RUHR INDUSTRIES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21902, 21 December 1945, Page 5

RUHR INDUSTRIES

SEIZURE PENDING

BRITISH AUTHORITIES

OPERATION IN TRUST

[(9.30 a.m.) LONDON, Dec. 20. The expropriation of the entire property of the coal mines and steel plants of the Ruhr by the British occupation authorities is soon to take place, reports the Manchester Guardian s diplomatic correspondent. The plan envisaged is one that Blight loosely be described as nationalisation. Direction and ownership will pass from German companies and their managements to the British authorities to be held in trust until such time as the future of the Ruhr is finally decided.

The managements to be appointed by the British authorities will no doubt take the place of the present German personnel. The process differs considerably from nationalisation that is being carried Out in the Russian zone. There State control is being put into force piecemeal and the holdings are being handed over to German provincial administrations. Door Left Open

The Ruhr plan applies to the area as a whole, with control vested in the occupying Power in lieu of the State which has yet to be defined. The door is thus left open for any subsequent international project, if such should be agreed upon in future. The first indication of British intentions was the round up at the beginning of December of a large number of Nazi industrialists of the Ruhr. Accused of supporting their presence too long, the British authorities had been more or less obliged to tolerate it in the early dilemma of getting industry going at all. The sudden widescale arrests were a sign that this uneasy period was passing. It was also clear that since the whole weight of heavy German industry was behind the Nazi Party, any thorough system of de-Nazification must lead to a situation where expropriation would be almost, inescapable. Differences on Policy The de-Nazification has been a itrong factor in bringing about a British -decision as any will to impose a rationalised regime. The chief point of difference between the French and British views :s alleged to be that, whereas the British Favour economic internationalisation, the French demand political internationalisation also. Although this demand may not appear in so many words in the French plans, it can be assumed from the French desire for economic internationalisation coupled with' France’s objection to bringing the Ruhr within the orbit of a central German administration. In the long run a compromise between the two views might not be impossible.