Austria

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 2, 6 December 1915, Page 5

Austria

SOCIALISTS IN ARMS. REVOLUNTIONARY MANIFESTO. “NEITHER CONSTITUTION NOR JUSTICE.” “WE WANT AUSTRIA’S DEFEAT.” United Press Association. (Received 0.40 a.in.) Geneva, December o. The Austrian Socialist Parly secretly distributed" a manifesto to the country, stating: “The truth is hidden in Austria. We have not had '.liberty in Austria. The regime has become terrible; since the war there being neither constitution nor justice.. Executioners will have much work, and the civilised world will shiver with horror when it knows what is being done in Austria.” The manifesto continues : “V\ e can only speak of the death penalties passed on citizens whose only crime was the exchange of social ideas. Herr Lapger was hanged because he published a hook asking for peace. This is how the Austrian .Government acts while pretending to ;fight barbarism; this is*why we are asking internationalists to save us. .We have come to fie slaves to ho compelled to he enthusiastic'? Czechs, Italians, and Slavians were forced to make manifestations of patriotism and subscribe to loans. \\ e don’t want Austria to be victorious; we want her defeat. Austria declared war on the pretext that she believing Poland now wants to subject her to tbe Hapsburg dictatorship. If a real Parliament existed, Austria’s shameful ultimatum to Serbia would never have been sent. We will now begin to fight for a republic. We want revolution, not war; after the war we will imitate the French revolution in Austrip, which can only bring ruin on the Hapsburgs.v

The manifesto declares that the annexation of Belgium and French territory is a crime, and concludes: ' 1 Alls, tria is suffering terribly in the war, and will he the first to be ruined thereby.” LEVIES CAUSE DEPRESSION. DISSAT IS F A CTS 0 N IN THE 44 TO 50 CLASS. ' '■ i;i • ' M- ( ; '.4 UNFIT OFF TO FRONT, (Eeceivfid ’8.55 d.'mi) ‘' • ‘ 41 ‘London; December 5. Router at ' ZuriHi ■ states that each successive, levy in Austria is causing depression. Many desperate«efforts awe being iinade to avoid serving, especially among the forty-four to fifty year class who’ are leaving their homes next Monday. The great majority were previously rejected as.unfit,’‘some ’even four times. Many produced medical certificates proving that service was likely to be dangerous, until the War Office notified the doctors that they were not called on to express an opinion regarding military fitn 9 s lt v> r 1414y0 is much dissatisfaction in Austria, especially in Bohemia and ithej itaiian border districts! because Hungarians will not be called up until much later. FAMOUS BRONZE STATUES FORj R. 3 : ■ CANNON. ALMOST INCREDIBLE STORY. (Received S.dd a.m.) London, December 5. Tbc bronze statues at Franciscan Church, Innsbruck, are to be used for cannon, including a lino statue of the English King Arthur. THEIR INTERESTING HISTORY. Teh I’bess Association. Wellington, December 6. The statement in the cables to-day that'the bronze statues in the Franciscan Church at Innsbruck are to be melted down for cannon is most significant. Twenty-four of these statues stand round the church, guarding the magnificent tomb of Marmilian. Each is so arranged that a torch can be inserted in the hand. They are much above life size, and are superb specimens of the handicraftmansliip of the Middle Ages. They represent the supposed progenitors of the Hapsburg family, male and female, and go as far back as the semi-mythical King Arthur of England and Godfrey Bouillon,* King of Jerusalem. She church, with nearly the whole of its nave, is taken /up by the tomb, which, with these gigantic statues, is one of the most striking sights of the Continent. That the Royal House of Austria should consent, to the destruction of these cherished monuments of its family speaks volumes for the straits to which the country must -be reduced.

(Innsbruck, chief town in the Austrian province -of Tyrol, is beautifully situated at the loot of the Alps, in the Jnu valley, am! at the north end of the great Alpine road (now railway) across the Brenner Pass into Italy. It adorned with line public monuments —c.g. the Lcopoldshrumieu (1898), Rudolfshrunne.n (1863-77); Anuasaule j < 1706) ? triumphal arch (1765), and statue of Holer (1893) on Berg. Isel. But I a ll these are eclipsed by the colossal imarhlp sarcophagus erected, between j 1509 and 1593. in the Franciscan church (16i-h century)’ to the memory of the Emperor Maximilian 1. The chief public buildings are the Ferdinandeum or Tyrolese museum (1842), ,the imperial castle (1766-70), and the Am bras castlo. Innsbruck lias a uui* [versitv. founded in 16<7, and attended i.i 1909-10 by 1,280 students. The chief industries are textiles and glass, j Population (1910) 53,194; 'or including (the suburbs', over 65.000).