NEWS OF THE WEEK
THE obsequies of President Hindenburg have so completely filled the public mind in Germany in the past week that the actual political situation has received surprisingly little attention. The elevation of Herr Hitler to the new joint office of President and Chancellor, under the popular title of Reichsfiihrer, was carried through without a hitch, in accordance with a Cabinet decision reached before the Field-Marshal expired, and the decision is to be confirmed on August 19th by a popular plebiscite which in the circumstances prevailing can be no more than an empty formality. Signs of dissatisfaction at the concentration of both the President's and the Chancellor's prerogatives in a single person are not wanting, but they are unlikely to find open expression at present. Much the most definite statement of policy made by Herr Hitler in his new capacity was given to Mr. Ward Price in a striking interview which appeared in the Daily Mail on Monday. So far as foreign affairs are concerned the Chancellor repeated what he had already said as to his Polish Pact and the elimination of differences with France regarding the Western frontier, but he added also that he would not sacrifice the life of a single German to get any colony in the world, and that Britain's new air programme was a matter of complete indifference to Germany, which was concerned only with the countries ringing her round on the Continent. He referred to the League of Nations in such terms as to leave the door for Germany's return, " when our absolute equality is recognized," very defin- itely open.
