The following statement was made today by Edwin W. Pauley, formerly
United States Representative on the Allied Commission on Reparations
and Personal Representative of the President in reparations matters:
“The order of the State–War–and–Navy Coordinating Committee,
authorizing General MacArthur to begin the removal of
industrial equipment from Japan as reparations,64 will be beneficial both to the countries which will
receive it and to the Japanese, themselves.
“The receiving countries: China, the Philippines, the
Netherlands East Indies, and the British colonies of Malaya,
Burma and others will benefit because they need this
equipment desperately to rebuild their economies, shattered
by Japanese aggression.
“The Japanese will benefit because they will at last be on
the way to learning definitely what plants are to be
removed. Thus, a start is made toward removing the
uncertainty which has hindered the Japanese in planning for
their future.
“The only regret is that this action has been so long
delayed. I believe it appropriate to note that, in my
Interim Report to the President on December 18, 1945, more
than fifteen months ago, I emphasized:
“‘A program of interim removals should be announced
to other claimant nations immediately, and the
successive actions of seizure, inventory, packing,
and shipment should follow in the shortest possible
time in order to make both the framework of policy
and the course of action uncompromisingly clear. …
The sooner the interim removal program is made clear
to the Japanese, the sooner they will see that they
cannot rely definitely on certain things … the
better it will be for them as well as for us.’”
Although Mr. Pauley has resigned as reparations Ambassador, he has,
at the request of the President and the Department of State, agreed
to remain as advisor on reparations, subject to the call of the
Secretary.