JOSEPH STAROBIN Soviets propose democratic, united, neutral Germany PARIS A NEUTRALIZED Germany, with a united and democra- tic government, which would have outlets for its industry and enough armed forces for self-defense but unable to make war on anybody—this is the perspective held out from the latest Soviet note to the United States, Britain and France. (No Canadian daily paper car- ried more than brief extracts.) The west-European press was quick to recognize that the USS. SR was making a serious offer, including many vital conces- sions, in the hope of ending the cold war before the Atlantic Pact ‘takes all western Europe closer to disaster. The one note common to the Lendon Times, to Le Monde in Paris and the whole French press, as well as the leading newspapers of west Germany, like the Frankfurter Zeitung, was that the Soviet move must Scourge threatens all | F.. A. WALTON, M.D., New Westminster, B.C.: About 80 years ago those great benefact- ors of humanity, Pasteur and Lister, initiated the research that has made it possible, even more successfully, to combat in- fectious diseases in humans, ani- mais and plants. So that chil- dren need no longer choke to death with diptheria, mothers no icnger die following child- birth, and people generally no longer rot slowly with typhoid fever and syphilis or rapidly with plague for example. Also, _ diseases of animals and plants have been progressively con- trowied so that we may not starve. This struggle to wipe out dis- ease has been international of course, scientists of all coun- tries contributing to this great end. Scientists have long real- ized the importance of, and prac- tised, with .exceptions, interna- tionalism. Now we have the greatest perversion of all time, some sci- entists actually preparing ma- teria] to disseminate, in a more. terrible fashion than nature ever did, these terrible scourges. Bacteriological warfare, a double-edged weapon if there ever was one, the product of maniacal minds indifferent to the fate of humanity itself, if started, must be stopped, per- manently Like the atom bomb ‘it not only menaces the living ‘but also those yet unborn. Also, bacteria are no respect- ers of national boundaries, pol- itical affiliations, or religious _sects. A communist or a con- - servative will succumb in an _egually decisive and_ horrible fashion to bubonic plague, ty- phus, yellow fever, rocky moun- | tain spotted fever, etc., ete: Neither the bomb or bacteria were mentioned as weapons prior to the Second World War. The idea of bacteriological war- fare ‘has only been popularized on the North American conti- nent since 1945 and it is no Thi ¢ Wate not be rejected out of hand as “propaganda.” é ‘ It was admitted that the pro- posals for Big Four négotia- tions and a subsequent peace conference coincided so much with current business and po- litical trends, especially in Ger- _ many, Britain and France, but also in the United States, that if the Soviet offer were re- jected, the cold war would be vitally affected, as a result by an important Soviet political victory, wita far-reaching im- pact everywhere. (in - identical notes deliv- ered by the United States, Britain and France on March 25, the three NATO coun- tries: @ Demanded that a United Nations investigation commission be allowed to enter eastern. Germany to determine whether condi- tions exist for holding free elections” (The Icelandic e secret that preparations for this type of warfare have been made both in Canada and the United States. : Bacteriological warfare has been perfectly feasible for half acentury. Has it become “prac- tical” politics recently because of the sheer desperation of our way of life, confronted by the eolonial peoples fighting for their own way of life? “The truth will out,” and the sooner the better for everybody. The only people capable of in- vestigating the pros and cons of whether there is or is not in ex- istence this latest threat to our future are, of course, bacteriol- ogists and entomologists (stu- dents of insects), as well as epidemologists. In all urg- ency, I propose that an inter- national group of at least 20 of these specialists, excluding per- sonne] from the countries pres- -ently fighting in Korea, and also any who are engaged in preparing germ warfare any- where, be convened as soon as possible and dispatched to North Korea, ‘China, South Korea, and to the laboratories where this work is carried out. A check on the bacteria and in- sects, whether they correspond to those in the laboratories, will soon tell us where we stand. : People with a clear conscience will welcome a scientific invest- igation by neutral scientists. Let’s get it started now! . This letter is ‘being sent to Trygve Lie, Secretary, United Nations; Prime Minister St. Laurent; and to the local news- papers, Vancouver Sun, Van- couver Daily Province, News- Herald, British Columbian, Pa- cific Tribune and CCF News. CCF and trade unions MELLWORKER, Vancouver, B.C.: We were grading door stock in the yard. It’s a little less monotonous than regular sawmill routine and easier. The Pacific Lumber Inspection Bur- delegate on this commis- sion, Kristjan Albertson, has already been revealed as a former paid Nazi agent.) @ Rejected Soviet propos- als whoch would prohibit a rearmed Germany from joining NATO.) e What is the pattern of the Germany envisaged in the So- viet proposal? It is, by the Ud way, simply a Soviet draft, pre- sented without polemics, and subject to amendment in the event a serious move for nego- tiations comes from the West. “A single state” for Germany means that the danger of civil war, of another Korea, would be eliminated. Just how a new German. government (which would take part in the pro- posed peace conference) shall be formed is left open; it. de- pends on whether the West will seriously negotiate. Judging from the sequence of previous proposals, the USSR is prepared ' to go far with respect to the ou Deparfinent die Peate. eau man was felling us he had quit his union.’ That seemed strange as he was a union man at heart. “What’s the idea?” we asked him. He told us he couldn’t stand the PLIB union ‘being affiliated to the ‘CCF. After we heard the ‘CCF lost 18 seats in Ontario we figured a lot more must have the same notions. “Sure,” he said, “you can’t tie a trade union to any political party.” We agreed. Anyhow, we thought, there must 'be more to it than politi- cal affiliation to lose 18 seats. One of the fellows who is very brief ‘in his speech said, ‘““They’ve got big business policies.” ‘He hit the nail on the head. ‘Wasn’t the CCF backing St. Laurent in his war program? And the CCF has never said a word against ‘shipping thou- sands of workers off to battle fields in. Korea and now in Europe. Werkers won't vote for a party like that. We were right behind those CCF’ers who signed the petition for the peace pact, but they were few. Thousands of workers are be- ing laid off and what is the CCF doing? They lost 18 seats, so they couldn’t have done much in Ontario. In this province we remember what the CCF did with our sig- natures on BCHIS. They did nothing, only said, “Vote CCF next election.” . The CCF can’t expect to get many votes on that kind of action. We feel that ‘if the CCF wants our votes they had bet- ter stop following big ‘business policies. Here are our policies in ‘brief: peace, jobs, homes, trade with all countries, a fight against the high cost of living. That is all, but we want action now, not phoney promises. _ We told the PLIB man to get back into his union, for what can he do by himself. ‘T'll think it over,” he said, “but the CCF has got to show me.” “That’s fine,” ‘we said, ‘and it’s about time the TWA took a look at our policies and got ‘busy, too.” é -'with respect to future role and position of the German Democratic Republic. The united Germany shall permit free-for-all and peaceful competition by all contending political parties and forces, ex- cept those Nazis punished ‘for specific crimes and those or- ganizations “hostile to democ- racy and the cause of maintain- ing peace.” Many commentators, especial- jv the French Socialists, try to make it appear that the USSR is offering some special privi- lege to former Nazis, includ- ing officers and generals of the Wehrmacht, by proposing full civil rights for everyone, except specific war criminals. This argument is hypocriti- cal from those who have per- mitted a Nazi revival in the western zones and have invited Wehrmacht officers to General Eisenhower’s headquarters and decided at Lisbon to open the floodgates to a reactionary Ger- man Army while repressing the Left. The Soviet project wipes the slates clean, recognizing the re- ality that such a large part of the German population as sup- ported the Nazis cannot ‘be os- tracized; on the other hand, the repression of the Left would end, without stacking the cards in favor of any political- force. The new Germany’s frontiers would be based on the Potsdam agreement. This means that any idea of regaining western Poland is out. For any power to encourage such,a program ob- viously means to push Germany toward war. i € i Lastly, and most important, the Soviet project wraps up four separate ideas in a new way: it places no limitations on “the development of a peaceful economy”; nor any limitations “trade with other countries, sea navigation and in access to world mar- kets.” It would allow Ger- many “national land, air and sea forces essential for the defense of the country” and “the production of war mate- rials and ‘equipment” in such quantity and types as are needed fdr this self-defense. But Germany is not to join “any coalition or military al- liances” directed at any signa- tories to the treaty, and the armed forces of all occupying powers are to be withdrawn within one year, including the liquidation of all “foreign miji- tary ‘bases.” : ‘Thus, the Soviet note projects a neutral but not a disarmed Germany, something like Switz- erland. This answers the argu ment about a “vacuum of mili tary power” which is the ‘alibi for splitting the country. and incorporating ‘it into the ‘Atlan- tie Pact. The rearmament of Germany would be limited to her needs. © But by keeping her out of any coalition — whether of the East or the West — the main theatre of military operations in Eur- ope would be eliminated, since _it is only through Germany that can be fought, But militarism could not revive without bringing ‘the same coalition into action against her that defeated her in the last war. © Such a neutrality is balanced by letting German production — rise and satisfying her need for markets. The western pow: ers have themselves favored un- a war fcerman 'shackling German production: the USSR accepts their thesis. But the Soviet project has deeper implications; it corres- ponds to the interests of wide sections of German big busi ness who hesitate to rearm since it has been the absencé © of disarmament until now, while Britain and France weré staggering under the load, that enabled west Germany to make the economic advances of the past two years. Thus, in return for neutral ity, the Soviet Union proposes the end of the east-west block- ade. This is not only in the German interest; it could Te lieve the acute problems facing Britain and France, which aré — pressed by German competitio? — at a moment when even the — beginnings of rearmament aré bankrupting them. 4 Such.a neutralized Germany— no longer a military vacuum within —would not only clos€ the corridors for war in Eur ope, but under the Soviet pro posal a withdrawal of all for eign troops would have furthe? effects. It would remove S& viet troops clear back to thé Soviet borders. : ee This is supposedly what thé authors of the Atlantic Pa want, since they claim they fea? “Soviet aggression” from east German bases; on the othe? hand, U.S. troops, and Britis! troops, evacuating Germany would either have to make SP& cial arrangements to stay France, or would in effect get off the continent of Europe. Thus, if the Soviet. propos@! were accepted it could lead t? a settlement ending the cold W4 in Europe. 5 4 PACIFIC TRIBUNE — APRIL 4, 1952 — PAGE 4