Evening star., 1943-10-27
japan Tiqhtens Its Belt

IleiilcI 1SileIdl 1910 mas once
more convoked the japanese Diet in
one of its now infrequent three-day
sessions. At those brief interludes
the Diet emerges from honorable
retirement for the sole purpose OF
ratlfying new and more drastic
measures demanded by Japan's war
lords, voting stupendous additional
credits, and testifying to the un-
swerving support of the nation for
the war effort. Neither questions
nor debate are allowed The Diet
thus serves as rubber stamp for
the governments acts and policies.
Yet it is noteworthy that so ruthless
a dictatorship as that which rules
Japan today should still deem it
wise to observe constitutional forms
and acknowledge the effective status
of the legislative branch of the body
polite. This shows that parlia-
mentary life is not dead in Japan
and that the Diet continues to have
ooAAiS POPuAoA 10opCeI dilo plCotiSC.
Unless this were so, the grim mill
taristS who have gambled Japans
future on a life-and- death struggle
with the Western powers would not
tolerate the continuance Of what
might conceivably become a check
on their absolute control.
The present session of the Diet is
not cheerful affair Premier TOTO
called for a still more total mobiliZa-
ton of the nations strength to
prosecute a war which he admitted
grows harder and more hazardous.
To Western minds it is rather diff
cult to visualize mobilization more
total than that which is already in
effect. At its previous session the
Diet gave TOTO virtual blanket au-
thority to do whatever he liked. Per-
hapS the fresh intenSification of his
powers demanded from the Diet is
more psychological than material in
character. In this connection, it is
interesting to note that the Emperor
not only made his customary formal
appearance before the Diet but also
made a short speech in which he
described Japan's position as grave"
and expressed his desire that the
Diet should grant the governments
demands. Coming from the divine
ruler, who, in japanese eyes. is vir-
tually a god in human form, this
imperial wish is a command that
must be obeyed to the letter. Yet
the very circumstance that TOTO has
so emphatically invoked the i'm
perial sanction for his program be-
fore the Diet is, in itself, significant.
Another noteworthy detail is the
unusually wide difference between
the radio versions of the proceedings
broadcast respectively to the Japa-
nese people and to the world at
large. The home version was much
franker and more pessimistic in
tone. That for foreign consumption
omitted most of the crepe and
sketched brighter picture OF the
general war situation. Naturally,
there was a concealment or mini
mizing Of naval and air losses, to-
gether with claims of damage to the
Allies in both categories which are
ridiculous when compared with our
own Army and Navy communiques.
Allied offensives throughout the Pa
cific are admitted to be "offensives"
even by the Toxic radio, but they are
described as blind" 1t will be in
teresting to discover just how TOXIC
will characterize the further Allied
strokes at Japan's empire which are
obviously in the making
The significance of this session of
the Diet appears to be almost wholly
domestic in scope. Previously, Diet
sessions were apt to forecast some
major move in the foreign field.
either military or diplomatic But
japanese strategy and diplomacy
are alike SO obviously defensive that
Tojo'S concern in summoning the
Diet presumably was limited to
strengthening and further galvaniz-
ing Of the home front. Just what
the effect will be remains to be seen.