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{
    "localId": "269703053",
    "label": "Memorandum from President Harry S. Truman to Secretary of State James Byrnes, with Attached Correspondence Between President Harry S. Truman and Karl T. Compton",
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    "id": "269703053",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Memorandum from President Harry S. Truman to Secretary of State James Byrnes, with Attached Correspondence Between President Harry S. Truman and Karl T. Compton",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/269703053",
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    "naId": 269703053,
    "levelOfDescription": "item",
    "productionDates": [
        {
            "logicalDate": "1945-10-01",
            "month": 10,
            "year": 1945
        }
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    "seq": 8,
    "pageIndex": 0,
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    "ocrText": "President Truman\n-6-\nOctober 4, 1945\nexisting Japanese government was used to produce the facilities,\nthe conditions, or the officials which our forces requested.\nAs fast as possible the composition of the government is being\nmodified to include individuals who are effective and who at\nthe same time realize that the only salvation for their\ncountry is to organize and operate in the directions required\nby Allied policy.\nWhen I made my final report to General MacArthur, he ex-\npressed the hope that he might have another uninterrupted\nthirty days in order to carry through his plans for establishing\nadequate military security and control of the situation. He\nstated that until the situation is thus secured, any bad mis-\nhandling might result in a state of anarchy, accompanied by the\nestablishment of guerrila bands in the mountains and a general\nunhappy situation which might require a large force and many\nyears to subdue.\nIt appears to me that the situation has been handled with\ngreat skill, and that it is still too complex and too sensitive\nto be handled except by persons on the spot who are quickly\nsensitive to the day-by-day developments. At least this would\nseem to me to be true with reference to operations as distinct\nfrom ultimate goals or objectives.\nFinally, General MacArthur asked me to pass on to you the\nvarious observations which I had reported to him and which are\noutlined above, thinking that these might be a helpful addition\nto your own background of information on the basis of which\nyou will from time to time be called upon to make policy\ndecisions.\nRespectfully submitted,\nKarl T. Compton\nKarl I. Compton\ncovering\nPresident\nMassachusetts Institute of Technology\nKTC:mah"
}