The Washington times., 1918-07-14
HINDENBURG NO
LONGER IDOL OF
GERMAN PEOPLE

AMSTERDAM. July n-HindenburE
dead or allve-that Is not the vital
question.
Has his death-if. indeed, he il no
more-been concealed from the German
people? How long? Why? What will
be the effect when they learn they have
been deceived?
Upon the answers to these queries OBJ
servers here agree depends infinitely
more than does upon the truth or lack
OF truth in the sensational report pub
lished by Les Nouvelles, a French Ian
guage paper at The Hague today. that
The seventy-ope-gear-old e6eid mahshal
died Of conRestioa of the brain, after a
stroke Of apopiexy, foii6Ring - violent
quarrel with the Kaisef AT spa ,Selgium
g.. His Power Falls.
A year ago the death Of HIndenburs
would have shaken the German empire
In its foundations. To the allies il
would have been worth many an army
corps, for # would have taken from the
German people a demigod and from the
German armies the one man they be-
lieved capable OF leading them 10 vic
tory over a world In arms.
Bun at the zenith of the German Hin
denburg craze, when the aged held mar
shaPs star outshone that OF the Hohen-
zollern: when he was idolized as the
omnipotent father" Of 6o.OOO, 100
souIs-at the height of that idolatry.
one day and many succeeding days
his iron will elAshed with the head
strong impulsiveness OF his imperial
master.
HindenburG Broken.
the HindenbuG drama, IT will record
the most pathetic story OF the war.
The chapter may well be cautioned
buried alive" The monarch who
dared dismiss Bismarck and later in
this very war. a TirpitZ, did not hesi-
tate to break Father HindenburG."
To topple him with a crash at that
juncture would have unIoosed a
storm. So the other process was en-
ployed-the slow. cruelty slow burial.
the dirge OF which Is silence.
Hindenburg could not be thrust
Tuthlessly aside like q Tirpitz or
BethmAnn. or Kuehlmann. To con
ciliate the worshiping millions with
the wane Of this star a new idol must
be creAted-Apd precisely that was
done. And all the MAchiavellian cum
ming OF the Potsdam psychologists
was concentrated In doing It, To re
place the man OF the Masurian
swamps in the hearts OF his country
men his Other hair was chosen, the
man who on the nlght OF August %,
1914. came 70 Hanover 10 fetch the
pensioned general IN . special train
to grand headquarters in the east and
who throughout the eastern cam
paign served him ~ his chief OF stan
.-Ludendorn.
LalsAAsFa Lauded.
As soon as the Emperor had de-
cided upon Hindenburgs doom the
Ludendorn propaganda began. Stories
began 10 appear IN the German press
that the real brains behind the east
ern yicteriss was not che great Hin
denburE. but his Amanuensis. But
that was only The beginning. This
war. the experts began TO tell the
people, IL not carried on by brute
force: tWentieth-century battles are
not won by generals who. like Blue
cher ito whom HindenburG had been
generally compared. the people call
ing him the Marshal Vorwaerts" of
tins war;. dash into the fray with
drawn sword at the head OF their
technique. Of organization: and these
magic words LudcndoTn was grAdu-
ally pictured A. personifying: and
gradually, with HindcRhurG's name
being mentioned less and less and
Ludendorfrs more and more. the peo-
pic began to look indeed to the now
almighty quartermaster general as
the military master mind.
Thus. II HinSenbIrg is confirmed TO
be dead today. tomorrow with little
ado, Ludendorft automatically takes
his place. The campaign OF idol re-
placement was PROFESSIONALLY sue
cessful.
But for that very reason II is in
evitable that, should the German peo-
pie tomorrow be told that Hindenburg
has been dead for weeks or month";
they will rise in wrath against the
powers that deceived them. What
else il there we do not know" will
be the question in all minds and on
all lips and the Socialists will not fail