February 1946: land law suits, deportation relief and the Denver convention

Vol. 22, No. 7, February 16, 1946. 8 pages. View this issue

California’s Alien Land Law was the thread running through this eight-page issue. Escheat suits were filed against families in Madera and San Luis Obispo, and the California Supreme Court set a March 8 hearing in the Oyama case. A. L. Wirin announced he would defend Karl Taku. Editorials traced the law’s history from 1913. On page one, Rep. George Miller introduced a bill to let the Attorney General suspend deportation in hardship cases regardless of race, which would affect roughly 2,000 people of Japanese ancestry. The JACL’s ninth biennial convention in Denver, with a message from President Truman, was also announced.

Elsewhere, Bill Hosokawa wrote about the queues of the forties, and Toshio Mori contributed a short story, “Operator! Operator!” Veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team formed a club in Hawaii, and Tule Lake finished the first phase of its relocation plan. Page eight carries an ACLU protest over wages paid at the Tule Lake camp, and sports pages cover Nisei boxers in Texas and basketball in Arizona.

What’s in this issue

National

• Rep. Miller Introduces Bill to Eliminate Discrimination in U.S. Immigration Law, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Rep. George Miller introduced legislation to extend the Attorney General’s discretionary power to suspend deportation in hardship cases to all persons regardless of race or national origin. The proposal would affect roughly 2,000 Japanese ancestry persons whose deportation to Japan has been ordered.
• Army Private Wins Citizenship Rights, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Pfc. Kiyoshi Yamamoto, a native of Japan serving in the Army, became a citizen in Hawaii under a special act for aliens in the armed forces. He was the first Japanese to be admitted to citizenship there under that act.
• Eight Thousand Repatriated Through Port of Seattle, by P.C. Staff, page 1. About 8,000 persons of Japanese ancestry were repatriated to Japan through the Seattle district office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service since November 1945. The district director made the announcement.
• Canadian High Court Hears Arguments on Deportation, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Canada’s Supreme Court heard arguments on the legality of government orders deporting Japanese nationals and certain Canadians of Japanese ancestry. The decision could affect some 10,000 persons facing deportation.
• Plan ‘Little Los Angeles’ on Outskirts of Tokyo, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Former Japanese residents of the United States being repatriated have proposed an American village on former military land near Tokyo. They argue housing in Japan is nearly hopeless and that they struggle to readjust after living by American standards.
• California Police Officers Armed with Material on Racial Groups, by P.C. Staff, page 2. California’s Attorney General is distributing a race relations guide to police chiefs and sheriffs to address problems stemming from Negro population growth and the return of Japanese ancestry residents. The bulletin urges officers to treat all races equally and avoid derogatory terms.
• Discrimination Case in Hands of Arbitrator, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A dispute over reemployment of Nisei veteran Karl G. Yoneda as a San Francisco longshoreman was referred to an arbitrator. The ILWU backs Yoneda while employers object, reportedly over his union record.
• Dr. Weltfish Decries Attacks on Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Anthropologist Dr. Gene Weltfish told a Toronto meeting that discrimination against Japanese Americans is a Fascist weapon promoting war. She urged Canadian church groups to help rehabilitate evacuees as American churches have done.
• Civil Liberties Group Protests ‘Slave Labor’ at Tule Lake Segregation Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Northern California ACLU wired Interior Secretary Ickes and WRA director Dillon Myer charging that camp employees exploit inmates through low-paid work. Investigators said segregees at Tule Lake received only $19 a month while the balance went to a recreation club.

Incarceration & Redress

• Legal Defense Planned in Land Act Cases, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Civil Rights Defense Union selected the law firm of Purcell and Ferriter as counsel for escheat cases in Northern California and voted to support the JACL educational program. It also backed the Fred Oyama escheat case in San Diego, which goes before the state supreme court.
• Charge Violation of Alien Land Act in Madera Area, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Madera officials filed an escheat suit against members of the Nikaido family seeking confiscation of property under the California Alien Land Law. The complaint alleges the property was transferred to a son with the understanding that benefits would remain with the original owners.
• Attorney Says Suit Against Taku Family ‘Most Inexcusable’, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Attorney A. L. Wirin announced he would defend Karl Taku of San Luis Obispo against an Alien Land Law escheat suit, calling it the most inexcusable of the forty or more such cases. He said Taku has conclusive proof of ownership and wants a speedy trial.
• Japanese Canadians Prepared to Appeal to Privy Council, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Toronto Cooperative Committee on Japanese Canadians said it would appeal to the Privy Council if the Supreme Court rules against them. Editor B. K. Sandwell said anti-Japanese sentiment in British Columbia is racial and economic rather than a war problem.
• California Supreme Court Will Hear Oyama Case, Testing State Alien Land Act, on March 8, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The California Supreme Court will hear the Oyama case on March 8, testing the constitutionality of the Alien Land Law and whether the statute of limitations bars the suit. Attorney A. L. Wirin plans an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if needed.
• Tule Lake Ends First Phase of Relocation Plan, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Tule Lake relocation center completed the first phase of its program with a population of 5,045 after 2,244 residents departed in January. Attention now turns to aiding residents who become eligible to relocate in February.
• Los Angeles Area Leads Relocation from Tule Lake Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Families at Tule Lake chose Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco as their top resettlement cities according to a February 11 report. The report lists planned destinations for more than 1,900 families.

Military & Veterans

• Barber Refuses Nisei GI; Army Captain Apologizes, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A decorated Nisei staff sergeant was refused service by a Hood River, Oregon barber who called him a Jap. An Army captain reproved the barber and walked miles through snow to apologize to the veteran.
• Men of 442nd in Hawaii Form Veterans Group, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Hawaii formed the 442nd Veterans Club and named Capt. Masao Yamada temporary chairman. Temporary officers were elected and the initiation fee and monthly dues were set.
• Gen. Wainwright Pins Bars on Nisei Officer, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Three Nisei servicemen were commissioned as second lieutenants at the Provost Marshal General School at Fort Sam Houston, including Takuji Kurisaki Jr., the first Japanese American commissioned in the military police corps. The article notes their backgrounds and assignments.
• Nisei War Veterans Buy Trucks at Navy Surplus Sale, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Three Japanese American veterans waited overnight in Tacoma to buy Navy surplus trucks for their eastern Oregon farms. More than 1,500 veterans attended the sale.
• Report Nisei War Record Changed Ideas of Racists, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Lt. Col. Herbert F. Bacon said the combat record of the 100th Battalion and 442nd has changed the views of many California Japanese haters. He spoke on arriving in Hawaii after treatment for wounds.
• Officers Pacific Citizen: Former 2nd Officers Praise Nisei Soldiers, by Lieut. Albert T. Tovey, page 7. Lieutenant Albert Tovey writes to report on former 442nd officers who have returned to the States and praises the Nisei soldiers he served with. He calls them among the best soldiers in the Army.

JACL

• President Truman Pays High Tribute to Nisei Soldiers, by P.C. Staff, page 1. President Truman sent a message to the JACL’s ninth biennial convention praising the wartime service and sacrifice of Japanese Americans. He cited their valor in the Pacific theater and noted the group’s heavy casualties.
• JACL to Hold National Meet in Denver to Discuss Post-War Problems of Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The JACL’s ninth biennial national convention in Denver will address relocation, readjustment, and problems of Nisei veterans. Guest speakers include former Colorado governor Ralph Carr, Governor John Vivian, and attorney A. L. Wirin.

Community

• Relocation Authorities Amazed by Splendid Reception Given Evacuees Returning to Oregon, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Despite early hostility, Oregon has had no acts of violence against returning Japanese Americans and community attitudes have improved. Church, civic, and WRA efforts helped returnees rebuild businesses and find work.
• Florin Methodists Hold Interracial Fete, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Florin and Pacific Methodist churches held a joint interracial potluck dinner attended by 53 people. Talks were given by Rev. O. Tsuda and Mrs. Marianne Sakamoto.
• Intermountain Nisei Students Will Hold Meeting in Denver, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Nisei students from Colorado and Wyoming colleges will hold an intercollegiate conference in Denver on the theme ‘After College, What?’ A cabinet and committees were named and a fundraising dance is planned.
• Chicago JACL Slates Meeting, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Chicago chapter of the JACL announced a February 21 meeting at the Chicago Buddhist church. Captain Russel Babcock of the Commission on Human Relations will be the main speaker.
• Professor to Address Nisei Buddhist Meeting, by K. Sekiya, page 3. Dr. Hubert Phillips, a Fresno State College political science professor, will speak to a Nisei Buddhist group on problems facing returning veterans. He has been appointed to a state commission investigating discrimination.
• Nisei Give Food to Strikers, by Dyke Miyagawa, page 3. Japanese Americans in Cleveland donated nearly 2,000 cans of food to families of CIO workers on strike. Canvassers reported broad community support, and the CIO leader praised the gesture.
• George Iwanaga Wins Highest Engineering Honor, by P.C. Staff, page 3. George S. Iwanaga, a senior at the University of Minnesota, was named to Tau Beta Pi, the highest engineering honor. He is a former Los Angeles resident.
• Ken Miura Wins Honor Award, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Ken Miura became the first Japanese American to win Shakespeare Elementary School’s highest award, an American Legion gold medal. He also won five other awards at the school’s exercises.
• Most Relocated Evacuees Will Remain in Milwaukee District, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Most Japanese Americans who relocated to Milwaukee plan to stay rather than return to the West Coast. The local WRA office will close February 28 and a JACL chapter has formed.
• Nisei Girls Usher at Memorial Concert, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Cecelia and Dorothy Ann Aoki, formerly of San Francisco and now living in New York, were among ushers at a memorial concert for Franklin D. Roosevelt held at the Waldorf-Astoria.

Commentary

• Mr. Sumida Finds a Home in the Nation’s Capital, by Kitasako, page 2. Chimata Sumida, a former Los Angeles merchant, chose Washington D.C. as a resettlement city for its stable federal economy. He is now helping Nisei launch businesses, especially grocery stores.
• Harold L. Ickes, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises Interior Secretary Harold Ickes on his departure from office for his integrity and his defense of evacuees during the WRA years. It calls on President Truman to retain his principled counsel.
• Hawaiian Rumors, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that Navy and FBI records show no Japanese American fifth column activity in Hawaii, despite claims by Frank Knox and Admiral Kimmel. It urges the Pearl Harbor investigation to correct the record.
• Reviving a Dead Letter, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that California’s Alien Land Law, dormant for two decades, was revived during the war to dispossess Japanese Americans of their land. It traces the law’s racist origins from 1913 through later amendments.
• Nisei U.S.A. Alien Land Law, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial traces the background of anti-alien land legislation in California and Colorado, showing its origins in exclusionist campaigns. It concludes the prosecutions are race-baiting driven by hate and economic greed.
• Operator! Operator!, by Toshio Mori, page 5. This short story follows Gunsuke Iwamura, a seventy-year-old Japanese man in San Francisco who loses his ability to find work and spends his last money on a classified ad. Alone and destitute, he reflects on his past while waiting for a call that never comes.
• From the Frying Pan: Get in Line, It’s the Queued-up Forties, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa observes that the 1940s are a decade of lines, from wartime rationing to theater queues. He also recounts a Nisei MP recognizing a former schoolmate among captured Japanese prisoners of war.
• Matter for Thought in Ojai, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Ojai weekly newspaper urges its community to welcome returning Nisei as an example of democratic conduct. It notes the combat record of Nisei soldiers in World War II.
• Memories, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The column recalls summers working Alaska salmon canneries aboard the old liner Yukon and the steamer Queen. It reminisces about shipboard life and ends with a question about a Japanese businessman met in Seward.
• Question-Mark, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The author wonders what happened to Kawabe, a Japanese businessman in Seward, Alaska, met a decade earlier. The item is brief and personal in tone.
• More Income, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The column asks readers how they are spending the extra income from reduced payroll tax deductions. It suggests much of it goes toward rising food costs.
• Quick Work, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Dr. Vic Nakashima quickly underwent surgery for appendicitis at the hospital where he works. The anecdote describes his wife’s brief reaction when told he was being operated on.
• Issei, by Miko Tamura, page 5. This short poem reflects on the Issei experience of striving and planting in a land not wholly free. It describes having one’s harvest taken before it ripens.
• The Letterbox: Vandalism at Penryn, by Eliot Blackwelder, page 7. Stanford geology professor Eliot Blackwelder writes to condemn vandalism against Japanese Americans at Penryn, California. He proposes a public subscription to pay for the damage.
• Orange County Will Initiate Land Law Suits, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A dispute arose in Santa Ana over which prosecutor will handle pending Alien Land Law cases against Japanese Americans in Orange County. The county stands to gain $100,000 if the escheat cases are won.

Arts & Entertainment

• Gwen Dew Praises Americanism of Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Writer Gwen Dew, who was interned by the Japanese at Hong Kong, said most Japanese Americans are better Americans than most others. She based this on her work with Nisei in the Office of Strategic Services.

Sports

• Nisei Boxers Win District Golden Gloves Titles in Texas, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Henry Kagawa and Saibara, both Nisei from Webster, Texas, won district Golden Gloves championships in Houston. They will enter the Texas State championships at Fort Worth.
• TNT Squad Wins Arizona Nisei Basketball Crown, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The TNT squad beat the Panthers 31-16 to win the Arizona Nisei Basketball League title at the Alhambra Gym. The Wildcats edged out the Lobos 34-33 in the feature game.

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