hitler

197and it is not his hobby to collect credits for work well done.Not only is he unable to arouse the masses but also he canmake no attempt to be popular beyond relying on his beliefthat honest work performed with enthusiasm and care commendsitself in the long run even to the political foe.Bruening has brought no startling idea to the solutionof the German problem. His ambition is to preserve therepublic and to carry it through all its present vicissitudes.“We are firmly resolved,” he declared in an address, “toproceed along our chosen path, awaiting the time which soonmust come, when international co-operation will save theworld from sinking into misery and chaos.”These words give the measure of the man, his greatnessand limitations. He is not a creative statesman, but if geniusmeans applying one‟s full energy to the best solution of theproblem with the least loss of time and with the greatestefficiency, then Heinrich Bruening is a genius. If he hadknown how to dramatize the political issues his work mighthave been thwarted by demagogy. It is not to him, but tomen like Hitler, that the dictum of Friedrich Engels, one ofthe fathers of socialism, may apply: “Where statesmanship isstagnating, demagogy is in flower.”