862.01/87

The Chargé in Germany (Gordon) to the Secretary of State

No. 2291

Sir: In continuation of despatch No. 2289 of April 10, 1933, section 7,27 going forward in this pouch, I have the honor to report that at its last meeting before the Easter holidays the Cabinet passed another law for the consolidation and centralization of government power in Germany, which was promulgated on April 7. This law alters radically the structure of the Reich, leaving only the faintest semblance of the old federal structure.

The law provides for the appointment of Statthalter, or Governors, in the German States, who must see to it that the Reich Government’s policy, as determined by the Chancellor, is carried out. (A Statthalter may be defined as a person who represents and executes the authority of a higher power). These Governors are appointed and dismissed by the President of the Reich on the recommendation of the Chancellor. In Prussia the rights of the Governor are to be exercised by the Reich Chancellor.

These Governors have far-reaching powers. They can appoint and dismiss the heads of the State Governments, as well as other officials, [Page 221] and judges, dissolve the State Diets, and hold new elections. They promulgate State laws, and exercise the power of pardon. Though they can not be members of the State Governments, they may preside at the meetings of these governments. The Governors must be citizens of the State to which they are appointed. The law further provides that members of the Reich Government may at the same time be members of the Prussian State Government.

This law is, in fact, a continuation of the Reich administrative reform and centralization of authority initiated by the appointment of a Reich Commissioner in Prussia on July 20, 1932 (see despatch No. 1841 of July 25, 193228) and carried a step further by the Empowering Law of March 24, 1933, (see despatch No. 2665 [2265?] on March 24, 193328). Since the Chancellor himself is assuming the functions of the Governor in Prussia, the post of Reich Commissioner in that State, now held by Vice Chancellor von Papen, will be abolished. The President of the Reich will revoke the two emergency decrees, by which the functions of the Prussian Ministry were transferred to the Reich Commissioner for Prussia (see despatch No. 1841 and despatch No. 2177 of February 7, 193329).

The Governors appointed by the Reich will occupy in the States a position somewhat analogous to that of the President of the Reich, the outstanding difference being that the President derives his authority direct from the people, whereas the Governors are appointed by the President and can be recalled by him at will.

The fact that the State Diets will no longer have the right to elect the State Government or individual members thereof, or to force them, by a motion of lack of confidence, to resign, deprives these parliamentary bodies of one of their foremost rights. They have thus been emasculated, just as the Reichstag and the Reichsrat were as a result of the Empowering Law of March 24. The State Governments have at the same time become merely executive organs of the Reich Government. The last remnants of federalism in Germany have thus been removed and the question of States’ rights, which played such a prominent part in the past in the relations between the South German States and the Reich, has thus disappeared—for the present, at least.

Under the new arrangement, the German States will still have a measure of local autonomy, but they will no longer be able to exert influence on the policy of the Reich Government, which is now the only sovereign power in Germany and whose strong arm extends to the remotest corner of the Reich.

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The original text and translation of the law are transmitted herewith.30

Respectfully yours,

George A. Gordon
  1. Section 7 not printed; for an extract of despatch No. 2289, see p. 272.
  2. Not printed.
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  4. Neither printed.
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