Oldal 3 [3]
Xx 14 Nov.52
- page three ¬
Once he would be gone, they would be left without power. Ameng them
there is net ene whe eeuld be the suecesser of the Chancelier. As of
present, nevertheless, Adenauer seems te enjoy unlimited reserves
ef energy. The amount of work he does, the vastness of his knewledge,
the keenness ef his yidespread intere ts are superior te any of
n 1 t i s hi laberaters, While from
128225 BERV Ens ARS aT ohay SHU HS hsareH tens Gaal set sot
to be justified. Still his age will tel. sooner or later, though
Adenauer himself is far from thinking of retirement and makes plans
fer the full peried of the ceming legislature - that is till 1957.
Besides Adenauer there is very little in the majority as
possible successors, The most likely one is Finance Minister Sehüffer,
a Censervative Bavarian of some sixty-edd years; a man of great cen¬
victiens, a clear record and much seundness, But alse a man without
much personal magnetism, a good administrater rather than a great
political leader. Franz—Jeseph Strauss, a young 8,varian Member of
Parliament for the CSU, alse mentioned frequently as a possible sue¬
eesser, has lest much ground recently, He lacks still te mueh expe¬
rience and alse education, There seems little else in the CDU-CSU
bleck, Sueh first class honest administraters, as Pest Minister
Sehuberth, Refugee Minister Lukaschek er Publie Werks Minister Sterch
are good in their respective departments, but have no great poli¬
tical stature. The only other person of real consequence is the Spea¬
ker of the Parliament, Herr Ehlers. An enormous, heavy man, Ehlers
is a lay Protestant leader from Oldenburg. He has firm religieus cen¬
victions, an independent mind and very clear-eut pelitical views. He
dees net like Adenauer, is fis to seme extent his rival, but helps
the Party very meh. His authority in parliament is great. While he
might have a chance at the Prime Minister's position in seme future
combination, it seems unlikely that Ehlers would be an active econ¬
tender fer the jeb. He is satisfied where he is now. One more pere
son to be mentioned in this context is Jakob Kaiser, former leader
of the Hast German CDU and now Minister fer Intra-German Affairs,
A heavy, unbearably pempeus and dull persen, Kaiser has a burning
persenal ambition. Surreunded by people ef similar mind, he is the
eenter ef the mest active intrigue against the Chaneeller. His
Ministry id badly erganized, does harm to German Foreign Poliey and
is a bad outfit. Adenauer yould obviously like te get rid ef the
persennage, but can not de so at present with regards to the Berlin
situation. Though Kaiser hepes one day te be Chancellor, this new
seems remote, especially since everybody in parliament, with few
exceptions seems te have taken an active dislike to him,
The twe other parties ef the governement coalition have alse
no ene to put in Adenauer's place. Ameng the Mambers of the FDP ¬
the Liberal Party - two men are dominating the greup : The first
S6.