Hitler's Table Talk

388 ELECTION OF FUTURE FUEHRERS
As regards the government of Germany, I've come to the following conclusions:
1. The Retch must be a republic, having at its head an
elected chief who shall be endowed with an absolute authority.
2. An agency representing the people must, nevertheless,
exist by way of corrective. Its rôle is to support the Chief of
State, but it must be able to intervene in case of need.
3. The task of choosing the Chief shall be entrusted, not to
the people's assembly, but to a Senate. It is, however, important
that the powers of the Senate shall be limited. Its
composition must not be permanent. Moreover, its members
shall be appointed with reference to their occupation and not
individuals. These Senators must, by their training, be
steeped in the idea that power may in no case be delegated to a
weakling, and that the elected Fuehrer must always be the best
man.
4. The election of the Chief must not take place in public,
but in camera. On the occasion of the election of a pope, the
people does not know what is happening behind the scenes. A
case is reported in which the cardinals exchanged blows. Since
then, the cardinals have been deprived of all contact with the
outside world, for the duration of the conclave! This is a
principle that is also to be observed for the election of the
Fuehrer: all conversation between (? with) the electors will be
forbidden throughout operations.
5. The Party, the Army and the body of officials must take
an oath of allegiance to the new Chief within the three hours
following the election.
6. The most rigorous separation between the legislative and
executive organs of the State must be the supreme law for the
new Chief. Just as, in the Party, the SA and the SS are merely
the sword to which is entrusted the carrying-out of the decisions
taken by the competent organs, in the same way the executive
agents of the State are not to concern themselves with politics.
They must confine themselves exclusively to ensuring the
application of laws issued by the legislative power, making