Milestone at Bonn

Four years to the day after the Third Reich surrendered the bloody remnants of its arrogance and power to the Allies, German delegates at Bonn last week adopted a democratic constitution for the 46 million people of Western Germany.

Convention Chairman Konrad Adenauer insisted, for history's sake, that the constitution be adopted on that grim anniversary; he managed to have the final vote (53-to-12) taken five minutes before midnight on May 8.

The constitution is to be approved this week by the military governors of the three Western zones. After that the legislatures of the eleven West German states will have to ratify it, the German people hold elections to choose a parliament. Target date for the "Federal Republic of Germany" to set up shop: July 15.

"The dignity of man shall be inviolable" and "all men shall be equal before the law," states the constitution's bill of rights. It provides for a free press, free assembly and inviolability of a man's home. It says: "No one may be prejudiced or privileged because of his sex, descent, race, language, homeland or origin, faith, or his religious and political opinions."

Aware of totalitarian tendencies still alive in Germany, the Bonn Conference also laid the groundwork for outlawing the Communists or any neo-Nazi group. The constitution provides that political parties may be ruled unconstitutional if they attempt to abolish "the free and democratic basic order."

Perhaps symbolic of Germany's aspiration to become a respectable member of the world community is a provision that illegitimate children shall receive equality for spiritual and physical development.

The new government will be formally headed by a president. Real power will rest with the chancellor (whose job corresponds to that of premier), appointed by the president and responsible to the parliament (the Bund). The lower house will be the Bundestag, with members elected by the people. The upper house will be the Bundesrat; its members will be elected by the state legislatures. The federal government has legislative power in such fields as foreign affairs and trade, currency, and certain forms of taxation. In other fields the federal and state governments share powers.

The constitution repeatedly calls for the unity of all Germany. The drafters call it not a constitution but a "basic law"; it may be superseded by any permanent all-German "constitution adopted in a free decision by the German people."

Patched with many a dubious compromise, Western Germany's new constitution had yet to prove itself; it was, nevertheless, a milestone on Germany's tortuous road to democracy.

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