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"'MacA to Japan' Brewster Suggests to
Forum Hearers"
Harvard
Law Record - October 31, 1951 - Pages 1, 4
reprinted by permission
General MacArthur should be sent back to Japan as our first ambassador, Senator Owen Brewster (R., Maine), declared at the first Harvard Law School Forum last Friday evening. Senator Brewster, the featured speaker on a panel whose topic was the future of Japan as a free nation, said that General MacArthur's appointment is a positive and necessary step in avoiding a possible crisis in United States-Japanese relations.
Fairbank, Martin Agree
The other members of the panel, whose moderator was Professor Harold J. Berman of the Law School, agreed with Senator Brewster that the United States must take positive action quickly. Professor John K. Fairbank of Harvard suggested that the most practical aid we can give Japan is to encourage trade by lifting tariff barriers on principal Japanese exports. More direct subsidizing, with no strings attached, was favored by Mr. Robert P. Martin, a former Columbia Broadcasting System correspondent in Tokyo and now a Nieman Fellow at Harvard.
Unemployment and hunger are now present factors in Japan which may drive the people either to Russian Communism or to a form of home-grown totalitarianism, Mr. Martin explained.
Martin Suggests 'No Strings'
He warned that after the ratification of the peace treaty Japanese interests will be governed by "self-interest -- not necessarily enlightened," and that the United States must avoid using economic aid to control Japanese politics. Aid with no strings is the best way to keep Japan's good will, he declared.
Subsidization of imports would probably keep Japan from going Communist for economic reasons, Mr. Martin said, and it is up to the United States to discourage a swing to the right by avoiding contact with Japanese militarists.
Concluding, Mr. Martin emphasized that the United States must avoid interfering in Japanese internal affairs. It is vitally necessary for our own protection to keep Japan's good will, and we must not do anything to make the Japanese resent our economic aid when they become a free nation.
Brewster Favors Caution
Senator Owen Brewster, the second speaker, agreed with Mr. Martin that the United States must give aid to Japan, but stated that in our own interest we must be able to specify how such aid is to be used.
Emphasizing again that any American aid to Japan must be on a favor-for-favor basis, Senator Brewster ended his talk by saying, "America must come of age. It must cease sowing wild oats around the world. Only strict conservation of our material resources can save the world economy."
Professor John K. Fairbank, the last speaker, pointed out that the government's experience in Europe indicates that, as Senator Brewster had said, subsidized countries hate our bounty. It seems to be better to give aid on some sort of an exchange basis.
He warned against pushing Japan around with subsidies, "stringed or stringless." Instead, he favors lowering tariff barriers to encourage mutual trade. Although this might make readjustments necessary in our internal economy, he felt it was a necessary measure of practical statesmanship. If Japan doesn't trade with us, she will trade with Communist China, he warned.
Suggests Future Steps
In Japan, Professor Fairbank believes, we have an opportunity to "start from scratch, to prevent the situation from going to pieces, as we did in China." The problem in our relations in Japan is to influence her development in what we would regard as a "healthy" direction.
Finally, he suggested some measures which the government might take in future relations with Japan. We should avoid American identification with a particular Japanese political group, a mistake we made in China. As in the E. C. A., we should give funds only for specific uses. Most important, we should make more contacts through individuals and private associations.