The Wilmington morning star., 1945-10-20
Reasonable Course
nv ARTHUR KROCK

| ny Ah1aON AAsONAA
WASH1NGTON,-A State Department that
shoots from the hip is likely TO miss the
target and startle the bystanders, as illustrat-
ed nv the still inexplicable public lecture
which IJnder-Secretary Acheson read to Cen
eral Macarthur on the undisputed distinction
between making policy and carrying it out.
! State Department cannot take on operating
/ functions and the remnants OF agencies In
dissolution as the present one Is dong, with
out running the risk that comes with trying
to turn a highly specialized business INTO
general store And a State Department that
tries to perform all it's delicate tasks in full
public view will not get many of them done.
But in this last connection, there is useful
middle ground to be taken, and some promise
is visible that Secretary Byrnes, after his I'M
| fruitful experience with logged secrecy at the
recent London conference of Foreign Minis
| ters plans to take it. This would not require
laying open to the press and pubic all the
records of the department, past present and
progressive, as has been urged by those who
| take too literally the slogan of "open cove
nants openly arrived att Other parties to
| negotiation, especially when they are sover-
eign States and allies, must be considered In
State Department, in international conference
| or at their various posts, can properly guide
| such transactions But representatives of the
the press by seeing that, through no fault of
|
it's Inquiries are as leginate as its interest
which is almost always-essential information
is forthcoming.
This is what Mr.. Byrnes friends say he is
determined to do, although he will first have
to break down professional habit OF secrecy
in the Department and certain incllnations OF
his own. 1t remains to be seen how well this
determination will be proved in practlce, ana
opportunities to judge will be plentiful IN the
immediate future
OF course, government is loath to admit It's
errors or to spread on the record an account
of errors from which 1t was saved. The state
Department cannot be expected to display
different behavior in these respects. one Well
vouched-for example will serve to illustrate
When the procedure for Japanese surrender
was being worked out at the Department
somebody Q1is identity is modesty concealed9
had brilliant idea 1t was that Hirohito must
come aboard the Missouri in person to sign
| the articles of capitulation. There was much
in this that was attractive and commendable,
and from the viewpoint of American psychol-
| ogy it had strong merits. We had defeated
brutal enemy which fought, and murdered and
mistreated American prisoners OF war, in the
Emperor's name Let him appear in person
| and sign as proper mark OF SUBMISSION to
us and disillusioning spectacle for the cult
of Emperor worship. That was the reasoning
| at the Department.
At this time 9nder-secretary Grew, who
lived long in Japan and knows that people,
was still in office. When the plan was with
great pride revealed to hirn-after it was de-
terrnined on-he said he understood all the
| arguments in favor but that he thought it
| should not be attempted. In the first place,
he said, the Emperor probably would not will
ingly appear for such purpose. If he re-
fused, and was produced by force, the conse
quences to our then meager force in Japan
might be serious, and the surrender might
even be Withdrawn. If he refused, and the re-
| fusal was allowed to stand the United States
would dangerously lose "face" in an area
where that is all-important, and the task of
occupation would become much more difficult
and costly in lives.
His colleagues, however, decided to proceed
with their stipulation, and the arrangement
was proposed as American policy to our allies
in the war against Japan. The British, on
much the same grounds Mr.. Grew had cited
proposed that the Emperor be allowed to dele
gate the power to sign tt plan was there
! fore abandoned for the successful procedure
that was adopted, which laid the groundwork
for the most useful cooperation of the Emperor
with General Macarthur that followed, and
| Hirohito's transmutation from an invincible
god into the person of very mortal and
suppliant leader of beaten people.
arises, may see fit to deny, or decline to
admit the truth of, this chapter from the
amateurish record which some thought it was
making in the first stages of it's latest reor-
ganization But, whatever it might say, if
questioned, there was no chance that the cpl
sode would voluntarily be related to the Amer
lean people. That is asking too much of gov
eminent as it is conducted and that is not
what is meant by those who are urging Mr..
Byrnes to demolish the cult of blind, instinc-
tive secrecy that has always flourished in the
State Department.
All that is wanted by reasonable persons,
and all the Department can grant without
risking its effectiveness is policy which
would for instance, have given legitimate in
formation and guidance to the American cor
respondents at London, who were obliged to
60 abroad for their facts, and good instead
of bad press to Mr.. Byrnes. That policy
could begin with successful pressure the
War Department to remove the restrictions
which have been newly imposed on the press
of the United States in the Orient.-New York
Times.
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