Independent Again

Last week the Western powers kicked away some of the last blocks in the path of an independent West Germany. As agreed by last September's Council of Foreign Ministers, the Allied High Commission gave up most of its direct control over Germany's government. The Germans were authorized to set up a Foreign Ministry to handle their own diplomatic relations.

The Germans got this measure of self-government only after they had agreed to take responsibility for Germany's foreign debts and to share the burdens of Western European defense. But they are not yet fully independent. The Allies retain their German exchange controls and the veto power over decisions of the German government. The new Foreign Ministry may not deal either with the three Western powers or with Soviet Russia.

These limitations to their independence irritated Germans far more than the new concessions pleased them. Socialist Party Leader Kurt Schumacher snapped: "The way the occupation statute was revised resembles unfortunately the manners of a stingy merchant." Countered Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, trying to calm down public opinion: "A further progress . . . We should acknowledge this, and not fall into the mistake of saying no to everything."

The Allies should not be surprised m the future when the new German Foreign Office guides its policy solely by what Germans consider their own self-interest. German diplomats will probably try to wring every possible concession from the West, in return for German participation in Western European defense. From this point on, a major test of Western policy will be how firmly and skillfully it deals with an independent Germany.

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