740.00119 Control(Japan)/11–245: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Harriman)
2272. The following is in reply to your telegram 3734, November 2.
Section A. 1. We confirm your answer.
2. Your explanation correct. We believe that, if other questions are satisfactorily disposed of, last words of paragraph 1 might be changed to read “implementation of the terms of surrender, occupation and control of Japan and of directives supplementary thereto”. For your information we cannot call this council a control council or derogate in any manner from MacArthur’s full and final authority.
3. As paragraph 1 of Allied Military Council document provides the council consults with and advises the Supreme Commander on matters of implementation. Council members are free to consult their governments. As paragraph 3 provides his decisions are final. Of course the setting up of the military council and the commission does not preclude discussions between the governments interested regarding matters of policy or implementation but we cannot tie the [Page 819] hands of the Supreme Commander pending such discussions. For your information and such use as you wish to make of it, Soviet Government has never accepted revised text of Hungarian Control Commission providing that policy directives should only be issued after “agreement”, insisting that Russian word is closer to consultation. In any event you are quite correct that in Hungarian case there is nothing comparable to Far East Commission.
4. Our disposition, like that of Soviet Government, is to discourage use of other than US forces in occupation. This matter has, however, not yet been decided and further discussion within US Government and after that discussion with other Allies is still necessary.
Section B. 1, 2, 3, 4. We confirm your answers.
5. For your information, the language in question was suggested by British. We assume that it is intended to indicate that the right of the Supreme Commander to act when authorized by the Commission will not be questioned by the participating governments. We would be willing to consider some revision of this.
6. Full set of policies and directives already issued are being furnished Soviet Embassy immediately. Intention of sentence was to provide that existing directives remain in force until changed in accordance with machinery set up. If present langauge presents difficulty we are prepared to alter sentence to read after first semicolon “and the Supreme Commander shall continue to act under directives which the United States has already sent to him unless and until the issuing authority shall have modified such directives in accordance with the provisions of this document.”
7. Our cable 2264 of November 2 gives our views upon this paragraph.