The Sunday Star (June 9, 1946)
Jap electorate takes center political line, MacArthur declares
TOKYO (AP) – Japan wants neither revolution nor reaction, Gen. MacArthur said today; and Korea, although expecting eventual independence, is interested at the moment only in food.
The supreme commander in his monthly summary of the Allied occupation of Japan and the American military government of Korea reported: “The present temper of the Japanese electorate does not favor extremes either of the right or of the left.”
Koreans, “pessimistic” toward the outcome of now-deadlocked United States-Soviet negotiations to set up a Korean government, nevertheless remained quiet because their primary interest is “in their own immediate food problems.”
Gen. MacArthur noted that several major changes have been made in the American military government in Southern Korea “to extend greater responsibility to Koreans.” Russia controls the north half of the country.
Progress reviewed
Reviewing progress in Japan, the Allied commander stressed that neither the government nor the Allied forces interfered with the April election. For the first time in decades the people could vote as they pleased, and they chose “a wide central course.”
He noted a continuing “good” attitude toward occupation troops and said Japan has taken “the first step on the road toward eventual creation of a responsible government.
“Japanese politics is still in a state of flux. The multiplicity of parties and candidates reflects confusion of a transitional period. During the war, all political activities was strictly regimented by the government.
Political lid is off
“Now the lid is off and the political pot is boiling furiously. Issues which will dominate the Japanese political life in coming years have not yet been clearly defined, nor have party lines been finally drawn.”
Of this Gen. MacArthur was certain, however:
Checks on Japan’s political evolution by the repressive military economic clique have been largely removed. Japan no longer is a “police state.”
“The military has disappeared as a political force. As a result of the purge directive of January 4, persons with militaristic or ultra nationalistic records have been eliminated largely from public office and political life and are ineligible for diet membership.
Gen. MacArthur said that in view of the magnitude and speed of the Japanese demobilization there were not many groups which would “seek to perpetuate their (military) profession.”
Opposition is small
The report found little or no indication of any “substantial” Japanese efforts to oppose occupation.
“Rare instances of minor subversive planning have been rooted out – more probably will be found – but they are infinitesimal. There have been only minor incidents of definite assault on occupational personnel. Crime incidence in general on the part of the Japanese is probably lower than in any country in the world.”
The report cited some civil unrest in Japan, as in Korea, stemming from the food scarcity and commodity shortages.
The picture was brighter on the Japanese economic front.
Wages and the cost of living remained relatively stable in Japan, but Gen. MacArthur said studies indicated that despite continual adjustments “the current earnings of the average worker are less than half of his monthly expenditures.”
Employment clung to its high level.