Press translations [Japan]. Editorial Series 0021, 1945-11-17.

Full Translation:

Nowadays bureaucracy has become almost synonymous with mis-government. Indeed, bureaucracy in war-time was filled with many emails, and at last it destroyed the country. Now the complete abolition of bureaucracy and the reform of officials is demanded. The Government has also proposed a plan for reforming the bureaucratic system. But the reform of the bureaucratic system must be complete as far as it affects the work of the officials. All bureaucratic rule and control has resulted in failure. This is due to the fact first that the officials exceeded their competency, and, second to the ability and character of the officials who could not meet the demands of the time. Accordingly, first of all, public officials should return to their original duty of administrative experts. In general, since the MEIJI period the officials in our country have remained conscious of the superiority of state power. The sense of state superiority forms their fundamental creed.

However, since the defeat such, a feeling must be swept away and the officials now should become the public servants [illegible]between officials and the people, plus the conventional idea that officials are superior to the people must be abandoned The reform plan as expressed in abolishing discrimination between the (KOTOKAN) and (HANNIN KAN) officials, simplification of official rank or class, and unification of the salary system may thought drastic by the officers who still have the conventioned spirit. This will not attract the people attention because it does not touch the fundamental principles of the existing system.

The proper duty of officials is that of administrative experts, but their function has taken on new meanings with the passage of time. For instance in the early stages of MEIJI the officials, who were possesers of advanced knowledge or pioneers of that time, enlightened the people and utilized the national policy for the enrichment and strengthening of the country. In the TAISHO period they returned to their original task as administrative experts, working for the improvement and the perfection of knowledge in society. They took charge of the so-called supervisory administration.

The task which we now face is the problem of the officials in the forthcoming era. We demand that all officials return to their proper work, but this does not imply a simple return to the old supervisory administration. Official control will be replaced by popular control. But it is inevitable that many difficulties will arise in connection with social or economic problems [illegible]from the present critical [illegible]in adjusting to freedom of activity in a peacetime society will [illegible].

EDITORIAL SERIES: 21 (Continued)

ITEM 1 (Continued)

However the existing bureaucratic system is that of the age of supervisory administration carried on according to laws only, and officials have only ability enough to he guardians of the law. Such officials, temporizing with militarists, led the people to war. It was then inevitable that their controlling policy should result in failure of the officials of a new age, it is requested that they have culture and common sense, not merely knowledge of the laws. Without this, learning of subject matter alone means the acquisition of superficial knowledge which is of little use and often dangerous. Especially, the officials hereafter, must have a broad knowledge of economics, without which, whether they, concern themselves in economics or not, they can not fulfill their duty as officials.

The official must be first of all a good citizen. Specialized ability as an administrative expert is overestimated by the higher civil service examination. KOTOKAN officials who are graduates of a government university which is a training school for officials, after having passed the examination, become inactive and conscious' of a superior feeling under the protection of their record. They further form many cliques excluding others and separate themselves from the people. So the present system of appointment for civil service must be reformed radically. The Government, on the other hand, only proposes the establishment of a new system of interview in addition to the present system of qualifying examinations. This is no drastic reform. Though the system of interviews for appointment seems to allow anyone to become an official. It is unnecessary to have any discussion of the character of those who become officials through interview. The interview system is even not apt to spread evils of the present system. It would be better to adopt a free appointment system for civil service and send men of ability into the official world by reforming the present education system.

The government plans to set up an institution for education, of officials. However it is clear that the conventional education of officials will take place there. This is harmful. The plan to place officials among civilians to let them engaged in actual business is not bad in its essence, but by this, officials can not acquire practical knowledge, as the precedent of the HARA ministry proves. The system of inspection or business report is rather useless, because a chief officer who can not recognize the ability and diligence of his subordinates is not qualified for his position. The chief official must have responsibility for the work of his subordinates and in connection with this, the system of punishment of civil officials which is regulated by the Civil Service Position Ordinance must be revised without the renewal of the fundamental ideas which lie at the root of the existing system., the whole plan for reform will be in effective.

From this point of view, this Government plan is very superficial and does not deserve to be promulgated. In short, the Government does not clarify the key-point of the problem of reform in bureaucratic system. Without touching the core of the problem, however, desperately the Government tries to reform, success can not be attained.

Full Translation:

We, the employees of the YOMIURI, have been in dispute with President SHORIXI and the directors since the 23rd of last month, however we continued to put out the paper. We can never produce an independent

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EDITORIAL SERIES: 21 (Continued)

ITEM 2 (Continued)

and liberal newspaper without abolishing the president's despotism in ignoring our personalities and keeping us in slavery, and without democratizing the feudalistic system of the office. We, as employees of a newspaper, have two missions. One is the carrying on of cultural struggle for the banishment of the destroyers of culture and those responsible for the war. The other is the carrying on of the political struggle for democracy.

Our struggle for the democratization of our newspaper is taking the lead in the bloodless revolution now going on in various fields of endeavor in our country. The result of our struggle will seriously affect the movement for democracy and the democratic organizations in other fields, political, economical, social and cultural. For that reason, all the reactionary or anti-democratic forces, such as the ZAIBATSU, the capitalists, the bureaucrats and the bullies of the Right Wing, are supporting and encouraging the president. The president and directors of the ASAHI and the MAINICHI, our contemporaries, have peacefully resigned and retired accepting their war responsibility. Our president, however, is still continuing to reject our request for his resignation, recently going so far as to prosecute the leaders of the dispute committee for unlawful entry and occupation, disturbance to the management of business and so on. Our leaders are now under investigation in the public prosecutor's office.

If the capitalists could influence the prosecution authorities by these steps, they would have forcible measures to disturb and prevent the development of labor unions. If this is allowed, the development of labor unions, which is a fundamental condition of industrial democratization, will come to a dead stop. We can not over-look this from the social point of view.

Since the president is rejecting our proposal, we shall look to the public for their impartial judgment democratically by bringing our dispute to the Dispute Arbitration Council. Until the end of the dispute we shall continue to put out the paper ourselves. We are managing the business in an atmosphere as calm as before the start of the dispute. It is only because of shyness and not because of violent or unlawful, acts on our part, that the president, the vice-president, and the chief of the editorial department have not come into the editorial room. While all we employees are endeavoring to accomplish our object with all our energy concentrated on producing a democratic paper which can be a popular organ, some principal members on the side of the president are disturbing our business by delaying loading and distribution, much to the inconvenience of the readers. Now, all the organized laborers and workers sincerely desire a prompt industrial recovery and a prompt extension of peaceful production. No one of them, we believe, is a violent revolutionist willing to destroy the industrial structure. It is the capitalists themselves who are moving slowly. They dread labor unions1 participation in management. They, who have Lost confidence and respect by the defeat are doing nothing more than conceal war-time profits and acquisition of insurance and indemnities for war-time losses in order to keep themselves in safety and comfort. Thus the president's attempt to make the YOMIURI an instrument to maintain his political, economic and social influence and to oppress the nation for the benefit of capitalists should be crushed completely by our strong, combination and the public support. We present, in the name of people a strong protest against all the reactionary forces that are encouraging the president and oppressing the employees on the ground that they, the reactionary forces, are hindering and disturbing the establishment of democracy in JAPAN.

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EDITORIAL SERIES: 21 (Continued)

Extracts:

The Government is said to be preparing to introduce a bill into the extraordinary session of the Diet for the reform of arable land. This action follows the directive of Supreme Headquarters which ordered the Government to take resolute steps for the reform of the land system. The contents of the reform bill will probably be as follows; to expropriate the 2,800,000 cho of existing tenant-lands and 800,000 of virgin soil and put the lands under the contract of [illegible]associations.

The fixed price for expropriation is the official price plus about 150 yen per tan. The old tenant-lands are to be controlled by agrarian associations as far as possible to do away with the feudal farm-rent system:

If coercive measures are not taken to force landlords to dispose of lands, it will be impossible to rebuild an agricultural JAPAN. Now, that the Imperial families is losing power and the nobility is being abolished, and the four dig financial houses have been dissolved: other capitalists such as landowners will be unable to maintain the status quo.

The land system must be reformed so that the food problem may be solved. Now that the Government has undertaken the task, it should introduce the reform bill into the Diet as soon as possible and obtain approval of it.

Full Translation:

Special Envoy PAULEY, member of the American Reparations Committee clarified American reparations policy in a statement to the press on the 15th. Measures will be taken according to the following general plan:

• 1.A "minimum" economy will be established in JAPAN with the exclusion of those aspects of the economy not necessary to maintenance.
• 2.All machinery and implements for war production must be destroyed.
• 3.Reparations will be exacted separate from occupation expenses, and imports.
• 4.Though the intentions of the allied nations other than the UNITED STATES have not yet been enunciated, reparations will be paid in consumer goods.

By destroying machinery and implements for war production, the danger of the ZAIBATSU asserting its ambitions in a future war will be eliminated. However, will the destruction of machinery be given priority over the maintenance of a "minimum" economy? Most of the machinery used in war production can be converted into machinery for the production of consumer goods, thus enabling JAPAN to maintain a "minimum" economy. Destruction of this machinery will make that economy difficult to achieve, since most of our production facilities were geared for war.

That the cost of imports and occupation will be calculated apart from reparations costs may be to our advantage, since occupation costs and those incurred in the import of necessary items will be given priority over reparation's payments.

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EDITORIAL STRIES: 21 (Continued)

ITEM 4 (Continued)

Important too is a definition of the "minimum" standard for JAPAN, which Special Envoy PAULEY failed to elucidate, we interpret it to mean a standard of living not above that of the countries invaded by the Japanese armies. In other words, our standard of living will not be higher than that of CHINA, the PHILIPPINES, or MALAYA. However, the import of goods sufficient to maintain such an economy will be permitted prior to the payment of reparations.

The standard of living of a nation is directly related to national income. We will have to adjust our economy so that the average income in JAPAN is below that of CHINA and other nations. It is inevitable, therefore, that the national income will be lowered beyond the pre-war level, and as a consequence individual incomes will be lowered.

However, the actual income does not always equal the average individual income, so the problem becomes one of distribution of national wealth. A decrease in national income is by no means catastrophic for the general public so long as it is distributed fairly and equally. No matter how great the national income, a peaceful and democratic country can not be formed if most of it is concentrated in the hands of a few.

By endeavoring to divide national wealth fairly by a thorough democratization of the means of distribution can we construct a new, free, and peaceful JAPAN.

Special Envoy PAULEY inferred as much when he said, "the Japanese people will realize as a result of American policies on reparations, that they enjoy lives much richer than that in the days of militarism.

The payment of reparations presents a problem that endangers stability, If the government lavishes indemnities on those who possess goods to be used for payment of reparations, inflation will become more serious.

Inflationary practices cause a rapid concentration of money within a few groups. Small capital becomes absorbed by big capital, and laborers and salaried-employees are reduced to object poverty.

If our national income is reduced and then irrationally distributed, JAPAN will be thrown into a state of utter economic and social class.

Government authorities must take greater precautions so that while paying reparations they do not prepare the way for inflation.

Full Translation:

The principle of democracy, when advocated by President of the Privy Council HIRANUMA, sounds as cynical as the arguments against the GUMBATSU coming from general MAZAKI who played the role chiefly instrumental in the 26 February Incident. Being anti-TOJO is quite different from being anti-GUKBATSU.

Parties apposed to the TOJO clique were also militaristic. There were also anti-Russian, and anti-Anglo-American factions. The question lies in whether or not one is a member of a faction, and not whether or not he opposes a particular faction.

The same applied in the case of NAKANO, Seigo, a fascist who was compelled by general TOJO to kill himself. True, he displayed courage in

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EDITORIAL SERIES: 21 (Continued)

ITEM 5 ( Continued)

opposing TOJO, but his opposition was directed at the TOJO faction and not against military cliques, or the principles of militarism. It is commonly known that Mr. NAKANO admired HITLER so fanatically that he combed his hair in the same manner, and aped HITLER's salute. He was one of the outspoken enemies of ENGLAND and the UNITED STATES, and made no attempt to conceal his pleasure at the outbreak of the Greater EAST ASIA War. His parliamentiary diatribes are on record.

We must be careful not to be deluded into believing he was antimilitarist simply because he war in TOJO's bad graces. Responsibility for the war is not TOJO's alone, but also that of the military factions which sponsored his assumption of feudal control, thus involving JAPAN in the war. NAKANO was one of the influential leaders of the military fascists.

Had general MASAKI said ten years ago what he now asserts, the junior officers who participated in the 26 February Incident would not have misunderstood him. They were duped by their admiration for him without completely understanding his motives, and consequently were ready to lay down their lives at his command.

Baron HIRANUMA was considered a guardian deity by the leftists. The KOKURYUKAI, a leftist organization and the object of considerable Allied Headquarters' scrutiny, is really insignificant when compared to the KOKUHONSHA or the GENYOSHA led by Baron HIRANUMA. It is a well-known fact that he led the judicial fascists who trampled upon parliamentary procedure, collaborated with militarists in denouncing the Arms Reduction treaties as an infringement of the prerogatives of the Privy Council.

He also helped form the recent cabinets. Despite his fascistic crimes, he tries to survive in this democratic era. Such is the existerce of celebrities.

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