The Daily Alaska empire., 1945-08-22
Ruling Germany
(New York Times)

The political and economic framework within which Germany will have to exist for the foreseeabe future has been laid down in the Potsdam program Its execution has been entrusted to the Allied mill tary commanders, acting jointly as control council in matters affecting Germany whole, but lndl- vidually within their respective occupation zones This means that the four men designated for that purpose-General Eisenhower for the United States, Field Marshal Montgomery for Great Britain, Marshal zhukoff for Russia and General Koenig for France have the joint governors of what is in effect for the present at least the biggest and most complex colony in the world.
 These governors are charged with a task that is as difficult as it is unique. For not only will they have to achieve what few nations have achieved in the past, and wherein the Germans themselves were the most conspicuous falures-namely rule defeated people without converting them into fostering sore in the Wctors side They must also at one ana the time restore wrecked economy to enable the people to subsis lay the groundwork for demo- cratic sefgovernment for later political restoration and transform highly integraed, urbanized and industriazed trading nation into predominantly agricultural people with only light consumer indus tries domestic needs Finally they face the problem of finding room food and work for additional 12 100000 people now being driven out of eastern Ger many Poland and Czechoslovakia and crowding pell- mell into devastated rump-G Germany the size of Montana which already contains 5S0oo00o people and was always dependent on food imports.
 That obviously is a task which will demand high statesmanship able to pair firmness with wisdom especially since both the United States and Great Britain are likely to remain averse to the social engineering" that is becoming familiar pattern ln easten Europe But General Eisenhower and Field Marshal Montgomery have proceeded to tackle It. In proclamations issued simultaneously and attuned to each other they mince words in telling the that if they suffer hardships, and are bound to suffer more it is merely the consequence of their own war of aggression and that the only way to ameliorate these hardshpS is to get busy and help themselves. For that purpose the two Allied com manders have lifted many restrictions on both the economic and political activities; they have estab- lished German civil authorities to direct the work of self-help; and they promise to match self-help with Allied aid in so far is possible.
 As General Eisenhower says the Germans need not face the future without hope if they are willing to redeem themselves and work their passage home into the family of nations. And Field Marshal Mont gomery directly invites their cooperation But both of them put it up to the Germans themselves who, indeed have only two alternatives It's work or starve It may be expected that under these circumstances the Germans will work This will still leave 1t up to the Allied governors to direct that work in such fashion that it will produce enough to meet all re- quirements.