894.50/12–2748
Press Release Issued on December 19 by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Tokyo1
SCAP Letter to Prime Minister on Stabilization
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur today forwarded the following letter to Prime Minister Yoshida:
“I am just in receipt of an interim directive from the government of the United States forwarded to me in accordance with the terms of reference of the Far Eastern Commission. This directive establishes a series of objectives designed to achieve fiscal, monetary, price and wage stability in Japan as rapidly as possible, as well as to maximize production for export. Such objectives, which are listed as an inclosure to this letter2 are clear and explicit, and as pointed out in the public release of the United States State and Army Departments follow an objective pattern, the general aspects of which have heretofore been communicated to the Japanese Government as a means towards the ultimate desired stability.
“The directive proceeds from the premises that the prompt economic stabilization of Japan is a primary objective common both to the Allied Powers and the Japanese people; that the American people so long as called upon to underwrite existing deficits in the indigenous resources required to sustain Japanese life are entitled to the maximized industry of the Japanese people and the minimized loss incident to a maldistribution of available resources or failure vigorously to produce native raw products or curb extravagance and waste in the operation of government and industry; and that by positive Allied intervention many obstructions incident to improvidential political [Page 1067] conflicts, unobjective labor strife and destructive ideological pressures best be avoided.
“The fundamental objective of this action, reduced to language which all may understand, is the prompt achievement of that degree of economic self-sufficiency which alone can justify and insure political freedom. For there can be no political freedom so long as a people’s livelihood is dependent upon the largess of others. Nor may a people fully mobilize the collective will as an impregnable barrier against evil and destructive ideological pressures and as an irresistible force toward progressively improved living standards, if lacking in that resolute dignity which alone springs from mastery over its own deficiencies.
“Necessarily, the action of the United States is tied in to the problem of relief and recovery appropriations, which may be expected in future only in ratio to progress made through the combined efforts of the Japanese people toward achievement of the stated objectives. This will call for a reorientation of Japanese thought and action, with both subordinated to a primary purpose common to all of the people. It will call for increased austerity in every phase of Japanese life and for the temporary surrender of some of the privileges and immunities inherent in a free society.
“There will be no place for interference by management or labor with the acceleration of production, for the burden will be shared by every segment of Japanese society. There will be no place for political conflict over the objectives to be sought as these objectives are stated with crystal clarity. Nor will there be any place for ideological opposition as the purpose to be served is common to all of the people, and any attempt to delay or frustrate its accomplishment must be curbed as menacing the general welfare.
“In keeping with my long established policy, insofar as is possible, I shall look to the Japanese Government and people for the vigorous and faithful fulfillment of this stabilization program. I have faith in their ability, however stern the requirement and great the personal sacrifice, to achieve so worthy a national goal. The course ahead may well prove difficult but its impact upon individual life will be minimized if the burden is equalized among all the people.
“It is my earnest hope and indeed my confident expectation that all Japanese men and women will rally with vigor and determination to the challenge of this objective. If they do, Japan will evolve a pattern of progressive stability for all of strife-torn Asia to emulate. If they do not, Japan may perish.”
Very sincerely,