signaled the dawn of another day and legitimized return to the bedrooms."
Though the Americans were in the majority, other nationalities were represented in the Club. The British and the Australians were present in full force. The French and Dutch were represented. The Australian contingent was a loyal source of support for Dick Hughes, as were the Asian contingent from China, the Philippines, and India.
As the Press Club under President Tom Lambert moved into its second New Year, Japan faced two difficult problems, inflation and unrest caused by the newborn, militant left wing aspiring to power. General MacArthur set an example to the Japanese government by crushing the first of these challenges to the ruling authority, and he aced the rising militancy of the labor unions and their left-wing student allies, which sprang up after SCAP removed the bans on them. The National Federation of Government Workers Unions called for a nationwide general strike on February 1 to back its demand for higher wages.
In any case, the Japanese seemed to be adapting to inflation. In mid-February, fleets of pedicabs began appearing in the big cities, making up for the taxi shortage. At a price of ¥10, a two-kilometer ride for two in a bicycle-drawn carriage proved an instant hit, not only with the Japanese, but also with novelty-loving GIs.
If inflation posed a problem to Japan, it also created a headache for the Press Club. The treasurer of the new administration, Hessell Tiltman, warned Lambert and the other members of the Executive Committee (Carl Mydans as first vice-president, Howard Handleman, second vice-president, and Burton Crane, secretary) that "heroic measures" would be needed to keep the Club going. To the questions of finance, membership classifications, and privileges, the committee responded by drafting a test budget for the next three months. At the same time, the Club voted against approaching the army to take over the Club.
Later, on June 20, John Luter, chairman of the Billeting Committee, reported the Club had forty members of whom thirty-five were living in the Club's twenty-four rooms. Among the plans proposed to meet the Club's expenses were a dance every week and increases in the dues. Secretary Burton Crane's minutes for a meeting on February 27 reported that the members approved a resolution to lower monthly dues for associate members from ¥600 to ¥200, while raising monthly dues for resident members from ¥300 to ¥400.
It was about this time that William Salter, a British naval officer and accountant, became a familiar figure in the Press Club, was asked and did proffer advice on finances, and introduced to them a Chinese accountant, Yu Hsi Ling, who, because of his Chinese nationality, was permitted by SCAP to handle both dollar and yen accounts. "Mister Ling," as he came to be known, worked for the Club as its accountant for close to four decades until he retired on June 30, 1984.
The minutes mention a series of spirited discussions of a proposal to extend special privileges to "charter members" even after they left newspaper work, and a list of them was drawn up at the time. Other measures discussed included special guest cards, the problem of Club property "borrowed" by members, and furniture in need of refurbishing.
These problems were placed in the hands of a new Executive Committee elected for the one-year period from July 1947 to June 1948. George Folster of NBC took over as president. He was backed by Chang Jen-Chung of the Central Daily News, Taipei, as first vice-president, and Ralph Chapman, of the New York Herald Tribune as second vice-president. Hessell Tiltman and Burton Crane remained in their respective posts as treasurer and secretary.
From the members' standpoint, however, the major event of Lambert's six-month term was the surprise appearance of General MacArthur at the Club. SCAP had been invited to lunch at the Tokyo Correspondents Club twice before, including the Club's opening, but he had refused, pleading that he could not refuse other invitations if he accepted.
William Manchester reported in his book American Caesar, "At noon on March 17, 1947, he entered unannounced, took a chair, and said he was prepared to talk for the record." Reports by Press Club members indicate that they had advance information he was coming, but were totally unprepared for an on-the-record statement. Most of the newsmen did not even have paper and pens.
MacArthur, Ambassador William Sebald reported in his book With MacArthur in Japan, said the time had come for an end to the Occupation and for a peace treaty. He said the military task had been completed. The political phase is "approaching such completion as is possible under the Occupation." As for economics, he said if the Occupation continued on its current course, it could only enforce economic strangulation. Finally, he suggested that the U.S. exercise control over Japan, a condition that Japan would be willing to accept and would desire. MacArthur said the peace treaty should be negotiated "as soon as possible."
By May of that same year, both Dean Acheson and Herbert Hoover were advocating the immediate conclusion of a separate peace with Japan. Sebald, a seasoned observer with experience in Japan dating from 1925, said, however, that before a peace treaty the Japanese economy had to be allowed to rehabilitate itself and some of the excesses of Occupation control, "particularly the extensive purges," had to be corrected. On this point, Sebald said MacArthur was bucking the military. Among those who speculated about an early peace treaty were Tom Lambert, Howard Handle-man, John Rich, Keyes Beech, and Norman Soong of the Central News Agency.
Russ Brines, however, interpreted Mac-Arthur's remarks as a trial balloon. In his book MacArthur's Japan, Russ wrote: "Mac's insistence upon an early peace treaty did not mean the imminent end of the Occupation, as generally interpreted. He expected military forces to remain in Japan for at least two years after the peace conference began. He had argued consistently that the effective period of a military occupation was between three and five years, after which it ran the risk of losing its influence. He advocated 'supervision' of Japan for at least a generation. But by the third Occupation year, when the Japanese had hoped for sovereignty, economic problems and Japanese incompetence forced SCAP to extend, not diminish, its activities."
If the guessing was rife about the timing of a peace treaty, Joseph B. Keenan, chief of the international prosecution section, silenced any speculation about the Emperor when he later, on October 10, said emphatically that neither Emperor Hirohito nor Japanese industrialists or businessmen would be tried as war criminals.
On May 3, the new, democratic constitution came into force. A poll conducted by the newspaper Mainichi Shimbun the previous year found 85% of its readers supporting the constitution, and 13% opposed. The same 85% approved retaining the Emperor. A preview of popular reaction was the introduction of coeducational classrooms in public schools with the start of the new school term on April 1. Approval was overwhelming.
The trend away from wartime and prewar leaders led to a split among voters in the general elections for the House of Representatives held on April 25, giving the Socialists a paper-thin plurality over the Liberals. Tetsu Katayama, president of the Japan Socialist Party, formed a three-party coalition cabinet when the Liberals opted to stay in the Opposition.
Meanwhile, the easing of restrictions encouraged some elements in Japan to test their new freedom. Leading the way, the Federation of Labor Unions called for a general strike on February 1 to support the wage demands of the government workers' union. Seven hours before the general walkout was scheduled