The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-02-22
What TO Do With Japan
These Days 'e gso 3+i E. soR01;xr

II was at very stimulating
meeting OF the overseas Press
Club that the question OF what TO
do with Japan after the war was
discussed with fervor and eXpe. l.
ness by Jimmy Young, John Goette,
II. G. w. Woodhead. General Yak
hontoff. II. j Timperly, Randall
Gould. Bruno shaw and one or two
others. II seemed like an old
| fashioned jam session in the bar u
the China Coast Clubs where wars
were fought and the destinies OF
nations determined fesrlessly and
conclusively
1t stands to reason that anyone
who has ever been in a Japanese
prison mp, as some OF the de-
baters had been, would want 10
tear the hide of every Japanese.
japanese jsls and concentration
camps are not governed by Chris
tan charity or human kindness
and the incarcerated brings forth
a hatred, once he is free Those
who had not experienced this or.
deal argued with perhaps scientific
detachment. Mind you, all these
folks knew what they were talking
about. the degree OF vengeance in
! their souls being determined by
the measure OF cruelty they had
| personally experienced.
None OF them. however. quite
emphasized the point enough that
the job now is not to settle the
| Japanese problems by discussion
but by war. II a war is sufficiently
effective, the problem settles it.
self. For instance. one Of the
very grave concerns among these
gentlemen is what to do with the
emperor OF Japan. Some of them
fear that the State Department will
save him. They desire that il
be decided here and now that the
emperor is to be treated as a war
criminal
This is undoubtedly typical Of
the fsllacy OF ongdlstance plan
ming on minor issues. say long
distance because these gentlemen
ranged their DEMONSTRATIONS on
how long the japanese war would
last from to Is years, which is
an awful long distance.
For instance. how can anyone
know what. even three years from
now, the State Department policy
will be when, as the fact stands,
the entire Administration may be
changed in less than year from
now? And then again, il may not
be. We can therefore altogether
with advantage skip this argument
until after the presidential election.
al which time it will be pos
sible. and even within probability,
that we might know what We are
talking about.
Then. OF course. when, II and as
we achieve a victory over the Jap
anese. IL might be-and ! hope II
will be-so completes and final that
the emperor will go to his ances-
tors without our aid. That will
dispose OF the issue without furth-
er debate.
Again. il II possible that when
we shall have wrach ed the Japa
nese with sunhre and bombing.
they might rise up and slaughter
their militarists and buresucrats
and politicians all on their own.
That sort of thing has happened
even among such staid peoples "a
the Russian peasantry. The worm
will turn. In such an eventuality
our discussion on what 10 do about
il will have proved futile for the
problem will have solved itself.
The point was made that the
emperor was myth or the symbol
OF a myth and that we should prove
that to the japanese people. |
considered that a particularly un-
fruitful proposal because nothing
is so fanatically believed as myths
which persist long after the most