Cablegram Department 69 TOKYO, 22 August 1946
SECRET IMMEDIATE
1. At the beginning of today’s Council Meeting Atcheson asked members for their reactions to the proposal that the Council be enlarged by inviting representatives of the countries which had taken part in the Pacific war and which had missions in Tokyo to participate informally and unofficially in Council discussions.
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2. Chu said that the proposal meant a definite change in spirit and substance of the Terms of Reference but that his Government saw no objection to inviting a representative of any Allied power to join in Council discussions on a particular subject with which his country was directly concerned if the Chairman considered such an invitation necessary and it were supported by the majority of the Council.
3. I said ‘I appreciate very fully the Supreme Commander’s desire to share his very heavy responsibilities with all those powers who have taken part in the Pacific war and so far as the four Governments which I represent are concerned each is most anxious to give the Supreme Commander any kind of help-any kind of advice that he might find useful. Moreover it has been my good fortune to meet the Leaders of some of these missions, the missions which you refer to, General Pechkoff and General Schilling, and I cannot but feel that their advice would be of very great value-of very great interest to all members of the Council. On the other hand I do feel that the proposal you put forward does mean a substantial change in the Terms of Reference of this Council and I really feel it is such an important change that it should be a matter for consideration between the Governments who were parties to the Moscow agreements.
I feel that it is not the kind of proposal that we can properly discuss or decide in this Council’.
4. Derevyanko repeated his view that this problem was not within the purview of the Council since the Council was not qualified to revise decisions taken by the Foreign Ministers. He could not personally take part in any discussion of the question and he insisted that it be taken off the Agenda.
5. Atcheson replied, ‘I am of course disappointed in the response which this proposal has received. General MacArthur will also be disappointed. I think that the Council is missing a great opportunity for usefulness’.
6. Derevyanko repeated his request that MacArthur ‘informs the Council of his reactions to the Council’s advice’. I supported Derevyanko in principle. Atcheson replied that if the Supreme Commander consulted and advised with the Council in accordance with the Terms of Reference it was unnecessary and impracticable for him to give the Council a subsequent explanation of his reasons for accepting or rejecting their advice.
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1 See Document 66.
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[AA:A1067, P46/10/33/17]