Evening star., 1949-04-30
Mr.. Acheson on Germony

annual dinner of the Bureau of Advertis-
ing of the American Newspaper Publishers
Association Secretary of State Acheson
spoke to much larger audience than
the one directly before him. He spoke
to everybody with a vital interest in an
enduring European peace-to the people
of the United States, to Germany, to
Germany's neighbors, and not least of
all to the Soviet Union.
For Mr.. Acheson's address was a broad
definition of American policy regarding
the problem most central to the establish
ment of such peace-the crucial and
enormously difficult problem of working
out lasting German settlement that will
reinvigorate the life of Europe and satisfy
the security interests of all powers con-
cerned. In particular sense, having Of
fered to lift the Berlin blockade in ex-
change for Big Four Foreign Ministers
Conference on Germany as whole, the
men of the Kremlin have good reason to
read and reread the text of his remarks,
for they can find there clear preliminary
outline Of what our position will be when
and If conference is held.
To begin with, in Mr.. Acheson's words,
'it is the ultimate objective of the United
States that the German people, or as
large a part of them as possible, be inte-
grated into new common structure of the
free peoples Of Europe" To that end
despite some serious differences, especially
in the caSe4of France-the French, British
and American Governments have already
taken important steps to organize Western
iv,fn o,,fN ~1lf
porting federal republic immune to re-
surgent militarism and able to contribute
to the well-being of the whole continent.
They have done this by themselves, ex-
elusive of the Soviet Union and the eastern
occupation zone, only because Russian OBJ
StructioniSm has driven them to do it,
Given an end to that obstructionism, the
four powers should be able to agree on
solution ending the present partition and
giving the Germans one country instead
of keeping them divided in two
In some quarters. the Soviet proposal
for an end to the blockade and q new
Foreign Ministers Conference has been
interpreted as a move calculated to upset
what France, Britain and the United
States, together with the Germans at
Bonn, have already achieved in building a
federal republic for Western Germany. 1t
has been interpreted, further, as another
effort to pfomote the idea of a strong CEN
tralized German regime along lines that
could open the way to eventual Red control
of the whole country. If that is really what
the Russians have in mind, however, they
need only refer to Mr.. Acheson's ANPA
speech to realize that the American Gov
ernment will refuse to agree to any four
power solution that would undermine the
basic political safeguards and economic
benefits provided for in the existing West
German arrangements.
Those safeguards and benefits are all
designed to re-establish Germany as a
constructive, nonmilitaristic member of
genuinely free and democratic commu-
nifty of European nations. They are de-
signed, that is, to protect the country
from the danger of being absorbed uti-
mately into the Red totalitarian empire
development that would imperil every
other Independent Western land France
and Britain undoubtedly see eye to eye
with us on this. II the Russians hold fast
to the opposite view and argue their old
line at new Foreign Ministers meeting,
they will get nowhere. Mr.. Acheson has
made that much quite clear in advance.