The Wilmington morning star., 1946-01-06

ing. Better, it is worth doing.
They Belittle Macarthur
General Douglas Macarthur, who is
justly incensed at not being advised of
the decision taken by the Foreign Min
listers at Moscow to create a commission
for Japan's administration but who, as
a good soldier, at once said he would do
the best he could in the circumstances,
is the victim Of either an inadequate or
an over-zealous press gallery.
Regardless Of where the fault lies,
the military leader best fitted by train
ing, temperament, judgment, admins
trative ability and abiding faith in his
destiny is being slowly but most Ger
tainly hamstrung on the biggest job
ever assigned to individual 1.-The Gre
alton of a sound peace in Japan.
He is looked upon in this country
and abroad. by leaders who should be
seeking his counsel as an inferior, mere
ly an agent to do the bidding of his SUI
periors. Only the other day Secretary
of War Robert Patterson declared: 1--WE
advise Macarthur and give the general
all the information possible relative to
his command, but it is not necessary to
consult him in advance" And upon his
return from Moscow, Secretary Of State
Byrnes explained the action of the Mos
COW conferees by saying that General
Macarthur properly had no voice in
making foreign-relation policies"
No voice, forsooth, but a strong
hand, as the record reveals. Quoting
Paul Manning, CHS correspondent, the
only man present at the German and
the Japanese surrender ceremonies, we
learn that in two months following the
rites on the deck of the battleship
Missouri in Tokyo bay, two and one-half
million Japanese soldiers were demobi-
lized without incident; the first group
of Japanese war criminals were put on
trial; secret societies were dissolved;
freedom of speech was established; civil
liberties were established; family-own-
ed cartels were split-up. Pretty good,
this, for a man who had no voice in
foreign-relations policies.
Looking back a little further, and
still quoting Mr.. Manning, we find that
Macarthur, after he finally got an air
force, executed 100 amphibious assaults
"and that in all of them put together
fewer than 100 men lost their lives get
ting ashore" Is it any wonder that Her
bert Ashbury and Frank Gervasi, in the
Readers Digest condensation of their
Golfers article on Macarthur, should
declare: military experts say that his
campaigns could scarcely have been i'm
proved upon; he attained his detectives
quickly, decisively, and with minimum
of American losses
When Macarthur was selected as
Supreme Commander in Japan it was
distinctly said that while he was to be
chief stewart of the Allies, the view Of
the United States should outweigh all
opposing views. This was due to the
fact that the United States, with Mac
Arthur playing stellar role, was large
ly instrumental in the defeat of Japan.
The war in the Pacific had been ours
from Pearl Harbor on. Starting with a
broken-backed fleet in Hawaii and two
divisions of troops in Australia Mac
Arthur and Nimitz and their magnifi-
cent commanders and men brought
Japan to it's knees.
It was only fair that the United
States should have the deciding voice
in policy and that the Supreme Com.
mander should be in personal charge OF
Japan's affairs. But because Russia
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