Neue Freie Presse
- Zelenka as dictator
- The Franco-German discussions
- Ninčić’s visit to Vienna
The editorial attacks renewed demands by recalling a previously approved civil-service agreement and warning of a return to inflation. A Berlin dispatch calls for Franco-German political action but expects no immediate concrete success; another report anticipates Nincic’s Vienna stop and a possible treaty signature.
Selected, image-checked first-page passages; partial reading, not complete articles or the whole page.
Translation
Zelenka as dictator
Is Austria to return straight to inflation? Are we to be ruined again, and does anyone in this country intend to raise a hand against the one achievement of stabilization?
It was expressly reported at the time that four representatives of the Technical Union had called on the federal chancellor. We were officially informed that the Vienna delegates had unanimously approved the new agreement with the government. Anyone familiar with the civil-service negotiations had to think: now the situation is clear; what the postal workers receive will be the standard for everyone. The conflict can spread no further, and there will be peace until the end of the year.
The Franco-German discussions
Leading political circles in Berlin attach particular importance to the Franco-German discussions in Geneva because they are intended to cover the entire range of the Franco-German problem. The political situation in both France and Germany is such that these talks cannot remain merely talks: political action must follow.
As matters stand, tangible results cannot be expected immediately.
Ninčić’s visit to Vienna
After returning from Geneva and Paris, Foreign Minister Dr. Ninčić will leave for Warsaw. On his return journey from Warsaw, he will probably stop in Vienna, when the already prepared Austrian–Yugoslav arbitration treaty is likely to be signed.
Context
Public-sector pay against the memory of inflation
Austria’s postwar inflation had damaged the currency before stabilization and the introduction of the schilling. That experience made public spending a charged political issue. The editorial treats the postal workers’ settlement as a benchmark for other civil servants: if the benchmark broke down, claims could spread across the service. Its alarm about inflation connects a specific pay agreement with fear of losing monetary stability, rather than simply opposing one group’s demands.
An overall settlement promises more than isolated concessions
The Berlin assessment values the talks because they bring the whole Franco-German relationship into view. Linking issues can create room for an agreement that separate negotiations cannot: one government may accept a concession in one area for progress in another. Yet this also makes the outcome harder to produce immediately. The dispatch’s combination of urgency and patience follows from that difference between demanding action and assembling a comprehensive bargain.
A treaty prepared before the minister arrives
Ninčić’s expected Vienna stop was attached to a wider diplomatic itinerary through Geneva, Paris and Warsaw. The arbitration treaty had already been prepared, so a visit could turn prior negotiations into a formal signature. Arbitration agreements offered a procedure for referring disagreements to adjudication instead of improvising a response to each new dispute. The brief therefore describes both the travel of a minister and the construction of a continuing relationship between neighbouring states.
Original
Zelenka als Diktator.
Soll Oesterreich geradewegs zur Inflation zurückkehren, werden wir von neuem zugrunde gehen und will irgendeiner in diesem Lande die Hand aufheben gegen die einzige Errungenschaft der Sanierung?
Es ist doch auch damals ausdrücklich berichtet worden, daß vier Vertreter der Technischen Union beim Bundeskanzler erschienen. Authentisch wurde mitgeteilt, daß die Wiener Vertrauensmänner das neue Uebereinkommen mit der Regierung einstimmig genehmigt haben. Jeder Kenner der Beamtenverhandlungen mußte denken: Jetzt ist die Situation geklärt, was die Postler bekommen, das gilt als Standard für alle. Der Konflikt kann sich nicht mehr verbreitern und bis zum Schluß des Jahres wird Ruhe sein.
Die deutsch-französischen Besprechungen.
In führenden politischen Kreisen Berlins wird den deutsch-französischen Besprechungen in Genf deshalb besondere Bedeutung beigelegt, weil hier tatsächlich das Gesamtgebiet des deutsch-französischen Problems erörtert werden soll. Die politische Situation ist für Frankreich und auch für Deutschland derart, daß diese Besprechungen nicht nur Besprechungen bleiben können, sondern daß ihnen politische Taten folgen müssen.
Bei dem gegenwärtigen Stande der Dinge kann nicht damit gerechnet werden, daß sofort greifbare Erfolge zustandekommen.
Besuch Nincic’ in Wien.
Außenminister Dr. Nincic wird nach seiner Rückkehr aus Genf und Paris nach Warschau abreisen und auf der Rückreise aus Warschau wahrscheinlich in Wien Aufenthalt nehmen, bei welcher Gelegenheit der bereits vorbereitete österreichisch-jugoslawische Schiedsgerichtsvertrag unterzeichnet werden dürfte.