Hindenburg's Triumph President Hindenburg has come within an ace of
Confounding the prophets. To secure more votes on the first ballot than Herr Hitler and the rest of his opponents put together seemed beyond all reasonable possibility, but the President only fell short of the required figure by 168,452 out of a total vote Of nearly 38,000,000. The result at the second ballot on April 10th Can hardly be in doubt, and it is a misfortune that Germany had to be subjected to another month of turmoil and conflict, broken, it is true, by an enforced Easter truce. Herr Hitler's vote, of 11,338,571, is formidable, but it was over 7,000,000 less than the President's. The Nazi leader's figure at the second ballot, when the Nationalist candidate (who polled 2,557,876) will not be standing, may give a better indication of his position in the country. He is indisputably the head of the largest party, but a combination between the Centre and the Socialists can still hold him in cheek in the Reichstag, and should command a joint majority over his forces in the Prussian elections next month. There are some signs (such as a fall in the Nazi figures in Hessen and Hamburg by comparison with those at recent elections in the two centres) that the National Socialists have passed the peak of their power, but it would be unwise to build much on such slight data. Tile whole
situation in Germany is still critical, and anything, that makes Dr. Bruning's pOsition difficult either at the Disarmament Conference or the coming reparations dis- cussions is a nail in, the coffin:of stable government in a country whose stability concerns the whole of Europe.
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