Cotton fields, Senator Holman’s amendment and life in the camps

Vol. 15, No. 17, September 24, 1942. 8 pages. View this issue

The harvest and the threat to citizenship shared the front page. Evacuee volunteers began picking long staple cotton in Arizona, a crop needed for parachutes and gliders, while Senator Rufus Holman proposed a constitutional amendment that would let Congress strip citizenship from Americans with dual nationality. Editorials condemned it, and Saburo Kido wrote that he had changed his mind about farm work for evacuees. Larry S. Tajiri opened a two-part report on the Heart Mountain center, and Bill Hosokawa wrote on unity within the JACL.

The rest of the 8 pages covered daily life in the incarceration camps: Santa Anita residents moving to Rohwer, the end of the Minidoka movement, new self-government rules at Manzanar, and the Poston police court and co-op plan. Fred Fertig’s essay on race prejudice ran across pages 6 and 7. Mike Masaoka was to speak at a social work conference, and the JACL opened a Washington information bureau.

What’s in this issue

National

• Holman Bill Challenges Nisei Citizenship, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Senator Rufus Holman proposed a constitutional amendment allowing Congress to strip citizenship from Americans with dual nationality, a measure widely seen as aimed at American-born Japanese. The proposal could also affect Americans of German and Italian descent.
• Center-Bound Evacuees May Work in Beets, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Senator George Norris said the War Department agreed to let 15,000 West Coast Japanese bound for Arkansas centers harvest sugar beets in several western states. The Department of Agriculture advised him of the decision after he requested it for beet growers in Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.

Incarceration & Redress

• Evacuees Answer Army’s Call to Save Vital Long Staple Cotton Crop in Arizona Fields, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Evacuee volunteers began picking Arizona long staple cotton, a crop needed for parachutes and gliders, after the Army permitted their work inside an exclusion zone. Early results were slow, and officials said success depended on whether volunteers returned after their discouraging first day.
• Citizenship Amendment Is Proposed to Constitution, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Senator Holman proposed a joint resolution ending dual citizenship so that Congress could deny citizenship to Americans of enemy ancestry. Holman said the amendment would primarily affect American-born Japanese, though it could also reach German and Italian Americans.
• Legion Criticizes Civilian Control of ‘Internment’ Camps, by P.C. Staff, page 1. At its national convention, the American Legion criticized civilian control of Japanese camps and opposed special privileges for Japanese. A Nevada resolution calling for deportation of all Japanese after the war was also considered.
• Santa Anitans Begin Move to Arkansas Relocation Center, by P.C. Staff, page 2. About 4,500 evacuees from the Santa Anita assembly center began transfer by train to the Rohwer center in Arkansas, the first major movement to that site. Meals and medical staff were provided during the five-day journey.
• Japanese Prisoners Assisting China’s Struggle for Freedom, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Chinese actress Young Wang reported that Japanese prisoners are helping free China with anti-militarist propaganda broadcasts. She also said China must receive assurances it will not be cheated in the postwar world.
• Old CCC Camp to House Evacuee Farm Workers, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Preparations were underway to convert an old CCC camp near Vale, Oregon, into a labor camp housing about 200 Japanese laborers. The conversion was planned to supply farm labor in the region.
• Evacuee Property to Be Protected by WRA Office, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The federal government appointed H. R. Oakley as agricultural property supervisor and L. F. Sloan as commercial property custodian to protect evacuees’ property. Oakley said there had been cases of merchants trying to take advantage of evacuated Japanese.
• Clarify WRA Regulations on Government at Manzanar, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Solon Kimball explained new self-government rules at Manzanar, assuring that non-citizen block leaders would keep their posts as block managers. Legislative power would rest with an elected community council restricted to citizens.
• Arrival of Portland Evacuees Completes Minidoka Movement, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The arrival of 317 evacuees from the Portland Assembly Center nearly completed the large-scale movement to the Minidoka center at Hunt, Idaho. The town’s population reached 9,385, making it the eighth largest city in the state.
• Evacuees Respond to Call for Labor in Cotton Fields, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Response from Poston and Rivers evacuees for cotton picking in Pinal and Maricopa counties was described as very encouraging. Army guards were ready on short notice to patrol the zone boundaries where evacuees worked.
• Six Thousand Reported Aiding Fall Harvesting, by P.C. Staff, page 2. U.S. officials reported that about 6,000 of the 120,000 evacuees were helping relieve farm shortages, a number expected to grow. Workers volunteered under contracts that set wages and working conditions, and they could not displace local labor.
• Wakayama Test Case Writs to Be Heard, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Habeas corpus applications by Ernest and Toki Wakayama challenging DeWitt’s evacuation orders were set for hearing before a federal three-judge court in Los Angeles on October 2. Attorneys including Walter Tsukamoto joined counsel representing the petitioners.
• Irish-Japanese Youth Prefers Jail to Center, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Patrick Brennan Kawasaki pleaded guilty to violating an army exclusion order, saying he preferred prison to a relocation center. He had reportedly posed as a Mexican and registered for the draft under another name.
• Manzanar Commission Drafts Constitution for Evacuee City, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Manzanar’s newly appointed commission on community government began drafting a constitution for residents. Issei and nisei were both to participate in the committees that would form the council, elections, judiciary and arbitration bodies.

Community

• Utah’s AFL Hits Influx of Japanese, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Utah State Federation of Labor adopted a resolution opposing Japanese land acquisition and calling for anti-alien land laws like California’s. The federation argued that evacuees would take land and deny returning servicemen their jobs.
• Hearty Welcome Accorded Nisei Students at Park College, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Seven American-born Japanese students at Park College were warmly welcomed by the student body, with all six social clubs rushing them. The Park Stylus editorial praised their records and urged acceptance despite opposition in Parkville.
• Weiser Boy Hurt in Farm Accident, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Milton Mukai, 8, suffered a compound fracture of the upper arm after being thrown from his horse when it was frightened by a hay chopper. He was treated at Weiser General Hospital.
• Japanese Evacuee Willed $200 by Oakland Woman, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Katherine M. Small’s will left $200 to Koma Kusaka, an evacuee at the Tanforan assembly center who had worked for the Small family for 17 years. The bequest was filed in Superior Court.
• Wyoming Legionnaires Visit Evacuee Project, by P.C. Staff, page 2. E. I. Goppert, the American Legion commander for Wyoming, visited the Heart Mountain center to gather facts and build better relations with the public. He was welcomed by evacuee Legion members Hitoshi Fukui and Clarence Uno.
• Heart Mountain Colonists Accept Panel of Judges, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Heart Mountain colonists approved a panel of seven judges and two alternates nominated by block chairmen, with only 83 negative votes. The judges were named to serve on the center’s community judiciary.
• Masaoka Will Speak to Social Work Parley, by P.C. Staff, page 3. JACL national secretary Mike Masaoka was a featured speaker at the 30th Conference of the National Federation of Settlements in Wheeling, West Virginia. His talk addressed the internment of American-born Japanese and minority groups.
• Two Alien Japanese Quizzed By FBI, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Two alien Japanese, Mrs. Suku Itashiki and Ryusaburo Ito, were held in the county jail at Redwood City for questioning by FBI officials. Both had lived in the United States for decades.
• JACL Opens New Information Service in Nation’s Capital, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The JACL opened a Washington Information Service Bureau to answer members’ questions on fact and information, with Joe T. Kanazawa as director. Service is limited to paid-up members and does not provide legal advice.
• Poston Block Gets Date Palm Trees, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Four date palm trees donated by A. Kitagawa were transplanted to Poston Block 42, where children may soon pick their own dates. Kitagawa had raised dates for more than ten years in Thermal, California.
• Colorado State Keeps Hands Off Evacuee Labor, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Governor Ralph Carr said Colorado communities may employ Japanese farm workers voluntarily but must provide their own protection. The state would act only in serious emergencies where local protection proved inadequate.
• Japanese Newspaper, Hogs For Sale in L.A., by P.C. Staff, page 3. L. F. Sloan, southern California director of the WRA, handles disposal of evacuated Japanese businesses including a newspaper with presses, a chop suey palace, and 3,800 hogs. His office, at 1031 Broadway, assists evacuees with business management problems.
• Chow Mein for Poston Center Education, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A Poston noodle factory was scheduled to begin producing 1,200 to 1,500 pounds of noodles daily for dining halls. Laverne C. Bane, assistant professor of speech at the University of Utah, was also named to take over the center’s education post.
• Body of Missing Poston Man Found, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The body of Heikichi Naganuma, 55, an invalid, was found four miles northwest of Poston II after a five-day search. He had been dead about 36 hours when discovered.
• Poston Police Court Is in Session, by Franklyn Sugiyama, page 8. Sugiyama describes the Poston Police Court, staffed by elected evacuee justices who serve without pay, handling traffic and gambling cases. He notes the humble courtroom and the novelty of Japanese Americans judging their own community.
• Boise Valley JACL Sponsors Holiday Sports, Supper, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Boise Valley JACL held a Labor Day social with softball games and a buffet supper at the FSA camp in Nyssa, Oregon. About 150 people attended the dance that followed.
• Poston Co-op Plan to Be Instituted, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Project director W. Wade Head announced that petitions showed overwhelming support for converting the Poston Community Enterprise into a consumer cooperative. An election for cooperative boards was planned for mid-October.
• Stockton Scouts Receive Donation, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Stockton center’s Boy Scouts received a $50 donation from produce man W. E. McGillvray. McGillvray wrote that he was pleased the influence of the center’s work was being felt.

Military & Veterans

• Relocation Center Residents Hold Funeral for Nisei Soldier, by P.C. Staff, page 2. More than 400 colonists at the Minidoka center attended Baptist funeral services for Pvt. Eugene Hayashi, who died at Camp Carson of a kidney ailment. The flag from his coffin was presented to his mother at the conclusion of the service.
• Five Evacuees Save Soldier’s Life at Gila, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Five nisei at the Gila River center rescued Private Calvin Christiansen after his patrol car overturned into a canal. Captain Van Pelt publicly thanked them for their timely aid.

Obituaries

• State Board Asked to Commute Death Sentence of Japanese, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Utah’s board of pardons heard a plea to commute the death sentence of Masato Karumai, a 71-year-old Carbon County man forgotten in a legal maze for years. Attorney Therald Jensen argued that execution so long after conviction would be cruel and unusual punishment.

Commentary

• Timely Topics: Revising Reactions To Farm Work, by Saburo Kido, page 2. Kido explains that his initial opposition to farm work for evacuees has changed, arguing that volunteering offers goodwill, income, and a chance to show what Japanese Americans can do. He concludes that the cotton harvest is a valuable opportunity that will help the future of the relocation communities.
• Heart Mountain: Watchtowers Guard West Coast Evacuees, by Larry S. Tajiri, page 3. Tajiri describes the Heart Mountain relocation center in Wyoming, noting its housing, food, and sanitation conditions as well as the watchtowers that gave it the feel of a concentration camp. He observes that the administration is working to solve problems of food and shelter.
• An Alarming Tendency, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial warns that evacuees and the public increasingly regard relocation centers as internment for the duration, though no military order made such a policy. It argues that concentration should be temporary and that individual relocation outside military zones is the proper next step.
• Pre-war Prejudices, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial condemns Senator Holman’s constitutional amendment as a prewar racial prejudice that threatens citizenship rights of Americans of Japanese, German and Italian origin. It argues that democratic nations cannot win minority support abroad while racially persecuting a minority at home.
• Negroes and Evacuation, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial cites a Crisis article warning that the internment of Japanese Americans threatens the civil rights of Black Americans as well. It notes that Japanese Americans worked hard and cooperated yet were stripped of their rights anyway.
• Report on Heart Mountain, by Larry S. Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri continues his Heart Mountain report, describing housing shortages, food service complaints, water supply, and plans for schools and agriculture. He notes the colonists’ concern over hostile fascist race theories and the lack of school materials.
• From the Frying Pan: Our Security Lies in Our Unity, by Bill Hosokawa, page 4. Hosokawa reflects on visits from national JACL officials, arguing that evacuation is a past issue and that the JACL is the logical focus of Nisei unity. He concludes that the organization’s future depends on the support of its members.
• The Lancer: Illiberal Attempts to Stir Race Hatred, by Tad Uyeno, page 5. Uyeno argues that liberalism persists in America even during war and that bigotry must be countered. He condemns anti-Semitic whispering campaigns and urges evacuees not to adopt intolerance against Jews.
• Washington Letter: The Near East and World War II, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The column analyzes how the Churchill-Stalin conference and the change in Middle East command point to growing importance of the Near and Middle East as a war theater. It describes Allied preparations in Syria, Palestine and the Euphrates Valley against German advances.
• Nisei Woman: Come Fall, It’s Time to Consider Your Cosmetics, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The column advises readers to reassess cosmetics for fall, noting that expensive brands are not necessarily better. It suggests inexpensive substitutes such as witch hazel, castile soap, and mild soap flakes.
• Little Esteban Points Out Recreational Needs, by P.C. Staff, page 5. In this camp column, Little Esteban complains that about 1,400 school-age youths lack adequate recreational equipment and that funding for recreation is scarce. The dialogue concludes with a call for outside donations of books, toys and athletic gear.
• Tanforan Totalizer Final Issue, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Editors of the Tanforan Totalizer ended the weekly with a final 28-page edition, praised for its mature editing. Editor Taro Katayama and his staff marked the paper’s closing on September 12.
• From a Diary: Meeting Trains from Tanforan En Route to Topaz, by P.C. Staff, page 5. A diary account describes repeated waits at Salt Lake City station for evacuee trains bound for Topaz, Utah. The writer recounts missed connections, cold waiting, and reunions with acquaintances.
• Race Prejudice and Racial Progress: An Apology and a Program, by Fred Fertig, page 6. Fertig argues that race prejudice is the most evil force in the modern world and that Japanese Americans should oppose discrimination against all minorities. He proposes a program including repeal of Oriental exclusion laws, Indian independence, and cooperation with churches and labor.
• Race Prejudice and Racial Progress (continued), by Fred Fertig, page 7. Fertig concludes his argument that racial progress requires mutual tolerance and scientific evidence against racial inferiority claims. He cites examples of Jewish, Negro and Filipino friends of Japanese Americans and ends with a quotation from James Weldon Johnson.
• Vagaries: Nisei on Duty, by P.C. Staff, page 7. This column reports that the first class of Nisei soldiers graduated from the Camp Savage intelligence school and were sent on active duty. It also notes Army recruitment of other American-born Japanese and the Hawaiian induction of Japanese citizens.

Arts & Entertainment

• Book Review: American Unity and Asia by Pearl S. Buck, by Mitchell Kennerley, page 5. The reviewer praises Pearl Buck’s book as a courageous plea for democracy throughout the world, including for colored peoples in America and Asia. He calls it a book that could save the world if read with open minds.

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