F.E.C. 47.

George Atcheson addressed F.E.C. off the record today. He said
that contrary to the view of some members, the Allied Council was
not intended to be an inquisition. If a member of Council wished
to criticize S.C.A.P. or felt that things in Japan were not going
as they should, these matters should be raised inter-
governmentally or in F.E.C. and not in Council, because Council
meetings were open to Press and Public. The Japanese were thereby
given the impression of Allied disunity. However, he was opposed
to the Council meeting in secret, because leakage had occurred on
the only occasion that a secret meeting occurred. Some members of
the Council used subjects as springboard for criticism of S.C.A.P.

Though S.C.A.P. had submitted for consideration 28 subjects on
29th May and 13 subjects on 19th November, no interest had been
exhibited in these subjects by other members of the Council. The
Yoshida Government was showing great initiative, and did not wait
for orders from S.C.A.P. as Shidehara [1] had done, and this was
one reason why so few directives were issued now.

2. He said that MacArthur thought that F.E.C. decision on review
of Japanese Constitution should never be published. If, in the
course of time experience indicated that the constitution should
be revised, F.E.C. could so indicate then. Announcement now would
cause the Japanese to lose confidence and interest in the
Constitution. (We are nevertheless continuing to press for
publication.)
3. Atcheson strongly criticized the F.E.C. decision on Trade
Unions, particularly reference to political activity. He said it
was largely responsible for the recent strike. [2]

4. Atcheson created a poor impression. The Commission was anxious
to find causes of its misunderstandings with MacArthur and to
explore remedies, but Atcheson made no attempt to put S.C.A.P.'s
point of view or to make suggestions. He was not offensive,
merely, colourless, unresponsive, and uninformative.