121 24,810 2,716

15,513 25,810

2,874

16,164 36,705 2,985

The amount of manufactured iron produced was also on the increase; the quantities in thousands of tons were:

1909.

1910.

1911.

1912.

1913-

Refined iron .... Cast iron ....

1,193

246

1,218 256

1-305 261

1,447 281

1,458 268

After 1908 the Austrian textile industry suffered from a serious depression ; owing to the extraordinarily steep advance in the prices of raw materials the position of this industry was unfavourable, in spite of increased production and rising 'prices at the spinning mills. The figures for the cotton industry are representative:

Imports of Cotton. (Thousands of tons.)

1908.

1909.

1910.

1911.

1912.

I9I3-

187

200

183

2IO

234

222

The number of cotton spindles in Austria was: in 1910,4,643,300; in 1911, 4,563,700; in 1912, 4,797,900; in 1913, 4,909,458. After 1910 an ever-increasing quantity of cotton had to be exported.

Exports of Cotton. (Thousands of tons.)

1908.

1909.

1910.

1911.

1912.

1913-

4-2

4-0

5-i

7-0

10-5

24-2

The number of looms increased steadily, but the output per loom showed partially a distinct decrease. A good general impression of the economic situation can easily be gained from the returns of the state of the labour market. Table

VII. shows how many offers of places corresponded on a yearly average to every hundred applications for work:

TABLE VII. Employment per 100 Applications.

1911.

1912.

1913-

Smelting Metal-working .... Machine industry ... Wood industry ... Clothing manufacture. Textile industry ... Paper industry ... Building trade ... Clerical occupations

45-5 64-0

42-5 87-2 95-o 146-1 83-6 80-6 61-6

52-5 68-3

51-6

85-7 94-9

91-2 90-1

85-2 58-7

73-8 45-3 36-8

48-3 74-6 48-2

53-4 61-8

47-9

An improvement was shown only in the position of employees in smelting works, otherwise a deterioration is to be observed every- where, most markedly in the textile industry. In spite of this wages showed a rising tendency. Table VIII. gives the average daily wage (based on the returns for the accident insurance contribution) :

TABLE VIII. Average Daily Wage in Vienna (in kronen).

1910.

1911.

1912.

1913-

Smelting

4-10

4-22

4-27

4-41

Metal-working Machine industry .... Textile industry. Wood industry

3-45 4-17 2-36 2-79

3-52

4-21

2-45 2-94

3-61 4-40 2-47 3-00

3-77 4-65 2-58 3-13

The cost of living increased on the whole ; it was only in 1913 that there was a fall in the price of certain important commodities. The average prices per kilogram of certain commodities in Lower Austria are shown in Table IX. :

TABLE IX. Average Food Prices (heller per kilogram).

1909.

1910.

1911.

1912.

1913-

Meat (Suppen fleisch) White flour .... Peas Potatoes Sauerkraut .... Rice Lard

159-8

46-3 48-7 10-4 37-1 56-5 175-5

162-9

39-7 51-2 11-6 29-6

55-5 186-7

180-0 39-1 52-3 14-2

30-7 56-9 194-4

194-8

38-9 56-1 14-4

33-3 60- 1 197-6

198-5 38-0 55-7 12-5 29-1

56-3 203-4

This very cheapening of many commodities in 1913, side by side with which went also a cheapening of many manufactured articles, was indicated as the sign of a decline in the power of consumption of the population.

It may here be mentioned that according to the savings bank re- turns there was also a decline in the amount of deposits. The de- posits and withdrawals were respectively, in thousands of kronen :

1910.

1911.

1912.

I9I3-

Deposits Withdrawals

1,706 1,610

1, 860 1,790

1,950 2,149

1,872 1,970

After the heavy withdrawals of 1912 the decline in deposits, together with a continuance of heavy withdrawals in 1913, is a clear sign of economic depression. The economic situation of Austria shared in this respect in the general development of world affairs, in which also, after a period of prosperity, a reaction set in in 1913. It is only surprising that in 1912 the reaction already snowed itself sharply in Austria. The year 1914 soon showed signs of a coming relaxation of the economic crisis; but this development was inter- rupted by the World War.

The War Period, 1914-8. The outbreak of war meant the almost complete paralysis of industry in Austria. Only the very narrow range of goods manufactured in peace-time found buyers, and these were used exclusively for the equipment of those going to the front. The bulk of industry found itself faced with the impossibility of disposing of the goods previously manufactured, and acted in consequence as best suited the interests of the moment: there were general dismissals of workmen, and enter- prises were restricted or suspended. Numerous industries were almost entirely dependent upon export trade (e.g. the glass and porcelain industry in Bohemia), but foreign relations were to a large extent broken off through the closing of trade-routes and the entry into the enemy camp of countries which had been im- portant markets. Thus during the first weeks of the war there was very great unemployment in parts of the industrial regions, since the dismissals far exceeded the proportion of enrolments in the army, while agriculture, which was already occupied with the harvest, suffered from a serious shortage of labour.

The Governmefit had not prepared in advance any measures