Two inspectors of police have recently been murdered in suc-
cession in Vienna. A man who refuses his name, but says he is the agent of a secret society established " to put down all blood. suckers of that kind," was seen to commit the second murder, and arrested at once, but nothing can be discovered about him. Since his arrest the police have been incessantly threatened, and the Government on January 30th decreed the minor state of siege. Under this decree, printing, public meeting, and public speaking may be stopped, domiciliary visits may be paid, and 'letters may be opened. Moreover, by a second decree, the Ministry alleging that they have reason to distrust verdicts when the accusation is one of a crime directed against society, suspend trial by jury for Press offences, acts of violence, libel, charges of vilifying the authorities, and instigations to resist the law. These seem severe measures against the good-humoured Viennese, but the working quarters have been seething for some time, the riots, though little noticed in England, have been very numerous, Socialism is spreading, and the practice of assassina- tion now commenced may spread fast. The Government must have been seriously alarmed, before it would risk a quarrel with Vienna.
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