SCANDALS ALLEGED

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 December 1946, Page 8

SCANDALS ALLEGED

UNITED STATES ZONE IN

GERMANY

NEWS AGENCY ACCOUNT

NEW YORK, Dec. 2. The United States Srinrite Wat-In-vestigating Committed iri Washington recently suppressed a .report alleging scandals in the United’States occupa-n tion zone of Germany,- says Colonel Robert Allen, of the North American Newspaper Alliance. The alleged scandals include widespread misconduct, an alarmingly high venereal disease rate, flagrant miscegenation, a glaring failure of the denazification programme, failure to break up cartels and gross blackmarketing operations involving important army officers, Refusal to be Repatriated The report further alleges that 450,000 Balts, Poles, Jugoslavs, and other nations refused to be repatriated; that 150,000 Jews had migrated from eastern Europe into the United States zone in the last eight months, and that the British zone had been closed to all refugees, while the French had never opened their- zone to them.

According to the report, most. of the desirable homes in the United States zone have been requisitioned by the occupation forces. Every private wants a house to himself with maids, a cook, and a gardener, and Military Government officials have had difficulty in restraining the acquisitiveness of Army officers regarding housing. The report contains the testimony of an American lieutenant-colonel, who was an intelligence officer in Germany. He said generals and highranking colonels 'were . among the worst black-marketing offenders, and it was their common practice to use army vehicles to transport coal, wood, and army food to the homes of their mistresses. .These homes had been requisitioned and luxuriously furnished . with. requisitioned appointments. Several generals had eight house servants Snd another had 12.

The report continues that several officers had been charged \vith white slavery. The venereal disease rate of the troops was 70 per cent, among the negroes and 30 per cent, among the whites. Intelligence tests showed that of 238 white replacements “about one-tenth were not even high-grade morons.”

Too Many Negroes

The number of negro troops was disproportionately large, but according to the report the War Department had been reluctant to take action because it feared political repercussions from negro groups. The report adds that negroes have been using army supplies to gain favour with. German women, who are usually receptive to the negroes’ generosity. .' Jo. The correspondent says the report was prepared ,by the. Oornthittee’s counsel. Mr. George Meader;. whp, with the approval of President Truman, was sent to Germany to study the question. The coihniittee had received hundreds of complaints on conditions in Germany. However, when the report was presented last week, the six Democratic members, including the chairman, Senator H. M. Kilgore, out-voted the four Republicans who urged publication and open investigation of the charges. It is alleged that the White House, the War Department, the State Department, and Senator A. H. Vandenberg exerted tremendous pressure to have the report suppressed. LieutenantGeneral Lucius Clay,, in command of civil affairs in Germany,, threatened to resign if the investigation was pressed. . BRITISH-AMERICAN TALKS IN WASHINGTON

LONDON, December 2. • The British and American discussions on Western Germany in Washington, which are nearing completion, may prove even, more important than the proceedings of the United Nations General Assembly or the Council of Foreign Ministers in New York, says The Times in a leading article. ft is agreed that the sinh of 1.000,000,000 dollars will need to be spent by the British and Americans in their zones in the next, three years. The hope underlying the expenditure and, indeed, its justification, is that by the end of the three years (he British arid Anierican zones will have Been rendered selfsupporting. Confronted with an embarrassingly wide range of domestic needs and overseas commitments the British cannot afford even on so vital an issue as this-not to count the cost and the dollar cost above all.

The merger of the British and American zones is an admittedly unsatisfactory substitute for the economic unity of all Germany, but it is impossible to wait longer for the ether two occupying Powers to cooperate in wide? fusion. The Washington negotiations have again reminded the British that they cannot afford to squander their resources, but Germany’s. plight and the eventual threat to British standards and security implicit in that plight, refnind the, British also that they cannot afford to be riiggafdly. | If an arrangement can be made in Washington the British people with increasingly anxious glances at their | own future balance of payments will accept it and pay their share. The British will contribute by deferring over the next few years at heavy cost the, satisfaction of their own needs. The Germans must contribute what is their only asset to , survive the war intact— the capacity to work.