Must Regard Germany As An Equal

Chronicle (Levin), 20 April 1948, Page 5

Must Regard Germany As An Equal

Received Munday, 7 p.m. LUADUA, April 19. "The first reijuireiueiit for the, solufion of ihe (Jei-inan problehi on wliieli all else haugs, is that Biere shouJd be a reai western union— • soniething niueh more than a l'acade or diploniatic gesture, something that can absolutely guarantee peaee witliin its own: horders — and that Cermany should, t'rom the outset. be regard- (•( as a full member of it, " says Tlie Bconomist editorially. "The seeond requurement is that the poliey should take shape quickly. The delays and hesitations, f'alse st-arts and tergiversaations, treacherous passions and misleading sentimentalities that have dogged western poliey towards Cermany, have been an indietment oi' the qnality of sta'tesnianship applied to the issue. Nhw so mueh fime h.as been waSted that wliat reniains is desperately short. There is very little time left in -whieh the western oceupying Powers will have any power, of deeision left in Gerniany, foi ihe Cermans will not for ever reliiain in their present sullen pas-

1 sivity. "jf by the tinife they are onee jmore in control of their own afI fairs, there isn't a western union 'or suhstantial prospect of one near eiiough and attractive enougli to engage the mind of Ihe (jermans, then the battie is lost. The hesitations of the Pi'eneh — and to a lesser degi-ee of the Duteli and Belgians — ai'e easv to understand but they must not be made the cause of further delay. If there were nothing behind tlie iron ciirtaiii then it might he ])ossible to leave "(iermany 1o rot. But as it is, the only alternatives are to see Germany as an equal member of the western partnership or the spearhead of the eastei-n bloc. This makes it an all the more deplorahle bkmder that in Paris last wee'k. no German representatives of Ihe West German State Governments should have added their signatures to tliose of General Robertson and General Koenig. Opoprtunily for making a ' start with a desperately urgent matter: has bVen lost. And every lost op-i portunity is a lost battie iii a war that admits of no compromise."