Page:The Bohemian Review, vol1, 1917.djvu/47

 ; for this task the Allies and Europe can fully rely on the Bohemian nation.

4. Economic and Financial Problems.—Economically and financially Bohemia is acknowledged to be the “pearl of Austria,” and she will in the future be as rich as she is now; she will, in fact, be richer, because she will not have to support the economically weaker provinces of Austria.

Bohemia was, from the beginning of the union with Hungary and Austria, the political backbone of Austria; the Alpine countries were poor, Trieste and the sea were of little importance, Hungary had no economic significance at all. Bohemia exported grain and manufactured goods; it was only in the second half of the nineteenth century that Hungary became the granary of Austria and partly of Bohemia, which then, like the rest of Austria, imported the grain and flour she required from America.

At present the population of the Bohemian countries is, in round numbers, half agricultural, half industrial. In Bohemia proper, 35 per cent are employed in agriculture, the rest in industry, commerce, and the so-called liberal occupations. In Moravia and Silesia, 50 per cent live on agriculture; in Slovakia a much higher percentage still.

The following facts will suffice to indicate the economic strength of the Bohemian countries:

In the year 1906–1914 the average production of grain was (in round figures), in Bohemia $54 1⁄2$ mill. cwt., in Moravia 24 mill., in Silesia 4 mill. After making due allowance for grain used for sowing purposes, and for grain wasted, this works out at an average of over 810 lbs. a year per head in Bohemia, and in Moravia the average is 890 lbs. per head. The Bohemian lands altogether give an average of 815 lbs. per head for a population of little less than 10 millions, while, in the rest of Austria, it is hardly 511 lbs. per head. It should be remarked that half of this grain can be used for milling, and gives flour and foodstuffs of excellent quality, which, together with the yearly produce in potatoes, peas, lentils, vegetables and excellent fruit, is more than sufficient for general consumption. In 1914 the harvest was so good that it gave an average of 839 lbs. per head. It should be remembered that cultivation in Bohemia has not reached the same stage of development as that of Denmark or Belgium. There are great possibilities ahead if the rate of development evinced during the last ten years is maintained. The great number of large estates in the south and west are an important asset, particularly in regard to cattle-breeding.

During the years 1906–1910 Bohemia and Moravia contributed almost 46 per cent of the total grain produced in Austria, 41 per cent of the potatoes, 44 per cent of the clover and fodder, and 93 (!) per cent of beet sugar. The Austrian sugar industry is almost entirely confined to the Bohemian lands. The statistics of the production of fruit, vegetables, cereals, etc., are equally indicative of Bohemia’s importance. And this, in spite of the fact that these lands represent only 26.4 per cent of the soil of Austria and hardly $35 1⁄2$ per cent of her inhabitants.

To the total amount of brown coal produced in Austria ( $26 1⁄4$ mill. tons) Bohemia alone contributes 83 per cent, and to the 15.8 mill. tons of black coal, 86.66 per cent. These results place Bohemia among the richest States in the world, along with England, the United States and Germany, for she produces about $26 1⁄2$ per cent of black and also 51 cwt. of brown coal for every one of her 10 million inhabitants.

Of the iron ore turned out by Austria (27 mill, cwt.), about a third is produced in Bohemia. Though the country itself is not very rich in iron ore, yet, in consequence of the great production of coal, the iron works in Bohemia are very extensive, forming over 60 per cent of the entire industry in Austria. As these two branches of natural wealth and industry are the most important of all, the Bohemian lands are invaluable to Austria.

In the other industries as well, the importance of Bohemia is equally paramount. She monopolises 93% of the entire sugar industry and about 46% of the breweries. Hops are grown only in the Bohemian lands, whence they are exported. The engineering industry also has its seat chiefly in Bohemia, as do the textile (cotton and wool), glass, paper and leather industries, stone-cutting and grinding, graphite quarrying, chemistry and electro-technology.

In consequence of this industrial activity, Bohemia returns the highest profits for rail ways, posts and telegraphs. Her network of railways is the thickest, and she alone, out of the whole of Austria, can boast of private railways run for the benefit of