Sir William Acworth's scheme, however, raises the hope that the
Austrian railways will soon share in the general financial recovery. He proposes that they should be managed on commercial lines under a Board ; of Directors, instead of by a State Department, The recovery of Austria, in most respects, has lately been so marked that one is no longer justified in making the familiar comment that 7,000,000 people cannot support a capital with 1,700,000 inhabitants. Against all the logic of the facts Vienna is actually again becoming the exchange centre, not only for all the territory comprised in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, but for the Balkan States as well. Sir William Acworth hopes that if his scheme is adopted the Austrian railway system will be solvent in about two years. Before the League of Nations took Austria in hand no country seemed in a more hopeless plight. If Austria can recover thus quickly any country can recover. We can only hope that the lesson will be applied nearer home.
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