Evening star., 1945-03-06

others have lift ho"eii Mehe".
ed their voices in pious horror ane
chanted the phrase. "Slave labor!'
How much of an answer is that?
Russian cities and towns lie fiat
thanks to the Germans. Russian
homes are hopeless heaps of rubble
thanks to the Germans. 1t will take
10,000,00 men 10 years, it is said
to restore those cities and towns
and homes. Russia doesn't have
100000 men to spare for that pur-
pose. Russia has lost that many
men already in the defense of the
homeland-that many men, as well
as a shocking number of women ano
children.
1t is accepted as a matter OF
course that reparations will be ex-
acted of Germany to the extent
that Germany is able to pay Many
billions of dollars would be re-
quired to meet the full debt that
Germany has incurred and it is
not at all clear where or how Ger
many is to get the money.
ASKS Payment IN hInd.
So far as her own share of the
reparations is concerned, Russia
seems to be offering a simple and
sensible solution of the problem
She asks for payment in kind" BY
that, the President indicated, is
meant such things as machinery,
rolling stock and raw materials.
Then, when asked if it could mean
labor, he said that might not be a
bad idea.
Slave labor? Well, if Germany
undertook to squeeze the repara-
tions money out of her beaten popu-
lation, German labor would have to
slave in factories and on farms to
produce it: Assuming they sue
ceeded, they could do it only by
building up their industry and COM
merce to point that would enable
them to revive tAeir dream of
world conquest. And they would
have to labor like slaves for years
to accomplish this undesirable re-
suit.
Because of our present manpoWer
shortage, we are using German
prisoner of war labor in this coun-
try now. This labor is paid the
going rate of wages in the communi-
ties where it is employed but only
a small part of that payment goes
to the prisoners-the equivalent of
their own army pay-the remainder
being used to meet the cost of trans
porting and caring for them.
Assuming that Russia's share of
the reparations exacted by the
Allies from Germany is fixed sum
and assuming that Russia says she
will take a certain part of her share
in the form of labor, how radically
different would that operation be
from the use we make of war prison.
er labor? A certain value-say the
going Russian wage-could be placed
on the work done. Payment could
take the form of credits against the
reparations total, minus the cost of
feeding, clothing and housing the
workers and enabling them to care
for their families.
In effect, this German labor would
be working for the German govern
ment, paying off a debt incurred by
the German government.
French Spurned Plan.
Other countries ravished by Ger
man armies may not want the aid
of the Germans in the work of
restoration. After the last war
France spurned the idea. The
French government wanted to give
the work to the French people.
The French national economy re-
quired that work be found for the
people then and it may be SO again.
But in Russia there is no shortage
of work; the shortage is only in
manpower.
The plan contemplated by Stalin's
government, whether or not it is
good economics, should appeal to
the world as poetic retribution. The
Germans, having deliberately esti-
mated the risk, marched into Rus
sia and laid waste to the cities and
farms. What more fitting than that
they should now march back and
rebuild what they have destroyed?
What better lesson to hold before