Evening star., 1933-07-16

Cured IL. Meantlme ne kept Tree from
politics. If he had been a talker il
might have been different. but he had
not that requisite of the game; indeed
difficulty in speaking He kept quiet
and left the expression of views and
sentiments to others. He neither Joined
recognized political party nor at
tempted to enter Parliament.
This detachment did him no harm.
A man was wanted to take hold of the
railway system in 1880. an energetic
man with organizing ability who could
be trusted to 60 on with a practical as
distinct from political. job. They be-
thought themselves of the little director
of agriculture in the Lower Austrian
+ Chamber. called him up and put him
in. In the next year the more impOr-
tant job of national minister of agri-
culture. calling for similar qualifica-
tons, was open. DollfuSS was now
They put him in. He still remained
outside of politics and Parliament.
Blowout Came.
And in the ministry OF agriculture
he sat in May of last year when the
blowout, which had SO long threat
ened in Austrian politics. finally oc-
CURED. The country was in a mess,
pulled every sort of way and without
unity. 1t had never got over the crash
of 1881, when the Rothschild Credit
anstalt went under and started that
banking earthquake which ran around
the world The Germans were pressing
for economic union as the only saliva
tlon for an Austria economically de-
pendent upon her northern neighbor
The French were equally persistent in
threatening large-scale trouble If any
thing OF the sort happened. and held
up League loan to Austria unless and
until the Austrians promised not to en-
tertaln an Anschluss proposition for at
least 20 years. The harassed govern
ment did not see how it could carry on.
and the politicians of the chamber were
all for mot selling our national honor. "
In the squeeze. down came the ministry
of DR. Buresch.
For two weeks Austria was minus a
government. President Miklas' natural
joviality waned perceptibly as he sent
for man after man to take on the
chancellor's job. and man after man
declined. At last some one had the
bright idea Of trying outside the
charmed circle Of political leaders and
yes-men. What about Dollfuss?" DOLL
4ooS' i1C lldo DccIl ONGElOOkeO, as IN
divldualS outside the political family
are likely to be- even in a crisis. Miklas
sent for him. Would he tackle this
job that no other public man would
take on? He would.
He had to work to make ANYTHING
OF the Presidents invitation. He had
10 caJole and bully whole series of
political leaders. Finally. surveying the
battlefield, he found he had a par
llamentary majority Of exactly one.
one Is not much, but to a fighter who
knows the value of a one-foot grip on
an Alpine crag it Is enough. He
Waded in.
For the next nine months he fought
IN the manner of his boyhood and war
days. His two main battles were di-
rected toward repelling the German
orlented Nazi minority. always threat
enlng coup d'etat. and defending his
one-man majority. He knew what he
wanted, but it is difficult for even an
orator to handle bunch of politicians
elected by popular vote and Dollfuss
was no orator. Only his exceptional
powers OF will, an immense industry
oased upon abnormal physical and
mental energy, ruthless common sense
and his don't-give- a-damn spirit kept
him af1oat
But the showdown had to come. The
toothold was crumbling last March.
Doilfuss felt it going and had to
make up his mind whether to scramble
10 safety or let go the foothold and
mold on by his teeth. He chose the
latter way
In the Vienna cafes they tell a story
ABOUT hlm IN that crisis. Faced with
me revolt OF Parliament, he did not
WIN party leaders. Instead, he went tn
mass and on his knees asked God for
sign of approval
AND God vouchsafed him one. Next
oay the President of the Parliament
resigned: BY so doing he automattcal-
~ wiped out the Parliament. Dollfuss
contemplating dictatorial rule. thus
was not obliged to perpetrate the risky
A!ePalltV of challenging the existence
OF Parliament and dismissinn it in
plunt dicatorial manner.
Left Way Clear.
1t may be that the Parliament Presi-
Gent had private understanding with
the chancellor But that is by the
way What matters is that the Par
llament having obligingly committed
suicide, Dollfuss could proceed to his
one-man rule in constitutional man
ner and with due legality. Il am not
a Dictator he says; and no lawyer
couId prove he is one. To his country
men he looms as a man with mis-
sion When they are not calling him
Our Little Napoleon they refer to
MN as the Austrian Joan Of Arc and
endoW him with the halo of a man
chosen by God to resurrect stricken
Austria. 1t helps.
just now he Is working to consoli-
date his position by revising the con-
Stltutlon so that the Executive will no
longer be at the mercy of party poll
ticians. The Lower Chamber is to
be remodeled, the Upper Chamber re-
constructed not on political but corpo-
rate lines. Dollfuss has learned a lot
from Mussolini
Mussolini Is very pleased with him.
he likes him as person, as we'll as for
reasons OF policy and politics. DOLL
1usS is piece of luck for the Duce,
walking the European tightrope. Mus
against everybody else for Italy's bene-
fit. 1t is 'the policy of Machiavelli,
his favorite study. He NAV lack Ger
many against France and applaud the
triumph Of Fascist ideas in the Reich
but he has no desire to see a Ger
many aggrandized by the incorpora-
ton of Austria leaning on his Tyrol
frontier. The NaZi racial idea and
ideal OF the overlordship of the blond
beast. preached SO eloquently by Hitler
and his foreign policy adviser, Rosen-
I berg. make no appeal to Mussolini q
brunei.
He is admirably suited by a Dollfuss
in Austria. who proclaims the ideal OF
Austria for the Austrians and hits
every Nazi head that shows itself, bu,
at the same time declares he will never
enter French-oriented Danubian GUS
toms union with the pro- French little
entente. Well might Mussolini rub his
hands and say of his diminutive dis
ciple, when the latter sent a frontier
guard to the German border with ma
chine guns to resist Nazi coup: What
mani"
But recent events indicate that En-
gelbert DollfuSs will have to fight as