Evening star., 1945-08-25

y. S. Military RI
Described as p,
BY EDWARD r. MORGAN, i
Foreign Correspondent Of The Star and |
CHICAGO Daily News,
FRANKFURT, Germany, Aug. Is. |
"A prominent American Industrial
ist today described the .organiza-
tional maze of United States mill
tary government In Germany =
perfectly screwy" and said that 1t |
must be simplified before it can
operate properly.
One OF some 200 businessmen who,
as civilian volunteers, are serving
as expert consultants to. the Amer
lean occupation forces, the executive
declined to have his name dis
closed. Apart from the adminis-
tratiye tangle, he cited two other
dangers which he said would doom
the occupation to failure, II not
corrected: An undiscerning develop
ment Of sympathy for the Germans
among Americans, from high-rank-
ing Army officers (and some civil
ians) down to GIs; negative atti-
tude toward the Russians.
The same problem has been
worrying other responsible Ameri-
can authorities, both military and
civilian, and 1t Is possible that they
may discuss 1t in some detail at the
three-day orientation, conference of
all top-ranking military government
and civil affairs onicials Of the
United States zone, which is sched-
uled to open In Frankfurt Monday.
Eisenhower to Attend.
Some reorganization and limita-
ton Of duplicate departments may
follow. This conference will be the
first Of its kind and 1t should result
in the most complete clarification
yet OF American political, economic
and military policy in Germany on
the basis Of the Potsdam Conference
decisions. 49,.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower,
American military governor Of Ger
many, will open the conference in
the I. G. Farben Building, head
quarters of the USFET Omitted
States Forces In the European The
ater). His deputy, 1t. Gen. Lucius
d. Clay, and his chief political
adviser. Robert D. Murphy, viii
speak.
Gen. George 8. Patton, jr., and
1t. Gen. Wade H. Haislip. COM
manders Of the Sd and 7th Armies,
respectively, the United States zone
occupying forces, as well rs their
military government officers, will
attend.
Closed Sessions Indicated.
Indications are that the sessions
will be closed.
The industrialist. . highly sue
cessful corporation executive, said
that the main trouble with the
American occupation machinery
now Is that I'VE are trying to operate
Germany, instead of control it. We
should make the Germans do the
operating. WeT do the controlling. u
This, Of course, brings up the
question of what Germans to use
He said the clash between the de-
clared United States political policy
Ito eliminate Nazis) and economic |
expediency Ito get . limited Ger
man economy going as quickly as
possible SO that people will not
starve) cannot be adjusted until
the Army becomes less an authority
In military government and more Of
q police force at the call Of trained
civilian administrators.
The Army did q perfectly mag
nificent job winning the war" he
said,- but an Army Is not the
agency to run Germany"
Confusion Inevitable"
He described as Inevitable" the
current administrative confusion,
with multiheaded or headless
agencies getting in each others way,
with civilians and officers tussling
with each other and with red tape
reminiscent Of Washington's bed
lam after Pearl Harbor. He said
that, as q matter Of fact, he well
coined it.
IF we were doing twice as well |
as we are" he said, "the situation |
might not get fixed. As 1t is, in its
present screwy state, an improve
ment IS inescapable. I think we
will shake down to q smooth work. |
ing machine In q matter Of months.
We must"
But the transition stage from
fighting q war to running q con-
quered country is difncult. In COM
bat, the Army was supreme. In
occupation, civilian authority and
civilian mentality In the occupation
forces must have an ascending in
fluence over the Army, In this
onicial's opinion.
Some Examples.
Here are some examples Of the
dimculties and inconsistencies in
the operation of the American zone |
as gathered from this and other
sources and by the writer's personal |
observation:
{ l.. Sometimes area commanders |
interpret directives rs they see At.
Two British ofacials recently wanted
to visit Bavaria, in Gen. Patton's |
territory, but they had to get Gen.
Eisenhower's permission before Gen.
Patton would let them in.
2. A German coal mine operator
was thrown in and out Of jail three
times as succeeding military gov
eminent field teams reversed one
anothers orders. One team arrested
him as q Nazi. Another decided
that he was vital to coal production
and released him. A third Jailed
him again.
3. A Workmen's Committee wrote
the military government protesting
that the production manager at the
Daimkr-Benz automobile plant in