Page:Edvard Beneš – Bohemia's case for independence.pdf/104

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
80
BOHEMIA'S CASE FOR INDEPENDENCE

production over the rest of Austria is therefore obvious. The same applies to the potato crops: the Czech countries yield 43 per cent. of the total Austrian production. The cullivation of fruit in Bohemia far surpasses that in Austria, and the Czech countries contribute 95 per cent. to the total beetroot production of Austria. The whole of Hungary does not yield one-third of Bohemia's sugar production.

But the main source of the wealth of the Czech countries is commerce and industries, in which more than half of the population is employed.

The importance of Czech industries and commerce may be gauged from the relatively high contribution of the Czech countries in rates and taxes levied on industrial profits. In 1914 the Czech countries paid in taxes 44 million kronen, i.e. 62.9 per cent., the other provinces 26 millions, i.e. 37.1 per cent. The contribution per inhabitant is 4.34 kronen in the Czech countries, 1.75 kronen in the other provinces.

In 1912 15 million metric tons of brown coal, i.e. 83 per cent. of the total quantity mined in Austria, were obtained from the Czech countries. They also produce good charcoal and lignite. The production of black coal in the Czech countries is equal to that ol the richest countries in coal. In Hungary, all coal is found exclusively in Slovakia, and Slovakia is also rich in iron-ore.