LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Another German Tragedy ?
Sta.—The latest tactics of the German Social Democrats in the Bundestag at Bonn suggest the urgent necessity of an unprejudiced examination of the political problem, whether Germany is again heading for her habitual national tragedy—the inability to frame and carry out a bi- partisan or multi-partisan foreign policy. The conflict between Dr. Adenauer and Dr. Schumacher, embittered by the unfounded accusation of Professor Schmidt that the German Chancellor had no intention whatsoever of keeping the bargain he was making with the High Com- missioners, is perhaps even more serious than the earlier attempts to sabotage the policies of Rathenau and Stresemann. These latter German Foreign Ministers—men in their prime—possessed in the highest degree qualities that the aged Federal Chancellor cannot claim to call his own. They were outstanding representatives of the German bourgeois intelli- gentsia, and they were orators who could always catch the ear of foreign and German audiences. Dr. Adenauer is an extremely capable adminis- trator and a very skilful negotiator ; but no German, to whatever party he may happen to belong, will remember any great speech or striking phrase coined by the leader of the Christian Democrats. This lack of oratorical power is a very serious handicap for a government spokesman who, at the age of ,73, must do battle with an opponent of the agility, the irresponsibility and the inhuman cynicism of Dr. Kurt Schumacher.
Dr. Adenauer is fully aware of the fact that the span of his life is drawing to a close. The conscientious administrator is anxious to accomplish the self-imposed task of creating a stable international and economic status for the Federal Republic. He naturally regards every attempt to thwart his intentions by a factious or cheap Opposition as the sabotage of national interests. In presenting the German case to the High Commissioners and to well-informed public opinion through- out the world he has tried to avoid all harmful exaggerations and every overstraining of so-called " national aspirations," as they are understood and vociferously proclaimed by the small Communist Party and by the equally insignificant hyper-nationalist group.
If the Socialists are really anxious to exercise a modifying and con- structive influence on behalf of the legitimate interests of the German workers on this policy of the Federal Government, their leaders should act with circumspection and restraint. They should appreciate that every decision of the Allies in dealing with German problems must be the outcome of an honest compromise between the sometimes divergent views and interests of Washington, London and Paris. The greatest folly they can commit is to put forward on behalf of the section of the German people which they claim to represent extreme demands that, by contravening all maxims of common-sense and caution, must auto- matically arouse the antagonism of the three Western Powers. In voicing their opposition quand mime to a Franco-German rapprochement they only pander to the futile hopes of a few ex-officers or younger members of the former Wehrmacht, who still consistently refuse to integrate in a non-military civilian Germany. If their leader exclaims in the Bundestag that he is only interested in the fraternal embrace of the German and French masses and regards every other form of rapprochement as a dirty deal—of course at Germany's expense— between some grasping industrialists and bankers in Paris and Dlisseldorf, he virtually rejects the pacification of Europe.
It is very difficult for the intelligent Germans who do not happen to be registered members of the Social Democrat Party to argue with Dr. Kurt Schumacher and his aides or stooges. The only positive policy Dr. Schumacher has so far formulated with sufficient clarity to permit of a serious discussion is his proposal to nationalise immediately all industries, the banks, the insurance companies and even a section of agriculture. That proposal was submitted to the Federal electorate on August 14th, and was defeated by an adverse vote of 63 per cent. in an 80 per cent. poll of the German voters. The rejection of Dr. Schumacher's economic policy and the loss' of 20 per cent. of the votes cast for Socialist candidates in 1946 have upset the Socialist leader. This very ambitious semi-invalid has now given up every pretence of being a systematic exponent of an alternative to the quiet. workmanlike and common-sense policy of Dr. Adenauer. in taking stock of events and speeches in the Federal Parliament at Bonn It is therefore necessary to bear in mind Dr. Adenauer's handi- caps in combating Dr. Schumacher's tactics, so widely divorced as these are from the realities of the situation in Germany and Europe and from the most urgent day-to-day problems of the German workers, refugees and war victims.—Yours faithfully, W. H. Enwraps. Oslerwald a Elze. Germany.
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