GERMAN POLITICS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3447, 19 November 1932, Page 4

GERMAN POLITICS.

Very little news has filtered through from Germany since the recent elections, and it can be taken for granted that the country has experienced a fairly peaceful week. A brief message received on Thursday announced that the position of the Papen Government is precarious. The Chancellor cannot form a Cabinet and the responsibility now rests with the President, Marshal Hindenburg. By far the strongest party in the Reichstag, and in Germany, is the Nazi group, but it has not a majority when ranged against the half-dozen other parties in the Reichstag. In the July elections, when his party scored the

highest, Herr Hitler demanded from the President the same powers as held by Mussolini, the Italian dictator. This was naturally refused and Ilerr Hitler did not press the claim beyond making threats which so far he has not attempted to make effective. If Herr von Papen resigns it will open up an interesting situation to the rest of Europe, all countries of which are vitally involved in the political happenings in Germany. It seems certain that the people of Germany are heartily sick of the political turmoil of the last twelve months, and would gladly welcome a strong Government, and one that would ensure peace within that country. If Herr Hitler were to be placed at the head of the administration, there is little hope of that peace. He and his party would start a campaign with a ruthless policy to win on the same lines as Mussolini in the early stages of his rise to power in Italy. The German people are not temperamentally disposed to submit to such a form of government, and the strongest opposition would come from the aristocratic and military sections of the German people. To these men the German Republic has been an unmitigated catastrophe. They have seen then country humiliated before the world, seen Government after Government go down on account of political chaos, and strongly resent the “pampering” of the masses with social services, and unemployment payments by a bankrupt nation. Then narrow conservatism is strongly opposed to social reforms that will affect their own interests. Germany has to choose between this aristocratic section and the flamboyant Nazis with their brown shirts and flag-waving, and to the outside woild neither choice has much to recommend it. The whole of Europe is hoping for political peace in Germany without whose co-operation it is impossible to take any steps to deal with the present economic conditions.

A message received this morning announces that Herr von Papen has resigned. The President is attempting a coalition of the anti-Commun-ist parties, and if this fails, will ask Herr von Papen to resume office. This means a breach of the constitution, as Herr von Papen only controls about 10 per cent, of the voting power of the Reichstag, and he will have to face a hostile majority. Meanwhile Germany is practically without a Government, a dangerous state of affairs with two strong and militant parties, the Nazis and Communists, ready to go to any extreme to obtain control of the administration.