All-German Elections ?
The point that caught many Germans' imagination in Dr. Grotewohl's suggestion that free elections should now be held in both East and West Germany was that such elections might be a step towards unity. It is possible that they would even wink at the ambiguities of the Grotewohl offer and pass over the fact that the Russians were deliberately proMoting the offer in order to draw attention from West Germany's progress towards European co-operation—if only the elections could be held. This means that the argument, doggedly advanced by Dr. Adenauer, the West German Chancellor, that if elections are to be held then they must be genuinely free has not only to convince practical men—which it is bound to do—but also to appeal to mystics. His fourteen conditions for all-German elections, announced three weeks ago, were essentially practical. But the more mercurial members of the German public are already growing restive because progress towards elections appears to be blocked by those conditions. They are not likely to be pacified by Monday's announcement by the three Western Powers that, at Dr. Adenauer's suggestion, they will " at the first suitable opportunity " ask the United Nations to inquire whether the conditions for free elections really exist in both- East and West Germany. For the answer probably is that such conditions do not exist in East Germany. Dr. Adenauer may . have to say as much to a large number of Germans who want the election at all costs. That will not increase his popularity with them. Yet until the German electorate fully grasps the fact that there is no mystic road to unity—only a hard practical road—there will be no genuine German democracy.
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