Honolulu Record, August 19, 1948, vol. 1 no. 2, p. 2
MacArthur Disobeyed
In Japan, General MacArthur's "suggestion" of last week was not being taken in good part by Japanese workers. His "suggestion" was a strike ban for government workers, which Premier Hitoshi Ashida and the Japanese Cabinet promptly adopted. The trouble began when the government attempted to discipline a union leader whom it accused of delaying freight train schedules. Promptly 1,800 rail workers turned in their resignations and stayed off the job at Matsumoto in central Honshu. Elsewhere in Japan eleven local railway strikes were reported, as the cabinet appealed to all workers to "desist from disregarding the law." Meantime the attorney general threatened to arrest the strikers and even those who are suspected of preparing to strike.
Israel Asks Again
Israel's Foreign Minister Moshe Shertok requested Count Folke Bernadotte, United Nations mediator, to again try for a Palestine peace conference of Arabs and Jews. Shertok said the government of Israel wished to sit down at a round table with the Arabs and try to reach a settlement of their differences. This was a request which Israel had repeated several times in the past — each time without success.
"No Comment "
Last Tuesday the world crossed its fingers and hoped for the best. British, French, and American envoys had requested — and gotten— an interview in Moscow with Joseph Stalin. U. S. Ambassador Walter Bedell Smith, French Ambassador Yves Chataigneau and Frank Roberts, British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin's private secretary, drove through the gates of the Kremlin on the evening of that day. Two hours later they drove out. To reporters they said "No comment."