Press translations [Japan]. Editorial Series 0288, 1946-01-23.
Date23 January, 1946
RepositoryRauner Special Collections Library, Dartmouth College.
Call Numbereditorial-0901
Call NumberDS801 .S82
Persistent Identifier
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EDITORIAL SERIES: 288
ITEM 1 Hastening the Delivery of Rice and the New Minister of Agriculture - Provincial
Newspaper Chugoku
Shimbun (Hiroshima) - l6 Jan 46. Translator: I. Hotta.
Full Translation:
The new minister of agriculture, SOEJIMA, disclosed that he is in an awkward predicament,
stating, "I knew formerly how to
administer provisions, but I have no experience in administering such a critical food
situation as JAPAN now faces. I shall,
accordingly, be unable to fulfill my weighty task without the co-operation of interested
Government offices, to say nothing of
the consumers and producers."
We may say that this statement makes us feel that the new minister is unworthy of
managing such an important national problem
as food administration. He also seems to expect producers and consumers to administer
foods voluntarily. It is said that the
Minister SOEJIMA was appointed to that position on the recommendation of MIITSUCHI,
the new home minister, who has a good
record in finance and agriculture. SOEJIMA is likely to depend upon the political
power of Home Minister MITSUCHI, since the
Home Minister and the Minister of Agriculture should co-operate with each other to
hasten the delivery of rice and other
foods.
We do not know whether it is caused by impressions or not, but some members of the
ministry of Agriculture and Forestry have
betrayed their dissatisfaction with the new minister. NAMIKAWA, the president of the
Board of Food Rationing, has tendered his
resignation, and those heads of sections who have advanced views are equally dissatisfied
with the Minister. These facts
foretell for us many possible difficulties in the delivery problem and in urgent food
adninistration problems. We think we can
say that the combination of MITSUCHI with SOEJIMA is too conservative.
The delivery of rice has given no satisfactory results, and the amount of rice offered
in HIROSHIMA is so small that it is
almost equivalent to half that of an average year. Everybody recognized the fact that
the results of delivery would be greatly
influenced by the selection of a suitable person as minister of agriculture. However,
our expectations were regretfully
unfulfilled. The new Minister adopted the policies of the former minister of agriculture,
MATSUMURA, and took a firm attitude
in carrying out the rice monopoly law and other laws. We think, however, that we should
first administer food by ourselves. If
Minister of Agriculture SOEJIMA expects farmers and city dwellers to take an independent
attitude, he must take more positive
steps. Farmers have made up their minds to offer 80 per cent of the quota and appropriate
the remaining 20 per cent for their
own use and for transactions at black market prices. It is not suitable to take a
firm attitude now that we are going to
obtain good results. Such political thinking is causing failure in the delivery of
food.
EDITORIAL SERIES: 288 (Continued)
ITEM 1 (Continued)
JAPAN is now at the last critical moment. The system of society, which does not allow
people to give full scope to their
ability even at such a critical moment, is what is at fault. The circumstances are
indeed serious. The anxiety about food
problems, caused by the selection of the minister of agriculture, cannot be overlooked
as a mere problem that the Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry alone should consider. It will require reorganization of
the Cabinet, too. The Home Minister MITSUCHI
may be experienced in State affairs and may make up for the defects of the SHIDEHARA
Cabinet, but his policies seem to have no
bright future. We eagerly hope that a democratic cabinet will be organized as soon
as possible.
ITEM 2 The Awkward Military and the Diplomats - Asahi Shimbun - 22 Jan 46. Translator:
Y. Ebiike.
Full Translation:
About 600,000 military personnel bureaucrats and civilians have already been repatriated
from the PACIFIC and ASIA. A little
under 6,150,000 are still left to be repatriated. We hear that the Repatriation Ministry
has the idea of examining the
repatriated military personnel who surrendered before the Imperial Rescript terminated
the war. This is just a case of the pot
calling the kettle black. The Repatriation Ministry no longer has the right to judge
its old comrades. It is quite ridiculous
to keep the TOKUSENTAI (TN: Unit which encourages and supervises soldiers in the front
line) today when the home country
itself as well as the front has yielded to unconditional surrender.
It is said that the Nationalist Government, after its reform, will dispatch Mr. T.
V. SOONG, President of the Executive YUAN,
to each Allied Nation as President CHIANG, Kai-Shek's special envoy, and Mr. CHANG,
Chun, the President of SZECHWAN Province
will sit in SOONG's place. Just before the end of the war Mr. SOONG was dispatched
to the SOVIET, where he played an active
part and was successful. Meanwhile, JAPAN's diplomatic authorities tried to bargain
secretly with the SOVIET and even dreamed
of dispatching Prince KONOE to MOSCOW.
It was very awkward from every viewpoint for diplomatic authorities to regard Prince
KONOE as a trump card in such instances
as UNITED STATES-JAPAN negotiations, negotiations with the SOVIET, or in sending an
envoy to apologize to CHINA.
JAPAN, dragged about arbitrarily by such military groups and diplomats, could not
after all avoid the most bitter cup of fate
since the dawn of her history.
ITEM 3 Labor Trouble and Disturbances Should Be Distinguished - Tokyo Shimbun - 22
Jan 46. Translator: T.
Naruse.
Full Translation:
I heard rough footsteps of many persons coming up the stairs. At the same time, the
door of the room adjacent to the directors
room was flung open. Many workers wearing their fatigue blouses instantly surrounded
the managing director, who was conversing
with me, crying out such words as "Oh, here! here!" "Down with him"; "Be free with
everybody!"
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EDITORIAL SERIES: 288 (Continued)
ITEM 3 (Continued)
One of them thrust a written demand before the managing director. Again their outcries
of "Your answer is either yes or no!",
"Reply at once!" "Don't be tricked!" etc, filled the large room.
Although a chief of a section mingled with the workers, they shook him crying that
"It's this guy!", "Down with him!" etc, and
one of them bore down upon him flourishing a bamboo sword over his head. Two or three
workers ran after the chief. Crying,
"Oh, it's fearful - We will go away", several woman workers moved backwards. When
I asked them "How much money do you really
receive?", two or three girls sniffled, "We cannot get along on thirty yen a month!"
There was little hope in this tumult, for
my business talk with the managing director. I went out of the room worrying about
my shoes, which had taken off at the
door.
The workers' outcries still continued. As I walked away through the fields, and I
considered the scene I had seen and wondered
whether it was good or bad. Proper demands cannot be prevented, but they compelled
an answer by force.
Several workers of a suburban tram company, who had previously won their labor dispute,
mingled with the crowd, perhaps to
lead the workers. It is never bad to lead workers. However, the leadership must be
fair and square. Now, the labor unions
right to bargain and to strike are recognized and established by national law. Therefore,
labor does not need violence to
present its demands.
Despite this fact, the scene I saw was similar to a labor dispute taking place before
the Labor Union Law was established.
Labor disputes have no meaning unless they demonstrate that labor is fairer than the
capitalists who exploit it. What I saw is
not labor trouble but rioting, I thought, and I was really depressed. All you laborers
- be lofty to the last! You should not
be reduced to the same level as those you are now impeaching. (End).
ITEM 4 (A) The Competency of the Parliament and the People's Rights. (B) Useless Instructions
- Tokyo
Shimbun - 22 Jan 46. Translator: I. Kuniko.
Full Translation:
(A) The Competency of the Parliament and the People's Rights.
The present several studies or discussions of the Emperor System or the revision
of the Constitution, irrespective of their
left or right standpoint, are worthy from the point of increasing greatly the competence
of the House of Representatives. As
we pointed out some days ago, the abolition of the Lord Privy Seal System which has
already been enforced, or the
reorganization of the systems of the House of Peers or of the Privy Council, which
is to be enforced shortly, will also
greatly promote this directly or indirectly. These matters are only the first means
to democratize our country. In such a way
the House of Representatives will gain its proper powers. Is our supervision or restriction
of the House sufficient in our
right to vote, which is exercised only once in four years? In view of the past of
our Country and of the real situations of
the other civilized countries, we must cautiously consider this.
In the period of the old political parties, the powers of our House of Representatives
were extremely confined, but it was
often that one party, disregarding public opinion, acted willfully, as an autocracy
gained power in the name of the common
people. The present major parties are, in fact, only the continuation of the old parties,
and the newly-risen parties, or the
left wing have also more or less contained the surviving elements or have been influenced
by
- 3 -
EDITORIAL SERIES: 288 (Continued)
ITEM 4 (Continued)
them. Now, the powers of the House are going to be enlarged; there-fore, we must
strictly watch or restrict the House.
In this point the society for the study of the Constitution under the supervision
of Mr. SUZUKI, Yasuzo, and his partners has
asserted in "The Gist of A Draft Constitution" that the parliament can be dissolved
by a plebiscite, and any decision of the
parliament can be brought to naught by a plebiscite. This opinion, we believe, is
truly a progressive one. As a system of the
same kind, the system of the Soviets is now thought to be most progressive. In this
country, according to the stipulation of
Article 142 of the Constitution, the representatives of the highest conference are
under an obligation to report to the Nation
about their activities or those of the conference, and according to the decision by
a majority of the voters and the
prescription of law, they can be removed from office or be reelected at any time.
If our Nation is given the right to dissolve the parliament or to deny its decision,
which "The Gist of A Draft Constitution"
assorts, and is given the right to release an individual representative from office
or to reelect him as in the Soviet, our
democracy, with the enlargement of the powers of the House of Representatives, will
truly be consistent and complete. Then, it
will be enough for us to have only one House.
(B) Useless Instructions.
In the conference of the chief public procurators held on l6 January, Attorney General
NAKANO gave instructions about the
control of the criminals and the intensification of the arrest. In the conference
of the Vice-Ministers held on 17 January,
Mr. NARAHASHI, chief secretary of the Cabinet, emphasized the enforcement of official
discipline.
Such instructions or agreements were too frequently addressed since the outbreak
of the CHINA Incident. In fact, however, only
the small and foolish criminals have been arrested, and the big ones, who are intellectual,
are now very rampant. Official
discipline, far from being enforced, is becoming relaxed with the defeat and the rumor
of administrative readjustment.
Consequently, there are now necessitated instructions or agreements. Why arn't the
instructions or orders of the authorities
enforced?
The general public is wondering about it, but the fact is very clear. When the higher
officials instruct, their duty is
performed, and they do not ask for the enforcement of their instructions. This is
the reason. As the lower officials know this
well, the respectable ones do not intend to obey the instructions honestly. To make
matters worse, the authority of the
officials is gradually decreasing, and their lives also are facing grim prospects.
Therefore, they are forced only to instruct
more and more.
They, in the past, have given instructions and are now repeating such foolish instructions.
As long as the officials are not
swept away, they will repeat this in the future.
DISTRIBUTION "X"
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