Evening star., 1951-04-26
The Riddle of Macarthur
BY John Gunther

By John Gunther
The Allied powers have no lsea
right in Japan except that W,
are empowered to occupy it unit
it fulfllls the terms of the Pots
dam Declaration. The origina
United States directive to Gen
Macarthur asked that we "brinl
about the eventual establishment
of a peaceful and responsible gov
ernment which should con
form as closely as may be II
principles of democratic. self gov
ernment."
Immediately after the occupa'
tion began it became necessary II
work out changes in the constitu'
tion. In October, 1945, the SUI
preme Commander summoned Ex-
Prime Minister Konoye (whc
later killed himselD and suggest
ed" that Japan should ''liberalize'
its old Meiji constitution. Tht
Japanese government set up 8
committee which took the decision
not merely to revise the old doc
ument but to start from scratch
and draft one altogether new. Aft
er this, however, as if terrified by
its boldness, it stalled. beat around
the bush, and got nothing done.
Ger Macarthur called in Gen
Whitney and said, in effect, "that
committee is not catching its cue
They're not moving. Step in and
help them out" Thereupon men,
bers of the japanese committee
and American personnel of Gen
Whitney's section. mostly legal ex-
perts, met every day in the Dali
Ichi and tussled until they got q
draft. The actual drafting was
for the most part done by Gen
Whitney'S deputy, Charles l.
Kades, who has now returned to
legal practice in New York. One
curious point is that the entire
constitution is an amendment to
the old one, which it abolishes
This was a bright idea of Gen
MacArthur's. He wanted to en-
phasize the principle of continuity
Macarthur Was Confident.
Before the new constitution
could be promulgated it had tc
be approved by the Emperor
Prime Minister Shidehara timidly
went to Gen. Macarthur, anc
asked, "How will he (the Emperor
take it?" Gen. Macarthur replied
"Mr. Prime Minister, have no fear
You will find that when the Emr
peror sees the draft he will like
it very much" The constitution
was duly promulgated, and soon
went into effect. Militarism and
war as an instrument of national
policy were formally outlawed by
the constitution. Japan is, I be-
lieve, the only country in the
world forbidden by its own or
ganic law to make war. Gen.
Macarthur, it is generally be-
lieved, wrote this into the draft
constitution with his own hand.
He has said jubilantly that it
would be impossible for the jap
anese to rearm themselves for a
100 years.
Before soap, women had no po-
litical, legal, or economic rights
in Japan: their position is vastly
different now. Full and free
women's suffrage was enacted,
and thousands upon thousands of
women who had never voted In
their lives went to the polls. In
the first general election under
the occupation {April, 1946) &,
women won no fewer than 80
seats in the Diet. Gen. Mac
Arthur greeted each with a mes
sage of individual congratulation.
The law limits overtime for
women workers, restricts night
work in certain industries, gives
generous leave for illness and pre-
maternal care, and embodies the
principle of equal pay for equal
work. There are even women po-
lice-1, 900 so far.
Population, a problem in any
hungry country, is a terrific prob
lem in Japan. The population was
1876 million in October, 1949, and
is now estimated to be 835 million.
The birth rate is the highest in
the world, and has touched 34.76
per thousand. Meantime the death
rate, as a result of modern Sani-
tation and health control brought
in by SOAP, has sunk from a pre-
war average of 17.3 to 11.6. All
this serves to make birth control
an acutely important and contro-
versial issue. New laws passed
under soap have stimulated the
birth-control movement strongly.
Every prefecture is, by law, sup
posed to maintain at least one
Marriage Consultation Office ~
where women (or mem receive
free instruction in contraception.
Contraceptives are big business in
Japan; more than Is million items
per month are sold. Abortion is,
under circumstances, quite legal.
Controversy Avoided.
Gen. MacArthur's own view on
birth control was that, roughly
the japanese passed their own law
and should be allowed to make it
work. There was considerable out
cry when he refused to give DR.
Margaret Sanger permission to
enter Japan. His aides explained
this by saying that he did not wish
non-Japanese to arouse contro-
versy on a question the japanese
should settle for themselves.
The chief of the Public Health
and Welfare Section of soap is a
remarkable officer, Brig. Gen
Crawford F. Sans. If character
like Gen. Sans were discovered by