One People—Two Flags
Paul von Hindenburg swore eternal fealty to the Hohenzollern Crown—yet permitted himself to be elected President. Elected and reelected, he twice swore as President to preserve, protect and defend the Republican Constitution, Article 3 of which reads: The national colors are black- red-gold.
Power to alter this national flag is not vested in the President, even by Article 48 which permits him to invoke many extraordinary powers. Therefore last week Old Paul broke his oath and violated the Constitution when he issued an edict triumphantly read to Germans over the radio at 2 p. m. by Chancellor Adolf Hitler.
" 'I ordain,' " read the Chancellor quoting the President, " 'that, from tomorrow until a definitive ruling on the national colors, the black-white-red banner* and the swastika flag [Nazi] are to be hoisted in common. These flags link together the glorious past of the German Reich and the mighty rebirth of the German nation. In common they shall incorporate the power of the State and the internal unity of all the national forces of the German people. Military buildings will fly only the Imperial war flag. ' "†
While most Germans were staggered by this edict, the Official German Press Censor nonchalantly passed the following comment by Correspondent John Elliott, Chief of the New York Herald Tribune's Berlin Bureau: "The prestige of President von Hindenburg among the Republican portion of the population is completely ruined by today's developments. He no longer commands the confidence of the entire nation as he did a year ago. He was re-elected at that time by the Republican vote in the confident expectation that he would preserve the Constitution. In this belief the German Republicans have been sorely deceived."
Obviously the more complete Paul von Hindenburg discredits himself in the eyes of the world, the better for ambitious Adolf Hitler who last week was in effect Dictator of Germany with complete control of press censorship.
Speaking for himself, after he had quoted Old Paul's edict, Handsome Adolf cried: "The President has ordained that the banner of the National Revolution from now on is to fly on State and public buildings by the side of our unforgettable and time-honored banner of the old German Reich! By this marriage the victory of the National Revolution is made outwardly visible. A 14-year battle for power has now found its symbolic conclusion. It is up to us to see that this power never again is wrested from us."
Nazis Amuck. A Dictator, once he feels secure in the saddle, always tries to curb and discipline his followers who have invariably run more or less amuck. The U. S. Embassy reported to the German Government last week eight cases of assault by Nazis upon U. S. citizens (seven of them Jews) in the Reich, received no apology, only "official regrets." Throughout the Reich German Jews were beaten in numbers (censored) which apparently ran into hundreds.
On the night before Dictator Hitler's radio speech, ruddy-cheeked young Nazis ran amuck through virtually all the night clubs of Berlin, smashed china & glassware on general principles to the accompaniment of piercing screams of richly-dressed women.