Evening star., 1951-09-05
The President on Japan


Prayerfuly, though probably with little or
no hope that the Soviet delegation will respond
aff1rmatively, President Truman in his San Fran
cisco address has given voice to the simple but
eloquent appeal that all the participating nations
free themselves of malice and hate and unite
in signing the Japanese treaty. He has asked
that this be done for the sake of promoting
greater harmony and understanding" in the
world-"to the end that from here on there shall
be neither victorS nor vanquished among us, but
only equals in the partnership of peace"
That objective is a noble one, and it can be
achieved-steu by step-if only the men of the
Kremlin will begin to put an end to deeds that
shockingly belle their words They can do so
this week at San Francisco. If they really mean
what they say about wanting to live in friend
ship with peoples everywhere and cooperate In
building good international society, they can
display concrete evidence of their sincerity by
needing the President. For it is true as he has
said, that "The treaty now before us offers more
than talk of peace; it offers action for peace.
This conference will show, therefore, who seeks
to make peace and who seeks to prevent it; who
wishes to put an end to war and who wishes to
continue it this treaty will have the support
Of all those nations that honestly desire to reduce
the tensions which now grip the world"
In any case, whatever may be the Soviet
response. the President has made clear that the
United States-backed by the overwhelming
majority-is determined not to let obstructionism
or threatfu and diviSve propaganda at San
Francisco prevent the prompt signing of the
settlement. In terms of both the people of
japan and the security and economic well l-being
of the Pacific area in general, the settlement is
needed now-not next year or the year after
as an important step toward righting the balance
of power in way that will promote peace by
diScouraging aggression AS far as the Japanese
themselves are concerned. they have shown that
they deserve and require this treaty of recon-
ciliation." Abiding faithfully by the surrender
terms, they have swept away their old militarism,
abolished the secret police. established a truly
representative government based on universal
suffrage, substantially broken up their prewar
industrial monopolies, instituted far-reaching
land reforms and taken numerous other measures
demonstrating their qualifications for full SOW
ereignty in the democratic family of nations.
But they still face extremely hard internal and
external tasks, and to meet those tasks ade-
quately, to contribute responsibly to their own
and their free neighbors' prosperity and safety
in Asia they must have the treaty without fur
ther delay
More than that, the treaty must be backed
up with special defensive arrangements AT the
present time" as the President has emphasized
aggression and by the threat of further armed
attack. One Of our primary concerns in making
peace with Japan, therefore, is to make Japan
secure against aggression and to provide that
Japan, in its turn, will so conduct itself as not
to endanger the security of other nations" That
is why the San Francisco treaty has been closely
tied in with the Charter of the United Nations.
The purpose is twofold: Cd To bind the Japa-
nese who are practically defenseess right now
vacuum of power-to the U. Ms efforts to
maintain peace, and (2) to open the way to the
kind Of regional post-occupation agreement
under which they want us to station armed forces
on their soil in collective undertaking to safe
guard their country and Asia as a whole from
the threat of war
In Mr.. Truman'S words, the treaty, though
not perfect, is good treaty, and its conclusion
at San Francisco will mark lone vital step toward
lasting peace" 1t will, that is, if the men of
the Kremlin do not really want war and if they
can be persuaded not only to accept the idea
OF an independent and genuinely democratic
Japan, but also to reverse themselves on Korea
and agree to an honorable settlement of the
deadly conflict there. Presumably all of us will
have better idea of what they have in mind
after Gromyko replies to the Presidents plea
for greater harmony and understanding and an
end to malice and hate. Meanwhile, our guessing
world has good reason to keep its fingers crossed