parties were back in the field and I had had an opportunity of going up to the Saar
to see how things were shaping.
2. It is now possible to say what the attitude of the different sections of Saar
opinion, at least as expressed by the six parties now in existence, is towards the Referendum
question. The Christliche Volkspartei (C.V.P.) and Sozialdemokratische
Partei des Saarlandes (S.P.S.) say „yes“ to the Statute, the Christlichdemokratische
Union des Saarlandes (C.D.U.), Deutsche Sozialdemokratische Partei (D.S.P.), Demokratische
Partei des Saarlandes (D.P.S.) and Kommunistische Partei (K.P.) say
„no“. 1 have heard no mention of the Demokratische Volkspartei (D.V.) referred to
in para. 2 of Christopher Audland’s letter 1/163/55 of june 6 to youls and I think
we may take it that it is dead.
3. It was expected that the D.S.P (which corresponds to and with the S.P.D. in the
Federal Republic) and the D.P.S. (the F.D.P. in the Federal Republic), as also the
Communists, would urge their supporters to vote against the Statute. The most interesting,
and possibly the crucial, decision is that of the C.D.U. to urge its supporters
to vote „no“; as Gerald Meade said in para. 5 of his letter 1/190/55 of July 18
to Pat Hancock18 19 (not copied to Washington), the leaders of the party favoured
voting for the Statute while the rank-and-file were against it. It was not possible for
any decision to be reached at the meeting of the party leadership on July 20 and
this was deferred until the official constitution of the party on August 7. At a
meeting of some 600 delegates it was decided (apparently unanimously) that the
party should vote „no“ to the Statute. (The „Saarländische Volkszeitung“ headline
reporting this ran: „C.D.U. also rejects Saar Statute. On the same footing as the
K.P.S.“)
4. Although - and I know Christopher Audland would share this view - it is early
yet to talk about the results of the Landtag elections which are to follow the
Referendum if the Statute is approved, it is generally accepted that the C.D.U. will
obtain more votes than any other German party and not so generally accepted that
there is a good chance of the C.D.U. obtaining more votes than any other single
party. It has been actively establishing local branches (Ortsgruppen) since the promulgation
of the Referendum laws on July 23 and it was last week claimed on its
behalf that it already had as many members as the C.V.P. However (and this is to
the advantage of the C.V.P.), membership is not the same as votes at the Referendum
or at the Landtag elections. As I have already reported, the C.D.U. was the
first of the German parties - this designation is supposed to exclude the Communists
who are merely „pro-German“ - to produce its own newspaper, the „Neueste
Nachrichten“, which has appeared daily, except Sundays, since July 26. (It may be
of interest to mention here that the „Neueste Nachrichten“ is printed at Saarlouis,
18 Hier nicht abgedruckt.
19 Hier nicht abgedruckt.
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