REVOLT IN VIENNA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19691, 18 July 1927, Page 9

REVOLT IN VIENNA.

SOCIALISTS AROUSED.

COURT VERDICT RESENTED.

acquittal of fascists.

BLOODSHED IN STREETS.

GRAVE RISING QUELLED.

j}y Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received July 17, 5.5 p.m.) and N.Z. LONDON, July 16. Messages from Vienna report an outbreak of most turbulent rioting in Vienna. Forty people have been killed and over 200 wounded. The trouble first began in consequence of the acquittal of three anti-Socialists, in spite of their plea of guilty, on charges of murdering two Socialists and wounding jive others, in the village of Schottendorf. The Court was crowded with Fascists jmd "Socialists, who were awaiting the jesult of the trial, which lasted for 10 davs, and in which there were 100 witnesses. The Judge said though the Fascists did jhoot the Socialists the shooting was provoked by the Socialists who had escaped arrest. The prisoners were then acquitted. Orowd Sets Fire to the Court. The verdict aroused the working men of Vienna, who laid down their tools and inarched to the front of the Law Courts shouting "Revolution." "Kill the Fascists" and "Revenge." The police were powerless and eventually when they were attacked they fired 20 rounds into the crowd who then sullenly began to disperse. a mob rushed the Law Courts, looted the rooms, set fire to the building imd prevented the firemen from attempting to extinguish the flames. Events took a more serious turn when Hie mob charged the City Hall and the Opera House. The police fired three times on them, and the square was littered with dead and wounded. There were extraordinary scenes during the burning of the Law Courts in which many raiders, who did not know that their companions were setting fire to the building; were nearly burned alive. Machine-guns Used on the Mob. The leaderless mob refused to listen to Ibe Mayor and other Socialists who tried fc> restrain them. All the public services are interrupted. The Government called out the military "nth machine-guns, which mowed down the mob. The wounded were removed to the City Hall, which in a few moments resembled a field hospital, with more than 100 wounded people lying on the floors. The police, reserves were armed with rifles. The mobs then attacked and partly burned the offices of the Premier's organ. Die Reichspost, and of the Pan-German paper, the Wiener Neueste Naclirichten, before they were driven out by the police. The newspapers were not published owing to the angrv mood of the rioters which had its worst manifestation at the Law Courts P Worst Disturbances Since Revolution. The police elected barricades in the streets around the burning Law Courts. Here has been a general strike since coon. The banks are closed and the shopkeepers have put up their shutters to prevent the mob wrecking their unprotected windows. These are symptoms of the worst disturbance since the revolution. When the Socialist Mayor tried to calm l!ie mobs he was greeted with a shower of stones and shouts of "Traitors." "Kill the Fascists!" "Long live the I?e----voiution."

The mob gathered with ttie intention of marching to Parliament House, but it spent its frenzy at the Law Courts. At tho City Hall the mobs rushed into the police station, tore up the carpets, and threw the constables' beds into the itreet. They , stripped several constables and hong the uniforms on lamp-posts as a taunt of the justice of the Law Courts. The statue of the late Emperor Francis Joseph was thrown out of the Courthouse •ad smashed to pieces, which were taken souvenirs. In the city the Nationalists were well armed and threatened to intervene in the event of the authorities failing to restore order. The citizens barricaded themselves inside their homes from fear of the mob. Rioters Fire From Barricades. Fifty policemen were among those Wounded. A press censorship is in operation and news is coming via Berlin. The fighting is reported to have assumed a revolutionary character. The Law .Courts were gutted. The rioters cut the gas pipes and set ■fire to the police station. They seized tramcars for tho transport of men and materials for the construction of barricades. The police served out rifles and opened fire in the evening, the rioters replying with revolvers from the barricades. There*appears to have been a clash between the Premier, Dr. Seipel, and the Socialist burgomaster, .Dr. §eitz, who stubbornly opposed the employment of the military. The Austrian Government summoned troop; from districts outside the burgomaster's jurisdiction. Situation Reported to be Safe. The Austrian Minister in London received an official telegram from Vienna this morning stating that order had been restored. Private property had not suffered and there was no danger. The police had the situation completely in hand and all, precautions had been taken to prevent further disturbances. A late despatch from Berlin states that advices from Vienna say the police in the evening succeeded in driving the rioters to the suburbs. A battalion of infantry with machine-guns took up a position outSide Parliament House. Complete calm exists in Austria outside (Vienna.

Gendarmes established their headquarters in the Parliamentary Buildings. I'rom there they swept the square with volleys to prevent the attackers gathering.

Ail '"factories are clo.sed as well as the *hopH and the traffic in the streets has Coated.