COST OF BRITISH OCCUPATION

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25678, 15 December 1948, Page 5

COST OF BRITISH OCCUPATION

GERMANS SPEAK OF EXTRAVAGANCES NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA PROVINCE (Rec. 9 p.m.) LONDON, December 14. The Dusseldorf correspondent of “The Times” says that the German authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia, the largest province in the British zone, have forwarded to the British Regional Commissioner (Major-Gen-eral W, H. A. Bishop) a 50-page document alleging extravagances by the occupying Power and calling for drastic reductions of expenditure. The document is signed by Dr. Weitz, Finance Minister of the province, who says that its finances are being imperilled by the demands of the occupying Power. General Bishop said last night that the allegations in the document would be looked into. He added: “The investigation will determine whether the document is inspired by a genuine desire to assist the Military Government in the matter of occupation costs, or whether it is primarily malicious in intent.” Months of work must have gone into the preparation of the document and its many appendices, says the correspondent of “The Times.” Tables are given ’assessing the occupation cosis for the last three years. The policy of requisitioning is singled out for special mention, while the high wages and salaries paid to German workers and others employed on the Control Commission are compared with the lower remuneration paid to German workers for similar occupations under German control. The number of Germans employed in British messes is also sharply criticised. “The examples quoted are not exceptional cases,” says the document, “but are reported everywhere.”