Marx Cabinet

The mandate to form a new Cabinet, accepted by Dr. Heinrich Albert (TIME, Dec. 3) from President Ebert, had to be returned owing to the violent opposition shown him by all political parties, making his task impossible of fulfillment.

President Ebert then summoned Dr. Wilhelm Marx, leader of the Catholic or Central Party, and asked him to form a Cabinet. After prolonged negotiations with party leaders, Dr. Marx succeeded in forming the following coalition Cabinet:

Chancellor--Dr. Wilhelm Marx.

Vice Chancellor and Minister of the Interior--Dr. Jarres.

Foreign Minister--Dr. Gustav Stresemann.

Minister of Defense--Dr. Otto Gessler.

Minister of Labor--Dr. Heinrich Brauns.

Minister of Finance -- Dr. Hans Luther.

Minister of Transport -- Rudolph Oeser.

Minister of Food--Count Kanitz.

Minister of Economy--A. D. Hamm.

Minister of Justice--Dr. Emminger.

Minister of Occupied Territories--Dr. Anton Hoefle.

This Cabinet is virtually the same as that of ex-Chancellor Gustav Stresemann, the only changes being in the Ministers of Food, Economy and Justice and, of course, in the Chancellorship. Dr. Marx, although an old politician, is not reputed to be a strong man, and, if the Cabinet lasts, the power in Germany will remain precisely where it was during the last Government, i. e., in the hands of Stresemann, Jarres and General von Seeckt, Commander-in-Chief of the Reichwehr. It follows as an unavoidable corollary that the policy of the present Government will not be changed one jot or tittle.

The position of the Marx Government was that it had already alienated the Nationalists by refusing them a place in the Cabinet. The Socialists openly refused to back Marx, but there was some hope that they would recant and maintain a dutiful neutrality. This means that the Government can count upon 193 votes to 87 from the Opposition, but if the Socialists should decide to oppose Chancellor Marx, the Government will immediately find itself in a minority; in any case it will be at the tender mercies of the Socialists.

The first act of the new Chancellor was prophesied to be a demand for dictatorship. If the Reichstag pass the motion, and it seemingly depended on the Socialist attitude, then the Cabinet has a tenuous chance of holding power until next Summer when a general election is due. "If," as the Vorwaerts put it, "there is a conflict between the Reichstag and the Marx Cabinet, the Reichstag is certain of dissolution." This can only mean a premature general election at a most inauspicious time.

Dr. Wilhelm Marx, 60 years of age, has had a seat in the Reichstag for twelve years. Formerly he was a member of the Prussian Diet. He is, at present, leader of the Catholic Party, National head of the Catholic School Association and a judge in Cologne.