Like a red cloak at a bullfight was the red morocco brief case which Chancellor Heinrich ("Iron Cross") Brüning carried ostentatiously under his arm last week as he entered the Reichstag to put his new Cabinet (TIME, April 7) to the testa vote of confidence.
The case, everyone knew, contained a decree dissolving the Reichstag and ordering new elections. The decree was signed by the most potent name in Germany: HINDENBURG.
By opening the case, Chancellor Brüning could, under Article 48 of the German Constitution, make himself virtual dictator of the Reich for...