Evening star., 1948-11-13
The Ruhr and France

has been the victim of German aggression
three times within the past seventy-five
years, it is not surprising that the French
have objected strenuously to the latest
Anglo American decision regarding the ad-
ministration of the Ruhr's coal, iron and
steel industries.
The decision-proclaimed as law by
the British and United States Military
Governors have the effect OF placing
German trustees in charge Of administer
ing those industries until such time as
there is deflnitive peace treaty under
which freely elected government OF Ger
many will be able to determine the owner
ship of the Ruhr properties, presumably
in accord with conditions fixed by the
victors
What the French profess to fear is that
the new arrangement will constitute step
toward reviving Germany as giant mill
tary power. The Ruhr is the greatest
industrial workshop in Europe. With it.,
a new Hitler-like Bismarck, the Kaiser
and the old Hitler-could overrun France
again. The opposition to the Anglo
American move thus is rooted in an ancient
and justifiable worry; it is worry, more
over, that explains why the French would
much prefer to have the region perma-
nently detached from the Germans and
placed under the control of an inter-
national authority.
There is some reason to believe, however,
that France, letting its fear excite it too
much, has misconstrued the decision to let
German trustees run the Ruhr's industries.
To begin with, the trustees are to have only
temporary and strictly limited power under
the international control authority agreed
upon last June by Luxembourg, Belgium,
the Netherlands Britain, the United States
and by the French as well, with some
reservations. Under the authority-whose
charter the six powers are now trying to
draft in new London meeting-the Ruhr
would remain politically part of Ger
many, but its output would be constantly
supervised by the six powers and integrated
with the European Recovery Program. AS
for the regions long-term future status,
that is q problem that cannot be deter
mined until definitive peace treaty is
written.
AAA VAAS SAA i AchAASC . OPpoo1Cao14
to the Anglo-American decision on trustees
does not seem altogether reasonable. The
primary objective of the decision is to
create psychological and other conditions
conducive to an increase in the productive
ity and efficiency of the Ruhr's industries.
This objective-which can be served by
placing supervised German managerial ex-
perts in charge-is designed to promote
not simply the recovery of Germany but OF
all the Western European peoples partici-
pating in the Marshall Plan, including, not
least OF all, the French themselves.
In sum, although their fear of resurgent
German militarism is factor deserving
the most sympathetic consideration, the
French seem to have reacted In an exag-
gerated manner to the Anglo-American
decision. That decision is aimed at ex-
plotting the Ruhr as fully and as efficiently
as possible in order to advance the recovery
of Western Europe. It is not aimed at reviv-
ing Germany as an aggressive power. That
Is danger that can be met through such
projects as the North Atlantic security pact
and special guarantees in the peace treaty
that has yet to be written. In any event,
it is certainly a fact that neither France
nor any ike-minded nation can benefit
from the Ruhr's stagnation.