Schuschnigg's " Bolshevist Friend "

From a Catholic Herald Staff Reporter
Dr. Victor Matejka, the Austrian Government's adviser to the Vienna Corporation of Workers and Employees and a close associate of Dr. Schuschnigg, has just paid a short visit to London.
A tall, thickset, young man, bubbling over with energy and radiating irresistible optimism, Dr. Matejka spoke to me last week of Schuschnigg's social policy.
"I suppose that there are Catholics in Austria, as elsewhere, who still regard Catholic trade unions as a Bolshevist invention?" I asked, not without memories of conversations on similar lines in the Vienna of former days.
" Yes, indeed," laughed Dr. Matejka, " but we are busy educating them! The government wishes the workers to make full use of the unions to obtain their just demands.
" I Believe in Democracy " "I believe in democracy as much as ever," continued Dr. Matejka, "-and I regret the necessity for excepticinal measures in Austria. But alas! that neces
sity is undeniable. British democracy must realise that. Austria is still a nation at war, fighting a spiritual battle against insidious Nazi paganism and tyranny.
" Indeed, some of us think that the Government has been too lenient towards socalled Catholics of Pan-German tendencies. Now. at least, we know where we are with these gentry."
70 Per Cent. Back Schuschnigg "Do you believe that the Chancellor has the backing of the bulk of the population?"
" Most emphatically. The Nazis are, I repeat, a very real danger. particularly in the frontier districts, although, for instance, in the Tyrol an economic improvement has led to a marked lessening of Nazi sympathies.
" But, although obviously no one can give accurate statistics, I am convinced that seventy per cent. of Austrians still believe in their country. The degree of danger depends upon the degree of fervour or fanaticism of the minority."
" In the event of another Nazi rising," I asked, "would the Austrian workers, even those of former Socialist sympathies, be prepared to defend the new Austria?"
" Every time. They may dislike the government, but Austria is a reality. They know only too well what Hitler has done or the German workers.
" I Believe in the League "
" Moreover," he added, " the Chancellors recent emphasis on his support of the League of Nations has won widespread approval. I am a firm believer in the League of Nations, despite its many setbacks."
"Yes, I see that you are a prominent worker in the International Peace Campaign, which presumably means that you have government approval."
"And hitter attacks from the Nazi press. There I am labelled as Dr. Schuschnigg's Bolshevist friend," laughed Dr. Ivlatejka.
"But," he concluded, "despite the grim attacks of the Nazis and the veiled attacks of their sympathisers in government —M. GOGA ranks, the Catholic working-class move
ment is a force to he reckoned with."