Dangers in Germany
When a reputable Berlin paper, even if it is a Socialist paper hostile to the Government, talks openly of civil war in Germany, it is clear that a grave situation exists, and the extension of rioting, with a steadily mounting total of dead and wounded, lends considerable justification to the Abend's language. The restoration to the Nazis of the right to wear uniform has resulted on the one hand in frequent clashes with Communists, particularly in Westphalia, and on the other in a serious constitutional conflict between the Government of the Reich, which has lifted the ban on the Brown Shirts' uniform and the Governments of Bavaria, Baden and Wfirtemberg, which have reaffirmed it. The shadow of the coming election is over every- thing, and while Herr von Papen seems likely to retain his office till the polling, the future is singularly difficult to forecast. The Government's main object seems to be. to take the wind out of the Nazis' sails, but that involves delicate manoeuvring, and it is by no means certain that the von Papen administration is capable of it. General von Schleicher is an adroit tactician, and he wields complete control over the Reichswehr, but his whole policy breaks down if he finds himself compelled to use that force against the Nazis—as he may have
to yet.
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