Office of the Historian

FE Files (Peace Treaty)

Memorandum by Miss Ruth E. Bacon, Special Assistant to the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Vincent)32

October 25, 1946
secret

Working Group on Japan Treaty

notes on meeting of friday, october 25, 194633

I. Demilitarization

Generally agreed:

To take Article I of the 25-year treaty as basis for provisions in the draft treaty with alterations (1) to make provisions binding upon Japan and (2) to integrate control machinery with other provisions of draft treaty relating to controls.

Questions still outstanding:

Should disarmament provisions be made binding upon Japan in perpetuity (duration of peace treaty) or be synchronized with duration of control machinery, or be subject to modification by agreement?

II. Control Machinery

Generally agreed:

(1)
that the Working Group should operate on the assumption that the Japanese treaty would be concluded sometime during the fall of 1947, this assumption to be subject to revision in the light of developments.
(2)
that provisions relating to control to be included in the treaty should take into account two periods: (a) pending withdrawal of military forces and (b) pending withdrawal of remaining controls.

Questions outstanding:

(1)
Should the control authority to be established under the treaty have supreme authority similar to that now possessed by SCAP?
(2)
In the light of answer to question (1) above, is the conclusion of a peace treaty with Japan in the near future in the best interests of this country?
(3)
Should the proposed new control council or commission be established in Tokyo or Washington?
(4)
Should the proposed new control council or commission be an outgrowth of the FEC or a new start? Might consultations at the ambassadorial level in Washington take the place of more formalized machinery?

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III. Question of What States are to sign, et cetera

Generally agreed:

(1)
that this question should be broken down to include successive stages: preparation of draft; discussion of draft with formulation of recommendations; preparation of final draft; signatories; approvals essential to bring treaty into force.
(2)
that the original draft of the treaty would probably be prepared either by the Big Four or by the FEC.

  1. Copies to Messrs. Borton, Emmerson, Hunsberger, and Martin.↩
  2. This was the first of a series of meetings dealing with the Japanese peace treaty.↩