Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1950. BERLIN SITUATION

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 109, 21 February 1950, Page 2

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1950. BERLIN SITUATION

Ever since the cessation of hostilities, when Berlin was zoned, there has been trouble in the former German capital, and it looks as though it is going to continue to be the cause of mistrust and unrest. At one period the Russians put up a blockade, which for a time completely cut off " road and rail access from the West, but the Western Powers then instituted the airlift which proved so successful that the Soviet felt obliged to lift the blockade. Things were all right for a time, but then the Russians began holding up traffic at check-points on one pretext and another, all the time disrupting the flow of much-needed material to the western zone of the city. The latest hold-up concerns scrap metal. The Western Powers have made numerous protests, without avail, and have even threatened to renew the airlift if the delaying tactics continue. It will be recalled that in the course of the previous airlift> 1.500,000 tons of supplies were flown into the beleaguered western sectors of the city, including 950,000 tons of coal and 438,000 tons of food. Nearly 400 aircraft took part in the operations, employing 57,000 aircrew personnel. Though the blockade formally ended on May 11 last year, further supplies were flown ip for some months afterwards in order to build up an emergency stockpile of essential commodities, and it was not until September 30 that the last flight was completed. The airlift organisation has, however, been .retained in such a way that it can be put into operation again at a few days' notice, andserious consideration is now being given to the recommencement of the aiilift to counter the irritating Soviet “slowing-down” tactic?, of recent weeks. There were high hopes m May last that life would proceed normally in Berlin, but these have not been realised, and Berlin remains divided in British, French, American and Russian control sectors. The unfortunate point is that the Soviet control zone runs right round that of the other Powers, and until that position is rectified there can be expected a continuance of the present disruptive tactics. The position is not natural, and the German people themselves are suffering most. The situation is but one of many which demands settlement, and this can onl> come through the finalising oi the peace treaty concerning jo many as a whole. - t