Page 8

on'the provisional government which
was to be established thereafter.
Agreements and disagreements of the
Moscow Conference were analyzed
and new proposals were considered
by the Military Governor.
One proposal suggested a reorgani-
zation of German territory into states
of sufficient strength to maintain a
balanced distribution of powers in a
federal system as a basic condition
to the program of democratization
and decentralization.
stated, no progress toward Germari
economic or political unity has been
made either among the occupying
powers  and   their  delegates  or
among the German parties and their
spokesmen.
However, in 1945 the groundwork
had been laid in the US Zone for the
growth of civil government at all
levels, and the forms of democratic
government were established. The
year 1947 saw   the delegation of
increased responsibilities to the Ger-
mans, particularly in cohnection with
the economic merger of the US and
British Zones.
for  the  Moscow   Conference  of
Foreign Ministers in March and April.
1947, but, while the four powers
agreed that these agencies should be
established, there remained a wide
area of disagreement on their functions
and powers, and especially on the
relationship  between  the  central
agencies and the various states.
Further proposals were worked out
and submitted at the Moscow Con-
ference on the establishment of a
German advisory council, which had
been suggested as early as June 1,
1946. Four-power agreement could
be reached only on certain phases
of the German advisory council and
between central and state govern-
ments. Other papers discussed the
establishment of a provisional Ger-
man central government and pre-
paration for the federal constitution
of Germany.
Quadripartite negotiations on the
establishment of central administrat-
ive agencies continued after the
Moscow Conference, and, on the
German side, various unsuccesful
attempts were made to have German
politicians and state officials meet
in an effort to bring about economic
and political unification of Germany.
While policies have been clarified
and disagreements more definitely
The county councellor, the highest
official of the county government,
also carries out on behalf of the
state governments such functions as
do  not fall under   local  self-
government.
Although it was expected that the
municipal and county government
laws would be redrafted after the
adoption of the state constitutions,
this had not yet been done, and the
articles of the constitutions dealing
with local self-government in the
municipalities and counties are still
to be implemented.
The positions of county councillors
and chief mayors remain anamalous,
INFORMATION BULLETIN
8
Material for Decentralization
of Government was taken from
the Civil Administration Divi-
sion's annex to US Military Gov-
ernment Report no. 30. An article
dealing with German constitu-
tions which also was based on
the CAD annex, was published
In issue no. 130 of the Infor-
mation Bulletin.
MARCH 23, 1948