REFORMS IN WESTERN ZONES

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25388, 10 January 1948, Page 7

REFORMS IN WESTERN ZONES

British And U.S. Proposals Accepted “FREE REIN TO WORK OUT OWN SALVATION” (N.Z.P .A.-Reuter-Copyright) '(Rec. 10 p.m.) “In accepting the British ana a ■ Jan. 9. strengthening the German Economic " Proposals for zone, the German leaders have ff “J ! he combined framework of a western legislatifm ™ n -^? ect to set U P tbe and a virtual Cabinet and possessing 5+f nSlStl ” g ..°( two houses cial powers,” says the Frankfort « S OA \ n Jud,cla l and finan- • Frankfurt correspondent of “The Times ” “The proposal to double the size nf r.- ■ „ was accepted with a proviso that the a ® coaonuc Council be limited to that of the Statp th p» d i lratlOn t of memb ership members. btate Parliament returning the «JM&?a?i,’ ab s?”»r - an absolute majority of the can be oyer-ridden by Council, or Cabinet will have r?X C, \ ™e Executive worked out in conjunction with the Economic Councii" b<s „i *>“■ <=»- scribed the proposals as lltary Governors, deexception of foreign policy and notice ®f orins 'Y blcb » witb the the Germans to work ™t the- P ' Ce P° wers > give free rein to that Frankfurt was not bei^g’est^bMslTed^ lol ’' T f hey insisled hut as the seat of

The Frankfurt correspondent of the Associated Press quotes General Clay bs saying that the new German economic administration would possess virtually all the powers required to conduct internal affairs. General Clay added that it would have limited authority to levy taxes, establish courts, and administer food, agriculture, and transport. - The correspondent says that the British and American authorities have-pro-visionally set February 1 as the target date for the ne.' system to take effect. Reuter s correspondent quotes General Robertson as saying that the new administration must avoid politics and Jimit itself to financial and economic affairs. “The Communist newspapers in Berlin have brought their heaviest broadsides to bear on the proposals for west*rn Germany,” says the Berlin correspondent of “The Times.” 4 “They are directing their attack as much against ithe west German leaders as against the United States and Britain. “All say that the proposals mean the partition of Germany and the setting

e - a separate. State and Governy ment in the west. - wr'uZh wea * leaders are des thomeoi as t f“ tors who have placed 0 and RritigV- tne ? e f. vice Of American o thA British imperialism and bartered y Ge . r , ma P People as labour slaves ~ ends » er^s or a l ien and unrighteous 3 Trades Union Council lor the British zone warned the Miliwy4Gu V v rn JP ent and the North Rhine- - Westphalia Government that unless ur- ♦ a 9j :lol }. was taken in the present c rood situation, miners and transport ‘ would join protest strikes - which have already begun in isolated v Places including Essen, Oberhausen, 1 and Hagen. c The “Daily Telegraph’s” correspondent in Dusseldorf says that industrial " u ? r PiP t 1S spreading in the Ruhr in spite - of the efforts of trades union leaders - and other responsible Germans There - is strong evidence, he adds, that the e Communists are fomenting discord. It ’t li, c° nsider ed more than a coincidence e that strikes and token stoppages are happening at a time of bi-zonal reore ganisation, which the Communists 5 oppose.