GENERAL CLAY'S SUMMING UP OF GERMANY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22948, 17 May 1949, Page 4

GENERAL CLAY'S SUMMING UP OF GERMANY

occupying one of the world’s most difficult administrative jobs for two years, General Lucius Clay, the retiring military governor of the American zone of Germany, left yesterday on his return to the United States. This man, whose rise to fame has beep almost as meteoric as that of General Eisenhower, has filled his duties with distinction. A captain in the army in 1939 and now a four-star general, it was said of him a few years ago that he “could run either General Motors or General Eisenhower’s armies.” His views on Germany are, therefore, interesting and have the full weight of authority. General Clay has played his part in Germany as a soldier and not as an agent of the State Department. He has adhered to the policy that the German economy is fundamentally associated with the economics of Western Europe and that Germany’s reconstruction should be co-ordinated with them, and believes that the Ruhr agreement simply prevents a rebuilt Ruhr from being used as an arsenal for rearmament or as a tool for economic aggression.

He has been attacked on the grounds that he has disregarded the directive to break up cartels, but this charge he firmly denies. General Clay contends that all the most dangerous organisations, such as IG Farben and the greatest steel and coal concerns, have already been destroyed. Elaborating on a statement in one of his recent reports that the Germany which the Western Allies are rebuilding is “one whose reliability in any political combination will be questionable,” he states that there are two kinds of nationalism and they should not be used loosely. “Nationalism which is the expression of the desire of a patriotic German to have a Government of his own is understandable and is not unhealthy. We must not confuse this with what we too loosely label ‘nationalism’. —the desire to recreate a powerful central Government which will be able to wield German resources for aggressive pui'poses and which would be able to overrule the wishes of the majority.”

He states that there is some indication of the latter type in the Strasser movement. Such movements, small at present, lie adds, must be expected and must be crushed. “I believe that Bonn will give the Germans the necessary democratic processes. But until Germany has its own Government, responsible to its people, the Germans cannot be expected to understand the power that rests in.their hands.” Under a democratic constitution General Clay has every hope that the Germans will learn the value of their own power and will be prepared to see that it is never again taken away from them.

Commenting on relations with Russia over Germany, he says; “With the return of political and economic stability the problems are decreasing; in time the last problem could cease to be. I believe that it will be possible to have a stable world.” These words reflect a degree of confidence shared by other leaders. The forthcoming meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers will be the first tangible indication of the extent of genuine co-operation that may be expected in solving the German problem.