Republic of Austria would not be able to press home its claim to the majority-German parts of Bohemia. Streeruwitz resumed his management position in Neunkirchen and went on to prove himself a capable organizer yet again. He soon became the chairman of the employers' association of the Lower Austrian textile industry () and the association's representative in the Federation of Austrian Industries (). The quarrelsome labour relations and recurrent strikes of the era pushed Streeruwitz into the public spotlight. In terms of policy, Streeruwitz believed that the answer to Austria's economic troubles was increased productivity; that belief led him to oppose social measures such as working time reductions and to advocate for a hard line against strikers. On a personal level, he appears to have combined genuine concern for workers' living conditions with unreconstructed aristocratic paternalism. The Social Democrats quickly became convinced that Streeruwitz was an enemy of the working class. The Christian Social Party appreciated his (implied but unambiguous) support for the economic policy of Chancellor Ignaz Seipel. In 1924, Streeruwitz was appointed the chief curator () of the Lower Austrian regional mortgage bank (), a struggling lender of vital importance to the region's agricultural sector. Streeruwitz turned the bank around. In 1929, he took the initiative in setting up a regional mortgage bank for the neighboring (and structurally-underserved) province of Burgenland. Member of National Council During the runup to the 1923 legislative elections, the Federation of Austrian Industries and the Christian Social Party negotiated an agreement of mutual support. The federation would assist the party financially; the party would run candidates sympathetic to the industrialists. Streeruwitz agreed to be added to the Christian Social candidates, pursuant to the agreement, and was elected to the National Council. Except for his strong dislike for Marxism and his opposition to Social Democratic labour policy, Streeruwitz was ideologically at odds with his party. Whereas Austrian independence had gradually become one of the Christian Social Party's defining platform planks, Streeruwitz continued to support the integration of Austria into the German Reich. Catholic clericalism was another one of the party's defining platform planks, but Streeruwitz, like most Austrian pan-Germans and like his father before him, was hostile to political Catholicism. Streeruwitz also was a poor fit socially. He looked down on the , which was the Christian Socials' core constituency and the faction's main source of recruits. He criticised his caucus for what he