Labor shortages, harvest work and the first students leaving camp

Vol. 15, No. 20, October 15, 1942. 8 pages. View this issue

Work and the relocation centers ran through this eight-page issue. Minidoka faced a labor shortage after more than 1,800 evacuees left for farm jobs, while General DeWitt approved volunteer evacuee labor for the Arizona cotton harvest. Mike Masaoka asked social workers to help find jobs and acceptance for people leaving the centers. In Seattle, Judge Lloyd L. Black upheld the military evacuation orders in the case of Gordon Hirabayashi, and the Pacific Citizen editorials took up the enemy alien label and the welcome Powell gave Heart Mountain.

Columns came from Larry Tajiri on Hollywood films, Bill Hosokawa on the WRA’s release plan, Saburo Kido on self-government at Poston, and Tad Uyeno on a Utah opinion survey. Elsewhere in the issue: the Salt Lake JACL’s scrap metal drive, the first Topaz students leaving for midwestern universities, Henry Sugimoto’s paintings shown at Fresno, and plans for a movie house at Tule Lake.

What’s in this issue

National

• Minidoka Faces Critical Labor Shortage Following Exodus of Volunteers for Harvest Work, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Hunt’s Minidoka relocation center faces a labor shortage after more than 1,800 evacuees left for farm jobs. The fire department began recruiting women to reopen a closed station, and other essential services are also strained.
• New Regulations Permit Visits By Soldiers, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Soldiers of Japanese ancestry serving in the U.S. armed forces may visit relocation projects within the Western Defense Command under new rules. The Rowalt letter outlines the required furlough and travel permit procedures.
• Civil Service Status Denied To Five Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors denied leaves of absence to five American-born former employees of Japanese ancestry, costing them civil service status. The women had applied for leave in April before being evacuated.
• Vital Need for Crop Impels Action from General DeWitt, by P.C. Staff, page 1. General DeWitt approved additional use of volunteer evacuee labor to harvest Arizona’s long-staple cotton, a crop needed for war implements. The WRA will coordinate the Colorado River Center labor, with federal troops guarding harvest boundaries.
• Masaoka Asks Social Workers To Aid In Resettling People Now In Relocation Centers, by P.C. Staff, page 2. JACL national secretary Mike Masaoka addressed the National Federation of Settlements convention, urging social workers to help find jobs and community acceptance for evacuees. He traced the history of Japanese Americans from before Pearl Harbor through the relocation centers.
• President Signs Citizenship Measure, by P.C. Staff, page 3. President Roosevelt signed a bill suspending a Neutrality Act provision that required American citizens abroad to return every two years to keep their citizenship. The change addressed the difficulty of compliance during the war.
• Arizona Doctor Found Guilty in Abortion Trial, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Dr. Hiroshi Ben Inouye, an alien Japanese physician, was convicted of performing an abortion in Phoenix and faces three to five years in prison. The jury acquitted him of second-degree murder in the woman’s death.
• Utah Senator Gets Assurance Of Farm Help, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The War Manpower Commission assured Senator Abe Murdock that most Utah crops were harvested and that evacuee Japanese Americans would be used for remaining beet harvesting. Figures showed many evacuees already working in several states.
• Army Evacuates Non-Japanese From West Coast Area, by P.C. Staff, page 3. General DeWitt disclosed that 46 dangerous or potentially dangerous citizens were ordered to leave the West Coast. Their families were not required to leave the coast.
• Center Women May Leave for Domestic Work, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Minidoka women may now accept domestic work outside the center, just as men may take farm labor. Assistant project director Philip Schafer said ten Hunt girls had already left for jobs in Twin Falls.
• Japanese Officer Urges U.S. Brothers to Fight for America, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Relman Morin related on NBC how a Japanese Army officer in Saigon, reportedly American-born, asked him to tell his brothers to fight for America. Morin had been interned by the Japanese before returning on the Gripsholm.

Military & Veterans

• Parents of Nisei Soldiers Organize Tule Lake Group, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Alien Japanese parents at the Tule Lake center organized as Parents of American Soldiers after a well-attended meeting. They estimate more than 500 alien parents at the center have sons serving in the U.S. armed forces.
• Utah Legion Urged To Get Jobs For Evacuee War Vets, by P.C. Staff, page 3. J. H. Hickman, a Utah American Legion official, urged legionnaires to find jobs for fourteen World War I veterans of Japanese ancestry at the Topaz center. He asked the group to help them leave the center.
• Nisei Soldiers Visit Heart Mountain City, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Three Nisei soldiers visited their families at the Heart Mountain relocation center, among the first soldier visitors there. Project director C. E. Rachford greeted them at the center.

In-Depth

• Begins Study Of Evacuation, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The University of California has launched a three-year study of the evacuation and resettlement of west coast Japanese, funded by the Columbia Foundation. The research will be directed by faculty including Dr. Robert H. Lowie and will examine lessons for displaced minorities.

Community

• Citizens Plan United Group In Tule Lake, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Sacramento JACL initiated the formation of a united league of American citizens at the Tule Lake center. The group also pledged a $500 contribution to national JACL headquarters for its emergency program.
• Orange County Gives Mail Order Divorce Decree, by P.C. Staff, page 1. An Orange County court granted an interlocutory divorce decree to Fumi Nishimura, who is held at the Poston relocation center. The hearing had been interrupted by the evacuation, and the decree was based on her deposition prepared at Poston.
• John Aono Chosen Block Managers Head, by P.C. Staff, page 1. John Aono, block 29 manager, was unanimously elected chairman of the newly created Block Managers group at Manzanar. The group was formed to coordinate block-level administration at the center.
• Meet the WRA: Ralph Stauber Has Key Post In Relocation, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Ralph Stauber, a longtime government economist and administrator, was appointed Relocation Planning Officer for the War Relocation Authority. He serves as liaison with the Departments of State, War, and Justice on relocation policy.
• Second Appendectomy Performed at Center, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Tsugio Kato, 12, underwent an appendectomy at the Delta hospital, becoming the second such operation performed there for a Topaz resident. Dr. Bird performed the surgery.
• Resolution Aimed at Evacuees Promises Fair Work Conditions, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Local officials and farm representatives in the Nyssa, Oregon area unanimously adopted a resolution urging evacuees be welcomed as essential farm workers. Copies were sent to relocation center directors and federal officials.
• JACL Contributes to Nation’s Scrap Pile, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Members of the Salt Lake JACL gathered more than eight tons of scrap metal for Utah’s salvage drive, with proceeds going to the USO. The Salt Lake Tribune featured the effort on its front page.
• Nisei in Utah City Conclude Drive for Metal, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Salt Lake JACL completed its scrap metal drive with more than eight tons collected through the efforts of volunteers and Japanese American produce dealers. Frank Tashima led the campaign and the proceeds will go to the USO.
• Nisei Boy Leads Scrap Metal Hunt at Oklahoma City School, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Eugene Nakayama, an 18-year-old American-born Nisei, captained one of two competing scrap teams at Millwood school in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Daily praised his enthusiasm and contribution to the drive.
• WRA Employment Division Opens Office In Utah, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The War Relocation Authority opened an employment office in Salt Lake City to handle outside jobs for evacuees in Utah. Rey M. Hill will serve as employment investigator under the San Francisco regional office.
• Hungry Greyhounds To Protect Manzanar’s Guayule Plants, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Manzanar is importing three racing greyhounds from Los Angeles to hunt jackrabbits and cottontails that destroyed three acres of guayule plants. The dogs are intended to protect the rubber crop.
• Fourth Girl Born At Topaz Center, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Catherine Kayoko Tsukamoto became the fourth baby born at the Topaz center and the fourth daughter in her family. All births at Topaz so far have been girls.
• First Baby Born At Nyssa FSA Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Bonnie Michiko Arai was born at Holy Rosary Hospital to a couple living at the Nyssa Farm Security Administration labor camp. It was the first birth reported at the camp.
• Arizona Committee Discovers Shortage of Workers Exists in Gila River Relocation City, by P.C. Staff, page 6. An Arizona committee found the Gila River center itself was short of labor once planned projects were counted. Volunteer cotton picking was judged discouraging by farm bureau officials.
• Two Exporters Found Guilty in Seattle Court, by P.C. Staff, page 6. A federal jury in Seattle convicted Charles T. Takahashi and Edward Y. Osawa of conspiracy, false affidavits, and falsely naming China as a destination for oil-storage equipment shipped to Japan. Their attorneys planned to seek a new trial.
• Evacuees Arrive In Wyoming, by P.C. Staff, page 6. A group of recent arrivals completed the final stretch to the Heart Mountain center by truck after leaving the railroad siding. The photo accompanied the Cody Enterprise report.
• Hunt Colonists Discuss 1943 Farm Program, by P.C. Staff, page 7. A three-day conference at Hunt is outlining the 1943 agricultural program for the Minidoka center, with subsistence as the primary goal. Plans include clearing 1,000 acres of sagebrush and possible hog and poultry farms.
• Evacuees on Faculty as School Will Begin at Arizona Center, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Twenty-two evacuees are on the faculty of roughly sixty teachers at the Gila River center schools. The article lists the instructors and their academic backgrounds for high school and grade school.
• First Students Leave Topaz for Schools, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Cromwell D. Mukai, Mitsuo Yamamoto, and George Hirose became the first Topaz students to leave for midwestern universities. Each was accepted for study in Nebraska or South Dakota.
• Yonezu Heads Internal Security at Gila, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Charles Yonezu, a former California produce figure, was named chief administrator of Internal Security at Canal camp in the Gila River center. The announcement was made by Supervisor W. E. Williamson.
• Maritime Unions Take Steps to Reemploy Members in Centers, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Maritime unions are working to secure releases for Japanese American members held in relocation centers, according to Paul Higa of the Manzanar Maritime Workers Committee. Several unions have written to advance transportation costs and obtain releases.
• Henry Sugimoto’s Paintings Shown At Fresno Center, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Paintings by California artist Henry Sugimoto depicting center life were exhibited at the Fresno assembly center. Sugimoto studied in the United States and France, and his work shows strong French influence.
• Japanese Help Harvest Beets In Nebraska, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Several hundred evacuee volunteers from relocation centers, mostly from Poston, arrived in western Nebraska to help harvest the record sugar beet crop. The first group began in the potato fields before the beet harvest started.
• Hunt Medical Chief Goes To Arkansas, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Dr. L. M. Neher, senior medical officer at Minidoka, left to help set up medical facilities at the new Jerome and Rohwer centers in Arkansas. He is expected to be away about three weeks.
• Nisei Teachers Will Assist Educational Program in Wyoming, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Takayoshi Kawahara, a USC graduate, received a teaching rating at Heart Mountain, joined by twelve Nisei apprentice instructors. The apprentices will teach home economics, science, commerce, physical education, and other subjects.
• First Relocation Center Movie House Planned at Newell, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Newell City Council approved construction of a movie theatre at the Tule Lake center, believed to be the first in any relocation center. It will be built by evacuee labor with an 800-seat capacity.
• Fire Razes Florin Building, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The old Yakihama building in Florin, unoccupied since evacuation, was destroyed by fire last week. Firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading to adjoining structures.
• Poston Will Hold County Fair Soon, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Poston will hold a county fair on October 17 and 18 to display summer vegetable crops and dedicate a new hog farm. Saburo Kido chairs the fair committee and a queen contest is also planned.
• Vale Prepares Camp For Evacuee Labor, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Vale, Oregon farm labor camp, a branch of the Nyssa FSA camp, is nearing completion to house evacuee farm workers. Twenty tents will accommodate 60 to 70 workers with a shower room and mess hall.
• Beet Workers Leave Topaz On Furloughs, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Evacuee sugar beet workers left the Topaz center for farms in Utah, Idaho, and Oregon, eager to help the war effort. Oldest among them, Jiro Izuma, age 60, previously employed large crews on his own farm.

Incarceration & Redress

• Japanese Alien’s Right to Sue Argued Before Supreme Court, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Justice Department attorney argued in a brief to the Supreme Court that Kumezo Kawato, a Japanese alien, may not sue in U.S. courts. The case arose from an injury suffered on a fishing boat and was dismissed by a lower court judge.
• Imprisonment Under Army Law Challenged by Civil Liberties, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The ACLU appeared as amicus curiae in the Ninth Circuit challenging military imprisonment under martial law in Hawaii, in the case of Hans Zimmerman. The brief argues that the Constitution’s Bill of Rights remains in force during wartime.
• Seattle Judge Upholds Military Authority Ordering Evacuation, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Federal Judge Lloyd L. Black upheld the presidential proclamation and military evacuation orders in the case of Gordon Hirabayashi. The court ruled that civil courts could not question military necessity, and the case will proceed to trial.
• Part-Japanese Youth Pleads Guilty to Army Order Violation, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Morris E. Suyetomi, son of a Japanese father and English mother, pleaded guilty in federal court to violating the Army’s exclusion order. He reportedly surrendered to avoid possible draft evasion.
• Evacuee Gives Away Travel Permit, Pleads Guilty in Court, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Toshie Sonada pleaded guilty in San Francisco federal court to giving his travel permit to Kazue Kabushaki, enabling her to leave Tule Lake. Sonada said he surrendered the permit after being beaten by Kabushaki.

Commentary

• Self-Government Plans at Poston, by Saburo Kido, page 2. Kido reports on the Poston permanent community council committee, whose project director described it as a constitutional convention for the community. He argues the administration deserves credit for steady progress despite supply and wage problems.
• Prof. Radin Champions Cause Of American-Born Japanese, by P.C. Staff, page 3. UC professor Max Radin told a San Jose public forum there was no evidence of disloyalty among American-born Japanese and that segregation was unjustified. He argued the policy harmed the nation and that fundamental freedoms must be preserved.
• Enemy Alien Stigma, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The Pacific Citizen welcomed the government’s decision to lift the enemy alien label from over 600,000 Italian aliens and urged the same recognition for loyal Japanese aliens. It argued that loyal alien status would ease restrictions and speed community acceptance.
• Imperialism, R.I.P., by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial hails the American and British moves to abrogate extraterritorial rights in China as ending a century of Western imperialism. It notes the practical effect is limited since most affected areas are occupied by Japan.
• The People of Powell, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises the townspeople of Powell, Wyoming for welcoming evacuees at the Heart Mountain center. It cites churchwomen’s friendship efforts and the Powell Tribune’s reassurance about rattlesnakes.
• JACL’s Scrap Drive, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial reprints praise from the Salt Lake Telegram for the JACL scrap metal drive and calls it a challenge to other Americans to match Japanese American patriotism. It notes the proceeds will go to the USO.
• From the Frying Pan, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri examines how Hollywood films propagandize and criticizes the OWI film Japanese Relocation for its partial framing. He also condemns films like Air Force and Little Tokyo, U.S.A. for depicting Japanese Americans as spies.
• Letter to the Editor: Report on Visits to Internment Camps for Enemy Aliens Given, by H. V. Nicholson, page 4. Nicholson reports on visits to the Livingston, Lordsburg, and Seagoville internment camps for enemy aliens. He describes conditions, family reunification plans, and the Seagoville facility for women and children.
• Washington Letter: Japanese Militarists Crushed People’s March Toward Goal of Political Independence, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa discusses the WRA’s modified release plan for relocating evacuees and cautions that jobs must be carefully chosen. He argues the program must be undertaken slowly and with guidance to succeed.
• Vagaries, by Tad Uyeno, page 5. Uyeno examines a Public Opinion survey in Utah showing majority support for releasing citizen evacuees to outside employment. He also reports on prejudice faced by furlough workers in Montana beet fields.
• Ann Nisei Says: Ingenuity Will Help Overcome War Shortages, by Ann Nisei, page 5. Ann Nisei offers practical beauty advice as wartime shortages of hairpins, girdles, and metal cosmetic containers emerge. She suggests hairstyles and substitutes that use fewer scarce materials.

Thank you for exploring the Pacific Citizen archive. The title, introduction and contents on this page were written by an AI model from scans of the printed issue, so they may contain mistakes. If you spot one, we would be grateful if you let us know.