Evening star., 1944-12-31
By Ed,card a. Harris.


This is the first of series OF ar
ticles ON the significant question:
what Shall Be Done With Ger
naany?" The tolloDing article takes
up the principal uiews that haze
been expressed in this country. Sub
sequent articles UiL deal 1Dith the
trend of opinion in Great Britain,
Russia and seDeral other representa-
the members of the United Nations
The long record Of Germanic military
aggression has at last compelled the
United Nations to plan control system
of an unprecedented nature In the wake
of preceding wars the other powers
sought to weld coalition of armed
might around Germany, but never be-
fore have they approached the problem
with scientific thoroughness; never be-
fore have they substituted hardheaded-
ness for hardheartedness. Now, in an
epochal experiment, they are resolved
to impose economic, political and edu-
cational controls to settle once and for
all that chronically recurring question:
What shall be done with Germany?
The scope Of the problem goes far
beyond the days of military occupation
after the close of hostilities, and of
reparations and punishment of the war
guilty. 1t is with long-term view
that the great powers are envisioning
workable control system for the
Reich. And it is stressed again and
again by competent authorities that this
subject must be treated as a separate
and distinct one from the job OF setting
up and operating an international or
ganization to maintain a lasting peace.
This view Is emphatically under
scored, for example, by DR.. Harold G..
Moulton, president of the Brookings
Institution, and DR.. Louis Marlio. dis
tinguished French economist and en-
gineer, in their new book, THE Con-
troll of Germany and Japan" which
embraces also proposal for the control
of Japanese militarism. The authors
reached the definite conclusion that I'VE
the problem of controlling Germany
and Japan is administered separately
from the development of general as
sociation of nations-that an attempt
to deal with the two problems as though
they were parts of single task would
seriously prejudice the solution Of
either"
Must Settle German Issue.
Thot tbic ie o1so tho v}om If CI,,,rcy,- =
i'll, Stain and Roosevelt is shown by
news dispatches to the effect that when
the Big Three get together in the near
future the first order of business, aside
from immediate military strategy, will
be the control of postwar Germany, in
terms not of days, but of decades.
1t has been disclosed further that the
European Advisory Council already has
received proposals on this subject from
the United States and Great Britain,
with Russia and France expected to fol-
low suit very soon.
The far-reaching objective is not the
disarmament and forceful caging of the
Reich, but withdrawal of its industrial
fangs, removal of its capacity to rearm
and, more Importantly, its will to ag-
gress. When this goal has been achieved,
in an indeterminate transition period,
Germany may take its rightful place in
an international organization of peace
loving nations.
Criticism may be made that any plan
designed now by the victorious countries
necessarily will be conceived in heat
and dedicated to drastic retribution
Aside from the fallacy inherent in the
dogmatic assumption of ill will in this
thesis, the alternative of waiting for a
cooling-of period after the war is in
escapably bad. For the temper of the
people at present is at least active,
aroused, with some program of action
deemed essential. With the end of hos
tilities and the healing of wounds, there
would be paramount danger of forget
fulness, softness and apathy-until war
exploded anew.
What has brought our responsible
leaders to the conclusion that firm and
radical steps must be taken to control
Germany in the generations to come?
The casulty lists are one answer, and
the incredible brutality of the Nazis in
conquered countries another. There is
also the realization that If Germany
again is allowed chance to burst forth,
civilization may indeed be doomed
Moreover, we are awakening with re-
newed shock to the history of Ger
manic aggression. In full perspective
it is being spotlighted by innumerable
writer's and speakers. and it is this
fresh awareness, coupled with the fail
ure of half-hearted measures adopted
at the close of World War I, that has
shaped our new approach to the prob
lem.
Former Undersecretary of State Sum-
ner Welles, in this connection, tells in his
provocative. lucid book, "The Time for
Decision" Of his memorable talk with
Winston Churchill at the Admiralty in