Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 1948. UPSET IN BERLIN

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 68, Issue 144, 31 March 1948, Page 2

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 1948. UPSET IN BERLIN

Further trouble has developed in Germany, and once again Russia is at the root of it. This time it concerns the Allied Control Council, from a meeting of which the Russian delegates walked out because the British, French and U.S. delegates had declined to give specific details of the threePower agreement reached in London on the future of Western Germany. The action of the Russians is capable of two constructions. Either it was a protest against the withholding of information or it signified the end of four-Power control. There has been a virtual state of partition in Germany since the cessation of operations, and the present deadlock may bring matters to a head. The Russians can hardly expect to be told of what transpired in London in view of their own refusal to co-operate or reveal facts concerning their administration of Eastern Germany. Their present attitude can only result in a widening of the gap unless they change their present policy. The United States Military Governor, General Lucius Clay, regards the action of the Soviet delegates as discourteous, and* he contends that the next step is up to Russia. The fact remains that matters have reached a deadlock, and the Western Powers have been placed in a difficult position. The efforts which have been made by the Western Powers to secure unity, which is the only way in which the entire country can be rehabilitated, have undoubtedly received a very severe check, and in the long run it is the German people who will suffer most. The point which the Russians seem to have missed is that the London conference was one merely to make recommendations to the Governments concerned, and not to make decisions. Had the Soviet waited, they probably would have been fully acquainted with the resuts of the talks, but they preferred to take action. By keeping their own counsel in the meantime, the Western Powers have annoyed the Soviet, and it looks as though it will be left to Russia to take the-next step to determine the future of Allied control.