Evening star., 1945-08-11
Peace and the Emperor

japan oAef W surrender, pro-
vided this would not prejudice the
prerogativeS of the Emperor as a
sovereign ruler, presents but one
real question for Allied considera-
ton: Would capitulation on this
somewhat ambiguous condition
1acllltate resurgence of Japanese
mllltarism, or can we strip Japan of
her power to wage war regardless of
the future status of the Emperor?
The broadcast last month by Cap
tain E. c. zacharias, as an official
spokesman" for the United States.
promised the Japanese that, with a
prompt surrender, they could be as
Sured OF freedom of religion and
would also be permitted to choose
their own government. There is
nothing necessarily inconsistent
with this in the terms of the Pots
dam ultimatum, which constitute
the basis of the japanese offer to
surrender. That document said that
the authority and influence of those
who have deceived and misled the
people of Japan into embarking on
world conquest" must be eliminated
for all time. But this language ap-
parently relates back to a preceding
paragraph, which says that the time
has come for Japan to decide
whether she will continue to be
controlled by those self-willed mill
tariStic advisers whose unintelligent
calculations have brought the EN-
pire of Japan to the threshold of
annihilation, or whether she will
follow the path of reason" Later
there is warning that "all war
criminals" will be punished, but
there is also reference to the estab-
lishment of peacefully inclined and
responsible government "in accord
ance with the freely expressed will
of the japanese people"
Unless the meaning of words is to
be distorted, this language would
seem to assure the Japanese people
that they can keep the Emperor if
they want him. But the fact re-
mains that there is no specific as
Surance of this, and presumably it
is in the hope of obtaining such as
surance that Japan has asked for
clarification of the Potsdam state
ment.
1t is difficult to believe that the
representatives of the United States,
Britain and China, in whose names
the ultimatum originally was issued,
had not considered the question of
the status of the Emperor, and it
would seem that they must have
reached agreement on the point.
1t is possible that Russia's entry
into the war presents complications,
but this seems unlikely since the
Russians have adopted the ulti-
matum, and since Marshal Stain
must have indorsed it's terms before
it was issued.
In Japan, the Emperor is both the
temporal and the religious head OF
the nation. To the orthodox ad-
herents of Shintoism he is the SYM
boil of all authority, and it is possible
therefore that in the future he
might become force either for good
or for evil. 1t may be that he alone
can effectively command the jap
anese Army to lay down it's arms,
and it also may be that only through
him can chaos be averted in Japan.
If the Allied decision has not al
ready been made, these are among
the considerations which will help
to shape it. It is not a decision
which the people of the United
States can make. They can only
insist on the earliest peace that is
consistent with security, and expect
that no extraneous consideration be
permitted to influence the accept
ance or rejection of Japan's offer.