Evening star., 1945-09-25


achieved the Lowell Mellett.
ballot in this country through a
long, patient process of educating
the men, plus remarkable capacity
for making themselves a national
nuisance.
He forgets how they picketed the
White House in their efforts to win
over the weary Wilson, who believed
either that they weren't ready for
suffrage or that the country wasn't
ready for them to have it. He for
gets how they got themselves ar
rested and thrown in jail-although
the cavalry wasn't called from Fort
Myer to ride thenf down-all as part
of their desperate determination to
make the country conscious of their
rights as citizens.
Myself, won over early by the
women's point of view and by their
tactics, I don't see why the women
of Japan should have the ballot
handed to them on a silver platter
made in the United States. If they
don't get it the hard way it probably
won't mean much to them.
AS for realism, the general seems
to be carrying out with energy and
dispatch his instructions to demobi-
lie and demilitarize the once flowery
kingdom.
Published Instructions.
On the realistic side, too, are the
published instructions from Wash
ington that the general is not to
interfere If the Japanese people de-
eide to toss the Emperor into the
limbo of forgotten men. Our policy,
say the instructions, docs not COM
nit the supreme commander to sup
port the Emperor or any other gov
ernmental authority in opposition to
evolutionary changes looking toward
the attainment of the United States
objectives." Washington doubtless
means revolutionary, not evolution
ary, unless it anticipates our occu-
patton of Japan for very long
time.
Much more of the Governments
instructions is in the realm of
realism. Those paragraphs dealing
with disarmament and the destruc-
ton of Japan's war industries, for
example, and with international
trade and financial relationships. All
these are practical matters concern
ing which we can lay down the law
and have every right to do so. But,
when the Government gets into the
domestic life of our defeated en-
emies, the most that can be said for
its program is that it is filled with
high purpose.
Laws, DEGREES and regulations
which establish determinations on
the grounds of race, nationality,
creed or political opinion shall be
abrogated," says the instructions.
Shades of Martin Dies and his still
functioning committee! Doesn't the
Government know what goes on in
these United States?
Governmental Reforms.
"The judicial, legal and police
systems shall be reformed as soon
as practicable and thereafter
shall be progressively Influenced to-
protect individual liberties and civil
rights" Well, the Government does
say "as soon as practicable" and it
max understand this reform is a slow
evolutionary process, in which we
ourselves still have long way to go.
Encouragement shall be given
and favor shown to the development
of organizations in labor, industry
and agriculture, organized on a
democratic basis. Policies shall be
favored which permit wide distri-
button OF income and of the owner
ship of the means of production
and trade" The CIO Political Ac-
ton Committee takes a daily lam
basting in Congress and elsewhere
for proposing something like this in
the United States.
ITO favor a program for the dis
solution of the large industrial and
banking combinations which have
exercised control of a great part of
Japan's trade and industry" This
refers to Mitsui, Mitsubishi and
other great family corporations of
Japan, not to the Morgan, Rookie
feI1pr D11 popf Mo1Ior opd otbo~