Dies drops its probe of the WRA and JACL, and segregation is set

Vol. 17, No. 2, July 17, 1943. 8 pages. View this issue

The Dies subcommittee’s investigation of the War Relocation Authority and the Japanese American Citizens League ended without evidence for its charges, and that story led the issue. Larry Tajiri reported that Representative Costello called off the hearings, while WRA Director Dillon Myer attacked the committee’s smear tactics. JACL President Saburo Kido called the outcome a vindication, and Myer announced that segregation of the disloyal from the loyal in the ten relocation centers would begin around September 1. Editorials took up segregation and the Dies Committee’s tactics.

Elsewhere in these eight pages are a column by Bill Hosokawa on the Chinese people, Mary Oyama on recreation for nisei youth in Denver, and Harold S. Fistere on resettling in Cleveland. Staff Sergeant Ben Kuroki was presented to the King and Queen of Britain, and news from the 442nd Combat Team ran on page 8. Minoru Yasui’s resentencing was delayed again.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Dies Calls Off Investigation of the Nisei, by By LARRY TAJIRI, page 1. Representative Costello called off the Dies subcommittee’s investigation of the War Relocation Authority and JACL after producing no evidence for its charges of disloyalty and subversion. WRA Director Dillon Myer denounced the committee’s smear tactics during the hearings.
• Segregation in WRA Centers Slated to Begin in September, Myer Says in Dies Hearing, page 1. WRA Director Dillon Myer announced that segregation of disloyal evacuees from loyal ones in the ten relocation centers will begin around September 1 and finish by October 20. One center will house those deemed disloyal, at an estimated cost of about $1,000,000.
• Magazine Article Attacking Japanese Americans Flayed by Minnesota District Meet, page 2. The American Legion district convention in Faribault, Minnesota, adopted a resolution condemning an American Legion Magazine article advocating relocation of Japanese American citizens to Pacific islands. The resolution requests a retraction and denounces the racial discrimination it promotes.
• Minnesota Legion Post Rally Protests Race Discrimination, page 2. An American Legion post rally in Northfield, Minnesota, drew a large audience to discuss racial discrimination against Japanese American citizens. Nisei students from Carleton College spoke, and Miss Frances Greenough urged understanding of the evacuation’s background.
• Senator Urges Army Control of WRA Camps, page 3. Senator Chapman Revercomb of West Virginia called for placing relocation centers under direct Army control and barring evacuees from scattering or nisei soldiers from returning to the West Coast. He said he and Representative Thomas planned to introduce bills to that effect when Congress reconvened.
• New Delay in Resentencing Minoru Yasui, page 3. Federal Judge James Fee again postponed resentencing of Minoru Yasui, who had deliberately violated the curfew to test the law. Yasui’s attorney argued that the court should strike findings removing his American citizenship from the record.
• Supreme Court Justification of Discrimination Deplored by Civil Liberties Union, page 3. The ACLU criticized the Supreme Court’s June 21 decision upholding curfew and evacuation restrictions on Japanese Americans as a dangerous doctrine that could justify discrimination against other groups. The organization noted approval of concurring opinions suggesting detention of citizens may be unwarranted.
• Center Director Speaks to Lions Club of Chico, page 3. Harvey Coverley, director of the Tule Lake WRA center, told the Chico Lions Club that reports of crowded quarters and poor care were exaggerated. He described residents’ furnished quarters, work pay, and clothing allowances.
• Clerics Back Christians in Centers, page 7. A Religious News Service report quotes Methodist minister Dr. Gordon Chapman, who studied conditions at Manzanar, saying Japanese Christians have shown sincere faith despite hatred. He notes that misinformation about the camps comes from a lack of understanding of community life there.
• Idaho Legion Post for Army Control of Relocation Camps, page 7. The John Regan American Legion post in Boise voted for a resolution transferring relocation centers to Army control and for keeping released evacuees under continued supervision. The resolution was to be submitted to the state convention.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei War Hero Presented to King and Queen of Britain, page 1. Staff Sergeant Ben Kuroki of Hershey, Nebraska, a tail gunner on the Liberator bomber Liberty Lass, was among American airmen presented to the British royal couple during their visit to an Eighth Air Force station. Kuroki, awarded an air medal with oak leaf cluster, is one of four Nebraska-born Japanese American brothers serving in the U.S. Army.
• Two Tule Lake Nisei Officers Called to Duty, page 3. Dr. Shigeru Hara and Dr. Yoshiyo Harada, both nisei reserve officers from Tule Lake, were ordered to report for military duty. Their orders add to the growing list of nisei reserve officers being called to the colors.
• News Notes from the Combat Team: Graduates from Camp Savage Start Basic Infantry Training, page 8. News from the 442nd Combat Team includes a donation to the Hawaii polio emergency hospital and a 125-member group of Military Intelligence Service graduates starting infantry training. Other items cover a baseball game and nisei soldiers’ backgrounds.

JACL

• JACL Head Hails Decision to Drop Dies Hearings as Victory for Organization, page 1. JACL National President Saburo Kido called the Dies Committee’s abandonment of its probe a vindication of the organization and the WRA’s rehabilitation program. He warned that forces seeking to discredit Japanese Americans would continue to act and that the group must remain vigilant.
• Calling All Chapters!, by Teiko Ishida, page 6. This JACL column announces that the Supreme Court curfew brief is being withdrawn from sale due to a printing cost error, and that a mimeographed copy of the decision is available. It also notes future test-case policy discussions described in National Bulletin No. 19.
• JACL President Hails End of Dies Hearings, by Saburo Kido, page 7. JACL President Kido welcomed the segregation announcement as a necessary step toward rapid rehabilitation of evacuees. He said the loyal would be restored to full rights and that the segregated centers are temporary.

Community

• Portland Groups Urge Repeal of Exclusion Act, page 2. Several Portland church bodies passed resolutions calling for repeal of the Oriental Exclusion Act and opposing discriminatory laws against Japanese Americans. They urged that loyal evacuees be reabsorbed into American community life.
• Wedding Unites Idaho Couple, page 3. Mary Yamada and Mamaro Wakasugi were married at the Methodist church in Caldwell, Idaho, on July 8. The couple will make their home in Weiser, where the groom farms.
• Soldiers at Camp Stewart Take Up Japanese Language, page 3. Soldiers at Camp Stewart, Georgia, have organized Japanese language classes that have grown popular among troops. The instructor, Private Irving Suhl, learned the language himself after starting without any knowledge of it.
• Poston Honor Society Accepted by National Group as Member Unit, page 3. The Poston chapter of the National Honor Society was accepted by the national organization and its charter approved. Notification came in a letter to Dr. Arlo L. Harris, director of education at the center.
• Fair American Chance Asked for Nisei by JACL President, by Saburo Kido, page 4. JACL President Saburo Kido’s letter to the Salt Lake Tribune responded to an editorial calling for continued confinement of Japanese Americans. He argued that the loyal can be separated from the disloyal and asked for a fair American chance for nisei.
• Canadian Evacuees Stage Strike in Okanogan Valley, page 5. About 200 Japanese Canadian farm hands, forced from their Okanogan Valley homes by local protests, staged a sit-down strike at Kelowna farms. They refused to continue crop work until assured their families could return to the valley.
• Oregon Grange Meet Discusses Evacuee Question, page 5. Oregon Grange delegates held closed sessions on the status of Japanese Americans on the Pacific Coast and referred several resolutions to their foreign affairs committee. The discussion lasted over three hours without a clear outcome.
• The Picture in Denver: Need for Recreation Program for Nisei Is Told by Writer, by Mary Oyama, page 6. Mary Oyama describes the lack of wholesome recreation for nisei youth in Denver, where young people gather idly on Larimer Street. She argues for a supervised recreation program run by the YMCA, churches, or the JACL.
• Opportunities for Resettlement in Cleveland Are Explained to Evacuees, by Harold S. Fistere, page 6. WRA relocation supervisor Harold Fistere’s open letter outlines Cleveland’s housing shortage, living costs, and job opportunities for evacuees. It advises caution in job selection and encourages integration into the wider community.
• Chicago Is Best Host to Evacuees, page 6. WRA relocation supervisor Elmer Shirrell said Chicago has been the nation’s most generous host to evacuees, with nearly 2500 finding work and homes there. He praised employers and residents for accepting them with minimal friction.
• Chicago Church Forum Asks for Employment for Nisei, page 7. The Anselm Forum in Chicago unanimously passed a resolution favoring employment of loyal Japanese Americans in the war effort. The resolution argues that the nation must use all untapped labor pools, including skilled workers in relocation centers.
• Actor John Payne in Surprise Visit to Manzanar Center, page 8. Actor John Payne, stationed at the Manzanar airfield, visited the Manzanar center with Clete Roberts and toured the art department. Residents swarmed them for autographs, showing they were no different from other Americans in that regard.
• Wyoming Center Forms Relocation Committee to Aid Resettlers, page 8. Heart Mountain formed a relocation committee under Yoshio Bob Kodama to help evacuees adjust socially and economically to life outside. The committee will integrate information from relocation offices and work with the employment division.
• Hawaii Labor on Same Basis as Soldiers, page 8. Lieutenant General Robert Richardson cited the Supreme Court decision in retaining Army control over labor on Hawaiian military projects, including many Japanese American workers. He rejected a Honolulu labor council request for the Army to relinquish control.
• Idaho Youths Sponsor July 4th Celebration, page 8. The Boise Valley JACL chapter and the Caldwell FSA sponsored a Fourth of July celebration for nisei parents at the Caldwell labor camp. The event featured a baseball tournament and an entertainment program.
• Government Agency to Handle Minority Problems Is Suggested, page 8. The Heart Mountain Sentinel editorial proposed a permanent civil service agency to address education, housing, employment, and discrimination for minority groups. It argued that the evacuation should lead to better treatment of all minorities.
• Ickes’ Employee to Teach Judo in Maryland, page 8. Fred Kobayashi, a Japanese American evacuee hired on Secretary Ickes’ farm, left to become a judo instructor at the University of Maryland. A War Manpower Commission rule complicated the transfer, which WRA Director Myer said applied to workers leaving relocation centers.

Commentary

• For Martin Dies: Sound and Fury, by P.C. Staff, page 3. This reprinted editorial from the Washington Post criticizes the Dies Committee for exceeding its authority in its investigation of the WRA. It argues that the inflammatory charges endanger American citizens and prisoners and that any inquiry should be conducted quietly by a select committee.
• How Much Longer?, by P.C. Staff, page 3. This reprinted Chicago Sun editorial condemns Martin Dies for stoking racial hostility through his committee’s probe of relocation centers. It argues that the charges play into Japanese propaganda and urges Congress to end the committee’s meddling in racial matters.
• Segregation, by P.C. Staff, page 4. This editorial supports the WRA’s plan to segregate disloyal evacuees from loyal ones, which the Pacific Citizen had long advocated. It argues that once the disloyal are removed, those remaining should be recognized as loyal and have their rights restored.
• By Any Means, by P.C. Staff, page 4. This editorial charges that certain public figures and the yellow press have persistently persecuted Japanese Americans under the guise of patriotism. It warns that the escalating demands could lead to post-war stripping of citizenship and deportation.
• Dollars and Cents, by P.C. Staff, page 4. This editorial uses a WRA report on Cleveland resettlement to caution evacuees that starting anew is difficult and that high war-plant wages are not guaranteed. It notes that resettled evacuees are earning good wages commensurate with their skills.
• Squinting Forever Into the Sun, by Bill Hosokawa, page 4. Bill Hosokawa reflects on the anniversary of Japan’s war on China and on his memories of Chinese people in Peking and aboard ship. He praises the endurance of the Chinese people and suggests Japanese Americans can learn from their example.
• Vagaries, by P.C. Staff, page 5. This column collects brief notes on the decline of the foreign-born population, an Army boxing rule in Hawaii, a Liberty magazine article, and Time magazine’s assurances of fair play. Several items cover nisei and wartime treatment.
• Our Army is On the March, But Movie Audiences Think War Is Just a Western Thriller, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The writer describes a war film audience that cheered and laughed during scenes of American soldiers dying. He argues that such responses show the public has not grasped the grim reality of total war.
• Timely Topics, by Saburo Kido, page 5. Kido examines the large share of vegetable production by Japanese American farmers in California and the losses evacuation would cause. He also criticizes the American Legion’s support for racial exclusion, given its wartime stance against racial antagonisms.
• The People of France, by P.C. Staff, page 5. This editorial defends Allied policy of letting the French people choose their own government despite the Giraud-de Gaulle rivalry. It argues that the occupied peoples of Europe should be free to determine their leaders once liberated.
• Letter From Africa, by Staff Sergeant Paul Sakai, page 5. Staff Sergeant Paul Sakai writes from a hospital in Africa, reflecting on missing the Kasserine Pass fighting and his determination to return to combat. The letter was reprinted from the Heart Mountain Sentinel.
• On the Supreme Court, by P.C. Staff, page 5. This reprinted commentary argues that the Supreme Court curfew ruling whitewashes the regulations legally but does not alter the motives behind the curfew and evacuation. It hopes for a day when the court will affirm equal citizenship without qualification.
• Ann Nisei Says: Sugar-Saving Ways Are Necessary for Wartime Cooking, by Ann Nisei, page 8. This wartime cooking column offers menu planning advice for rationing and recipes that use little or no sugar. It includes a maple cake, a corn syrup frosting, and tips on sugar substitutes.

In-Depth

• Japan’s Common People Didn’t Seek This War, Grew States, page 3. Former ambassador Joseph Grew, speaking at the University of Kentucky, said the common people of Japan did not seek the war and had long been friendly toward America. He urged that postwar Japan be treated with the democratic justice the Allies promise.

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