Excess of Hitlerite Violence in Austria Mirrored in Press

The newspapers of Prague and Vienna carry news items which cast certain interesting sidelights on the aspect of Austria under the Brown Terror. The official organ of the Austrian Government, The Reichs-post, gives the details of terroristic attacks which took place simultaneously: the attempt against the Tyrolian commissar, Dr. Seldte, the one against the ex-minister, Dr. Rintelen, the bomb explosion which cost the life of a Jewish jeweler, the attempt of a band of Nazis to seize the Chancelry of the University of Vienna, the bomb placed in the café of the Exchange building, but discovered in time, the explosion by bombing of a one-price store, the bomb placed in the Schoenbrunn palace grounds also discovered in time, the mysterious assassination of a Heimwehr man and the burning in many parts of the city of telephone booths and shops. The official newspaper has no doubt that all these acts of terrorization, which recall the atrocities of the nihilists in pre-revolutionary Russia, arise from one source, and that this source is the National Socialist party and the Nazi propagandists.

The extent to which the Nazis have terrorized some of the population is attested by the fact that many house-holders of the center of the city are beginning to place their orders with Jewish dealers by telephone. The spies of the Nazis in Vienna, as in Berlin, are already composing lists of buyers in Jewish shops, and some people fear that the Nazis may be in power and the lists will be a weapon.

COMMUNISTS SUSPECTED

The correspondent of the Prager Tageblatt of Prague remarks upon the general indifference and incredulity of the Viennese. Most are not very favorable to the Nazis A few people seem to believe that the assertion of the National Socialist paper Doetz, is true, that it is the Communists who are throwing {SPAN}###{/SPAN} bombs. Still others predict that by autumn, Dolfuss will be sharing the power with the Nazis and consider the present anti-Nazi activity pure camouflage. Extras are constantly being cried. Sensational rumors are noised about the city, but no one really knows what is going on.

However, if the Austrians refuse to take the matter seriously, their neighbors make up for this attitude, which is really born of the confusion of events, by a belligerent anti-Nazi stand. The Czechoslovakian paper, Lidove Noviny of Brno says:

“The unheard of pressure which Germany is exerting upon Hitler shows what sort of an attitude the Reich would take against its enemies if it felt itself stronger. It has turned against Austria because it considers her the target which offers the least resistance. But if Germany were virtorious in Austria, it would be our turn next.

William E. Dodd, American Ambassador, sailed this week to take up his post in Berlin. He is in the scholarly tradition of envoys, having won his spurs as an American historian, and as a teacher. He has won the Pulitzer prize for his contributions in the field of American history. He is acquainted also with the German people, having been a student at Leipzig.