Evening star., 1947-12-20
WAR Goods CacheL Lai,
10 Jap MiIitarists'
Hope for Comeback
By ths Asseeioted Press

TOKYO, Dec. 20.-Japanese mill
tarists at the time of surrender
sought to buy the peoples good will
and to prepare for an eventual
comeback" by distributing hundreds
of billions Of yen worth OF war
stocks throughout the country,
Representative Kanju Kato, chair
man Of 4 Diet investigating COM
mittee, declared today.
Katos committee climaxed four
months investigation with q sharp
condemnation Of the whole affair,
announced earlier today by House
Speaker Komakichi Matsuoka.
In an interview with the Associ-
ated Press, Kato added that much
of the political activity under the
occupation had been financed by
fortunes made through disposal of
onetime military stocks. Those who
prof1ted by the deals, he said, in
clude many high-ranking members
of the government and Parliament,
as well as local governmental on
cials, former army and navy officers
and leaders Of the Zaibatsu and
other business concerns.
New Group to BE Named.
Katos Committee was dissolved
after it made its report. A new
committee will be appointed with
augmented powers to continue the
inquiry. The Justice Department
has allocated 10000, 900 yen ($l,-
400, ,00O) to finance the probe.
The Diet investigation has led to
q complexity Of difnculties in assess
ing the value of the military stocks,
which were scattered through the
nation. but the total is well over
100, 900, 900, 900 yen $4,000, ,O00, ,0O0)
Kato said. He added that that
figure was estimated as the mini
mum value of goods the military
turned over to the government for
distribution to the people.
Probably an even larger quantity
disappeared before the Allies could
trace it, Kato estimated. He said
large quantities of the goods re-
ceived by the government for the
Allies had shown up in the black
markets.
"At the time of surrender the mil
itarists were afraid the public would
turn against them," Kato explained,
80 the Sizuki premier Baron Kan
taro SuzukD cabinet on August IA,
1945, decided to distribute military
supplies almost free throughout the
country. The militarists wanted
public good will and thought in their
feudal way they might be able to
make comeback when the occupa-
ton was over"
An indication of the extent of the
distribution, Kato added, could be
obtained from the fact that "the
militarists boasted before defeat
they had enough material for three
years resistance with 1000 900 armed
men IN the homeland. Actually, they
probably had more than they ad-
mitted.
In violating the surrender stipula-
tions, the government turned over
vast stores Of steel. rubber, petrole-
um. machinery and other supplies to
favored industries and local govern
ments, the committee said.
1t was even possible, the commit
tee asserted, that some arms were
included-there was some doubt
about that. All arms and munitions
also were to be surrendered to the
Biggest Scandal Of Occupa ton.
The committee, winding up four
months of spade work in what has
been described as Japan's biggest
scandal of the occupation, estimated
1t least 5,000,000,000 yen of the
stocks still were being boarded by
public officials and businessmen.
Presumably the bulk of the stocks
nave been sold in the black market,
although this was not brought out
n the report.
These hoarders Of materials criti-
cally short in Japan, believe "the
occupation forces will withdraw be-
fore long" the committee added.
The committee complained it had
run into heavy opposition from
'bribed" public officials both in the
and local governments in
trying to unearth these caches of
sllnn1ies