Evening star., 1948-07-08
Macarthur Is Forced
To Act Like Emperor
TO Teach Democracy
By Douglass M. Allen, Jr.
North Americon Newspaper AiHones

TOKYO, July 8.-The American
dominated Allied occupation Of ia
pan has many of the symptoms of
schizophrenia.
Specifically, at least, its aims
are as anomalous and self contra
dictory as the position of Gen. Mac
Arthur, who, as supreme COM
mander for the Allied powers, must
conduct himself imperially while
trying to teach democracy to people
who like emperors.
We want to re-establish Japan
as "the workshop of Asia" for the
good of our own economy and, per-
haps, that of the East, but at the
same time we want to keep Japan
militarily weak lest 1t pose threat
against us: and we have deemed it
desirable to purge, as aggressors. at
/ least some of the brains who made
/ it "the workshop of Asia" before
and could do it again.
We want the japanese to learn to
/ think for themselves and speak
/ fearlessly for themselves that they
may govern themselves, but we gov
ern them still by directive (the
diet is spoon-fed all basic reform
laws) and have made japanese
criticism of occupation policy a
criminal offense.
Strikes Are Blocked.
We want to encourage labor
unions and the emancipation of the
ism, but we have forestalled by
military order every threatened
major strike.
We have busted down the en-
peror-demigod to plain emperor
permitting him to remain only be-
cause it was essentiaD, but we have
forgotten that people who believe
a man is divine will attribute
higher degree of divinity to another
who can, by simple order, ''undivine
him." We have thus, to some ex-
tent, sublimated emperor worship
by Macarthur worship without in
any permanent way attacking the
fundamental psychology which per-
mits men to worship men.
We know that the japanese learn
best by emulation, but We have re-
stricted their opportunities to study
and initiate us by segregating, to
great extent, occupation forces and
japanese.
On first glance many of these
paradoxical conditions would appear
to be the responsibility of Gen. Mac
Arthur. Actually none of them is.
What all-out critics of the general
are inclined to overlook is that we
still are at war with Japan (only a
truce exists and that, until a treaty
is signed, he is the military COM
mander of a victorious force in an
enemy country and must conduct
himself and his affairs as such.
Gen. Macarthur recognizes this
clearly and has long been among the
foremost advocates of quick treaty.
But a quick treaty of which Gen.
Macarthur would approve seems
out of the question.
Constitution Recalled.
1t is commonly known, though
not admitted, that he wrote, in MS
own hand, the articles of the new
Japanese constitution outlawing war
and militarism In doing this he
had no intention of leaving Japan
a helpless prey to aggression, but
rather of obtaining an ironclad
treaty of Allied powers guarantee
ing absolute respect of japanese
neutrality and making Japan, al
ready equipped with Alps, sort of
Far Eastern Switzerland.
In view of Russias present tru-
culence (and Russian territory is
within splitting distance of Japan,
as a jet-propelled missile spits)
there is no likelihood of effecting
such a treaty in the immediate
future. If we, therefore, should
sign a separate treaty, we would be
undertaking the moral and practical
responsibility of defending Japan
from any threat of aggression, a
responsibility which would certainly
be distasteful to the American
public.
Many of Gen. MacArthur's gen.
eral problems then are neither of
his making nor within his compe-
tency of solution.