Evening star., 1950-09-16
Need Held Vital Now
For Adequate Police
In West Germany
Bonn Government Role
Should Be Established
By Foreign Ministers
By Dorothy Thompson

Two questions will have con-
cerned the American, British, and
French foreign ministers meeting
this week. One is the formation
of a Federal police force for the
Bonn Republic; the other the role
Western Germany should play in
the defense of Europe.
To deal only with the first: the
essence of Western Allied policy
following the war was to disarm
Germany totally and greatly weak
en- her economically and political
ly. The Russians long since
abandoned this policy. But the
West is still sticking to much of it.
To weaken Germany politically,
Western Germany was atomized
into II states, and the police pow
er put entirely into the hands of
these separate bodies. This ac-
tion was extremely shortsighted
in view of German history The
Weimar Republic also had no CEN
trail police, which made it relative
ly easy for SubverSive forces to
establish themselves in one state
after another.
The opportunity thus afforded,
which German Communists un-
successfully attempted to seize af-
ter World War I, was successfully
exploited by Hitler.
Condition Intensified.
The revival, intensification, and
continuation of this condition in
the face of developments in Soviet
Germany illustrates how con-
querors are hoisted on their own
petard.
The East German government
is totally centralized under Com
munist control, and its peoples
police" constitutes a formidable
Communist weapon. It's "alert
units" are an army, and it has
extended intelligence and counter
intelligence branches.
In Western Germany, mean
while. Communist infiltration is
gathering momentum. and the
number of Soviet agents is daily
increasing. Their activities are
not represented in the parliament
tary strength of the Communist
Party, which is tiny. They oper-
ate through front" organizations,
ostensibly formed for non-Com-
munist, usually Nationalist, pur-
poses. There are at least 100 of
these and their cells extend into
every town.
A large proportion of refugees
from Czechoslovakia are Soviet
agents.
In the absence of federal po-
lice, and with poor liaison between
the II state police forces, these
agents slip from one police juris-
diction to another. 1t is dubious
whether the German federal au-
thorities even possess central
list of known or suspected Soviet
agentsi
Hard to Admit Mistakes.
Chancellor Adenauer has been
asking for months for a federal
police able to operate in all IL
lands" But the hardest thing
for an administration to do les
pecially one with the face-Saving
instincts of an occupation force)
is to acknowledge and reverse its
own mistakes.
1t is Immediately necessary-it
has. been imminently necessary
ever since the disastrous division
of Germany-that the German
Federal Republic possess the most
efficient police force that can be
designed, and that it be proper
tionately equal to the East Ger
man, which means much larger
The population of Western Ger
many (though not the territory
is nearly three times that OF
Eastern Germany, and its liberal
laws make it relatively easy fol
Communists to operate in the
West, while anti-Comunists have
not a chance in the East.
If the foreign ministers settle
for an inadequate compromise
and do not unite the hands of the
Bonn government to deal with
subversives in the most efficient
way compatible with the con.
stitution, they will be accountable
to history for the results. Anc
the results are not likely to be
postponed to suit the leisurely
deliberations of the three Western
powers.
CReleased by the Bell Syndicate, IncJ