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out that the result of the elections was a triumph, the Red Party had no illusions as to that questionable triumph, and they had to see that only the votes of the citizen voters had brought about the result; the reason for this being that their votes were cast for the Social Democratic Party in the hope that they would continue the Rent Protection Act, viz. the present small tax on dwelling-houses. In any case the insufficient number of the votes created the situation which, on the last 'Day' of the party at Linz, it was decided should be considered an adequate cause for establishing the Dictatorship of the Proletariat by force. How greatly the members in the camp of the Red Party were occupied with this idea may be gathered from the speech which Dr Bauer, the leader of the Austrian Social Democracy, had made shortly before the critical days of July, and in which he uttered the following significant statement: 'Austrian Social Democracy is certainly in favour of the Union of Austria with Germany; not with the present Germany in which reactionaries predominate, but with a Germany that by revolution has become Social Democratic.' In short: first Revolution, then Union.

When, a few days later, the Schattendorf trial began, it was thought that the opportunity for the development of the effort to secure a Dictatorship had come. The Red press heralded loudly the approaching storm, and kept the excitement red hot. When the verdict was delivered, the storm broke. Accustomed to Government weakness, and presuming upon the fact that the greater part of the defence force and the police was composed of members of the Social Democrat organisation, the Revolutionary party thought the day had come which should give them dominion over Austria, and they proceeded to try to make the dream actual. They had miscalculated. Contrary to expectation, the discipline of the police, as well as that of the soldiers, proved stronger than their party allegiance. The Red emissaries arriving at the barracks found closed doors and had to return with nothing done. But the police, exasperated by the attacks of the mob and violently threatened, used their weapons energetically and mastered the rioters. The Republikanische Schutzbund, upon which the Social Democrats had relied, failed utterly, both as regards keeping order

and making an attack. It allowed incendiaries and glooters to work their will, and proved no match for the the police in spite of its greater strength. The success of the Social Democrats and the Communists was, therefore, limited to paralysing the means of communication, to acts of vandalism, and to answer for the wounding and killing of hundreds.

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The Social Democratic machine' was even more of a failure in the country. In Steiermark and Tyrol it met with the energetic resistance of the Heimwehren, so that the Red agitators did not succeed even in achieving a strike of the transport workers. An attempt in a mining district to establish the rule of the Red Council was frustrated by the action of the Heimwehren, who, true to their name, proved effectively protective. So the attempt to establish in Austria a Dictatorship of the Proletariat, which had been so long in preparation, had been supported at such great cost, and was launched with fanatical zeal, ended in a defeat all along the line, the greatest defeat which the Social Democrats had suffered since the Revolution. It left their leaders

sullen, dejected, and silent.

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Great as was the defeat of the Austrian Social Democrats, it would be too optimistic to hope that the danger of a Proletariat Dictatorship is passed. Possibly it is only postponed, and we must be prepared for the Social Democrats, in conjunction with the Communists, to repeat the attempt at the first opportunity, for the Reds are thirsting for revenge, and impatiently await the moment when they can vent their wrath. Everything must be overthrown.' That is still their watchword. The greatest care must be taken to prevent this. A second attempt of the kind must be nipped in the bud, and not be allowed to result in fighting and the sacrifice of lives. With this end in view it is necessary above all things to strengthen the Government of Austria. Whether, in its present condition, it would be able to stand firm against a second attack is questionable, and it would be a mistake to regard the recent suppression of the rioting as a proof that the strength and energy of the Government may be fully relied upon. Strength and energy were exhibited only by the Head of the Police, and it is he, and not the

Government, who must be thanked for the salvation of Vienna. If the Government had really possessed the strength and energy which were afterwards attributed to it, and on which it is now endeavouring to plume itself, matters would never have gone so far as the burning of the Palace of Justice. A monumental building of that kind does not burn rapidly-it takes time; and in July the Government allowed the mob to have that necessary time. It would be unjust to lay the blame on the police. Their 7000 men could not be everywhere. It was a case in which it was necessary for the UnionArmy to take part. Certainly the Government tried to bring them in, but in vain; they were kept back by the opposition of the Burgomaster and captain of the country, Herr Seitz, and it had tried to justify itself by saying that, according to the law, it had no right to give orders to the army, that right belonging to the captain of the country; an excuse which is no justification, for extraordinary circumstances require and justify extraordinary measures. When the Government at last decided to call out the military it was too late. The Palace of Justice was lost beyond recall.

A lawyer on behalf of the Government might perhaps have urged in its defence that it had hesitated to call out the military because it did not feel sure of them and feared they might refuse to obey even if they did not actually join the rioters; but this excuse does not hold, for even if such anxiety with regard to the political feelings of the Union-Army were not unfounded, too much was at stake for the military not to be used. If the Head of the Police, Herr von Schober, had followed the example of the Government and kept within the limits of his rights, he would scarcely have been empowered to allow the use of firearms; for, strange as it may seem, his position is subordinate to that of the Burgomaster of Vienna and he had not received any such permission from Herr Seitz. In happy contrast to the Government Herr von Schober acted as the danger of the moment required. Nothing can free the Government from a passive participation in the tragic events of those unfortunate days, and the ruins of the Palace of Justice are not only a memorial of shame to Vienna in general and the Social Democrats in particular, but

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salvatare also a reminder of the weakness of the Government. Ossess Dr Seipel, the Chancellor of the Bund, has shown once at more that, clever and skilled diplomatist as he is, and creditably as he deals with the foreign politics of Austria, g to p Is the he does not insist on the firmness, strength, and the iron alb hand which are indispensable if Austria is not to me succumb to the Revolutionaries or to a crowd of har Bolshevists and become nearly akin to Moscow; for Austria, situated as she is at the centre of Europe, would prove a grave source of danger to the peace of the' he world. As Dr Seipel enjoys great confidence in foreign countries, and not one among the politicians of Austria appears more suited for the post of Chancellor, we can only wish that he may retain it. But in order that he may be equal to his difficult task it is essential that he should stiffen his neck and harden his hand. And that is possible only if he is given a powerful weapon on which he can rely unconditionally at the moment of danger. At present he has nothing of the kind at his disposal; for even if the existing Union-Army on the past occasion gave no cause for anxiety, its composition -65 per cent. Social Democrats against 35 per cent. bourgeoisie-offers no security that it would stand a second trial. It is therefore essential that the UnionArmy should be in future entirely unpolitical, i.e. that no soldier, so long as he remains in the army, may be a member of any political organisation. Besides the official Union-Army there must, of course, not be any unofficial troops, no Party Prætorians. All organisations of that kind, Social Democrat or bourgeois, must be broken up and no new ones allowed to take their place. Such a manoeuvre as Burgomaster Seitz tried when, after the bloody days of July, taking advantage of the occasion, he formed a Red bodyguard, the so-called 'Gemeindeschutzwache' (People's Defence Guard) which was broken up in consequence of the opposition of the Völkerbund (People's Union), and he at once started to form a new bodyguard, must not happen again. Of course, not only must the Union-Army be non-political, but every other institution for the purpose of keeping order, such as the gendarmerie and the police, which at present contain an even higher percentage of Social democrats, viz. 75 per cent., must be so too. It would also be essential

that the Arsenal, which at present is a bulwark of the Social Democrats, the entire control being in their hands, should be made neutral and placed under the management of non-political members of the Bund. Essential also is the passing of a law against strikes which will make a strike known and show it up for what it really is, the high-handed extortion of the general public.

As Austria by herself is hardly in a position to carry out these reforms the Völkerbund (People's Union) must make it their business to place the Government in such a position that it can carry them through without hesitation. At the same time the powers in Geneva should be persuaded to allow Austria to organise an army which is really capable of defence, both as regards numbers and arms. We need have no fear that such permission would be abused and the peace of Europe endangered. It is more dangerous to have a defenceless Austria given over to a Revolutionary party greedy for power. We cannot speak of the July riots without thinking of the dangers which might arise from the position of Austria as it affects other States. Those which are neighbours would regard her as a danger to themselves and be likely to interfere. This interference might have the worst developments, and might, almost must, lead to the division of Austria which has often been contemplated; a problem in the working out of which the peace of Europe would again be shattered.

If this danger is happily over, there is still another which remains. There can be no doubt that the idea of union between Austria and Germany has been furthered by the events of July 15. The bourgeois circles of Austria will see, or at any rate wish to see, in them a proof that Austria in its present condition is incapable of protecting its citizen population from the outbursts of the Revolutionary party and that a repetition of such events can only be prevented by union with Germany. We may think what we like of such a union. In any case the attempt to realise it would raise a storm in Europe and threaten a new war.

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