Statehood for Hawaii and Alaska, and Nisei gains in 1954

Vol. 38, No. 4, January 22, 1954. 8 pages. View this issue

Statehood for Hawaii and Alaska led the news. The Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee approved the two bills as a combined measure, and congressional leaders planned to give it priority on the floor. Mike Masaoka’s column weighed JACL’s ten-point 1954 legislative program and called Hawaiian statehood the one major item with real prospects. Also on the front page was Rep. Patrick J. Hillings’s bill to speed payment of evacuation claims over $2,500, and a Supreme Court tie vote that left in place a ruling that deportation cases are open to judicial review.

Elsewhere, Harry K. Honda wrote on the proposal to lower the voting age to 18, and Henry Mori looked back on a decade of change since the forced removal. Larry Tajiri examined Dillon Myer’s work in Indian affairs, and Bill Hosokawa profiled uranium prospector Charlie Steen. Chapter news, bowling tournament results and a Berkeley dinner honoring 75 newly naturalized Issei fill the remaining pages.

What’s in this issue

National

• Statehood Committee Joins Hawaii and Alaska Statehood Bills Together, page 1. The Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee approved statehood for Hawaii and Alaska in a combined measure. Congressional leaders planned to give the measure priority consideration once it reaches the Senate floor.
• Evacuation Claims Amendments Introduced in Congress, page 1. Rep. Patrick J. Hillings introduced legislation to speed payment of evacuation claims exceeding $2,500. The proposals followed existing compromise settlement procedures and those advocated by the JACL.
• Runaway Bus Careens Down Main Street for Three Miles, Nisei Driver at Wheel, page 1. Honolulu Rapid Transit driver David S. Uno lost brakes on a bus and rode it down Nuuanu Avenue for about three miles. He avoided crashing by repeatedly sounding the horn and sweeping through red lights until he stopped the bus at Pauahi Street.
• Supreme Court Holds Deportation Cases Subject to Judicial Review, page 1. By a 4-4 tie vote, the Supreme Court left in place a ruling that the McCarran-Walter Act made deportation actions subject to judicial review. The decision may benefit Issei facing deportation by allowing them to test proceedings without first being taken into custody.
• Congress and JACL’s 1954 Program, by Mike Masaoka, page 2. Masaoka assesses the prospects for JACL’s ten-point 1954 legislative program, noting that Hawaiian statehood is the only major item with real potential. He argues that as past JACL objectives have become law, congressional approval for measures benefiting Japanese Americans will grow more difficult.
• Dillon Myer and the Indian Service: Lessons from Japanese American Relocation, by Larry Tajiri, page 8. The article examines how lessons from wartime Japanese American relocation shaped the federal approach to Indian affairs under Dillon Myer. It describes efforts to move Indians from federal wardship toward full citizenship and local control.

Community

• Nisei Scout Selected to Present Report to President Eisenhower, page 1. Wailuku Eagle Scout Shigemi Sugiki was selected from 54 candidates to represent Region 12 at the presentation of Scouting’s Report to the Nation in Washington, D.C. He becomes the first Nisei to be chosen for this honor on a nationwide basis.
• Flying Rocks from Ditch Blasting Hurts Gardener, page 1. Rocks from sewer ditch blasting in La Jolla pierced roofs and broke windows of 16 homes. Gardener Henry Nakata was injured by a rock that struck his arm.
• Chicago War Bride Murder Charge Reduction Sought, page 1. Legal authorities sought to reduce a murder charge to manslaughter for Mrs. Etsuko Britton, a Japanese war bride who killed her son, so she could be deported to Japan. The judge granted a 30-day continuance.
• Fresno Musician Training at Washington, D.C., as GI, page 1. Pvt. Eiji Uyemaruko of Fresno is training with the Army Elements at the U.S. Naval Receiving Station in Anacostia, Washington, D.C. He was one of seven selected from the San Francisco Presidio 6th Army Band for six months of training.
• Berkeley ‘Man of the Year’ Main Speaker at JACL Fete Honoring 75 Issei Citizens, page 2. Galen Fisher, Berkeley’s 1953 Man of the Year, will speak at a February 6 dinner honoring 75 Berkeley Issei naturalized in the past six months. The event is sponsored by the Berkeley JACL.
• Jr. Chamber of Commerce Week Honolulu Newsletter: Teamwork, by Lawrence Nakatsuka, page 3. The Japanese Junior Chamber of Commerce and the Honolulu Junior Chamber joined for the first time to sponsor Jaycee Week in Honolulu. The joint effort was considered successful in teaching teamwork and countering criticism that the Japanese chapter should not exist as a racial organization.
• Mary Ono Becomes First Nisei Full-Time Congressional Employee, page 3. Congressman Barratt O’Hara of Illinois hired Mrs. Mary Matsumoto Ono as a full-time secretary, making her the first Nisei employed in a regular full-time congressional position. Mike Masaoka praised the appointment as a sign of growing Nisei acceptance in public service.
• Sayonara Tune Quick Hit in Hollywood After Radio Show, page 3. The song Sayonara, written in Japan by Tom Oliver and Stan Saget and sung by Nancy Umeki, became a quick hit after disc jockey Ira Cook played it on KMPC. A music publisher’s call and expected American release followed.
• Chapter Memo: Watsonville, Berkeley, Richmond-El Cerrito and Other Chapters, page 4. Multiple JACL chapters elected 1954 officers and announced membership drives, installation dinners, and social events across Northern California and Colorado. Chapters including Watsonville, Berkeley, Mile-Hi, and Mt. Olympus reported new cabinets and plans.
• Chicago Corner: Ellis Community Center and Around Chicago, by Smoky Sakurada, page 4. The Ellis Community Center in Chicago, sponsored by a Evangelical church, has become a leader in neighborhood conservation. The column also reports on personal news and Chicago JACL members, including George Teraoka’s election as 3rd vice-president.
• Former Japan Pavilion Tea Room Rebuilt on Gilroy Ranch Destroyed by Fire, page 5. A fire destroyed the Japanese-style tea room of Kiyoshi Hirasaki in Gilroy, a structure originally part of the Japan Pavilion at the 1939-40 Golden Gate Exposition. Mrs. Hirasaki noticed the fire early and alerted the household.
• San Luis Obispo Chapter Installation, by Tats Kushida, page 7. Tats Kushida reports on the San Luis Obispo County JACL annual installation dinner at Paso Robles Inn, where Saburo Ikeda was installed as president. State Senator A. A. Earhart spoke on legislative processes and commended the JACL.

Commentary

• The 18-Year-Old Voting Issue, by Harry K. Honda, page 2. Honda examines the debate over President Eisenhower’s proposal to lower the voting age from 21 to 18. He argues that the ability to fight is not a reasonable test of an informed voter and that the real correction lies in raising the fighting age instead.
• Tamotsu Murayama on Earl Finch, by Tamotsu Murayama, page 2. Murayama writes about Earl Finch, the ‘godfather of the Nisei,’ who has been delivering clothing to Japanese war orphans in Tokyo. He praises Finch’s sincere devotion to Japanese American relations and humanitarian work.
• Henry Mori Newsletter: Reflections on a Decade of Change, by Henry Mori, page 7. Mori reflects on the decade since evacuation, noting Japanese American gains in cars, homes, professions, and public recognition. He warns that a class division may emerge within the Japanese American community over the next decade.
• In Bountiful Moab Country, by Bill Hosokawa, page 8. Hosokawa profiles uranium prospector Charlie Steen, who rose from poverty to enormous wealth after striking uranium ore near Moab, Utah. The column describes Steen’s persistence in the face of skepticism.

JACL

• Chapter of the Year Awards, by Haruo Ishimaru, page 5. Ishimaru announces Chapter of the Year honors for Northern California District chapters, including Sequoia’s third-place finish and Livingston-Merced’s second place. He notes that regular meetings were a common trait of the winning chapters.

Sports

• Significant Revision in Bowling Meet Rules, page 6. National JACL Bowling Director Mas Satow released revised rules for the National JACL Bowling Tournament. Key changes include expanded eligibility, a 20-cent tournament expense deduction per entry, and mandatory squad assignments.
• Sacramento Plans 6th Bowling Meet, page 6. The Sacramento JACL and Sacramento Valley Nisei Bowling League set a February 1 deadline for entries in the sixth annual handicap tournament at Alhambra Bowl. The event runs February 13-14.
• Boise Valley JACL Tourney Results, page 6. Thirty teams competed in the fifth annual Boise Valley JACL bowling handicap tournament in late December. Awards totaled $3,204.40, with team, doubles, and other event winners listed.

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