AUTHORITY’S VIEW

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 310, 25 September 1943, Page 7

AUTHORITY’S VIEW

No Controversy Exists With MacArthur (Received September 24, 11.35 p.m.) WASHINGTON, September 23. High quarters commenting on General MacArthur’s controversy, say that General MacArthur himself suggested the strategy now operating in the Pacific and the major blows at present being delivered under his command. If General MacArthur’s statement has puzzled the public, it has puzzled officialdom fully as much. However curious its terms, General MacArthur’s statement is regarded in Washington as answering Australian newspapers and possibly Senator Chandler, says the United Press of America. In the wake of all the clamour over what General MacArthur meant, it can be stated on a high if unquotable authority that, first, no controversy exists between General MacArthur and the High Command; secondly, nothing happened at Quebec changing General MacArthur’s status; and, thirdly, General MacArthur’s strategic plan was adopted virtually intact at Casablanca and the details were settled at a subsequent Pacific staff officers’ conference.

The Associated Press of America points out that the position of General MaeArthur’s command has been clarified by the London announcement defining Admiral Mountbatten’s and General MacArthur’s areas. Eventually, it says, some adjustment of responsibility may be necessary, but both must retake large portions of conquered territory before their respective theatres can conceivably overlap. Both apparently aim at an eventual break-through into the China Sea.