740.00119 FEAC/4–1246
Memorandum by the State Department Member of the
State–War–Navy Coordinating Committee (Hilldring) to the Committee
[Washington, April 12, 1946.]
Communication From Chairman of Far
Eastern Commission for Transmittal to the Supreme Commander for the
Allied Powers
The Far Eastern Commission, acting under paragraph VI of its Terms of
Reference, which provides that the Commission “may make such
arrangements through the chairman as may be practicable for consultation
with the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers”, requested its
chairman on 10 April 1946 to consult with the Supreme Commander for the
Allied Powers on the matter contained in the enclosure.
It is requested that the attached enclosure be forwarded to the Joint
Chiefs of Staff for transmission to the Supreme Commander for the Allied
Powers.
[Page 196]
[Annex]
Far Eastern Commission Communication for General
of the Army Douglas MacArthur
[Washington, April 10, 1946.]
The Far Eastern Commission has unanimously requested its Chairman to
consult with the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers with a view
to having him send a member of his staff to Washington to confer
with the Commission in connection with the Commission’s current
study of Japanese constitutional reform and of the basic principles
which should determine its approval of any specific constitutional
draft.
Any officer selected by the Supreme Commander for this purpose should
not only be familiar with the subject of Japanese constitutional
reform in general, but should also be prepared to discuss with the
Commission the views and plans of the Supreme Commander’s
Headquarters in these matters and should be informed about the
current developments within the Japanese Government and among the
Japanese people on the subject of a new constitution.
The Commission, in its concern that any constitution adopted by the
Japanese should embody the “freely expressed will of the Japanese
people”, is particularly interested in the procedures by which it is
contemplated a new constitution will be adopted—whether, for
example, by the Diet, by a constitutional convention, or by a
plebiscite. The Commission is also very much interested in the
extent to which the Japanese people have actually participated in
discussions concerning the adoption of a new constitution—for
example, to what extent they have been informed about other
constitutional drafts than the one proposed by the Cabinet; what
evidence they have shown of applying democratic principles in
considering a new proposed constitution; and in what manner they
have been encouraged to abolish the imperial institution or to
reform it along democratic lines.
The Commission would, of course, profit greatly if the officer
selected were also in a position to communicate the Supreme
Commander’s own views on these matters.
