Stresemann Falls

In an attempt to force a vote of confidence in the Reichstag, which he knew would not support him, Chancellor Stresemann was defeated by 155 to 230 votes. The Chancellor thereupon tendered his resignation with those of his Cabinet to President Ebert, who accepted them.

When quitting the Chancellery ex-Chancellor Stresemann said that he was reminded of ex-Chancellor Cuno's remark when he vacated the building last August: "I am glad to leave this house, where I never spent one happy hour." Appar-ently Herr Stresemann shared this view.

President Ebert, unable to dissolve the Reichstag and hold an election owing to the disturbed condition of the country, found himself in a dilemma. He offered the vacant Chancellorship in turn to Herr von Kardorff, Dr. Hergt and Dr. Heinrich F. Albert; all refused. Finally, the President wrote to Dr. Albert: "It having become obviously impossible at this time to form a Government on the basis of a parliamentary majority, I must ask you to override the scruples and hesitation which you previously expressed to me and to form a Cabinet."

Dr. Albert then called upon the President and promised to form a Cabinet, but it is unlikely that he will succeed. This means that the Reichstag will have to be dissolved and a real dictatorship set up, or a general election held.

The new Chancellor was at one time an attache in the German Embassy at Washington under Count von Bernstorff, in which capacity he acted as fiscal agent of the Wilhelmstrasse (German Foreign Office) and is said to have disbursed $40,000,000 for war propaganda purposes. His last appointment was as Minister of Finance in the Cuno Cabinet.

Politically he will not be better off than was ex-Chancellor Stresemann. He will inherit, as a "nonpartisan" man, the same internal political difficulties. His policy will be the same: to restore finances, to provide an agreement with France without admitting the legality of the Ruhr occupation or jeopardizing the interests of the other Allies, to conciliate Bavaria and strengthen Minister President von Knilling, to repress Monarchism and Bolshevism.