Anglo-Soviet Wrangle Over Ruhr Coal

Chronicle (Levin), 11 February 1948, Page 3

Anglo-Soviet Wrangle Over Ruhr Coal

(N.Z.P.A.— Reuter , Copyright) Reeeived Tuesdav, 7 p.m. LONDON, Feb. 10. Another Anglo-Soviet wrangle has developed in Germany, this time about the" price charged for .coal from the Ruhr mines. At present Ruhr coal is. costing 30 marlcs a ton to produce (about 15s at the current rate of exchange) but is being sold in all four zones at 15 marlcs a ton. In the British zone the loss is bei-ng carried by the German taxpayers and was one of the reasons why last year's budget defieitamounted to 950,000,000 marks. The British authorities recently proposed that coal prices should be increased to a more economic ligure but although the Americans and French agreed the Russians strongly oixposed any such raovb on the - grounds -that higher coal iigures» would further lower German standards of living. In one of the strongest criticisms of Russian propaganda so far made by any British Control Commission official, Sir Oeeil Weir, president of the Economic Sub-committee of the Control Administration, during the weelcend described the Russians5 statement as 1 ' deliberately designed to mislead public opirdon" and the Soviet counterproposals as "irrelevant and useless". These counter-proposals suggested that coal production subsidies .should be increased and a new system of book-keeping installed. At the same time as this dispute developed, Major-General E. O. Herbert, G.O.C. British troops in Berlin, issued a circular1 letter' to all British families in Berlin warning • them against false rumours put out by 1 c sources nnfavonrably disposed to Britain" and requesting them not to assist the originators of these rumours by repeating them.