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Show America Faces Task of Finishing Job in Germany New Poiicy Needed for Constructive Restoration Restor-ation of Reich; British and Russians Ahead of U. S. in Creating Order. By BAUKIIAGE Vpu;.i Analyst and Commentator. W.N'U Service, 1616 Eye Street, N.W., Washington, D. C. En route to Washington. This Is being written somewhere over the Atlantic ocean in the bright sunlight several thousand feet above a ceiling ceil-ing of snowy cloud. Hours ago we dropped down on Santa Maria in the Azores into one of the island's typical gray, windy, winter drizzles. After a good breakfast and a little rest we took off for Bermuda. This is not going to be a travelogue. trav-elogue. It is a chronicle of some of the impressions I have garnered as I watched America enter its second sec-ond phase as a world power, actually actu-ally at work In attempting to build a new Europe. Everywhere, from almost the first day I reached the Paris airport and chatted with some Americans bound for an international internation-al labor conference, to the moment a little while ago when a hospitable hospit-able air corps general "moaned low" to me, as he called it, to the accompaniment of the wind outside everywhere I have heard earnest, anxious voices raised in the same query: Is America willing to finish the Job? I heard this concern frankly expressed ex-pressed from the lips of American officials like Minister Murphy and Military Governor General Clay In Berlin. I heard another version of it from Ambassador Caffrey in the American Embassy in Paris. I heard it repeated by professors and doctors, among the civilians and technicians and specialists, among the military the men who are doing do-ing "better than a good job" as Byron By-ron Price said In the special report to the President in November. I do not pretend to have been able to make as exhaustive a study of conditions In American occupied Germany as Price did but what I would like to do is to report some l my own impressions formed in discussing dis-cussing the main points he stressed Although less than a month inter vened since Price wrote up his find ings and I followed his trail. I get the Impression that the "civilization" "civiliza-tion" of the American government In Germany has well begun and will move steadily forward toward its goal of completion in June as Price suggests it should. Personally, it seems to me that it might be better to set as a limit for the period of complete transmogrification from ' uniformed regime to plain clothes, a measure of accomplishment. Circumstances Cir-cumstances might alter specifications. specifica-tions. Note Change In Sentiment Typical of the rapidity of the change both in conditions In Germany Ger-many and In sentiment at home is the question of whether America would be willing to send enough food to Germany to prevent starvation and the epidemics which would surely be expected if German physical phys-ical resistance was not built up: An increased amount of calories is now assured and I might say that you would be surprised at the surprise expressed by a certain high official in Berlin when Washington "came across." Sentiment in that respect did change in the States but I am afraid it wasn't due to any keen realization that it was part of finishing fin-ishing an important job. It was just a sentimental and charitable gesture, typical of Americans who don't like to see anybody starve. It was not a practical response to a cold-blooded necessity. Nevertheless, we can write that point off as on the credit side. We've been spared a fight against disease. But what about the twin factors stressed by Price and everyone every-one else who knows anything about Europe today: the economic unification unifi-cation and the French deadlock which prevents it? How much knowledge or interest is America displaying dis-playing on that subject? From what General Clay said to me I feel he believes a solution of his major problems is Impossible unless Germany Ger-many is united In a single economic unit. There are no present prospects. pros-pects. The French are stubborn and their motivating emotion In refusing to permit German industry of the Saar and Ruhr valleys to try to pay the nation's own way is fear fear as it was from 1870 until 1914, when It was justified. And from 1939 that fear has grown. Unless the rest of r n r : r vc the world can allay it, it will be hard to expect anything short of hysteria behind all French policy in international relations. And certain- , ly American can never change the French attitude until France is assured as-sured that we do intend to "finish the job." Another problem mentioned In the Price report, one which is being ; widely discussed at the moment in , Germany, is denazification. We received re-ceived a fright on the subject that was probably unfounded, although it may have been true that some of the fairly dangerous Hitlerites were being given jobs which they should not have had. Then we went to the other extreme, instead of swallowing swallow-ing camels we now strain at Nazis. An amusing incident occurred. A member of the military government set out in a methodical manner to get a list of the best experienced men for a certain set of jobs. With the co-operation of ' a properly "screened" German he turned them up all right but when he submitted the names of the men and their qualifications all were put in jail under the letter of the law the positions posi-tions they had held under the Nazi regime made them subject to "automatic "au-tomatic arrest." This law is really only a directive which sets a certain cer-tain minor title (about equivalent to chief of a section in our federal government) gov-ernment) as the dividing line. Anyone Any-one above that rank is considered per se a Nazi and suspect. Russians and British have no such drastic standards and I was told of what happened to a German who lived right on the border of the American and Russian zones. He came to the American Military government gov-ernment and applied for an administrative admin-istrative job and presented his credentials. cre-dentials. After reading them the American to whom he applied said: "1 certainly won't hire you. If I did you would be immediately arrested. ar-rested. As it is, since you have applied formally you will be arrested arrest-ed in 24 hours anyhow. My advice to you is: move across the street into the Russian zo"e and apply for a job there." He did and was promptly hired by the Russians. Confusion Marks U. S. Operations There are two conflicting theories now In operation In the American zone. One is the theory attributed to General Clay, namely, that the Germans must help themselves. The other theory is that we must help them help themselves or we'll have to do all the helping. In other words, as one somewhat cynical gentleman expressed it: "If ' we don't get the Germans where they can make enough goods to exchange for food we'll end up by paying the other countries the reparations." The Russians know well how to exploit German resources. If they see a factory which can produce goods they want and it is not practical prac-tical to move it to Russia, they see to it that German management is permitted to operate as efficiently as possible and that German workmen work-men get food or pay enough to make them efficient. The British are likewise like-wise far more lenient than we. They have no more intention than the Russians Rus-sians of building up a potential enemy en-emy but they do intend to build up potential customers. The Americans, while they are no harder and no softer toward the Germans as far as personal relations rela-tions go, have hamstrung rehabilitation rehabilita-tion by putting restrictions upon German industry and frequently employ a negative attitude which allows the natives to misdirect their energy. I talked with an American business busi-ness man who represents a large American firm which manufactures chocolate and baby food. He discovered dis-covered some of his factories were Intact and easily put back into action. ac-tion. But he found that the peasants peas-ants who formerly sold him their milk refused to do so because they were able to convert it to butter and butter, on the black market, is gold in Germany. Germany could use the chocolate and baby food, especially espe-cially the latter, but the policy of letting the Germans alone keeps those wheels idle, results in a loss to American business and cuts off a vital food which has to be supplied by the Americans. |