New-York tribune., 1918-07-21
Has theKaiser
DroppedHis
Pilot?

IT'S HINDENBURG dead? Or is the
recent report only another page of
- what has been called the Hinden-
burg myth? 1t is possible, "The
Detroit Journal thinks, that
"the news of Field Marshal Won Hinden-
burg's most recent demise is as much exag
gerated as that of earlier deaths. The old
chap is very notable figure among his own
people. They have been accustomed to hear
a great deal about him. 1t naturally follows
that when he goes into retirement, to plan
his trip to Paris or to fondle his beloved
brandy bottle, rumors form and multiply.
And as rumor often has it's genesis in hope,
Father Hindenburg is given the fulY benefit
and killed off.
'The entertaining aspect of this present
departure into the valley of the shadow has
to do with the reported interview between
the field marshal and his master. 1t is de-
scribed as violent The Kaiser, as was to
be expected, had strong opinions on the con-
duct of the war. Won Hindenburg differed,
which was not to be expected 1t may be
that he was drunk. But anyway the field
marshal-so the story goes-thumped away
and proceeded to have stroke of apoplexy.
perhaps. But it seems to us that il
down in anger itjwould be the Kaiser. He
is not used o being differed with or in
deed to be spoken to except in the manner
accorded to Jove
eve safely leave the unravelling of
the mystery to history, confident that no
stars will fall, no widows will grieve and no
soldiers will curse the day they were born
if this proves Won Hindenburg's ninth and
last life He was, or is, an overrated per-
genius. He was, or is, doomed to fail"
''The Brooklyn Eagle" loath to "spoil
good obituary by burying the German
commander in chief prematurely,"
agrees that
1--WE may go far to help bury what may
be called the Hindenburg myth. For long,
long time the East Prussian commander has
been parsonage rather than person. He
is a figurehead, the embodiment of an idea,
a symbol and sign rather than an ordinary
mortal intrusted with the business of max
ing war"
whether Hindenburg is dead or
alive" observes "The Virginian Pilot"
counts not one whit as an item of war
significance" because "the old man Of
the lakes has long ceased to be, except
as voceless and practically thought
less cog in the military machine of Ger
many" And "The Cincinnati CONNER
cial Tribune" agrees, asserting that "von
Hindenburg was simply an integral in
vast sum-a part of an enormous sys-
tenn"
"Ludendorff," )" writes "The Macon Tele-
graph" "has for two years been the real
chief of staff and the men he directs take
their orders neither from him (Hinden-
burg) nor from the Kaiser The
show will go on just the same"
There are, however, those who are dis
posed to credit Hindenburg with being
more than a fgurehead. "The Lynn
Daily Item" writes:
"The old marshal, who came out of his
retirement to hurl the armies of the Gar
out of East Russia in the wars earliest days,
became to the German people idol and to
the world the incarnation of ruthless mill
tary dominance that is Prussia. His face,
strong to brutality, but strong beyond ques-
ton, came to typify that unyieldng master
fulness in high places that accounts for Ger
many. He seems to have been neither the
intriguer nor the apologist but only the
ruthless Prussian of action. He was the
Germans ideal of conqueror, and his loss
may mean much to them"
"The Charlotte Observer thinks that
the death of Hindenburg means to the
German army practically what the death
of Stonewall Jackson meant to the Con-
federacy:
"Hndenburg had been the Kaiser's reli-
ance, as Jackson had been General Lees
right arm That he had come under de-
nunciation by his superior for failure to
perform the impossible, which was to break
through the Allied lines and capture Paris
according to Il once proud boast does not
signify lessened dependence upon him by
the German War Council"
"The Columbia Record feels that the
commanders death 'is calculated to have
very depressing effect upon the Ger
man people," since it seems probable
that "the Germans had more confidence
in Won Hindenburg than in any of their
other generals" And "The New York
Sun" suggests that eff he has died his
obituary may be summarized in the
words, He was the idol of the German
militants in their war against civiliza-
ton"