Evening star., 1933-03-06
German Democracy's Doom.

The Weimar republic totterS to It's
doom. Herr Adolf Hitler remains
chancellor and becomes dictator. He
may not be formally clothed with that
title, but all the power and authority
which 60 with dictatorship are now his.
bulwarked by an indisputable majority
Of his own and Nationalist supporters
in the Reichstag. The Nazi triumph
knows no limits. With control Of the
Reich the Hitlerites have captured both
Prussia and Bavaria-Bavaria,t the his
toric Roman Catholic Center strong
hold. The rest of the world may now
accept the fact Of ultra Nationalist
domination Of all Germany for a pro-
longed period, with whatever results
this may entail.
Because of the ruthless and tyran-
nical suppression of their political op-
ponents. the Catholic Centrists, the
Social Democrats and the Communists,
the outcome Of. the Reichstag cam
paign was accurately discounted in ad-
vance. An American correspondent in
Berlin picturesquely described 1t as -
one-way campaign" that is, a contest
in which genuine, untrammeled ap-
peals to the electorate were permitted
only to the Hitler -Hugenberg govern
ment parties. Under the circumstances,
the opposition probably feels like con-
graduating itself that it contrived to
make as strong showing as it did.
The net result is a Nazi-Nationalist
landslide. Up to an early hour this
morning, when 100000 out Of the
Reich's eligible vote Of 44,0o0,o0 had
been counted. and with every indica-
ton Of . probably total poll Of ninety
per cent, exceeding all precedents, Hit
ler-Hugenberg control Of the Reichstag
was definitely assured. The Hitlerites
will have at least 2s8 seats and the
Nationalists SO more, giving them to-
gether s4l, or clear 81 per cent in q
total Of 64G. Nad gains in the popular
vote are impressive. The chancellor's
party increased its vote to A per cent
of the adult population. or II per cent
over that of last November and 61a per
cent over its previous high-water mark
in the elections of last July.
Altogether the Nazis rolled up total
Of 100000 votes on Sunday. The
immensity Of that achievement will be
grasped when the figures are compared
with the votes Of their various antago-
nists-7,0 900 for the Social Demo-
Gratis. $500, 900 for the Center -Bavarian
parties, and 1900 900 for the Commu-
nists. The Hitlerites, without regard to
the Hugenberg Nationalists, thus
amassed . vote about equal to that Of
the three opposition parties combined.
There is no gainsaying the magnitude
Of the NaA sweep.
With the Hitler-bossed Reichstag
meeting In the old military garrison
church at Potsdam beneath the reta-
bilitated schwarz- -Weiss-Rot banner,
which symbolized imperial Germany
and the Hohenzollerns, the doom Of
democracy and parliamentary govern
ment will be formally and spectacu-
larly sealed. Assuming that Sundays
Reichstag vote Is an expression Of the
majority will, though the ferocity Of
the campaign by which it was registered
will always leave that open to serious
doubt, the German people have made
their own bed. Time alone can decide
whether they can lie in it to their own
good. Events, too, must prove whether
the enthronement Of violent national
ism in Germany will cause repercus-
sions beyond the Reich's borders. to
the immeasurable aggravation of q
world situation already grave and griev-
GUS in q thousand directions.