New-York tribune., 1918-11-04
Event Believed by Dutch to
symbolize Downfall Of
the Autocracy
c.ocral's Power
Ruled Chancellors
Mixed in Politics and Was
Final Obstacle to Con-
troll by People
Bv Arthur S. Draper
sspee:oi Cable to The T'1bane>
,c~,r,,sn. 1918. Ney York Tribune Inc

,nNDON. Nov. 3.-Dispatches from
,,rsterdam say that Germany not only
-. climbed down, but all the way
s"S s"~.r The PEOPLE of Rotterdam were
.orfdent last week that peace would
no before Christmas. and this morn
'nr many agree that this month may
see il already here.
The dismissal of Ludendorf was a
condition precedent to the reply. 1t
soes not furnish final guarantee, and
th;s may be given in yet more sensa-
,ional changes, but 1t is an important
one nevertheless. All doubt is re-
v,oved to-day by the statements of the
csrman papers that Ludendortf went
hscause of his irreconcilable hostility
"a nolitical changes and in particular
~ any transference of authority from
he higher command to the civil power.
end because conferences in Berlin
failed to bring about an agreement.
One of the reactionary German
'neners asserts that he would have been
asked to refer all military operations
for the approval OF the government,
and compares such proposal bitterly
with the confidence that is reposed in
The Allied generalissimo, Foch.
Ludendorff Overshadowed All
The writer said that Ludendorff for
.he last two years has been a sort of
small Napoleon, overshadowing Hin
denburg, and more powerful and arbi-
trary, though working behind the
scenes, than the Chancellor or perhaps
than any Chancellor since Bismarck.
His retention would have made any
but defiant reply to Washington
hypocritical and worse than useless.
But he is gone, and if it is not yet
true that military rule has ended with
him he has been the keystone of the
structure, and final collapse cannot be
long delayed.
"Vorwarts" observes that Luden-
dorff was a political general. whereas
Hindenburg, who has apparently agreed
to stay, has never been one and will
not be one in the future. The journal
goes on to denounce Ludendorff as a
"hot- -blooded, conservative pan Ger
man." His departure, it says, really
writes fms to the history of the
dynasty and the beginning Of the his
-ory of popular government.
Caused Chancellor's Fall
Herr Theodor Wolff in the "Berliner
Iageblatt'' reviews Ludendorff's mis-
chievous activities in a caustic article,
which nevertheless leaves many impor-
'ant fscts in the background. with
cut Ludendorf," says Wolff, mo wheel
vas allowed to turn, even in the time
II Won Falkenhayn. He intervened in
social, economic and political as we'll as
military problems. Bethmann-Ho ollweg
sighed and groaned under his pressure,
and il was Ludendorff who brought
abou. his fall. kUhlmann incurred
his enmity in September. 1917, when
ne pleaded that Belgium should be
given up, and later, when he declared
that the war could not be won by arms
alone. it was the same power that
caused his dismissal.
Whenever political questions were
up for settlement Ludendorff was there.
During the Berlin strike he addressed
memorandum to the government, in
which he stated that trade unions had
iailed, recommended the formation
Of league against them and urged
hat consideration shown them hitherto
by the government should be with
drawn. He seemed to have no idea of
he danger of such course, and his
FOLLY was only exceeded by that Of
von Stein, Prussian War Minister, who
declared that all Deputies saving had
any part in the strike should be ar
rested, whether the constitution al
owed or not
"Ludendorff and the German armies
|ere to be everywhere. Everywhere
we had to be rulers Of the earth, king
makers and judges. While our troops
we're everywhere planting VIGOROUSLY
me German flag, Foch was getting to-
sether his armies of reserve in the
woods of Compiegnc and Villers-Cot-
teret.'