893.01 Manchuria/1431
The Consul General at Harbin (Adams) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 16.]
Sir: As of possible interest I have the honor to offer below some observations with respect to the reorganization of the “Manchukuo” Government, effective on July 1, 1937, according to a special edition of the “Manchukuo” Government Gazette, dated May 8, 1937. A translation of an abridged diagram of the reorganization is attached to this despatch.
The most striking change is that of nine departments, those of Foreign Affairs, Civil Affairs, and Mongol Administration will be abolished and set up as bureaux under the Premier.
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Superficially the suppression of the Foreign and Civil Affairs Departments and the subordination of the other Departments to the Premier give the impression of progress from national independence towards colonial dependence and that impression has been voiced in Harbin. Actually, however, the change only tends to consolidate the position of the Kwantung Army, through increased directness and efficiency of control.
As this Consulate General has repeatedly observed, the tendency in “Manchukuo” is towards increased independence of the general structure of the Japanese Government. From the very beginning of its occupation of Manchuria the Japanese army has undeviatingly pursued the policy of cutting Manchuria loose from the authority of [Page 920] the Japanese Government, leaving only that connection which the Army itself affords. This policy has manifested itself consistently regardless of changes in army personnel and has been described in detail in the despatches of this Consul General.
The sure safeguard which the Japanese army has established against Japanese Government interference in Manchuria and against the effects in Manchuria of a possible loss of its own power and prestige at home is the fiction of “Manchukuo” sovereignty and the “Emperor”. The elaborately prepared and heralded visit of the “Emperor” to Japan and his reception with royal honors there, the recently passed Imperial Succession Law and the creation of a personal estate for the “Emperor” leave no doubt that the army intends to employ the throne of “Manchukuo” as the permanent emblem of its sole authority in Manchuria.
Respectfully yours,