862.911/98
The Ambassador in Germany (Dodd) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 27.]
Sir: I have the honor to report that, as not infrequently occurs, the National Socialists having so to speak taken two steps forward in so radical a measure as the recent press ordinances described in the Embassy’s despatch No. 1955 of May 2, 1935, seem now about to be compelled to retrace a step in the manner in which these ordinances will be applied.
As explained in the Embassy’s despatch under reference, these press ordinances are of such far-reaching import that they could probably be applied to bring about the virtual disappearance of daily papers not Nazi-owned. From a diplomatic colleague usually well informed in such matters it is learned, however, that the proprietors of the leading non-Nazi papers, together with their various industrial supporters and bankers interested in their publishing enterprises, took their case to Dr. Schacht and plainly pointed out to him that the suppression of these papers would result in an increase of unemployment as well as considerable economic and financial dislocation. They are also reported to have impressed upon him that several of the papers of such long-standing reputation as the Frankfurter Zeitung, have an extended circulation abroad and that it is essential to maintain these papers not only because they serve to disseminate German opinion in foreign countries, but also for the reason that they bring in a certain amount of foreign exchange. Dr. Schacht is said to have lent a sympathetic ear to these arguments and to have taken the case to the Führer himself, who engaged that the decrees should not be applied in such a way as to cause the abolition of the larger and better-known non-Nazi daily papers.
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Respectfully yours,