Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-09
Berlin EXPECTS
NEW CHANCELLOR
Germany Is Now Passing
Through Grave Crisis on
Internal Reform Question,
GOVERNMENT is ASSAILED

By the Associated Press.
AMSTERDAM. July s-The Tageblatt
or Berlin says 1t Is rumored that q
change In the German chanceIlorship
may be expected. Among those men,
toned as the possible successor Of
Chancellor Won Bethmann Hollweg Il.
names Prince Won Buelow, former chan
ceilor: Count Won Hertling. Bavarian
prime minister. and Count Won Roedern.
secretary of the. imperial treasury.
Berlin dispatches say that the reich
stag main committee concluded its dis
cussion In executive session Of the war
situation. Chancellor Won Bethmann
Hollweg went to the reichstag building
with all the secretaries of state and
made speech, after which many
deputies spoke. The committee then ad-
journed.
Berlin Passes Through Crisis. :.
COPENHAGEN. July s.-Berlin is un.
doubtedly passing through a crisis on
the question of internal reform. the
conduct Of the submarine war and
peace terms. A study and comparison
OF the vario us reports from Berlin and
to the confidential debate in the reich-
stag committee. however. give the inn
preston that the gravity of the situa.
ton Is overplayed by certain radical
papers: The outstanding facts ascer-
tainable through the doubly censored
Information emerging from Germany
are these:
Matthias Erzberger. a prominent rep
resentative Of the clerical center. made
sensational speech in the secret ses.
sion Of the committee. attacking the
admiralty and pan-Germans as the
great obstacles to peace and advocat-'
ing peace without annexations or in
IDENTITIES and the intr. ,uction Of par.
liamentarism. Herr Erzberger. how.
ever. did not speak in behalf of his
party, which would have meant that
the imperial chancellor, DIR. Won Beth
mann Hollweg faced a hostile majority
president OF the clerical party and its
floor leader. hastened to declare that
the party as yet had taken no decision
on the subjects raised in Herr Ere.
bergers speech.
Air Full Of Electricity. =
Chancellor Won Bethmann Hollweg the
following day could therefore venture q
fiat refusal to commit himself to the pro-
gram OF peace without annexations or in
IDENTITIES, and to ambiguous declarations
on the internal reform policy. The air
was still full Of electricity when the COM
mittee adjourned, but the tension was far
lower than at the opening OF the ses-
sion. and the clerical Germania, the organ
Of the moderate middle section Of tho
Won Bethmann Hollweg' 8 explanations and
appeals were crowned by a certain meas
ure Of success and that the edge had been
taken from the crisis.
Divided In Three Sections. }
The Tageblatt and papers of that stamp.
which have magnif1ed the crisis into vir.
tually a revolution. seem to have as
sumed that Herr Erzberger would carry
his entire party, the largest in the
reichstag. with him. But the clerical dep
uties, who earlier were divided into an
aggressive pan-German annexationist,
anti -Bethmann group, working with the
conservatives. and a moderate wing. de-
voting its efforts to smoothing out the
quarrels and keeping a working reich.
now seem to be divided into three sec
tions, the third group following Erzber.
ger.
Discussion Is Barred.
The most. interesting feature of the
whole crisis-what Erzberger had to
say about the admiralty and the sub
marine ampatgn-cannot, unfortunate
ly, be discussed with any clarity. The
Berlin papers have evidently been pre-
vented from saying a word about the
subject-matter of the speech and the re-
plies Of Vice Admiral Won Capelle, minis
ter of navy, and DR.. Helhertch. sec.
retary of the interior. The publication
of the imperial chancellor's speech was
also strictly prohibited.
Officers Confer With Kaiser.
BERLIN, July 9. via London.-Omcial
Is made that Field Mar
shal Won Hindenburg and Cen. Won
Ludendorn, who came to Berlin on
Saturday to make report TO Emperor
returned to headquarters. 1t is further
officially announced that after his ar
rival from Vienna on Saturday night
the emperor visited the imperial cham
cellor, DR.. Won Bethman Hollweg. and
received his report,
Erzberger Exposes Conditions.
The identity of the member of the
reichstag who took the bull by. the
horns and launched forth in a candid
exposition of the situation at homo
and abroad now has been established
sfhltess Mathias Erzberser leader Of as the
clerical center, as the man who took
the lid off the seething political kettle
and paved the way for the discussion
which resulted in common meeting
ground for all but the pan-German fac
ton in Fridays session of the main
p.
Remarkable for Candor.
Herr Erzbergers discussion of the in
ternal situation is said to have been
for its lucidity and can
dor 1t was augmented effectively by
the utterances of social democrats, who
related the impressions they had
gathered at the recent Stockholm con-
ference and in neutral countries. Their
deduction was that affairs in Germany
must be subjected forthwith to a
thorough overhauling for the good Of
the German people and the German
empire The majority faction of the
social democrats also is convinced that
the government must make a positive
declaration that it is opposed to all
policies of annexation either in the.
east or west.
While all the sessions of the main
committee are. looked upon as conf
DENTAL, the Tageblatt reveals enough
Of Fridays proceedings to warrant the,
conclusion that the discussion covered
the entire range Of internal political
reforms.
The Taeeblatt observes that the
progress Of developments Is irresisti-
Bile because right, reason and necessity
demand these things, and the strong
man whom the conservatives are CALL
ing for would have little luck himself
! nd would bring less to the empire" =