FORMATION OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26631, 29 November 1947, Page 7

FORMATION OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

TREATY WITH GERMANY

FOREIGN MINISTERS’ VIEWS Rec. 11 p.m. LONDON. Nov. 28. Mr Molotov, at yesterday’s session of the Foreign Ministers' conference, declared that as they must quickly have a peace treaty with Germany (as with Japan, he remarked) they musv without delay form a German democratic Government for the whole of Germany. ■ They must also arrange for a peace conference which would prepare the treaty. But the first essential was the recognition of a German Government in time for it to express its views on the treaty. Mr G. Marshall said lie agreed in principle that a German Government should be formed, and also that the treaty should be signed by a German Government, but he thought it too early to say whether a German Government could present its views at the peace conference. M. Bidault said it seemed useless to discuss the preparation of the German peace treaty without first trying to ascertain to which territories this treaty must apply. Mr Bevin said that Britain desired that a Central German Government should be established at the earliest possible opportunity, but he asked how was it to be elected and what powers was it to have. Unless these were very clearly defined they might find themselves with a puppet German Government instead of a real democratic and independent one. He was also anxious to know what kind of control would be exercised on a Central German Government and what powers it would exercise on individuals. He would oppose the estab - lishment of any Central Government of a kind which could conceivably lead to the re-establishment of a dictatorship, whatever name it might happen to be called by. The political future of Germany was of absolutely fundamental importance, he added, because if only they could get political reconstruction then economic reconstruction would .soon follow.