At six o’clock in the evening the Social-Democrats’ declaration of urgency was still being discussed; and its proponents were very evidently doing their utmost to prolong the session. Every speaker talked for hours; as soon as one had finished another took the floor--most of the deputies had stopped listening long ago, and were refreshing themselves at the buffet, and even the ministers’ bench was empty. Only Schwertfeger, rigidly sullen, his arms folded, was still in his seat. Suddenly new life came into the house. The rumor spread that masses of working-men were advancing; immediately after the sound of the workers’ song was heard from afar, the cheering and shouting of the excited mob became louder and louder, until finally a single howl penetrated the closed windows: “Down with the government! Down with the National Assembly! We demand new elections!” Great crowds with their flags and standards were surrounding the Parliament Building, new processions were constantly arriving; all the workers of Greater Vienna, clerks and office employes--all had marched out in closed groups from the factories and shops, stores and offices. Now powerful blows thundered on the doors of the building, which had been locked hurriedly--now a hailstorm of stones rattled against the windows--now a deputation of workers had forced an entry. Their leader--an iron-worker by the name of Stürmer, a powerful fellow with bright eyes and an enormous head--took up his position in the midst of the deputies, who, panic-struck, were huddled together like sheep during a storm; and he declared briefly: “The army is with us, and so are the younger men on the police force. Either the government dissolves Parliament within ten minutes and orders new elections to be called immediately, or the masses will proceed with violence. The bitterness of the people is boundless; this time the middle classes stand behind the workers, and the question is not political, but one of actual desperation. The women are the most furious--listen to them shrieking for firing the building. If the government does not give in we will not answer for the consequences!” And the inevitable happened. After a brief consultation with the Christian-Socialist and Pan-German party leaders the government announced that it would submit to the terror, would dissolve the Assembly, and would call new elections immediately. The Chancellor handed in his resignation then and there, but his colleagues and the party chiefs adjured him not to desert them at this critical moment; he consented, therefore, to keep the reins of government in his hands until after the elections. When the excited mob was informed of the dissolution of the National Assembly the tension was transformed into wild joy; and in the evening that followed the wine supply of Vienna suffered considerable diminution.