The Allied High Commission for Germany last week gave two sharp slaps to Western Germany's Bonn government: HICOM vetoed two laws, one on civil service and one on income tax, which had been adopted by Bonn's Parliament. The veto on civil service seemed to make more sense than the other.
Since the days of the Kaisers, German civil servants (Beamten) have been a privileged caste. "The Beamte doesn't have much," the saying went, "but he has it for life." The civil service was notably honest and efficient, but it looked upon itself as the masters of the people, not as...
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