The Wilmington morning star., 1946-04-06
At Difficult Stage
By ANNE o'HARE McCoRMICK

tentlOn from the problems coming 10 nead
in Germany, still the decisive meeting place
of the Great Powers. AS the seat of four
power presidium in which no lesser state has
voice, Berlin comes nearer than the Bronx
to representing the Russian idea of the SUI
preme council of the United Nations. There
the Big Four work as a team in hereto
fore untried experiment in military govern
ment It cannot be said that they work to-
getler or for the same purpose. The quad
ripartite administration seems to observers on
the ground the chief hindrance to any con-
sistent policy for Germany and any construc-
tive approach to sane reorganization of Eu-
rope.
Nevertheless in soma fashion the fourth.
hand keeps going. The stately white and gold
chamber in the old Nazi Peoples Court was
transformed by the American Army from
wreck into a meeting place for this U. N.
council even more swiftly than the Hunter
college gymnasium was turned into a con
ference room for the Security Council. Both
are in permanent session, the New York coun-
ell is scheduled to meet every two weeks
and the Berlin presidiun every ten days. The
latter has convened regularly for nearly
year now, and so far there has been no walk
out. The one deadlock has been caused by
the French refusal to agree to the Potsdam
directive for a centralized German admins
tration.
The Control Commission rumbles and
fumbles along. Without much coordination il
the zones but with show of unity on top,
it has managed in the first year of occupation
to maintain order, to prevent famine and to
avert what was dreaded most when the winter
started widespread epidemics. Considering
the ruin the Allies took over, this is a con-
siderable accomplishment. Up to date, how
ever, the Germans have been the least
troublesome element in the equation. Ruling
beaten population has been less of problem
than reconciling the ideas and interests of
the four powers and keeping up the morale
of the occupying armies.
The difficult stage of the occupation is just
beginning. German passivity is wearing off.
Such reserves of food, clothing and equipment
as were left when the fighting ended are ex-
hausted 1t is being demonstrated that the
German land cannot feed the present popu-
lation.
Bread riots are not confined to Hamburg,
always an anti-Nazi town. There are STRINGS
of trouble il the American zone, and the au-
thorities fear more as the result of their in
ability to keep their promise to maintain the
food ration at 1,500 calories a day. This is
one reason for the recent raid to round up
the Nazi underground ordered by the same
top officers who declared not long ago that
they could not find any evidence whatever of
organized opposition Economic conditions are
getting worse in every zone except the Rus
sian; if the meager reports coming out of
that are true, they keep up rations and
increase employment because they do not
share their resources and are restoring in
duStry.
Everything is getting worse. The military
demarcation lines do not make economic
sense. The German mentality does aot make
political sense to any occupant, again with
the exception of the R u S 5, who are
pouring Communist propaganda into the hole
left by DR.. Goebbels. The timing of the an
nouncement that the German living level is
to be fixed at the level of 1882 the year
when Hitler made his successful bid for power
because unemployment reached an all time
low, does not make psychological sense be-
cause it destroys the incentive for self-sup-
port. If Germany is no: made self-supporting, |
it will be an intolerable burden to the oc |
cupying powers and a dead weight dragging
down the economy of Europe, already falling
to a sub-subsistence plane that is bound to
affect the American standard, American plans
for expanding markets and the political bal
ance of the world. In terms of our form of
democracy and Western civilization, which is
more important-Poland or Iran? The Sovieti- |
cation of the Middle East or of the continent
of Europe?
by Cyrus Sulzberger in his interesting survey
of our rule in Germany shows that officials
on the spot differ as sharply on occupation
policy, and what should be done to improve
it. as critics at home, But they are not in
different. Some are just sweating it out, "
but the majority take the job seriously and
are worried and baffed. both by German re-
actions and the fluctuations of occupation
policy.
Few men on the ground, moreover, know
anything about the pre-Nazi political parties,
or even what has happened in the past de-
cade. Otherwise they would not constantly
confuse conservatives with Nazis. The truth
is that most of the Communists turned Nazi
and are now turning back again. When a
Social Democratic leader in Nuremberg was
asked ten years ago what happened to the
workers, That's our tragedy he answered. |
Most OF them have joined the party"
Nazism was sold to the people as a revo-
lutlonary movement, and it's strongest oppo-
nents were the old nobility, the Catholic and
Protestant churches, the parties which our Of
ficers call reactionary. It's pretty hard to
teach democracy in a vacuum of democracy
but it's harder when the teachers know
nothing OF the soil they are supposed to plant
with fruitful seeds.-New York Times.