ORIGIN OF REPORT

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23316, 27 September 1945, Page 5

ORIGIN OF REPORT

Period Of .Japan’s Occupation Lunch With MacArthur iU.35 pan.) NEW YORK, Sept. 26. Ted Dealey told the Dallas correspondent of the Associated American Press that his quotation that General MacArthur expected the occupation to last six months was copied from the diary notes he made a few minutes after he and other publishers lunched with the General. A special session of the Privy Council yesterday, which Emperor Hirohito attended, approved the reorganisation of the Japanese Central Liaison Office, through which General MacArthur exercises control of Japan. Government sources said that the organisation of office, which was previously dominated by the Foreign Office, will admit representatives xrom all fields of government. The reorganisation battle was one of the causes which forced the resignation of Mamoru Shigemitsu. The liaison office will be divided into six departments covering finance, home affairs and other fields, to meet the demands of General MacArthur, who must approve the executive heads. The president will be of Ministerial rank. One of the two vice-presidents will be the Vice-Foreign Minister, Tatsuo Kawaii, who was appointed yesterday to replace Matzumato. Emperor Hirohito’s brother, Prince Takamatsu, told a Press conference that Japan should regain her rightful place in the community of nations by stabilising national life and inaugurating a healthy social system. He said he hoped as many Japanese as possible would be allowed to travel abroad tor cultural exchange. A Tokio message says that the President of the Domei News Agency, Inosuke Furuno, announced that he had

decided to recommend to the directors the dissolution of Japan’s sole news service. Commenting on the proposal of the threfe major Tokio daily newspapers to form a new Japanese Press Association, Furuno said it would be impossible to make both ends meet under competition between two agencies. Domei received subsidies from the Japanese Government for what he frankly called propaganda work. Broadcasting from Shanghai, a correspondent of the American Broadcasting Company reports that armed bands of Japanese and Germans are roaming the streets without interference. The Japanese greeted the Americans with gestures of contempt, while “Heil Hitlering” Germans are just as arrogant as during the war. According to a Japanese official estimate, bombing destroyed half of Janan’s productive machinery. General MacArthur has ordered the Japanese Army and Navy to give up all weapons, equipment and transportation facilities and turn over for distribution to civilians stores, food and clothing.