NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE German elections are very disappointing because they give no clear guidance. It is impossible to say what will be the policy of the next Government. The only certainty at the moment is that the present Government intends, as the Berlin correspondent of the Times says, " to continue the active direction of foreign policy until the Reichstag meets." The Reichstag cannot meet before May 20th. The situation is, indeed, thoroughly confused, and we fear that the elaborate system of Proportional Representation under which the elections were conducted - Is largely responsible for the confusion. The principal outcome of the elections is increased strength for the extremists of both sides. Their gains, of course, are at the expense of the Centre, or moderate, Party. Meanwhile President Ebert has returned to Berlin to take in hand the work of forming the next Cabinet. One good sign amid much that is • discouraging is that the Nationalists, now that they have become a strong party and see the possibility of directing the next Cabinet, are talking with appreciably less violence against the Dawes Report:-
