The Daily News WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 1932. GERMAN UNCERTAINTY.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 June 1932, Page 4

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 1932. GERMAN UNCERTAINTY.

Even those on the spot s£ein to be anything but clear as to .the meaning and the probable outcome of the present political situation in Germany. With Dr. Brucning out of office it is realised that his place is difficult to fill, and the elevation of Herr von Papen to the Chancellorship has not inspired confidence. He has formed a Ministry of which most people appear to be suspicious, and the dissolution of the Reichstag has done nothing to reassure those who arc anxious for the future. The various political parties which gave more or less consistent support to Dr. Bruening’s regime can scarcely’be hopeful as they contemplate the prospect of a general election, for it has been obvious for some time past that their opponents have been gathering strength. Dr. Bruening was gradually being squeezed between the Nazis on the one side and the Communists on the other, and when he sought emergency powers from the President in order to implement his policy he practically admitted that he could not carry on against the pressure of the two very solid divisions opposing him. In view of the hopes that had been raised on Marshal von Hindenburg’s success at the presidential election the Chancellor’s virtual confession of impotence was extremely disappointing, and not less disquieting was the President’s acceptance of his resignation. The situation perhaps would have been less dangerous if Hindenburg had decided to dissolve the Reichstag at once and permit Dr. Bruening to go to the country as the head of the Administration. The aged President, however, took a different view of his duty. The points that weighed with him were, no doubt, the precariousness of Dr. Bruening’s position, the strength of parties in the Reichstag having been so evenly divided that a turnover of thirteen votes would have meant ;the Government’s defeat, and the fact that the elections in the various States had revealed the growth of Opposition sentiment.’ In Prussia, in Bavaria and in other States of the federation — the latest mentioned is Mecklenburg, where the Nazis now have an absolute majority in the Diet—there has been a decided swing to the party led by Herr Hitler, and all this probably convinced Hindenburg that it was his duty in the interests of democratic government to clear the way for a trial of strength throughout the nation. Yet it is difficult to believe "that he was well advised in appointing a new leader to face the crisis. The sections which may be classed as Constitutionalists do not appear to have lost faith in Dr. Bruening, but there is no certainty as to what their attitude toward Herr von Papen. will be. His appointment has been the occasion of alarmist rumours concerning the probable ascendancy of the monarchists and militarists, and the manifesto which he issued last week has not made the position clearer. He spoke of an unprecedented material and moral crisis demanding the union of all the national forces, of the acceleration by “cultural Bolshevisation” of the increase in unemployment, of the prevalence of atheistic and Marxian ideas, and of the need to rebuild Germany upon “unchanged Christian ideals.” But in her present condition Germany is not likely to be gulled by vague generalities of this kind. The first cabled comment on the manifesto was that “Liberal opinion in Germany is convinced that the ultimate aim of the new Government is tho overthrow of the Republic and the revival of the power of the military land-owning classes.” In the very quarters to which he should look for support the new Chancellor’s only achievement seems to have been the sowing of seeds of distrust. Democratic Germany will assuredly demand more meaty political fare than Herr von Papen has provided, and the Nazis on the one hand and the Communists on the other may have their opportunity. It would not be surprising if a considerable body of moderate opinion, alarmed and disgusted by the apparent weakness of the new Administration, sought relief from Herr Hitler, whose picturesque promises to tear up the Versailles Treaty and repudiate the. Young Plan payments have been proving so potent. Against the protestations of her Ministers that Germany cannot meet her obligations Hitler has ranged his blunt assertion that she will not pay if he has anything to do with it, and recent events have shown that the electorate is increasingly ready to give him the opportunity of putting his policy to the test. How far the country would be prepared to go in submission to the species of Fascist rule to be expected from the Nazis it is impossible to say, but the view of many commentators in Germany is reported i to be that in the event of a victory for Hitler civil war would not be far off. The idea is, of course, that the Nazi leader would establish a virtual dictatorship and it would not be long before the Communists revolted against such a regime, but it would possibly be justifiable to assume that a brief experience of Nazi control would serve to weld the Constitutional forces together in such strength

that they could again take command. In that case a temporary change would be beneficial to Germany, though it might cause difficulty and delay in the settlement of the international questions shortly to be discussed at Lausanne and elsewhere. That would be regrettable, but unavoidable. Germany must settle her own political troubles before the rest of the nations can. expect serious help from her in their efforts to solve the greater problems of the times.