Hitler's Table Talk

DECENTRALISED ADMINISTRATION
With our new economic organisation, the political centre of
Europe is shifting. England will be nothing but a vast Holland.
The Continent is coming back to life.
For the next ten years, the essential thing is to suppress all
the chairs of political economy in the universities.
69 16th November 1941, noon
SPECIAL GUESTS: REICHSFUEHRER SS HIMMLER, SS-SxAF. BLASGHKE
AND DR. RICHTER
Misdeeds of the Central Administration—Twice too many
officials—The lure of paper-work—Juridical scruples.
Amongst us, the conception of the monolithic State implies
that everything should be directed from a centre. The logical
extreme of this attitude is that the most modest of officials
should finally have more importance than the mayor of Essen.
The English in India do exactly the opposite. A hundred and
forty-five thousand men govern a hundred and fifty millions.
In their place, we'd need millions of officials !
The French have no administrative autonomy. For us
they're the worst possible example, but it's the ideal State from
the point of view of our lawyers and advocates!
We must reorganise our administration so that it will make
the best use on the spot of the most effective men. It's the only
way of overcoming the difficulties on which the lawyers' State
must stumble. In this reorganisation, the first thing to do will
be to chase the lawyers out of the Ministries. We'll find subordinate
jobs for them.
It's likewise nonsense to try to control all a province's expenditure
from Berlin. What is good is to keep a check on the
expenditure authorised by the central authority. Whether a
second-grade official should be promoted to the first grade,
that should be decided on the spot—and not in Berlin, by the
Ministry of thelnterior in agreementwith that of Finance. Again,
if the theatre at Weimar wants to renew its equipment, it should
not have to make a request to Berlin. It's a local problem.
To act otherwise is to encourage people to forget.their sense
of responsibilities, and to encourage the development of the
satrap's mentality. Our officials are trained not to take any
I2Q