Evening star., 1951-05-03
Files Give Details of Wake Conference

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Truman and Gen. Macarthur
on October Is, which prob
ably will add more fuel to the
controversy between Republicans
and Democrats over the Mac
Arthur dismissal.
AS made public last night by
Chairman Russell of the Senate
Armed Services Committee, it con-
firmed the salient points revealed
two weeks ago by the New York
Times, namely:
That in mid October, Gen. Mac
Arthur saw very little chance Red
China would intervene in Korea,
and was so hopeful of early vic
tory that he figured he could re-
lease one of his best divisions by
January for duty in Europe.
Deletions i'm Text.
But scattered through the Off
cial summary were aSteriSks, indi-
eating the deletion of conversa-
tions at Wake which are still re-
garded as secret.
The document now open to pub
lie view also is incomplete because,
Senators said, it does not purport
to cover the private talk Mr.. Tru-
man and Gen. Macarthur had on
Wake Island. before they called in
other military and civilian officials.
The document itself merely con-
firmed, in most instances, what
had been revealed by the New York
Times and widely reprinted two
weeks ago.
More interesting at this time
than the document itself was a
letter to the committee from Gen.
Bradley, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, explaining how
the summary was compiled.
Gen. Bradley disclosed that sew
eral of those present kept notes in
longhand of the principal points
discussed. He also described how
Miss Vernice Anderson, secretary
to Ambassador -at-Large Philip c..
Jessup, sat in the next room and
took down such parts of the con-
versation as she could hear. Actu-
ally, she was able to get large
part of the conversation"
Notes Consolidated.
On the return trip, the notes of
all those concerned were "con-
Solidated" to obtain the summary.
Gen. Bradley then explained to
the committee that on October 10
four days later five copies of the
report were sent to Gen. Mac
Arthur. Since that time, Gen.
Bradley said. no information has
come from Macarthur headquar-
tiers, to his knowledge, indicating
any "non-concurrence with the
record of the conference"
The publication of the account
left in doubt just what sort of
assurance Gen. Macarthur gave
about Chinese Red intervention in
Korea and it also quickly became
a subject of considerable dispute.
In New York Maj. Gen. Court
ney Whitney. adviser to Gen.
Macarthur, quoted the general as
saying the reports of the confer
ence have lust about as much
bearing on the problem of Korea
today as would report on the
military operations on Bunker
Hill.
Gen. Whitney added that Gen.
Macarthur didn't know the notes
were being taken, the Associated
Press reported.
Report Put Into Files.
Asked to comment on a report
that copies of the document about
the conference had been sent to
Gen. Macarthur last October 10
and receipt signed for them by
one of the generals aides, Gen.
Whitney said:
ut is probably true. I have no
reason to doubt it. No attention
was paid to it in Tokyo. 1t was
put in the files because a COM
munique had been issued after the
conference deemed to cover the
activities of the conference"
Gen. Whitney said he had re-
ceived a copy of the report from
Senator Russell.
Apparently referring to the re-
port received in Tokyo, Gen.
Whitney said, IT don't know
whether it's the same as the one
we received or not"
"No mention was made by any
body of any surreptitious notes
taken behind closed DOORS" he
added.
"As recall. Charlie Ross (the
late press secretary to President
Truman) told Gen. Macarthur
no records would be made of the
proceedings but. be that as it may,
Gen. Macarthur didn't read the
document in Tokyo and when I
took a copy I received from Sen
ator Russell tonight, his (Mac-
Arthur's) comment was that he
didn't have time to go into it,"
Whitney Explains Remark.
Asked by reporter whether he
considered the note taking at the
Wake Island conference to be
"surreptitious," Gen. Whitney
said:
"Surreptitious might be the
wrong word. 1t was made covertly
behind doors and not in the open. :"
A comparison revealed that the
summary published exclusively by
the New York Times on April 81
covered two points that do not ap-
pear in the expurgated committee
version.
l. The Times, which began its
story with the statement it had
gained access to documented
sources, said the Wake Island con-
ference also discussed the fighting
qualities of the French soldier.
l.