Evening star., 1951-04-27

lof the Pacific. The General die
not specifically state that tht
United States should remain ir
Formosa for keeps, but this wa:
strongly implied.
MIR. Truman had for a Ions
time wanted to meet in the flesil
this man, Gen. Macarthur, about
whose spirit he knew SO much
One reason was simple curiosity;
another was that an exchange o1
views would be profitable. Ini-
tiative for the meeting came from
the President. He went to Gen
Macarthur, not vice versa.
Wake Meeting Cordial
I The meeting took place OF.
Wake Island, in the shabby, prim-
tive quarters of the Civil Aero
nautics Administration, on Sun
day, October Is, 1850. The at
mosphere was cordial. Mr.. Tru-
man and Gen. Macarthur talked
for an hour privately first, and
then for two hours with their ad-
visers. A communique was draft
ed. which was initiated Gas ons
reporter on the scene described
IT'D by both men 'as if they were
heads of different governments.
Later the General seemed to be
restless and in a hurry to get
away. 1t was a shock to almost
everybody that the proceedings
were so brief.
The President said as he de-
parted: I've never had a more
satisfactory conference since I've
been President" Gen. MacAr-
thur refused to talk to reporters.
with the words. "All comments
will have to come from the pub
lielty man of the President"
We return now to Japan. Japan
surrendered Internationally to
the Generals forces, but no peace
treaty has been signed. Gen. Mac
Arthur wanted a peace treaty with
Japan. He was shrewd enough to
know that soap cannot continue
to rule Japan indefinitely. In fact,
he is on record as having stated,
some years ago. that the ideal
period for occupation would he
three years, and that under No
circumstances should it last long
er than five. Why then has no
treaty ever been negotiated, much
less signed?
This question can be answered
in a single sentence. There is no
peace treaty because nobody has
been able to work out a formula
which will enable the United
States to withdraw while at the
same time maintaining Japanese
security, which means security for
Japan in the first instance, but
also security of us, the United
States, in the Far East. The is
sue is a heavy personal trial for
Gen. Macarthur. Article Nine
in the japanese constitution out
laWing war would have to be
scrapped if Japan rearmed, which
might be interpreted as a repg-
diation of the spirit Of the whole
constitution.
Soviet Provided Obstruction
Despite this dilemma, a treaty
with Japan would have been
signed long ago except for per-
sistent Soviet obstruction. The
Soviet attitude has been adamant
since 1947, despite several at
tempts at compromise. Hence the
United States began considera-
ton recently Of the idea of max.
ing separate peace with Japan.
Russia would simply be left out,
and the Soviet could like it Or
lump it. The gist is to begin ne
gotiations for a peace treaty at
once, with or without Soviet par
ticipation. to permit Japanese re-
on a modest scale, and
to suggest stationing a limited
number of American troops in ia
pan without any infringement of
japanese sovereignty.
Do the Japanese really like and
Gen. Macarthur as much
as they say they do?
Yes. For instance I was en-
chanted to hear that some Japa-
nese think that Gen. Macarthur
himself is partly Japanese; the
story (of course crazy is that
his great-grandmother was a Jap
anese woman born in Kyoto. It
is just like the Japanese to cook
up such a legend. Another item
is that many Japanese confidently
expected Arthur Macarthur. the
generals son. to marry a Japanese
princess when he grows up. i
even heard that some people in
Tokyo credit him with having a
daughter (non-existent), so that
she may marry into the royal
circles.
Is Gen. Macarthur sincere in
his belief that Japan will become
successfully democratized?
Absolutely. He thinks it isl
democratized already. A seed has
been planted, and something is
bound to grow, though we cannot
know exactly what. Certainly
Japan will never turn the clock
back to what it was.
What, finally, is the basis of
Gen. MacArthur's own Jealous
hope?
He believes with absolute con-
viction on the highest plane, that,
once a people have tasted free
dom, they will never permit it
to be removed.
THE END.
From the book, The Riddle Of
Macarthur, published by Harper
& BrcS.)
Copyright 1950-51 by John Gunther