| Show BEH ND J THE F WAR s NEWS I German Gerr War u Machine oe Must u Be e Coo o se ely Destroyed B By lay MAJ GEORGE FIELDING ELIOT Leo T T. Crowley foreign economic economic eco administrator warns us that i If left Iett alone now Germany could be be better prepared for another another another an an- other war five years hence than was Hitler's Germany In 1939 Allied air attacks he pointed out were directed against carefully carefully care care- fully selected tar targets get 8 They could not hit everything Allied bombing drastically curtailed the production of f aircraft Its Ifs effect on German war production for 1946 and 1947 and a few years after that will probably be tremendous tre tre- But It didn't eliminate Germanys Germany's i Industrial war potential potential potential poten poten- and Its effect on Germanys Germany's productive capacity could almost surely be discounted by the Germans Germans Germans Ger Ger- mans before many years have passed unless we take steps to prevent that fro from m happening The size of the existing German industrial plant is still tremendous dous All of it is geared for tor total war All AU of ot It is still part of a huge modern industrial machine which was organized and used for tor war Surely no one can rise to assert as assert assert as- as sert that this huge modern war plant ought to o be left in German hands hand or even even een that it ought aught to tobe be preserved under conditions w which hick will permit it to relapse Into eventual German control That Thatis is Just a matter of plain commonsense commonsense common commonsense sense a matter o of self tion for those peoples who have suffered so much to take this plant away away from the Germans and prevent its further use forthe for forthe the rho enslavement of ot the world This Is not a matter of arguing hard peace or soft peace It Is s Just a matter of seeing to it that those who died to save lave us from German cruelty and G German e r m man a n chains shall hall not have died In vain It is s not a selective process process with which we are faced There is too too much tendency to split hairs to say let us destroy this factory which was used to make airplanes but let us preserve the factory across the road which was used to manufacture dye- dye stuffs stuff a. a What's that Itcan also be ba used to manufacture poison gas gas' Oh yes of course CO but well we'll careful watch on the German German German Ger Ger- man owners to make sure they dont don't do anything like that And anyway you know you have to leave the Germans some same industry indus Indus- t try ry or ar their standard of living will go down and they will became be become become be- be come came a festering sore on the European European European Eu Eu- body politic It is this festering sore argument argument argument ar ar- with which this writer is parti particularly thoro thoroughly fed up up Why shouldn't t the e German German Ger Ger- man standard of living be Jower- Jower than that of Germanys Germany's neighbors neighbors neigh neigh- bors bars Since when has It been considered an obligation of civilIzed civilized civil civil- society to see to it that a a. criminal In the custody a of ot the law Jaw must enjoy every privilege every luxury and every article of diet w which h i c h m may a y be available t to tot o the he 1 law a w abiding m members e m b e r S of ot the community Maybe our consciences wont won't per permit nit us to take away all the machinery and all the tools and let the let the Germans starve if tf they cant can't grow en enough 0 ugh food tood for tor themselves But there is 13 a a. vast difference between en the maintenance maintenance nance of a subsistence economy for tor Germany and the doctrine that Germans must have aa M high a standard of living Jiving as t the their h e i r neighbors who n never e eve v e r invaded other peoples people's territory and who haven't haven t for the past six years been waxing fat on the loot of all aU Europe while the rest of Europe starved The facts are that the Ger Gee Germans Germans mans can manage to 1 11 live i v e by maintaining light I in industries n d u s t r i Ie e s pottery toys t textiles e ext x t i l I e s etc plus the export of coal and potash potash potash pot pot- ash plus a greatly expanded ag ag- They wont won't live Jive well Their heavy Industry and their shipping were the cream on their milk pitcher But skimmed milk must satisfy them for a time They've had their years of ot slaves and loot Now the rho time has come when first priorities must go to their theft victims whom they hoped so to weaken and reduce that Germany would be the perma perma- nent Went overlord of ot Europe even if it this war should hould be lost Above all alI we eve cannot cannot we we dare not not leave leave In iri Germany the ele ele- elements elements I ments meats of a war Industry which might sumo some day be used for a war of revenge It is all aU very well to say that we will maintain strict watch That Is Is' fine for now But the rho day may come comp when we will grow row tired of watching and weary o of ot the expense expense ex ex- pense and overconfident when our hearts will be touched by the whines of the Germans who know so well h how w to conceal evil purposes und under r the guise of self self- pity pty as they haVe proven In n the thep p past t t It will be better far better 1 if now while the crimes of Germany Germany Germany Ger Ger- many are fresh in our memories we take steps to deprive the Germans Germans Germans Ger Ger- mans of ot every single part ofU of U their war aI machine c l and leave them in such such sucha a state that they they- will be too busy trying to earn earna a meager subsistence to have any anytime anytime time to spend on planning and preparing a new assault upon their neighbors |
