Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 1947 COSTLY OCCUPATION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 74, 17 January 1947, Page 4

Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 1947 COSTLY OCCUPATION

THE British taxpayer was probably more than a little dismayed last week when he learned from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Hugh Dalton, that he was being mulcted of the sum of £80,000,000 for the first year of the occupation of Germany. Precedent and common sense dicate that costs of occupation of a former enemy country shall be a charge against the assets of the vanquished, but the sum indicated by Mr Dalton is so large that Germany’s capacity to reimburse it- must enter into the question. Under the Berlin Agreement Great Britain will receive reparations on a large scale, but her need for them, in order to rehabilitate herself after the damage inflicted by the enemy, is tremendous. Furthermore, under the Agreement, Great Britain and her Allies will receive only those assets which are not necessary for Germany’s peace-time economy, so the pool for reparations is a limited one. Already some sharing has taken place. Australia has been promised plants for extracting petrol from coal, and doubtless other assets have been earmarked for the various Allies, but no allocation for Great Britain has yet been announced. It is possible, of course, that the nature of the British occupation is adding to its cost. It is apparent Great Britain clings to the belief that there is a strong body of- real democratic opinion in Germany which will assert itself when the tumult and the shouting die. Russia is not awaiting any such phenomenon, and the recent intimation that the Soviet is not satisfied with the British and American policy hardly comes as a surprise. It is probable that if the Russians carry out their threat to take such unilateral action as they think necessary to safeguard Soviet interests, they will find more sympathisers than critics. The Russian attitude towards the problem of occupation may be severe, but it is also practical, and it is more likely to win respect from the Germans than could a weak administration. Only last week the Russians announce that they had broken up former Junkers estates and had settled 250,000 families on them. A quarter of a million families on economic holdings may reasonably be expected, within a short time, to be in a position to make some contribution towards recompensing those whose lands their armed forces have ravaged.. There has been no such forward move in the British zone. Instead, there are indications that party friction has disrupted the whole economy, sabotage has occurred, and an underground organisation of considerable dimensions has flourished. None of these things would have been possible under a harsher rule, but in the meantime, until firmer and more practical steps are taken, the taxpayers at Home will continue to pay out huge sums which they cannot afford. Mr Dalton has said that he begrudges the money; but that assertion does not remedy the position. There is a distinct and urgent call for a reconsideration of the terms of the occupation.