Resettlement and daily life in the camps, October 1942

Vol. 15, No. 22, October 29, 1942. 8 pages. View this issue

Resettlement was the main subject of this eight-page issue. WRA Director Dillon Myer told an Arkansas congressional delegation that the government wanted as many incarcerees as possible placed in private employment, though labor would not be forced on any locality. JACL representatives from the ten relocation centers planned to meet in Salt Lake City in November to work on permanent resettlement. Mike Masaoka wrote an open letter urging gifts for Community Christmas celebrations in all ten centers, and Larry Tajiri described furlough workers jailed overnight in Shelby, Montana.

Life inside the camps filled much of the rest. Kaz Oka reported on the Poston County Fair, which drew about 16,000 people, and Saburo Kido wrote about a trust fund planned at Poston. Heart Mountain launched a printed weekly, with Bill Hosokawa as acting editor. Topaz and Tule Lake announced farm projects, and Gila residents began forming a JACL chapter.

What’s in this issue

National

• Government Hopes to Relocate Evacuees in Private Industry, by P.C. Staff, page 1. WRA Director Dillon Myer said the government wants as many evacuees as possible placed in private employment to relieve manpower shortages, but labor will not be forced on any locality. He told an Arkansas congressional delegation that evacuees would leave the centers only where local officials accepted responsibility for law and order.
• Resettlement Problems Will Be Discussed at Special Meeting of Congressional Group, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The War Relocation Authority’s resettlement policy aims to move evacuees of Japanese ancestry into private employment consistent with internal security. Officials emphasized that evacuee labor would not be imposed on any community.
• No Waste or Inefficiency Noted At Topaz, Sen. Murdock Told, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Dr. Thomas B. Dodgson, after inspecting the Topaz relocation center at WRA invitation, reported to Senator Murdock that rumors of wasteful extravagance were false. He found salvageable materials neatly stacked and modest living conditions for evacuees.
• Alien Japanese Arrested by FBI in Texas Ports, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The FBI Houston division arrested 52 alien Japanese men and women in a roundup across the Houston-Galveston industrial area. Agents seized currency and Japanese bonds from their homes.
• Seize Assets Of Nine U.S. Japanese Firms, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Alien Property Custodian Leo Crowley announced seizure of the American assets of nine Japanese-owned firms. The companies included major grocery, importing, and shipping businesses.
• Nisei Soldiers May Visit All WRA Centers, by P.C. Staff, page 7. WRA revised its circular so that American soldiers of Japanese ancestry may visit centers within the Western Defense Command. Visitors must present furlough papers and a travel permit.

Incarceration & Redress

• 23 Thousand Evacuated to Inland Canada, by P.C. Staff, page 1. About 23,000 persons of Japanese ancestry have been moved out of British Columbia’s defense zone, with resettlement nearing completion. Employment and maintenance remain the main problems facing the Dominion.
• Heart Mountain Court Dismisses Seiki Case, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Heart Mountain center court dismissed the assault charge against William Ryohei Seiki after he pleaded guilty. The court ruled that Seiki be placed under the care of the social welfare department.
• File Tule Lake Co-op Papers In Sacramento, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Fourteen evacuees at the Tule Lake center filed incorporation papers for a cooperative enterprise planning general merchandising and services. The cooperative will be limited to 10,000 members at $1 each.
• Dismiss Charge Against Sugiura In Seattle Court, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Charges against James Sugiura for violating the evacuation order were dismissed on condition he remain at the Minidoka center. He had remained in Seattle because his mother was Caucasian.
• Tanforan Evacuee Sentenced to Ninety Days in County Jail, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Fred O. Morita, arrested at the Tanforan assembly center for stealing $300, was sentenced to 90 days in county jail and three months probation. He must go to a relocation center after his jail term.

JACL

• JACL Leaders in Salt Lake City, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Representatives from the ten relocation centers and chapters outside them will meet in Salt Lake City in November to address problems from the mass evacuation. The conference will develop plans for permanent resettlement with government officials.
• New Committee Will Assist Resettlement, by P.C. Staff, page 1. George Rundquist of the American Friends Service Committee was named executive secretary of the Committee on Resettlement of Japanese Americans. He has worked on relocation in the New York area since April.

Community

• Attend First Fair at Poston Center, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The first Poston fair drew about 16,000 attendees over three days and earned between $1,000 and $1,500 for the commission. Recreation units also profited from the event.
• Lamar Citizens Now Welcome Granada Evacuees to Town, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Lamar, Colorado merchants voted unanimously to invite evacuees from the Granada center to trade in their stores, reversing earlier exclusion placards. Evacuee leaders assured local residents of their loyalty.
• 25 Nisei Students, Not 300, Enroll at Nebraska University, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Registrar G. W. Rosenlof corrected rumors that 300 Nisei students would enroll at the University of Nebraska, reporting that 25 had been admitted. The campus paper urged students to welcome them as fellow citizens.
• Tule Lake Names Elementary Schools, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Tule Lake elementary schools are named Washington, Lincoln, and Rim Rock. Rim Rock has the largest enrollment with 694 students.
• Woman Killed While Working In Beet Field, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Mrs. Yae Kato, a Minidoka volunteer beet topper, died after a loaded truck backed over her near Filer, Idaho. The county coroner ruled the death accidental.
• Topaz Cooperative Store Gets Sample Order of Clothing, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Topaz Cooperative Enterprise received its first sample clothing order and will place items on sale within days. The membership drive for residents over 16 is nearing completion.
• YWCA Official To Visit Hunt, by P.C. Staff, page 2. National YWCA official Esther Breismaster will visit the Minidoka center to help organize a leadership training course. The visit is sponsored by the temporary Hunt YWCA board.
• Poston’s Industrial, Agriculture Possibilities Shown at Fair, by Kaz Oka, page 3. The Poston County Fair, held October 17-19, displayed industrial products, farm crops, and arts and crafts to about 16,000 residents. Organizers overcame short notice and a changed venue to produce a successful event.
• Planned in Relocation Centers By Special National Committee, by Mike Masaoka, page 3. Masaoka’s open letter urges Japanese Americans to fund Community Christmas celebrations in all ten relocation centers. Contributions are to be sent to the committee’s treasurer by November 15.
• Robert O’Brien Heads Group to Aid Students, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Robert O’Brien, assistant dean at the University of Washington, was appointed director of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council. He succeeds Dr. Robbins Barstow, who resigned.
• One-third of Topaz Residents Get Jobs, by P.C. Staff, page 3. About 2,527 Topaz residents, nearly one-third of the population, now hold jobs assigned through the Placement Bureau. Subsistence is the largest employer and all assignments have been voluntary.
• Nisei Aids U.S. War Effort by Teaching Physics, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Ralph Ibata, an American-born electrical engineer, left his Dayton job to teach physics at the University of Nebraska. The Daily Nebraskan reports on his teaching of potential officers.
• Printed Paper Makes Bow at Cody Project, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Heart Mountain’s new weekly, the Heart Mountain Sentinel, became the second WRA center to have a printed newspaper. Bill Hosokawa serves as acting editor of the eight-page publication.
• Defense Work Project Starts at Gila Center, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Construction of the camouflage net factory began at the Gila center, with garnishing sheds and warehouses due for completion in November. Nearly 1,000 citizen workers may eventually be employed.
• Poston Sets Up Evacuee Trust Fund, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Poston leaders met to set up a trust fund holding $35,000 to $40,000 of wages earned above the $19 monthly base. Cotton picker wages will also flow partly into the fund.
• Discuss Farm Programs for WRA Centers, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Experts from national and regional WRA offices gathered at Manzanar to plan agricultural production for all centers in 1943. Livestock and food needs were among the subjects discussed.
• Topaz Center Plans Project to Raise Hogs, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Topaz farm superintendent William Farrell outlined a $50,000 hog-raising project with 300 brood sows and modern facilities. Feed will come from alfalfa, barley, and city garbage.
• Tule Lake Starts Poultry Project, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Tule Lake received 3,400 chicks, the first step in a poultry project that will eventually deliver 85,000 chicks. Construction of coops, brooder houses, and warehouses has begun.
• Gila Citizens Form JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Representatives of twelve former JACL chapters met at the Gila center to begin forming a Gila chapter. A committee was appointed to draft bylaws and a JACL office opened in block 42.

Military & Veterans

• Cotton Pickers Being Recruited at Poston, by P.C. Staff, page 1. General DeWitt approved use of evacuee labor in Yuma County cotton fields, and recruitment of volunteer pickers began at the Colorado River center. Pickers will earn $4.00 per hundred pounds.
• Army Will Complete Evacuation Role Nov. 1, Says Gen. DeWitt, by R. W. Anderson, page 6. The Army announced that the transfer of persons of Japanese ancestry from West Coast military areas will be complete by November 1. Responsibility then passes to the civilian War Relocation Authority.

Commentary

• Evacuee Trust Fund Planned in Poston, by Saburo Kido, page 2. Poston residents have decided that all money earned by working outside the center will go into a common trust fund shared among WRA workers. The column explains the wage arrangement and the debate over incentives and fairness.
• No Peace With Murderers, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial warns that appeasers and domestic fascist sympathizers will press for a negotiated peace that preserves prewar injustices. It argues that only a complete defeat of militarist Japan, Nazi Germany, and fascist Italy will secure lasting freedom.
• Bouquets for the Living, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial thanks the Americans who have supported the rights of evacuees of Japanese ancestry during evacuation and confinement. It quotes Pearl Buck urging Japanese Americans not to lose faith in democracy.
• A Mistaken Conception, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial criticizes University of Arizona president Alfred Atkinson for refusing extension classes to Japanese in relocation centers. It notes that many of these people are American citizens who want to serve the country.
• The Lancer, by Tad Uyeno, page 4. Uyeno reflects on the importance of the California state election for evacuees, since the next state administration will influence their return. He notes that anti-Japanese forces have pressed for candidates opposing evacuee rights.
• Nisei Furlough Workers Jailed in Shelby, Montana, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri describes how furlough workers were jailed overnight by the Shelby sheriff while in transit to Glasgow. He argues that discrimination may discourage relocation and push evacuees to remain in the centers.
• Whistling in the Dark, by Kenny Murase, page 5. In a fictional farewell between the narrator and Little Esteban, the mentor advises the narrator to study social work and to assert his rights as an American. The piece stresses that postwar acceptance depends on present-day conduct.
• Ann Nisei Says: Cooking Classes Suggested for Relocation Centers, by Ann Nisei, page 5. The columnist proposes cooking classes and community centers for young nisei women in the relocation centers. She argues such programs would fill labor needs and provide valuable social outlets.
• Japan is On Rampage Today Because Supreme Power Has Been Usurped by Militarists, by Hawaii Hochi, page 5. A reprinted Hawaii Hochi editorial argues that Emperor Hirohito is a figurehead controlled by Japan’s military leaders. It concludes that Tojo’s militarist government, not the emperor, drives Japan’s aggression.
• A Message of Sympathy: A Caucasian American Writes to His Evacuee Friends, by R. W. Anderson, page 6. Anderson encourages evacuees to see their relocation as pioneering work in agriculture and food production. He urges them to build cooperative, democratic economic structures.
• To the Editor: We Aren’t All Like That! Says Writer Regarding Protests, by Dorothy S. Pitman, page 6. Pitman, of Quaker Hill in Richmond, Indiana, writes that many townspeople welcome Japanese American students from the Portland and Santa Anita centers. She responds to protests by the Junior Order of United American Mechanics.

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.