Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-06-01
Germans Pay
Partial Costs
British. American Zone
Residents Deliver
Export Goods
By Sierid Arne


Germans in the British-American
zones of occupation are turning out
enough goods to pay about 20 cents
on each dollar it costs to keep them
going. -
In January and February this
year they delivered $10,0OQOO0 worth
of goods each month to Is different
nations. They wrote contracts for
another $12,o0O,0O0 those two
months for future delivery.
In the same period British-Ameri-
can taxpayers carried the German
food bill to the tune of $4,000, 900
a month. So German export Ship
ments amount to 20 per cent of their
living costs. And that's all.
But 1t is start, in less than two
years after the war, at time when
communications are still so slow in
Germany that it takes letter three
weeks to travel about 300 miles.
Political Meaning.
These export successes for the
Germans in the British American
zones have political as well as an
economic meaning. The political
significance revolves around pledges
made at the Potsdam Conference.
At Potsdam the British and
American negotiators thought they
had Russian agreement to share all
German SURPRISES for two purposes:
Cd To meet German needs all over
Germany and 90 to export in order
to pay for what the Germans must
buy abroad. The Russian zone was
important in that plan because it
was the food-producing part of
Germany.
But the Russians, so far, have re-
fused to share the food crops from
their section of Germany. They
have made no report on what hap
pened to the crops, but the suspi-
cion is that they were shipped to
Russia.
The result is that British meri-
can taxpayers have had to put out
many millions to keep the Germans
in the western zones eating. 1t is
costing Americans at the rate of
5000, 100000 a year and the British
about $500, 100000 a year.
The products which brought In
the most money included chinaware,
iron products, cameras and optical
instruments, machines, hops and
potash.
Timber Industry Strong.
The single industry which Jumped
to preWar levels was the timber and
lumber products industry. Most of
the German forests were in the
Bavarian area, a section which saw
little of the war. The timber was
ready to work. The same was true
of the chinaware industry, which
depended merely on clays.
Coal mining got up to 80 per cent
of prewar levels last autumn. But
coal mining has been a tough row
because of the food shortages. The
British-American occupation forces
have tried to keep Germans eating
at 1850 calories day. That is not
enough to keep miner. So special
allowances were made to bring his
food up to 1000 calories daily.
The miners, quite humanity,
shared that food with their fam
lilies SO coal production continues to
lag-just as food supplies generally
will continue to lag until the new
seasons crops are in. Then the
British-American merger hopes to
send German eating to 1900 daily
calorieS.
Even with all the trouble, Ruhr
coal production went to 238 900 tons
on March 81. The goal is SOC, 900
TONS daily.
Spring brought help because 1t
opened up the river traffic. That
cleared the Bremen docks so help
fully that they were able to handle
100 tons of timber daily for Great
Britain. which needs it badly to re-
build.
German textile production is still
low. But the Germans have been
able to ship 1000 900 yards of cotton
goods to the Belgian Congo, and
they have contracted for $4,000, 0oo
yards for Afghanistan, to be shipped
! this summer.
For each contract signed with a
country that has something to sell
the Germans earn the purchase OF
something in return, and to that
extent the load is lifted on British
/ and American taxpayers.
distributed By the Associated Pretssf