Crisis

The ingredients for one of the gravest crises of the Austrian Republic were a general railway strike and the resignation of the Government headed by Chancellor Ignaz Seipel, Catholic priest.

The railwaymen went on strike because they wanted more money, in the aggregate 250,000,000,000 kronen ($3,571,000). Herr Gunther, President of the Federal Railways, refused the men's demands on the ground that they were impossible to meet, owing to the rigid economy prescribed by the Government in adherence to the League of Nations program of reconstruction. Unable to effect a settlement, Herr Gunther resigned as President.

The political side of the crisis was more complex. For months, in fact since the League assumed the overlordship of Austrian finances last year, public animosity to reconstruction has heightened week by week, largely because economy in the public services deprived some 80,000 people of their jobs. The enemies of Chancellor Seipel, who has held on to the State rudder through nearly three years of storm and stress, were not slow to take advantage of the situation.

Evidence of a political complexion was not lacking in the present general strike. The Social Democrat (Labor) body made relatively moderate wage demands; but those of the Pan-Germans (the Austrian Party which advocates union with Germany) were found to be exorbitant. This was taken to mean that the Pan-Germans, who form the coalition with the Christian Socialists, had gone over to the Social Democrats.

Chancellor Seipel did not wait to meet the National Assembly, but tendered the Government's resignation to President Hainisch. In a statement made subsequently, he remarked:

"This is a most serious situation. The resignation of the Government is not, as is surmised by our opponents, a mere bluff. The very existence of the whole reconstruction program is threatened. It is not merely a question of this strike which prevented us from remaining in office, but it is also the spirit of the people on these questions."

The situation was not without hope. Chancellor Seipel not only consented to "carry on" until a successor was appointed, but hinted that, if the workers came to an agreement with the resigning President of the Railways, the Government "could" be reflected.