Evening star., 1946-05-13
Editor Declares Dante
Could Best Describe
Postwar Europe

POSTWAR europe
paul Belamy, editor OF the
Cleveland Plain Dealer and
past president OF the American
Society OF Newspaper Editors, has
just returned from trip to Ger
many, Austria, Italy and England
as one OF party OF American
ne,1spapermen. This is the first
of a series of articles ON his OBJ
Seruations.'
By Poul BeIlomy
CLEVELAND, May 13 (NANA)
II have just returned from a trip
to hell
Would that I had the tongue of
men and of angels to describe what
I saw!
Dante should return and rewrite
his description of the inferno.
BY hell mean postwar Germany
land general conditions in Central
Europe.
I was privileged to see this part
of the world by reason of an invi-
tation from the Secretary of War,
who felt that it might do the coun-
try some good If a group of seasoned
newspaper and magazine people
were to be shown the extent and
multiplicity of the problems war
has thrust on America.
In this and subsequent articles
want to set down some of my i'm
pressions of the European scene to-
day. They will be written as they
occur to me, without any attempt
at logical or chronological sequence,
but in the hope that when they are
done you will have gained fairly
complete picture Of the terrible
chaos left in the wake of war.
Declaration of Principles.
At the outset I should like to de-
clare my principles.
l. believe that America has COM
mitted herself solemnly and sacredly
to go through with a cleanup job
this time and that all good citizens
must unite to see that the promise
is carried out.
2. believe that the most tragic
event in all history up to the start OF
the second World War. of which II
was the cause, was a wrong turr
taken at the fork of the road BY
America when it ran out on the
League of Nations. God grant that
we do not commit a similar erro,
this time
| 3. believe that the Army of the
United States is doing a tremen.
dously fine and effective job in a
well-nigh impossible situation.
4. I believe the Army has been
dismantled altogether too fast and
that the present recommendations
as to its size recently sent to Con-
gress by President Truman do not
reflect an adequate conception OF
our commitments.
Four Zone System Criticized.
5. l believe that Germany can
never be handled properly under the
quadripartite setup which now pre-
walls, whereby the country Is divided
into four zones-American, British,
French and Russian-particularly
with the added handicap of a provi-
sion in the agreement that no ac-
ton can be taken save by unan-
| imous vote. The sooner a peace
treaty is written which really settles
boundaries and assigns responsible
ties to the various victorious ma
tions, the sooner we shall get on
with the job.
6. believe there are some patent
conflicts in the Potsdam declaration
and later orders governing the op-
Grafton of the occupying forces in
Germany. Until these conflicts are
Strengthened out there can be nc
constructive effort made toward a
permanent solution of the, German
| problem. ttiEt..
II believe the Germans, as q
whole, are entirely unrepentant
They are sorry that they lost the
war, but not sorry they started it
They blame Hitler very easily, but
not themselves.
Nazis Beyond Redemption.
| 8. The active Nazis, both those wh<
are evil enough to be tried individ-
ually at Nuremberg and the lesser
satellites in the party, such as Storm
Troopers. are beyond redemption.
9. believe that the food problem
may turn out to be the most critical
issue of all. saw no actual starva.
ton, but there is a great deal o1
human misery before the victims
actually fall dead on the street OF
hunt a hole to die. On a calorie in
take Of 1,255, the present German
ration in the American-occupieo
zone, one can live, but not enjoy life
One can drag himself about, but
not work productivity.
believe we should give the Ger.
mans as much as is necessary tt
prevent starvation and, also, to pre-.
vent them from falling into the
hands of the Communists but moi
one ounce more. Let us rather give
our surplus food, if any, to our late
allies, who are in dire need OF it.
Russian Problem Paramount.
10. I believe the Russian problem
is paramount in Europe. Every.
where one turns he finds that oul
commanding officers in the various
zones, regions and even county and
municipal governments, have tc
keep an eye on the Russians. Every
thing we do has to be measured a