Heads Together

To force the Free State of Prussia back under direct rule by the German Government seemed the bold design last week of Lieut.-Colonel Franz von Papen, bristling Chancellor of the Fatherland's reactionary "Cabinet of Monocles" (TIME, June 13). In the old days when Wilhelm II was both German Emperor and King of Prussia the two cabinets were of course interlocked. Therefore the Fatherland seethed with monarchist rumors as Chancellor von Papen put the screws on Prussia. This he did by abruptly forbidding a payment of 100,000,000 marks ($23,700,000) from the German Treasury to the Prussian Treasury, a payment on which Prussia had counted as indispensable to balancing her budget. Particularly excited by the Chancellor's drastic move were the South German states, fiercely jealous of their rights in the German family.

If the least chance existed of a Hohenzollern restoration up North, argued Bavarian editors, then certainly the Free State of Bavaria must consider whether to restore as King her popular Rupprecht, discarded when Crown Prince in 1918. Excitedly at Karlsruhe met three South German champions of states' rights: Premier Dr. Heinrich Held of Bavaria; Premier Dr. Eugen Bolz of Wurttemberg, Premier Dr. Christian Schmitt of Baden. Bending over a small table, so that their heads nearly touched, South Germany's spokesmen drafted a long, tart telegram to President von Hindenburg, himself a Prussian. Whatever its ultimate effect, the immediate result of this wire was to make the von Papen Cabinet shorten their reactionary sails and steer a more cautious course.

Appearing before the Reichsrat or Council of States, reactionary Minister of Interior Baron von Gayl made a bid for confidence by admitting, "I am a monarchist by tradition and conviction." Then he ringingly declared, "But I will allow no doubt that I shall be faithful to the oath of allegiance to the [Republican] Constitution that I swore before President von Hindenburg! Moreover Chancellor von Papen and the other ministers are in agreement with me."

Of Adolf Hitler's brown-shirted Storm Troops, outlawed by the Government of ousted Chancellor Briming, Baron von Gayl said: "This powerful national movement must be used by the Government as a force to preserve the State and the Nation!"

Two days later Lieut.-Colonel von Papen, sleekly groomed for the occasion, made his first formal address as Chancellor to the equally sleek Agricultural Council, central body of German Junkers (landed aristocrats). Mindful of the warning from South Germany, he pledged his Cabinet to "adhere to the framework of the [Republican] Constitution," but he raised loudest hochs by exclaiming: "The unprecedented spiritual and material situation of the German people requires liberation from the chains of party politics and unification of all forces for the rebirth of Germany!"

This speech rekindled South German fears. To President von Hindenburg rushed the three South German premiers led by Bavaria's Held. They were received with Chancellor von Papen present. Mincing no words Dr. Held threatened to arrest any official who might be sent from Berlin to interfere in Bavaria's affairs, accused Chancellor von Papen of intending to force upon Prussia as the head of that state a Federal commissioner. Dr. Held also denounced Baron von Gayl's complimentary reference to Adolf Hitler's Storm Troops, declared that whatever the Federal Government might do the Bavarian Government would not permit Storm Troops on its soil.

Chancellor von Paoen, making what his friends called an effort to soothe the South Germans, replied that the Federal Government did not intend to name a Federal commissioner for Prussia "unless public order is endangered and then only for a short time." Premier Held, Premier Bolz and Premier Schmitt then stiffly intimated their opinion that such action would be unconstitutional and sufficient grounds for secession of South Germany from the Federal union. The interview had lasted 90 minutes.

No immediate crisis was expected, since Chancellor von Papen and the leading members of his Cabinet had to depart for the Lausanne Conference. Meanwhile the Prussian Free State struggled heroically to balance its budget, raised a forced loan by levying on the salaries of State employes, succeeded in obtaining credits from certain friendly Berlin banks. Correspondents agreed that intra-German relations have never been more strained since the founding of the Republic in 1918.

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