Evacuation claims bill delayed, and the Oyama land law fallout

Vol. 26, No. 9, February 28, 1948. 8 pages. View this issue

The push for compensation for the 1942 forced removal ran through this eight-page issue. Senate hearings on the evacuation claims bill were postponed until the third week of March, and Mike Masaoka urged readers of the Christian Register to help pass it this session. Larry Tajiri wrote about California Governor Earl Warren’s ties to the Native Sons of the Golden West and his role in the forced removal. On page 1, Tulare County officials linked a rise in relief cases to the incarceration, and the California Senate asked the Attorney General to explain his dismissal of alien land law cases after the Supreme Court’s Oyama decision.

Elsewhere, a bronze plaque for Pvt. Sadao Munemori was planned for the Army vessel Wilson Victory. Editorials took up the Nisei strandee cases and about 300 Japanese Peruvians still held in U.S. internment. Columns by Bill Hosokawa and Toshio Mori, chapter news and bowling results fill the later pages.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Evacuation Cited as Factor in Increase in Relief Cases, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Tulare County officials reported that the home for the elderly now houses 15 Japanese residents with 15 more seeking admittance, a situation linked to the 1942 mass evacuation. Supervisors discussed garden projects and possible repatriation to Japan for these aged residents who have few relatives locally.
• Nisei Strandee Case Filed in Los Angeles, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Attorney Wirin filed a federal suit on behalf of Nisei strandee Miyoko Tsunashima, who voted in a Japanese election under threat of losing food rations. Wirin is also seeking a passport to travel to Japan to investigate the strandee problem.

National

• California Senate Committee Calls on Attorney General to Explain Land Law Policy, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The California Senate Committee on Governmental Efficiency asked Attorney General Fred Howser to explain his dismissal of pending alien land law cases against Japanese landholders. The request followed the Supreme Court’s Oyama decision, and the committee submitted six questions on the ruling’s effects.
• Truman Civil Rights Message Cited in Deportation Case, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Attorneys filed a memorandum in the Sekino deportation test case urging the court to halt deportation of Sekino and about 400 other Japanese aliens until Congress acts on naturalization equality. The memorandum relies on President Truman’s civil rights message.
• Japanese Americans in Good Health, Survey Reveals, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Los Angeles city health department x-ray survey found Nisei health comparable to national averages, with 544 of 689 individuals listed as healthy. Nine active or arrested tuberculosis cases were found along with 14 suspicious cases requiring follow-up.
• Ten Moose Jaw Evacuees Resume Sitdown Strike Against Canadian Resettlement Policy, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Ten evacuees at the Moose Jaw Department of Labor hostel continued a sitdown strike against relocation orders, refusing to leave their hut and vowing to stay until wartime restrictions expire March 31. The strike began February 7 and the hostel has been winding down, with 46 persons still remaining.
• Immediate Problems Faced by Nisei Told by Masaoka, by Mike Masaoka, page 2. In an appeal published in the Christian Register, Mike Masaoka urges Unitarian readers to help pass the evacuation claims bill this session. He argues that compensation is owed for economic losses no other group suffered and warns that delay compounds the injury.
• Governor Warren… Native Sons, by Larry Tajiri, page 5. Larry Tajiri examines California Governor Earl Warren’s ties to the Native Sons of the Golden West and his role in calling for mass evacuation in 1942. The column argues that Warren’s record on race and his inflammatory statements warrant scrutiny as he considers a presidential run.

Community

• Delegate Farrington to Speak to JACL Group in Capital, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Hawaii Congressional Delegate Joseph Farrington will address the Washington JACL chapter on February 28 about Hawaii statehood legislation. He is the first of several speakers the chapter has scheduled this year.
• Omaha JACL Retains 1947 Cabinet Intact, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Omaha JACL chapter will keep its 1947 cabinet under president Patrick Okura for 1948 by unanimous member request, skipping elections. The chapter is also running a membership and donations campaign.
• Seabrook JACL Gives Proceeds to Polio Campaign, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Seabrook JACL presented $104.56 from its President’s Ball to the Cumberland County March of Dimes chapter. Planning committee members and local officials were recognized for the successful benefit.
• Hawaii Insurance Underwriters Win National Honors, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Dean Ishii of Kauai ranked first among Prudential Insurance Co. agents for 1947 with $1,282,200 in new life insurance sold. Samuro Ichinose of Honolulu ranked third among Prudential agents, both topping the million-dollar mark.
• Nisei Veteran Heads Stockton JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Jun Agari was elected president of the Stockton JACL chapter at its first board meeting. Agari said the chapter’s priorities are naturalization rights for Issei and compensation for 1942 evacuation property losses.
• Denver Minister Honored by Cosmopolitan Club, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Rev. Tsutomu Fukuyama of Brotherhood House in Denver was among ten people honored by the Cosmopolitan Club for work on human relations. The awards were to be presented at a dinner at Temple Emanuel on February 26.
• Nisei Veterans Learn Chick Sexing at Wisconsin School, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Wisconsin State Chick Sexing School reported 43 graduates in its first year, including five former Nisei GIs. The school is approved for GI Bill training and admits women as well as men.
• Seattle Main Bowl Wins Oregon Nisei Bowling Tournament, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Main Bowl of Seattle took first place at the first Oregon Nisei Classic in Portland with a 2555 series. Individual and doubles champions were also named across men’s and women’s events.

Military & Veterans

• JACL Plaque to Perpetuate Memory of Only Nisei Soldier to Win Congressional Medal, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A bronze plaque honoring Pvt. Sadao Munemori will be placed aboard the Army vessel Wilson Victory, renamed for him, in a ceremony on March 5 in Brooklyn. His brother Robert will attend on behalf of their ill mother, and the Army is furnishing a portrait.
• Reactivated Legion Post Plans Rites for Returned Nisei Dead, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The reactivated Townsend Harris post of the American Legion in San Francisco will take part in rites for Nisei war dead as their bodies are returned to the Bay Area. The post also plans to reactivate its Boy Scout drum and bugle corps.
• Matter of the Heart, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The column recounts the story of Corporal Eiichi Hata, a Montana-born soldier killed in Italy, whose parents asked that his body be returned to Japan. It draws on President Roosevelt’s words that American identity is a matter of the heart.

Commentary

• Another Test Case, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial supports the citizenship test cases of Nisei Etsuko Arikawa and Miyoko Tsunashima, who were stranded in Japan and denied passports over Japanese election votes. It argues that wartime coercion should not bar innocent Nisei from returning home.
• The Forgotten People, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial calls attention to about 300 Japanese Peruvians held in U.S. internment despite being cleared of security threats and refused return to Peru. It argues the U.S. government bears responsibility for resolving their status.
• Rattling the Racist Skeleton, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Larry Tajiri challenges Governor Earl Warren’s denial of being the finger man in the mass evacuation, citing his 1942 testimony before the Tolan Committee. He concludes Warren should repudiate his Native Sons ties and anti-Japanese record.
• Ralph Martin Reports on What Happened to the GI Dream, by L.S.T., page 5. A review of Ralph G. Martin’s book The Best Is None Too Good, which follows returning WWII veterans and their postwar lives. The review notes a chapter on Ben Kuroki’s homecoming in Hershey, Nebraska.
• Not as Footloose as They Were, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Bill Hosokawa offers sidelights on postwar Japan gleaned from Japanese and Stars and Stripes newspapers, including black market raids and inflation. He also notes that Denver Nisei have settled down and travel less than during the war years.
• The House Next Door, by Toshio Mori, page 6. Toshio Mori reflects on the succession of tenants who lived in the house next door after Old Man White died, each leaving behind the fruit trees the neighborhood enjoyed. The sketch uses the rotating households to meditate on transience and community.
• Brotherhood Week, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The column marks Brotherhood Week with survey facts on American attitudes toward minorities and recounts Ada Fisher’s Supreme Court challenge to Oklahoma’s law school exclusion. It also reports on New York bills banning discrimination in education.

Sports

• 28 Teams Expected to Take Part in National Tourney, by P.C. Staff, page 8. About 28 teams are expected at the second annual National JACL bowling tournament in Salt Lake City on March 6. More than $1,500 in cash prizes plus trophies will be awarded across events.

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