250. Letter From the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (Sprague) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Robertson)1
Dear Mr. Robertson: Thank you for your letter of 4 November 1957,2 addressed to my Deputy, John N. Irwin, in which you describe the action taken by Secretary Dulles concerning repatriation of former residents of the Bonin Islands.
Your letter advises that the Department of State does not agree that the Japanese Government should share in the compensation for the reasons that it would nullify the political objective we are seeking of eliminating repatriation pressure, and that it would offset any political capital the Kishi regime might develop from our agreement to compensate.
In our opinion there are cogent reasons, other than the obvious one that Japan originally evicted the former land owners, for advocating that the Japanese Government share equally or partially in the compensation. First, by sharing the cost, both sides in the negotiation maintain an interest in keeping the amount of compensation to a minimum, an important factor to be considered in justifying any appropriation request before Congress. A second advantage would be that by sharing, the possible connotation of a conscience payment implying sole United States responsibility, would be avoided. Lastly, by sharing, charges by the Japanese political opposition that the U.S. is “buying” the islands would be averted. If compensation is paid unilaterally there is the concomitant inference that Japanese sovereignty is thereby terminated despite the fact that the U.S. has affirmed Japan’s residual sovereignty.
Notwithstanding the above, the Department of Defense defers to the judgment of the Department of State in developing the best means of attaining a desirable political arrangement in this matter. Since political considerations have overriding priority, it is assumed that the Department of State will take the lead in sponsoring and justifying the necessary Congressional appropriation.
The technical details of our proposed plan for indemnification, which would be applicable to either a cost-sharing or a unilateral payment basis, has already been communicated to your Department at a staff level. It proposes that the value of the land be determined by a search of the records of land transfers in the Bonins, or if not available, [Page 548] by taking the value of comparable land in Japan or the Ryukyus. The value of equivalent land in Okinawa has been assessed at one thousand and sixty dollars an acre; a Bonins settlement based on this evaluation would be $3,837,200. Sincerely yours,
- Source: Department of State, FE Files: Lot 59 D 19, Sprague, Mansfield D. Confidential.↩
- See footnote 3, Document 228.↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩