AMERICA REJECTS SOVIET PROTEST OVER GERMANY

Greymouth Evening Star, 4 September 1947, Page 8

AMERICA REJECTS SOVIET PROTEST OVER GERMANY

WASHINGTON, September 2. The United States has rejected Russia’s protest against the decision •to increase the level of industry in the British and American zones of Germany. The State Department, in a Note delivered to the Russian Embassy yesterday, said that the United States Government,.. pending _t.he fulfilment of. the. Potsdam ..Agreement, .felt justified jp.. proceeding with the plans already, agreed/to. The State Department agreed that decisions dealing with' Germany as a.whole could be taken only on a decision reached by the four occupying Powers, but the United States Was unable to. accept, the interpretation of the agreements relating to Germany on which. the Russian position appeared to.be based. ...... - Persistent Effort

The Note said -that the United States- for more than two years had .persistently sought to reach agreement on matters. affecting Germany as. a whole and to implement the provisions of the Potsdam ...Agreement, which stated that Germany should be treated as a single economic unit. “The level of industry for Germany as a whole which . was adopted in March,. 1946, was expressly based on the assumption, that Germany would be treated as a single economic unit,” the Note added, “but after the meeting of the Foreign Ministers in Moscow in 1947 it became clear that there were no prospects of achieving a uniform polcy, and it became necessary to adjust the level of industrial activity in the British and American zones. “In effecting this adjustment, the main objectives. ..in the Potsdam Agreement of eliminating the German war potential, developing Germany’s agricultural and other peaceful industries, and enabling Germany to become self-sustained were observed.”

Russian Failure

The Note concluded: “Russia’s failure to implement the Potsdam Agreement has placed a heavy financial burden .on the United States in the occupation of Germany. The. United States Government cannot accept the thesis that nothing can Be done to alleviate that burden or to’ develop within the framework of. the agreement the contribution of. the western zones to the economic reconstruction of Europe’- until the consent of the Soviet Government, has been obtained. “Until the Potsdam ..Agreement is fulfilled, the United States feels .justified in making arrangements to pursue these objectives, with any other occupying Power willing to work towards a common end.”\