MUCH EASIER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 39, 15 February 1934, Page 7

MUCH EASIER.

AUSTRIA'S CRISIS. SPORADIC FIGHTING. Government Claims Complete Victory. TALK OF 1500 KILLED. (Catted P.A.—Electric Telegraph—Copyright) ..; (Received 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, February 14. The resumption of the tram services and the removal of many barbed wire barricades indicate that the position is much easier in Vienna, though it will take two or three days to clean up the isolated places, notably TVienerneustadt. Sporadic firing is still to be heard at the Karlmarxliof, also in Steyr, where the snbjugation of tl;e Socialists is imminent. A total of 350 rebels surrendered at Linz. Snipers overcame an armoured car in the Waldhof, killing all five occupants. Summary courts are sitting in Vienna and Graz to deal with the ringleaders. An official statement issued at 10 a.m. stated that the general strike had collapsed and that the Government forces were completely victorious. Although the Austrian Government is withholding the casualty lists, telephoned accounts from Vienna state that 800 to 1000 combatants were killed in Tuesday's fighting. Casualty Reports Exaggerated. On the other hand the Austrian Legation in London asserts that the reports of casualties are exaggerated and that it is officially estimated that only 60 or 70 people were killed. Journalists investigating in Vienna say provincial reports suggest that the deaths are between 1000 and 1500, of which 500 or 600 are in Vienna. There are thousands of injured.

The Legation announces officially that order lias been almost fully restored throughout Austria and that fighting has ceased in Vienna except at Florisdorf. The authorities unearthed a large depot of arms and munitions in Favoriten. It is stated that some Socialists escaped through underground cellars and joined their comrades in the sub- I urbs. The majority, however, were manacled and marched to prison, being prodded with bayonets if they .tarried. In revenge Socialists treated captured policemen in similar fashion. They were taken enchained through the streets. A run was begun on the Central Savings Bank, hitherto managed by the Socialist municipality, owing to the fear that the Government will seize the deposits. Soldiers with fixed bayonets are keeping the crowd in order. Vienna banks have been instructed to refrain from making payments to Social Democrat organisations. The Government has seized the workers' bank. Government Claims Mastery. The Government claims mastery at Linz, Bruck, Kapfenbcrg, Steyr and Wienerneustadt. A communique adds that it is expected to finally end resistance in Vienna this afternoon. The Socialists are already surrendering in large numbers. Nevertheless, fighting recommenced in variotis city districts, notably in the Meidling area, where troops stormed the barricades while the Socialists were defending WcinenbergArtillery and mountain guns shelled and set fire to a huge block of fiats named Schlingerhof, in Floridsdorf, after which the occupants surrendered. The neighbouring Socialist headquarters and a cinema are blazing, and every house for hundreds of yards in Brunnerstrasse, the main street of Floridsdorf, has the windows shattered-

Six thousand Socialists defending Floridsdorf were summoned to surrender or suffer bombardment. Tliey replied: "We would rather die. Begin your attack. You will get a warm reception.'" Major Fey, ordered immediate artillery fire. Some 134 arrested people are being court-martialled to-day, CO at Linz, where the gallows have been erected fi.nd a hangman appointed. It is officially announced that a Government court-martial is sitting to try the first eight offenders who fired at the police after martial law had been proclaimed. Those convicted will be hanged immediately. No unemployment dole is to be paid at the week-end. Concern is felt about the food supplies in Vienna as the Socialists hold the bakeries and slaughterhouses' and threaten to star.ve the residents of the capital. Lower Austria is almost denuded of troops. This has created an opportunity for a dangerous outbreak against the Government, which may face a crisis to-day if the rebellion in Vienna is not subdued. During the fighting in the Embassy region women dropped burning coals on the heads of troopers as they were massing in the shelter of a block of flats. Notwithstanding the fact that they were sprayed with machine-gun bullets and bombarded by artillery, the Socialists held on grimly yesterday in a number of places, notably Ottakring, Semmering, Favoreten, Hernals and Floridsdorf. ° They also made some headway in the provinces. Fighting broke out on Tuesday afternoon in Toestlinberg, near Linz, where miners armed themselves in order to aid the Socialists. Those arrested in Vienna include Dr. Karl Renner, a former Premier and President of Parliament, General Ivoerner, head of the Socialist Defence Corps, Herr Seitz, the deposed Socialist Mayor of Vienna, and Herr Breitner, exfinancial secretary of the municipality.