12 OCTOBER 1934, Page 6

There is- a curious silence about the question of a

Deputy-Chancellor in Germany. The :special decree-law investing Herr-Hitler with the powers of Reichsprasident, and ordaining that he • should appoint his own deputy, was . passed as long ago . as August 3rd. At the Party Congress early last month it was confidently rumoured that Herr Hess, who is already deputy-head of the party, was about to be named. But nothing happened, and the appointment may still just as well go to General Goering or General von Blomberg, the head of the Reichswehr. It is likely enough that the delay is due to difficulties in choosing between the three. But the Marseilles murder is a tragic reminder of the danger of leaving the head of a State without an understudy.

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