Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol3, 1919.djvu/117

 chanics working in railway shops received no wages for the last four months and have had to go to work elsewhere; consequently it is impossible to repair damaged loco motives. Nevertheless all these forms of assistance to Russia are possible and proper only in conjunction with a military expedition able to guarantee that this expensive undertaking will not be destroyed by pernicious rebellion and disorders which have made chronic appearances on the Siberian railways.

In order, however, that such a military intervention and economic assistance to Russia shall have any success at all, it is necessary to carry it out according to a clearly laid down plan and scope, namely, the removal of Bolshevik government in European Russia and re-establishment and maintenance of order and peace throughout the whole country for so long, until it is possible for the Russian people to shape for themselves freely and without any pressure their own definite form of government. Such an Allied intervention, even though it must affect Russian internal affairs, will be accepted with exultation and full confidence by all.

The crowns of St. Wenceslas and St. Stephen have both been lost to the Hapsburgs by the great war. The paper crown alone remains to remind the people of the former Dual Monarchy of their past allegiance, for the paper crown is still the common medium of exchange in the republics which have arisen on the ruins of the Danubian Empire. It is not a pleasant reminder; though quite plentiful—the paper crowns are numbered by the billion—it is more of a liability than an asset and constitutes a serious problem for the new states.

The crown of 100 hellers was made the monetary unit of Austria-Hungary by the law of August 2, 1892, which introduced the gold standard into the monarchy. The law provided that one kilogram of fine gold should be coined into 3,280 crowns, the crown being thus equivalent in value to 20.3 cents in United States money or 1.0501 francs in the currency of the Latin Monetary Union. Only pieces of 10 and 20 crowns were coined in gold at first; later on pieces of 100 crowns were added. Pieces of 1, 2 and 5 crowns were coined in silver, but were legal tender to limited amounts only—the one-crown piece only to the amount of 50 crowns.

The principal circulating medium, [sic]however, was paper: notes issued by the Austro-Hungarian Bank which were made legal tender. The notes originally were issued in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100 and 1,000 crowns; during the war the issue was extended to include notes of a denomination as low as 2 crowns and as high as 10,000 crowns. The bank had the exclusive right to issue notes in the Empire and was required to hold a metallic reserve of gold or silver, coined or in bullion, to an amount of at least two-fifths of the total amount of banknotes in circulation. The reserve usually was much higher. At the end of 1904, for example, the stock of gold and silver held by the Bank was 1,507,560,293 crowns, or more than 86 per cent of the note circulation which totaled 1,751,301,080 crowns. It was provided that, in case the amount of notes in circulation exceeded the amount required to cover them by 600 million crowns, the Bank should pay a tax of 5 per cent. The profits of the Bank were to be divided between the share holders and the Governments of Austria and Hungary according to a complicated schedule which possesses only an historical interest just now. The system worked well in times of peace, but collapsed under the stress of war when restrictive legislation was repealed by ministerial orders and the Bank relieved of its duty to protect its issues or even to make reports of its condition. No reports were issued during the first three years of the war.

The Austro-Hungarian Bank has its principal offices in Vienna and Budapest. In 1913 it had 56 branches in Austria, 42 in Hungary and three in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In addition it had 81 agencies (Nebenstellen) in Austria and 103 in Hungary. In 1912 its notes in circulation totaled 2,816 million crowns, that amount decreasing to 2,494 million at the end of 1913 and 2,160