"The contrast of interests between city and country in Austria cannot be too strongly stressed," said Dr. Wolfgang Kraus, instructor and tutor in government, at a meeting of the Inquiry in the Lowell House Common Room last night.
This remark culminated an explanation of why Vienna has been in a position to develop into a Socialist unit strong enough to stand out against a predominantly anti-Socialist Austria. "The Austrian republic was founded as a state with various autonomous provinces of which Vienna became a very important one," said Dr. Kraus. "In the mind of the Austrian, Vienna stands for organized labor; the rest of Austria for the peasants and burghers. The city is identified with its doctrinaire leaders, while the peasant of the country is used to looking to the Church for leadership. Consequently it has become identified with anti-clericalism and rationalization in the economic field, while the provinces stand for the Church and a peasant conservatism. The country, which has suffered considerably from the consequences of this rationalization, stands in some distrust of the city."
Following the lecture an open forum was held.
