Evening star., 1948-11-27
The Path of Right Thinking

The Path of Right Thinking
To the Editor OF The Star:
1t is real pleasure to pick up the paper and
read an editorial such as yours of November %
on the bishops statement concerning secularism
and religious education. Right acting and
morality can only be brought about by right
thinking Let The Star set the people on the
path OF right thinking, and right acting will
follow. FRANCES 0. FREUND.
Urge International Rule. of Ruhr
70 the Editor of The Star:
The new bizonal plan. as reported . few
days ago. for the so-caled reorganization of
the Ruhr under German trusteeship, under
mines the necessary safeguards against the
revival of Germanys war-makng power. 1t
has caused dismay and alarm amongst Ger
many's neighbors, as reflected in the protest
of the French government. 1t represents
major victory for the Germans, who lost the
war but are retaining their grip on the indus
trial war potential of the Ruhr.
without the Ruhr Germany never could
have launched World War II. The Ruhr has
not only been utilized by German militarists
as their industrial base, but 1t also has been
employed as their supreme economic weapon
against the political and economic independ-
encS OF ner HelgnDOTS. through d maze Vi
cartel networks in coal, steel and chemicals,
the Germans repeatedly have strangled the
economic development of her prospective VIC
tins. Yet the new plan ignores these facts
and bypasses the interests of our wartime
Allies.
Significantly. this plan was announced on
the eve of the second meeting of delegates
from the United States, the United Kingdom,
France, Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg.
to implement their agreement of June, 1948,
which called for the establishment OF an In
ternational authority over the Ruhr. The
delegates to this second conference are now
confronted with fait accompli which pre-
cludes genuine international ownership and
control of the Ruhr. Thus, for all practical
purposes. the power of the international au-
thority, which is supposed to be set up, will
be nominal. The real power remains where
it wasAin the hands of Germanys industrial
war lords.
In an effort to allay the fears and suspicious
of Germany's neighbors, as we'll as the Ameri-
can people. the plan very vaguely mentions the
eventual Decentralization of the heavy indus
tries of the Ruhr Certain officials have
endeavored to make the American people
believe that Decentralization of German in
dustry already had been completed, as exem-
plifled by Secretary of the Army Kenneth c.
Royalls statement on January 8, to public
audience, that: I'VE have abolished the perni-
cious cartels" How true this is can be seen
from the fact that all the German cartes
are alive and prospering.
Actually, the June, 1948, agreement to set up
an international authority over the Ruhr
paved the way for the resumption OF German
control The international authority was so
delimited by reservations and loopholes that
it would have no real power 1t would nave no
control over the level of German industry, nor
did that agreement give an effective voice TO
Germanys neighbors over the Ruhr 1t omitted
any reference to the ultimate ownership OF
the resources of the Ruhr. Thus the new plan
is merely the logical result Of the original
agreement.
Safeguards Over Germany Stressed.
The American people have been told time
and again by the President and the Secretary
of State that proper safeguards would be
maintained over Germany in the implementa-
ton of the European Recovery Program. Is 1t
not true that real security lies precisely IN
the international ownership of Germany's
war arsenal-the Ruhr? We believe that this
is the first safeguard that must be spelled
out and without it all other controls over Ger
man war potential are meaningless.
The new plan, however, virtually freezes the
status uuo and our wartime Allies again are
faced with the revival of German industrial
power. In the Ruhr alone, for instance, there
exists an annual steel capacity OF more than
20, 900 900 tons-far greater than that OF any
Of Germanys neghbors. Because Of the fall
ure to carry out the reparations program, which
would have produced better economic bal
ance in Western Europe this huge economic
potential remains under the control OF the
Germans. Ultimately they will be able to use
it as they see fit. 1t is obvious that the gen.
erous help of the American people toward the
recovery OF Western Europe will be wasted.
II the Ruhr again becomes an instrument Of
German power and policy.
We maintain that the resources of the Ruhr
must work for all of Europe Because of it's i'm
portance to sound economic recovery, the Ruhr
must not be entrusted again to the same
forces that provided Hitler with his guns. We
know that this Is the firm opinion of Americas
friends in Europe. We think that most Ameri-
cans favor realistic safeguards against the
resurgence Of German economic power The
peoples Of Europe are being told that the
ERP Is q facade behind which the German
powerhouse viii be reinvigorated The turn
ing over of the Ruhr to Germany again would
seem to confirm this allegation in the eyes
Of those who had been victimized time and
again by German aggression. Can the Ameri-
can people afford the squandering of their
wartime friendships in these troubled times?
Yet If this plan becomes fixed part Of
Americas policy, 1t will do that very thing.
Plans for United Nations Control
We, therefore, urge that the President reject
this program and instruct our occupation
officials to work toward genuine international
ownership and control Of the Ruhr. Toward