Evening star., 1948-08-15
Reich Reds Reported Speeding Plans for Soviet Style State
Continued From First pase.)

Der Tag said Bschler also called
for 4 &harpening Of the class
struggle; strict adherence by Social
ist Unity Party members to the
Marxist- feminist line with expul-
sion Of any members who we're lax
or deviated from the line; and close
and uncompromisins ties with the
Soviet Union. He cited Yueoslavia
- . horrible example Of the work.
Ing classes turning away from the
Soviet Union"
AL reports from the Russian sone
recently have indicated the RUS
sian-back Communists are closing
their ranks and tightening controls
to the exclusion OF the two nonCom-
munist pArties-the rikhtist Liberal
Democrats and conservative Chris.
ton Deniocrats-still tolerated
there.
Food Shortage Admitted.
As fresh reports reached Berlin
Of a Cleansing process" in the So
cialist Unity Party to weed out ''un.
reliable" officials, the ofncial party
organ Neues Deutschland admitted
for the first time that serious food
shortages exist in the Soviet zone.
Commenting on 4 Soviet promise
to deliver 10, 500 tons of fats to East
ern Germany, ths Newspaper said
the bad 1947 harvest had severe
effects in recent weeks" 1t claimed,
however, that even in normal years
the late summer months are "criti.
cal" as regards the food supply.
Reports of food troubles in the
Soviet zone increased in recent
weeks. Western-licensed Berlin
newspapers had speculated the
shortages were caused by Soviet
requisitioning of food to meet its
announced plan of feeding all Ber-
lin in the struggle to force the
Western powers out OF the Soviet
blockaded city.
Supply Line Back Near Normal.
The Anglo-American aerial supply
line was back on a >near-normal
schedule. 1t was still raining, but
not in the torrential cloudbursts
OF yesterday which forced the long
est interruption of flights since the
flying shuttle service began.
The Berlin trade union feder-
alton and the city's three non-Com-
munist political parties repeated de-
mands that the Western powers
should not agree to any compromise
in the four-power Moscow negoti-
ations which would make Soviet
sponsored currency the only medium
of exchange for Berlin.
They petitioned the Western mil
itary governments to make the
Western-sponsored Deutsche mark
the sole medium OF exchange for
Western Berlin because our peo-
pie have shown their faith in it" and
because "Soviet-sponsored currency
would only be used as . means Of
Russian exploitation"
Americans Still Held.
The Russians still have not re-
leased 1t. Sherman s. Turner OF
Council Bluffs, Ia, and Roland Ny
ers of Brooklyn, who were arrested
August when they were said to
have accidentally crossed into the
Soviet zone.
American military police said that
although they had needed the
Russians all night" they had no
promise to release the two Ameri- :
cans. The American provost mar
shalx once reported I'VE know
nothing about their whereabouts
nor anything else whatever about
them"
Nine rolls of newsprint weighing
two tons were flown. into Berlin
today by an American transport.
Omcials said 1t was planned to fol- /
low this first shipment for the West
licensed German press with
more than 100 tons of newsprint
weekly in the future.
The three Western military gov
ernments validated labor contracts
negotiated for tbe Western sectors
by the Independent Berlin trade
union movement. An announcement
said this order had to be issued be-
cause the Communist heads OF the
city labor department had refused
to recognize any agreements made
by the union, which has broken
away from the Communist-domi-
mated free German labor movement.