Trying it on in Berlin
Ever since the Russians decided that their blockade of Berlin was doing them more harm than good they have been trying various tricks all aimed at combining the minimum concessions to the Western Powers with the maximum advantage to themselves. The latest device has been to re-impose the blockade on roads lead- ing from West Germany to Berlin, deny that they are doing it, and hope that the other occupying Powers will be fools enough to refrain from re-imposing their counter-blockade. Behaviour of this kind can best be dealt with by determination healthily seasoned with contempt. It was agreed in New York and confirmed in Paris that the traffic restrictions would be lifted on May 12th. Yet at no time have the Russians kept their side of the bargain. One tortuous device after another has been tried so that they might maintain their wearisome pretence that communications with Berlin were their affair alone and at the same time get every possible advantage from the lifting of the counter-blockade. By the beginning of this week all roads had been closed except the Autobahn from Helmstedt and traffic on that single route had been reduced to a mere trickle, preference being given to those lorries which were carrying goods for the Russian zone. The object was clear enough. The new inflow of goods had produced a degree of prosperity in west Berlin which was more than the Russians could willingly stomach. All further inflow was to be regulated so that trade between cast and west could be maintained at the level at which it cased the serious shortages in the Russian zone while not marking too plainly the contrast with relative plenty in the west. It is a contemptible aim. And it is bound to fail. The arrival of a large American convoy at Helmstedt seems to have persuaded the Russian officials on the spot to become, quite suddenly, a little more co-operative. But if they revert to obstruction then the obvious answer is to re-introduce the counter-blockade, and bring it home to the Soviet authorities that if they want the benefits of trade with the west they must accept its oblizations.
