Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-09-28
BY SHIRLEY SCHEIBLA
Special Writer for The Star

Special Writer for The Star
United States Government on
Gals are now admitting, at least
privately. failure to sell Japan on
the American way Of doing busi-
ness.
Indeed they are becoming quite
concerned as they study dispatches
to our Government from its rep
resentatives in Tokyo, These doc
uments say it is becoming in
creasingly obvious that Japan is
putting into operation plans to
become once again power in
world trade with the aid of cartels
and other monopolistic arrange
mentS.
This is OF special concern to the
United States because Japan Is
its chief ally in the Far East.
This makes trade with Japan viz
tually a necessity. But it isn't easy
for a free enterprise nation to
trade with one which favors in
dustrial combines.
At the end Of World War II
the United States master-minded
one of the most ambitious eco
nomic experiments Of all time.
It attempted to "democratize" the
Japanese economy. A new con-
stitution, American style. encour-
aged free competition. Reasonable
facsimiles of the Sherman Anti
Trust Law and other statutes out
lawed monopolies, cartels and the
like.
The BoIdesf Stroke
The boldest stroke Of all. how
ever. was the attempt to crush the
ZaibatSu. That was the name for
the empires economic ruling class
which had top control by moneyed
families. For generations the zai-
batsu had been encouraged by the
Japanese government in price-flx-
ing market ALLEGATIONS and other
characteristics Of trusts, monopo-
lies and cartelS zaibatsu control
Of Japan's entire economy from
banking to shipping was firm and
unuueStioned.
In 1912, according to the Minis
try of Finance, there were is jap
anese who reported taxable in
comes in excess Of two million yen
(about $468,00O at the pre-war
yen-dollar rate). OF these, IS were
members Of well-known Zaibatsu
families or clearly a part Of enter
prises definitely identified as
Zaibatsu.
The allied conquerors began to
break up and dissolve the great
ZaibatSu holding companies. From
this small companies with new
names emerged. The top ZaibatSu
family heads were stripped Of
their assets and their positions.
This was done on the premise that
the zaibatsu formed the nucleus
for the war lords Of Japan. .
Toward the end Of the occupa-
ton, however, the program ran
into strong criticism from WASH
ington, chiefly in Congress. Some
legislators felt that the plan was
too drastic. As a result 297 zai-
batsu companies were freed from
the application Of the "deconcen-
tration" Law, But the biggest, %
in number, we're dismembered.
Beck in Business
Today the old ZaibatSu compa-
MES are back in business. In most
instances they have re-combined,
taken back their old names and
even their old trade marks.
Talks with officials both at the
japanese embassy here and ex-
perts at the United States State
and Commerce Departments indi-
cate, however, that the Zaibatsu
have not reached their pre-war
position. A fortune, once dis
persed, is not easy to re-acquire.
There appears to be a broader In
vestment in both Japan's industry
and its economy in general. This
has not been nearly SO extensive
as the United States had hoped
however.
When the Zaibatsu breakup
first was attempted, the planners
thought that during an occupa-
ton Of about 10 years, the United
States could make the Japanese
middle class strong enough to pre-