894.628/5–1848
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of Northeast Asian Affairs (Allison)
| Participants: | Sir John Balfour, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, British Embassy |
| Mr. H. A. Graves, Counselor, British Embassy | |
| Mr. Norman Armour, Assistant Secretary | |
| Mr. John M. Allison, Chief, NA |
Sir John Balfour called this afternoon and under instructions from his Government left an aide-mémoire1 strongly protesting against SCAP’s projected plan of authorizing a 1948–49 SCAP-administered Japanese Antarctic Whaling Expedition. Sir John emphasized the fact, which is not brought out in the attached aide-mémoire, that SCAP’s desire to add a third Japanese factory ship this year would in fact put the Japanese in proportionately greater strength in comparison with the other chief whaling nations, namely the United Kingdom and Norway, than Japan was before the war. The U.K. Government considered this a particularly serious matter in view of the fact that the whole British and Norwegian pre-war whaling fleets were destroyed during the war against the Axis Powers in which, of course, Japan played a prominent part. It would seem to the U.K. [Page 770] Government manifestly unfair that the Japanese should now be placed by the victors in a superior position than previously. The U.K. Government feels very strongly that if SCAP considers, in spite of the objections raised by protesting powers, that it is necessary to dispatch a 1948–19 expedition he should at least confine it to the two factory ships which took part in previous expeditions.
Mr. Armour pointed out that the total Japanese catch during the past season of only some 700 blue whale units seem to him a very small proportion of the total permissible catch of 16,000 blue whale units. Mr. Graves pointed out, however, that while it was small it nevertheless was equivalent to 8-days’ catch for the U.K. and Norwegian whaling fleets and that their fleets had been penalized to that extent by the Japanese expedition. Mr. Armour further pointed out that in the view of the United States Government it was not proper for the victors to take advantage of their position to impose on the vanquished artificial restrictions on access to either markets or sources of supply and that the United States did not therefore feel that the Japanese should be prevented from Antarctic whaling merely because they were an ex-enemy. Sir John said that while this might be a proper position to take he nevertheless wished to reiterate his former contention that the sending of three factory ships this year would not only place Japan in an equal position relative to the U.K. and Norwegian whaling fleets but in proportionately a better position than she had been prior to the war and that on any moral grounds this seemed to the British iniquitous.
Mr. Armour concluded the interview by assuring Sir John that his views would at once be made clear to the Supreme Commander.
- May 18, not printed.↩