112,000

Before the war~ '*l..t1ttle Tokyo, 1* u .. ~~ .. A., was a loosely-knit, ·eo.iih'l!Uni ty o'f 127, ooo men, women ~.nd ch:lldren of J e.paneae descent. Of this ppopul.a.tion--more than the population of Spokane, ~ashington--. seven-eights, or 112~'000 w0re in the westf!rn states. 7-lost of these ware conaentrgt~d on Fe.cific Ooast.. C.eli:forxl.ia. alone \'ias the home o~ 93,919c

Jau~m States h~d to oonaider

, one of the first things the United question:

iiWh~t espionage

out of thts question was as to attitude people of the

two-thirds of all Japanese citizens ..

lens prevf':nt posE:tble

evPn more difficult problem tea should take toward

":!1era actually Amer1c£<.n

a time, o.efense industries, rerfineri~s:~ bridges <':tml other danger ~1:ree.s were guarded aga:tnst su;r:.:>ri.Se ~lttack, the government grappled with the job of· finding a solution to the issue.

wel"'S all sorts of complications., of the Japanese, especi~t1ly those o:f l-l-merican birth, w~l"e loyal Un.i ted States. But the'rr> fa.thers mothf?rs were aliens. lt -was to be exoected tf!..at a considerable nu.mber of these would tied to J'a;pan by bond.s of race and. nationality.

SEOUPJ.T'Y

H~::n~ was Uncl~ to separate into groups all those gradations of loyalty patriotic interest, know the,t he was figuring correctly?.

Also, with the emotions of the peop1e rising in under~ stand able over 's oonduct6 waan 't there a de.nger the.t · Japanese in Amerioa--even though many them were loyal oit1zens-­Vlt!Uld find themael ves not me,rf4y boycotted, but physidally ·injured,~ n r'l '"'t!"" ;.,.,-,-, t"'C!\;YH'"•""'~; t'1""'€) "t"'i:>.'lt !~•,fi>" Qi.-D V ... .t.. V';,:<::ht Vt.h_lJ ~.:;,:... ~:..,._ 16.1. ,.r -:f yJ. ~~?:i~<::.::;.

~1ere wu.s t11us the Probl&-ar setn:u:>ity for the cotmtry; and the, o·ther pJ:>oblem" of security :rot~ thoae of Japanese blooil v1ho v.Jere living

our borders.

Through the first two or three months after war was declared the Pepii?:rtmAnt Justice, especially through 'the J?'1BI, held. the situo.tion under. ooni!rol while plans for dispos:l tion of the problem were· being :f:ormula~tE>d.. MaJlY su.gge were propoaed-:mo£ltly baaec1 on the· hope

1

that Japanese a11lns could b~ segregated from Am~riean-born Japanese for handling aceording to the circumstances.

But it came to be raali~ed the.t Jepan~ae realized it, too, during encouraged a voluntary migration from

was not praoticaple. ~any the period when . the Government vulnerable coast areas, 5,000

Japanese moved inland.

Wl1at was needed., however, was e~ pl.ar1 entiPe 112,000 Japanese raeials in the lias recognized b;r many loyal Japanese

would take care of the states. Tllis, too, in turn, d,id what th~y

could to convey that faot to friends relatives. ·

The only workable program, 1n interest ot the country and its. Japanese, was for a_ eon trolled migra.'tiou into specifically assigned areas, that migration to carried out U."lder de~ocratio principles and followed by a t would enable the Japanese to v;ork:, to live as as conditions lf10U1d permit, and to contribute toward the common welfareo

The President of the Uni tell s . the power, on. grounds of military necessity, exolude anyone, whether alien or citizen, f"J?om any area which he considers in jeopardyo On February 19 he ·

this power upon of with authority to carry out an evacua$1on programo

Under this authorization. Army, by Lieutenant program which L"lVOl ves :the mo history bf the courty--greater Oklahoma land rush of 1889.

program not only had ~itg thousanda of homes~ farms, crops, automobiles, and all the that would bt? part of tha lives

Defense Command ana Fourth DeWitt, proceeded with a

extensive human migration in the by several thousand than the great

112,000 humt;n beings, but business. Jobs, important

properties and personal problems of 112,000 1ndustrious'people •.

It involved the protection, on tha o:o.e b~nd, of ll2,ooo· Japamese, including the aged and little children, and on the other hand it involved the security of 1301000,000 of Uncle Sam's own,,nephews and nieces tluroughout the United atates~ .

General DeWitt deelared, on ~iarch 19th, that the evacuation process .must be carried out with the *'least inconvenience, ·property sacrifice,· or ,family dislocation compatible with 1he n&~tional security.«

But r-elocation necessarily meant dislocation. The job was to 1 t in t;h~. AmericH:m wa,y.

2

COPY,

Clarence E. Fickett G. Raymond Booths c. Reed Ca.ey, Phi Gorme.n Do~bled~:ry& Betty Baker, San Bernard G. Waring. Hill

Kimber, Berkeley Don Mary FeEsler, Portland Gurney & Elisabeth Binford, Los

Dee.r Fr1end.s:

iOOO Bea.ttle ) from

confinement camn days in Se~ttle"" blessing to the it ~11 behind. (I

to

Seattle Office American Friends Service 3959- 15th Ave.,. .E. Seattle, Washington

April 30, 1942

JAPAlfESE EVACUATION REPORT # 10.

4fd1splaced~ (in the languag~i of· and driven down to the

rain. Thel,r last ten raw. But there's one

it'll make them glad to l.ea.ve 't shine soon, I shall -

confinement divided into four areas, each area sur-by ei~ht wire and over by a soldier

1'11 th rifle '·< littl.e wooden tower. In the ~tords of the pastor of the Methodist Cm~rch, ~It is a humilia to be compelled to live behind barbed llrire., to have one' a essenti::;~ ~~&triotism doubted. engineer t>Tho was in charge of building the camp, papers the day it was finished that 1 t tia.d eo at only he lutd been told to spend on it. Apparently ~he Colonel instructed to go do~~ tq Puyallup and build accomodations for peo nwa 811 giva you $1,000,000 a.nd 17 days to do it in. u On the 8 at 11 Al-I, San Francisco tele.pl1onev. him tQld him "Add a hosni tal unit. u .l~nd at lunch the Colonel with a carpenter•.s t)leils for a hundred bed hospital on a na.pkin at 1:30 the plan was compl·ete and the hospital begun. The nev1spaper story on this goes on to say that the constn~ction crew have :t'rlt.med this napkin as a: souvenir of the .e.ccomplishmemt. (Later editions same ps.::per omitted this stsr;r.) And so the eamp was finished in 17 cost only i a million dollars.. It looks it. It is se;id the Cottnty, State, and Federal Ileal th Departments ~tll condemned it for otur thing o~- another. In the nel'1spaper it was said the u. S, Department of ·Health demanded that th~ facilities for removing·· EHlw;rage be impro-r1ed. Rumor ·has 1 t th~.t the hospi t8l. unit l<tas dsnoun~ed by the County Board of Health · as 8. m~nace to· tlie surrounding commtmi ty of l"lUYfil.1.lu.p. _The town of Puyallup has a pop'l.tlation of 7BB9 spread out over some 400 city blocks; the confinement e~mp tc;ill a population of 8000 concentrated into . 14 city blocks. There• s hardly room :for deck tennis courts bet~reen. the buildings (the rabbithutches) nowhere space for a- ball diamond.·

Is· 1 t a !t conoentration11 camp? ,. it is not the Gen"'man type . where the victims are not only crcnmed together,. but. also .-torturea..;. This is.tha A.tnerican type: the men in charge a.ra fine decent fallows v!l-J.o 't-Fill do the very beet y can. ·:ror the inmates under the ~1r-oumstances .• · If' stoves haven't arrived. yet. and the temperature :ta ·50

3

-2-

and the Japanese are subject to TB, if the weather is damp ~~d ~ain7 ~~d the mud oozes up through floo~s built f~at on the ground, if the~e i~n't space enough to organise group activities -- l'tork and ge.mes; -- · tn.is is not torture; it is the .American way. But the camp is temporary. Only t~~ee months, and then they're all to be moved off in the wilder-· ness on a great tract of barren land in eastern Idaho, way off where our consciences won•t burt when we drive · see the little children behind barbed wire.

r.tave not spered strong precedi~g p.a.ra.graph because we are appalled the to fall for the favorable sugarcoated news releases the Army is puttin~ out about -the evacuation e.nd the 1ii8..Y it is being handled. Sure, the Federe1l. Reserve is acting as eu~todian of prope~ty, but wh~t have done to conserve prop~rty? Sure, the is t:...rateh.ing out for the farms., but llhat. have they actually done •••••• • soft are being spoken--by people like our we had lunch not so long ago., HA soft lulls· the uneasy conscience back into its slumbers. s. And the strong language.

must be on our guard bitterness but also against . compl&.cency.

<9.re we doing? r suppose the ing . thing we are doing is ruru'1.ing a sor1; underground college kids, to. help them escape the awaits It is an underground railway in ·the sense th~_t if general public about i.t, it would ~lmost cert~inly :f'orbid.o.en l:f lie the temper of the !oi{ounte:.in liiddle West properly. happens is- th8.t vm use ~.11 the contacte lP1E:> can si bly must~r to a sheaf' of letters 'for some Japanese student here: letta:rs from some college w.rilling to take him or her in ( ther~ aren't many ; even Q..uak.er college pre-sidents write; •we should like to have a Japanese atudent·or two, but

.the Govern~r of our state has said NO WANTED HERE and we are a.fl?a1d to try to-buck of the Governoru. (Firat time I fully realized that much to lose and. hence fear l:ru.cking, the tide -- just as the Friends found it unwise t·o admit e. negro girl to Friends School-- it's the same thing), After you get e college willing, then you have to find them.a home, a plE:'~ce to live. Then you ¥FOrk on the authorities in tb,e \olr.acky (nickname for the : Civil Contr-ol .1\dminiEtr~~tion -- ominous nama; PEJJifists nextf)office to get fi. permit to leave the proscribed area, .k\nr:l then you ;put the .japEHtese on the tra.ifi and: ·a:rrBnge to have some true friend meet him or her at ~;ha.tever time· of night.· or (lay she e,rrives, 1?-0 that no vigilantes '!.dl.l find them 'before they've ·loos.ted theme elves in the new city. It' a exciting -- and rei.~arding! · l-l e onl7 hop~ all the Friends to the east Qf us whom we've called on and whose homes 8-ra no11r cluttered up 1,rith JapaneEe studfmts aren't too sore at us.

Of course, someti!nes the underground rail't'lay brea.ks r1o~-n, and the lynchmobs get busy., For instance over in r~roeccn'~~ Id~ho, where we helped send six ~.Taps.nese boys and girls, they had ~J. big time and- had to put , the kids in Jail to protect them! I quote what finally happened: from a letter· by l·in.coln E. ¥Jirt, Congregational 1-..linieter in Pullman, Wash. where the ~ids ended ·

nAa you no doubt know the nisei who went to the Universityof Idaho were nea.rly r-un out of totm oy a. bunch o"f vigile.ntes, re~lJ.y ·

4

rowdies from a pool hall, reinforced by the famous American Legio~. Since the kids were congregationalists, episcopalians and eatho11cs1 we leaders of those denominatione are taking care of th~m over here in Pullman. The way l'ra.s paved ~o:r this by some fast l:lork b;r Prof. Robt O'Brien of your Univ. of who flew over here yesterday 2..nd did soma quick thinkitlg, effective acting, and wirepulling. · 0 8B:rien got the 5 kids enrolled in \iashington State here at ;rullms.n. And. nol'r the regist~ar here sekys he' 11 take 25 nisei next fall. The quota is now full these six fugitives cow filled it~ The

· College are the student employment 8geneiee ~nd both the secretaries will do they can to find jobs. Even the Dean of Women has come tnrough in great style. Of c~:mrs e she ~;ould; she • s · a con­g:rtegationalist and all,eady has found homes for 'tt'ITO out Of the thre.e congregation~llst nisei from 11osomv. ttsr tl1a,n the 1.-!oscoii County Jail. l>There t"t>IO gi!ils hours for their O¥m protection .. H

s. Justice on Supreme Court of the U.s. remarked to a fellow from the Federal Council or·cnurches, referring to the Arrr~~•s ~~d Federal Security's (Richard Neusta.dt' a) that we have to round all these people up for their o~m protection: "It is a ead commentary on tha way of life when it necessary to put Amer1ctm ci ti 'barbed 'ffllire in to protect them. it

' 'iile ha.ve occas to 'lt.ratch the various

Protestant ·a.enominat The primary eoneern is for "religious ed.ucs:tion11 in the chur·ch ser>~ices and getting per-missions for them. here have done a·good job of trying to .!t!"ra.l'lge sa fam117 have · s. Oongrega. tional fe.mily on the outside interested in All the p.e't'fa l<mre taken out of the J'B.p&nee~ Congr~gatioz-u~.l Ch:urch here and the building usecL:as a

. warehouse for. Jap&nese , under the 113urveillanoe o:e the Ca.uo::asian Congreg~;ttional Church. the l1aptists e.nd Methodists have clone the same. It is a pity, h:t..:rt inevita.ble, these congregations have not been ~ble to find room in their church buildin~e for families not· mem-bers of theit> churches, but builtlings are iiot large, not even large enouR"h I f!Uess :for the Ba:otists .and !;;fethodists themse1ves. h9.ve been~interested in the Buddhists, trying to help 'them fi,nd ways to store the!'!" things t1 .. ansportation from their homes to the· Departure l"ointe, etc., mm 1 t say -we've d.one as much a.a we should have., ThP. Buddhists to be shy, proud suepicious.

Our visi tinf!7 teams hrrve been busy.. One of the lat!?St·· stunts is to ·Call on 13. Japanese y lenve self'Rd.d:re~3sed St~unpecl envelopes so that 1t:rhen the family s it l*lon't feel shy about i.•rriting out to ~sk for such ctTid. ouch d.c:rv;;n. f'...!"e toying with the !Cl.e~. of getting a list of children in our co.mps .and sending it to Friends Schot')ls in ting that perr.~~l.pS little Oauca.sia.n boys e.nd girls miJ!ht 1;1rant to correspond. with the Japanese youngsters (and help the~ rem~mber they are still American citizens and wanted.) Some of you who know more about sueh a venture might hel-p 1:ts on this -ooint; t~rould it l;ork? Summer is coming on and Friends Schools in~the east "\till be letting out; do 1r1e '\<rait :till next Fa1.1?

At e. big Church luncheon the ils.y, the- speaJ.tal.:. i'Tae descri:Oing irthat the Ohu'I'ches should flo in this crisis •. His remarks about the AFSO

5

were very interesting. said: •1\f'fe shoulrl leave the matter of re-settlement up to the Friends. They ere qu~lified to h~~dle it for the fo110i1l'ing three reasons: 2) They have contacts in vlashinftton tlae rest of us don't have (Ia this £eallz true?) .• 2) They have·nad ex­periena~ and have the sociological background for the job. And 3) the:; won'~ tak~ our people from us: they have no interest. itl proselytiz-ing. . <: )_ If he only t the very morning of the day he. was talking two Japanese stuclents had. been in to see us, Congregationalists, ~.nd asked botl to go s:oout st~n.,.ting a l~e!!l'lting in the cafil.p. They 'l'tanted to try to find out 1that it is the~t make Q;u.akers -vthat they are! -..:\nd a.t the Un:i:~rersi ty 1·!eeting4 s !'l.pril Monthly Bt.lsinesa :t~eeting a minute "tvas read and gi.'tTen to our on.e member urging and ent?J:>ling him to conrluct Q.uaker study a Friends ~:teeting for ~'lorah1p in the Cf;'i.mp.

made an att to r~lly a lot of suitcases around for the Japanese as gifts, the the PT.s\. on Bain~oridge Island did. But the Public School system here the ~elt it was·not able to hel~ in this. High School students themselves tried to run a campaign, a.'lc!. collected in~· all 4 old pretty useless ba.gs. It 'l'mrked on Bainbridge, perhaps bec~use the whites and e knew each other better over there.

This week we rec~ived a check for from Fuyo Kai, the Japanese sorority on the Uni·vE!rsi ty of 'itlashington • It reprE'!sents money that the girls had been accumulating for a building. To quote their

tter to ua: *'Of course it is now imnossible to execute our nlans for a clubhouse. · ~

11 Eeca:use of our e.dm1 ration i'or the hums.nite:rie,.n ideals of the Americt:m Friends Service Committee, i'~e should like to pre.sent this sum to the Friends to ~del in the furthera.nce crf their nrog-re...m. Althoug-h tfe are lteenly appreciative of the aid that the Frfend.S· have given ·~ both Ameriefl..n students of Japanese parentage and the Ja.panese com­munity, \'Te prefer that the money not be earmarked for work among the Japanese. We should like to have it placed in.a general fund ao'that it aid the work of the Friends in all fields, especially in

areas vthere the Friends ha''ire so efficiently a.ssisted and com­all the su ff erin~. ,.

The Priends from. here ~,rho vrere d.o~>.rn ~;ratchin@,' this mornin~' s evacuation and working for the evacuees have just returned. They tell a dismal story. 900 Japanese standing out in the rein va~ting their t'tt.rn to get on the buses. From a:::;o until 10:30 in the pouring r•ain, babJes heavy in mothers' arrns, old men, a pregnant wome.n -- 1::.raiting their turn. It ~..,rould h<':\Ve been so easy to h!:l.Ve let them all pile into the busses out of the rain and then been counted and checked off. This l·Jas done in some cases. But no, ~11aeky (\-/GOA) 'trho vas running the shot¥ had its ol'm system ~11 llff'Orked out, each muBt be chec~ed off a list befo~ he got on the bus. And some Japanese were missing, so the others had to wait until they were located. And apparently only one m~n.was checking them off, with only one list of names: for 900 people. It seemed inefficient as well as tragic, but the fault was the }treather.• s, it shnuld not have rained! But as usual the Japanese l'Jere ch~'!erfu1 ~no. gay. Ho-r.,·n<:~ver do they do it! . (l.~at us not forget as ~~e see the cheerful J.~ps:mese f~.ces in the nelmreels of evacuation that the Japanese don't complain- they're ·not that kind ... and that their good cheer does 1!2!. necessarily- mean that ".all's 't>Tell").

6

-5-

Because we thought it might help to do some UJ?re-.Puyallup l}ll!.nningn we shared responsibility with the :nmA' s (both d.ovmtotm. and University) for e~llling together a group of some 25 Japanese nl~ei leaders: Boy Scout, Girl Scout masters, Yti, Church groups, etc. to talk. over morale, eduo~ttion, and reorea.tion in the camDs and see 'i'ihat could be done of by lJ!"aif ot collecting equipment and getting organi zea.. "Frere *just getting star ted on this TFthen the t~MY entered the picture th a b~ngcrash and p~esented the Japanese community through the JAOL with a uaamp Harmony11 : or governmental . organiza.tion. This organization is built along military lines, ,,ri th a: General Headqu.s.rters a.nd staffs and each area '~>Ti th its head.­rtuarters and staffs and each area. further subdivided into sections · l'ia.ah 't>:i th its headquarters ana_ staffs. There are to be personnel · officers on each sta:rf, a relocation o~ficer nto keep all records

carry on all correr;rpondence concerning resettlement", morale and recreation officers ~.rho are 11 to confer wi.th the Cha:olain and athletic directors", informa.tlon i'iiho X>lre 11 to be the one source .of information in the camp, to receive end conduct visitors, at'1SWer all auestions 11 , and publicity officer Who .Hregule~tes the co11duct of all observers (like us!) ruid pressman and runs the camp newspaper", Md operations officer thinks up t;;ork projec·te and helps the J~panase avoid idleness, and EUpplies officer (commlssary, utilt.t1ea, traneporta.tion~ motor vehiolas) • salvage offi~er 11 To gat ric~ of ~.rastau t<~ ial ;3taff for firemen (a Fire Mallshal is to ·'1-olan for ev&euation of the eamo in case o-r fire 1 - this ticklish as e s:re only one or tw-o openingn in the long bar-bed "til'ire t'enc.ee}, and a man to handle moral turpitude, etc., .etci. ,An~ the Jt~CL 'it-rere told tha Army to all the appointments to this statt from their people, much to o~noyance of some o~ the Japanese i.fbO think they should. h.ave been apJJOintecl 1;reren' t. . But in general

h . . . t - - .-:~ Iff'> 1 .~~.. 4< " tf mh l'fh 1 1 t e a:opointmen s J1ave oeen t:!Oou.. r.;enevo en v J.aScJ.sm. J. • e v ap a_n was a-Catholic lay person, but Turner, the Camp Director lk~s been very courteous to the Council of (Jhurches !incl. will let them in.

FINIS

(Signed) T-om Bodine

7

Clarence E. Pickett, Philadelphia

G, Raymond Booth, Pasadena C.., Reed Cary, Phils.delphia Gorman Doubleday, Berkeley Betty Baker, San Francisco Bernard G~ \'faring, Chestnut lUll Don & Mary Fessler, Portle~d l•Ia.ry Kimbert Berkeley Gurney and ~lizabeth Binford

~~~~~-.. v

Seattle Office

American Friends Service Committee: 3959 - 15th Ave, N~ E. Seattle, Washington

lltk) May 12, 1942 (Monday evening the/

JAPJL~SE EVACUATION REPORT #11.

O:nly 1000 Sea.ttle Japanese remain to be evacuated. For thiJlast four or five days they have been leaving by the hundreds at 9 in •• the morning (as,sembling at 7 alld 7: 30)and at . 2 in the' afternoon, as fast as the bus~es could turn around at ~ya.llup and come back for another load. This afternoon the first trainload of Japanese from the vlhi te River Valley farming country left for Pineds.le, California.. I l'7as dow to see them off, 8~d my heart split wider than it has for any of the others at the time_ of departure. No Pullmans this time., The departure was from Renton Junction and there were only a he~dful of white people around to see them off, no nelfSpaper people 't;ri th cameras to :record the scene; Just old ratty coaches for a 2 day 2 night trip to California (left here 5 PJi). It i!Tas said they 'tx:rould attach a Diner at Seattle on New Year's Eve Excursion trains in the East (!L~ve any of you. ever ridden the Year's Eve Sps_cials into Nei'J York? quite an experfence!) The roofs of the coaches were covered with bird dung from the place they had stood out in and the windows were like a car lnndshield on a misty day in heavy traffic. It was another dreary rainy, Fuget-Sound sort of day. As was yesterday when it poured torrents· of cold rains as the morning convoy pulled out of Seattleo The Japanese ~n both occasions -v1ere their ehe~ul selves: stoicism is s. wonderful. thing, for circumstances like these. Think what these people have been doing: the past week standing in line, first to register, then _'for physical exams~ The last frantic arrangements, selling, storing, dispensing t~th precious possessions, leaving pets and gardens behind, then the last night, most of them up until 4 and 5 A.M. packing, getting every­thing ready for the early morning departure, everything all neatly labelled ·and properly boxed. Then for a few hours sleep on the hard floors in a home empty of furniture, no beds or mattresses-; these sold or stored. Then at 6 or eo up and get the childre·n ready, dress in· your. best clothes, com.e down in the pouring rain of a cold dreary dar" stand in line and mill around in the confusion of departure.for an hour and_ a half, then load into t}fe bus¢es, and at last we're off. And all with a smile and ~~rd of jest and pretending it's a lark. "California, here 11e come,. n

P .. t each departure 1:'\Te have been dorm to see people off. Usually requests will have come to us 2or help in getting family and possessions from the homes down to the departure pointso And so four or five of us are dorm with cars e.nd Kenneth Schmoe's antiquated·. truck, sometimes carrying. several loads. But not onl1' we are helping. The~ neighbors, l'Ihite, Et.nd sometimes negro are there; a dozen .or so of :suoll. S·ome -of

8

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the Japanese come in taxis. One morning I watched a dark black negro fellow drive a Japanese family up in a fine new Plymouth. He helped them unload and then stood next to them on the sidewalk and in his beautiful deep throa.ty voice said, n\iell, m0am, I'll be saying goodbye. You know that if_ there's ever anyt~~ng I can do for you whether it be something big or someth~ng small, I 8m here to do it." And. he shook her hand and the~ turned to the husband and slapped him on the back: "Goodbye ncnr and good lmik-. 11 And then down on his hands and knees for a final fare-v.rell to the three ·11 ttle kids .(I oouldn' t catch the t<Iords used,,)·

Our vis1tinr;; teams have nroved themselves a godsend, because it is through them (but~more important_,hrough Floyd Schmoe's many contacts throughout the Jap.e..nese co:r.-1munity) th;;;_t tve have been able to serve these . self-reliant people at all~ Attached is a copy. of ·our BULT.~ETIN' #5, 1r1hich has circule,ted tvidely, not only ~ong those being evacuated, but also down at Camp. emong those alreadl behind the barbed wire. The Army posted a copy of this Bulletin on tneir bulletin board outs.id.e . · their Seattle office ( · ! ) alongside their otm various orders for . evacua ticm,. ·

On Saturday v1e. ha.d a ne't·T situation to rise to: several old. aoqples where the T,rif'e ";~T~.s half sick. (e,nct really too aged_ to move) were going to b~ separated by the Army's decision to. keep sick Japanese in Beattle. \lie went and asked lvhether the husbend in such cases oouldn' t remain behind and care for the invalid so tha,t they li.rouldn' t be separated. llo; :said the Army. But the County Hesr1thDoetor and Doctor in charge of the Puyallup Camp said: if they don't want to be separated, the half sick vrl.vea ,.,iill have to move to Camp-., But they0 re not well enough to stas."ld the bus trip and. v1e have no anibulances and can't get any under our orders. But if you WB~t to drive them do1rm in private cars in the . convoy: OK. 8o that's~ what.we did1 !i8?ring that even though conditions in the ca-mps might be· l!ad, J.t '!J>rould oe oetter on their health and certainly ootter for their spirits if wife and husband were.not separated, especi8~ ly since the ~vi ves in each case spoke .. no English, So Floyd. Schmoe drove a si.ok. la,c.y do-r:m Saturday, and one of oUI" visiting team ladies drove another do~m in the car of a wea~thy Oongregationalis~ who vthen he got home was so -upset by con.di tiona in the camp th!;;;~ he stayed up past his 9 P.:g:. bedtime to vac'Qllm clean a rug and a mattr.ess· for $e to take do"m on Sunday. And Floyd drove a third do'"m todsy,. · O.ne curious aspect to_ all this \faa that a iltOOA- official took me aside Saturday and said,. fii'd lilte you to know how much we apprecia.te what yc.:rtt :lrr1ends (sic) are doing,. You aren't like theS\i3 other Church people, these missionaries, and ministers; they come around and get in our r...air, bu,t .YOU people,. you work quietly e.nd get things done., ·s:i.tEmke a lot.-". And yestet;>day .at Fort Le1t1is I he.ppened to run into the Army Oapts;.in who i~ in·. charge o:f' getting these people off onto the busses, and he jumped up from· the chair he was sitting in and said: nr 't¥as looking for you; l.' d like to thank . . you f.Gr all you've done to help on this thingo", So I had to say we didn't approve the thing but were glad to relieve human suffering .(I said this· to l>oth of them). !he WCCA man ·r·aplled, "I' am religious too and. I hate to see this happen." I don't recall just 't'll'bat the Army Captain said; I think it. was, "Well, thanks anyway." It's a bit embarrassing to be thanked by the people in charge. Makes you wonder whether you've gotten across your disapproval of it all. · '

Because F-ioyd drove a sick ls,dy dOT.m, he got inside· the Camp. This is very un~sual. They are allowing no,one inside except the five mini­sters who go dot·m to preach on Sundays.· ..,-\nd they 8re doing what __ they can tl1rough the-JAOLZ to keep the Japanese fr-Om w~iting out what the Camp is really like. Oondi tions are t·mrse than a even we h.ad expected~ (And

9

Colonel Conmy -v;ho is second. to General Bendetson and above Colonel l~lone l'.ras telling me in a half hour's personal chs.t in h.is office yesterday that hers proud of Puyallup, it 8 s the best of all the .Assembly Centers up and dovm the ,Coast, and he. says he's seen them all ! ) Again let me el!lphasize: t!-'le men ,in charge are o.oing 't'lhat they can. · They are 1•rorking o.a;y and· nignt, but the fates are ~gainst them. There's not ' enough milk for the babies in camp: because the Army's contre.ct for milk is wi~h farme~s in Ore~on and even tr~ugh there's plenty of milk in the neig~ooring towns begg1n~ to be used, red. tape ma£es it impossible~ There· hasn t been enough food ~o go around because there were more arrivals than l·;ere exPecte<lo Some l'l..s.ve g-one l'n thout meals several. times. There has been no fresh vegetEibles: no f'rui t (and a large part of the popule:tion children),. no fresh meat, ];lut plenty of c~mned food for those t'lho were early in line to get it .. (~ong l:t,nes outside each mess hall:. long lines for most everything is the order of the day out here). Now these are · things tll..at 1dll be corrected 1n time, 't>:ii thout doubt. They had. fresh · meat the other night for the first time, and I believe some oranges were included for bl"eakfast, s.lthough they may· have come from private sources. But there are other me.tters for 11l'hich there is no excuse.:

There is no infirma:t"Y yet,. 5000 Deonle are notrr herded together dolv-n the re 1c,ri'th nothing by way of· a hospital~ ~he newspapers carrieu .the story that a hospital he~d beetl·built, but it is either not ready for use, or else the rumor is true that the Couf!.tY Health refused to permit its use .. or some"Ghing.,. Siclt people are cared for in. their cabinso You :h...eve l"ead our description of these rabbithutches while they were being built~ The wood \ftas fa'een eo he.lf inch orf!,Cks v..ave openecl in the i,.,ralls'; ,There has been a ::Lt;:;t of -;;1;ind a..l'ld rain lately.. You can imagine. hOiif comfo!'tabl~ these cabins 9~e for the sick and the aged, the mothers with little kids \s~d at least half seem to have li·t;tle kids.) FolQ.ing iron cots with link springs"6 :t<Jo BJ..:'lttresses le:rt: In A the first to arl .. ive got little mattresses ~~o inches thick. Later arrivals and all in Areas B, 0, and D get strawfilled bags. Have ·any of you slept on straw? I'm .ashamed to say I h~ven•t, am told it's lumpy and needs to be replaced every week since it breruts down into dust, and is bad for hay fever victims. Kerosene stoves in many cabins, wood .stoves in others. Some uncertainty about enough wood at first, but I saw one truckload at any rate going in yester­day, And there 'I·Tere curls of smoke from almost a~l the li tt~e stovepipes yesterday, so I ~less there's warmth. The real disgrace a~e ~he toilets~ We 1vrote about there being t~o little bath houses for each' 250 persons, one for men, one for 1romen. In each by ~~y of toilets are two-wooden planks 1-li th six holes cut by the carpenters in each planl;;:, the holes facing back to backo Under the twelve holes is a large zinc lines pan through which water is flushed every so often (I 't'JaS told one~ an }?.our· ·during the morning), ma;y be oftener, don't knot.v- for sure,, l~o privacy, little human decency. Do you know Japanese and ho"r clean and meticulous theY -are?

-~he only one of our old ladies who is rea~ly sick, after being in· the .camp 48 hours ~has still not been vi·si ted by a do a tor: they're all too busy, even though vje were hot on the trail and the Camp officials were out to do anything to please us (visitors with Caucas~an faces representing an organization) • ·Her husband told me yesterday e.nd 1i loyd today that she needs such and such medicine (some kind of, sleeping po~-ders ·to kill. the pain and help her get some needed rest.) I 0m afrai~ both ~loyd and ·I failed bece.use either one of us actually got the mea.icine J.n to her. Floyd sent her ·some blankets yesterday by a boy who was. d!'iving to Portland, ~; I believe •. They never reached her~ T~eoratically anything like blankets, or permanent equipment, a visitor is supposed to leave at the office where

10

~'t -vrill be inspected and then sent in to the proper party. Yestei'da.y

I w·ent dmm with a carload of stuff: including a flowering shrub for the President of Fuyo Kai to give to her mother as a Mot~er's.Day gift, 8 .d,ozen OI'anges· for a kindergarten teacher to give to her kids, a Cake, a bag of peanuts, a :mattress, 2 chairs, a broom,. etc. etc~ for various families e.nd individuals, e,nd an hour's manoeuvering by going to the Asst9 Director, I was escorted by a WCOA. official and got the stuff in (I did not enter myself vtith it., ho't>rever, thawt was verboten) • .

The authorities are having a .. terrible time lJith ele(3tricity,. Seem. the wires are overloaded beyond their capacity, so that- fuses blo~r almost every night causing much confu:sion. Curfew is at 9 and. lights. out· at 10,. I was told the trouble about the eleetrici ty is that. the Army can • t< get .. priori ties on heavy enough "tfizae "except b;r an Act o.f Congress If, .So they · ~;ere planning to forbid the use of heating :f!pplia.nces and tea stoves~ etc.

I ru!d a good. long talk with an important children • s leader through the fence~ Visitors a~e e~lowed to speak to Japanese through the barbed l<rire if they stand td thin hearing dist&lnoe of a sqldier ana. if tb,ey each remain one yard al-ray from the barbed wire fence. Viai tors are further allo-rred to accept. money from the iruna.te.a apd run across the s.treet and buy them cakes,".;.~D.d ~wit _and candy }.?ars, and <crackers, ewUd potP.to chips. Th.e storekeepers themselves':iire no.t·.a.llol'Jed to $pproach the fence_. This privilege of passing little stuff .(I forgot almost every purcha,se in­cluded an urgent· reauest for toilet ·paper) throu~h the \fire 11as abandoned when it got too contusing because so ma.ny Jap8.nese wanted us to run errands for them and there \lfere 2 or 3 dozen visitors besides us, mostly Jap~1ese from not-yet-evacuated nearby towns~ At any rate, I had· a .talk . lri th the Japanese children's leader., She said she felt helpless, she t&ms very discouraged (I had ·never seen her thus; she•s .a topnotch.person)o She said she had been told no supplies for her work of keeping children amused (I imagine the e.uthori ties are so busy trying to a!'rang~ for food and medical attention and checking in the 700 or so new·arr1vals each da:y they haven't time even .to think about children• s eclucation. She sa~d worse than having no supplies (crayons and colored papers and scissors etc. eta.) was having no space: no place to call ~he children together in. The mess halls are used all day long for eatin~ and are free only from 7 to 9 in the evening. (There ~~ve been tt~ ~ances fo1 .. the young people high school and college. age),. The mess l'l .. stlls are the only buildings that could serve~ (The cabins: rabbithutches: and the washhouses and the messhalls; that's all~) In Area D there are the permanent Fa,ir Ground Buildings, but Japanese in the other Areas are not free to wander from one aree to e..nother. The Medical staff and the work crew? go ba~k and forth under guard, no others. Several Japanese leaders told me, uwe e.re helpless from the inside; they give us the runaround." They can't realize that we too will get the run around if we try to do anything because it is not the hardboiled aspect of the -men in charge; not at all: it is only the circumstances, the red 'tape ~i and the ove:M,;rhelm.ing ~ of problems,. I have the profoundest sympathy ·· for the Camp Directorsa Their task is almost an impossible one. They ?i v.rork terrific-hours 7 ~ays a -vreetk, c~rry and awisome hresponsibilittyband ij are as hogtied a,s any u-overnmen ,.,rorKer e.n ye some ov-1 ma.na.ge o e ':; frieno.ly and cheerful and. courteous to each d.umbcluck (like l).S) v1ho ~; comes along" to· ask some. tiny favor that has no ~;,pparent importance at .. . }: that part1cule.r moment, in relation tq the other problems., "Give. us time! ",:! is in effect their pleao And for five days straight Japanese arl"'ivetl in ·,

,;~

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hundreds and had to be checked in, and examined and sorted out and sent to the proper cabin. Jmd 1000 little· devilish decisions: What to do about a family of 8, put them all in one cabin? (Ans"t<rer yes, line the cots up against the wall four deep)~

After.our visit to Puyallup yesterday, Ruth Haines (YWCA 3ecy.) and I wen~ down to see Colonel J., B~ Conmy, Exec. Officer, NWS-POS; 44th Info Div, Took an hour getting permits and directions and finally we got in. Telephoned ahead twice to me~e an appointment. He stayed a half hour after his quitting time (4:30 Sunday afternoon) while his wife and k'-ds waited in a car outside to oblige us and sign one final travel permit for a non-citizen Japanese student (last one from Sea:ttle to escape) .•. \fhlle we waited for the permit to be typed l'le cha.ttet; .· with the Colonel t-rho admitted he l"ias in charge of the w·hole shebang" It was a curious position: asking the y a favor, and at the· same time longing to bawl hlm out. He told us ooma.Japane~e·(due to leave· . next week end) will go to Puyallup "if there's room", but just doesnft know yet~ If not Puyallup, he dQesn°t know. 3Yes~ Toppenish will definitely be used fer Japt;,nese, after 11ie get it in shape" (li!eustadt s~mrG 'llmulcl. nevex used, ;,;as not a Government Camp ! ! ! ! ! whe~

it to fiim at lunch a mon~ago.) Bainbridge advance evacuation ~v~s no help as a g-uinea pig, 1 ts problems entir~ly ?-ifferent, eo ;irnx:t they needn't have gone to.Owens Valley, after all ! · ·1\-1e 1re trying not to treat these people like cattle"" In general, pretty.. proud of the job that 8 s been doneo ·

I leave for Idaho tomorrol'r this isn't too meseyo

., eo I must get to bed. Hope

Heartily

Tom Boo.ine

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__ . .-

,______,,,-------------~~

COPYfl , Seattle Office

Clarence E .. Pickett, Philadelphia,, ,<America..n Friends Service Committee G. Raymond Booth~ Pasadena 3959 ... 15th Ave.,, N0 E,., O~t Reed Cary, Ph~l~~~~.h1y Seattle, 1-lashington Gorman Doubledajt,..;.Fa.ncisco BettyJ?~,P~a:rfng, Chestnut Rill BAr.o.P14a.rsr Fessler, Portle..na l)Qn<lG '~ ~ kl M.~~ 42muer, tler e ey ~~rney & Elizabeth Binford

Dear Friends:

Ma;r 20 1 1942

JAPAJmsE EVACUATION REPORT #12~

I can't quite decide 1-1hether this should be called evacua.tion. report #12 or Japanese Resettlement Report #1, since it will be concerned mainly with a trip over to Idaho which the Dragon (my Ford), Paul Michener and I have just oompletedo

On our way through Yakima in Central vlashington, 1i'e stopped off to have a look at Toppenish, the Japanese Assembly Center tv-hose vile con­ditions Floyd Schmoe described to many of you in a letter dslted April lOth~ On April 12th a contingent of soldi~rs arrived at Toppenish a~d ever since then rumor has had it that the Japanese from the Yakima Valley l'!Tould be moved in there any day no-vro But a month has passed and Toppenish is still not being occupied by any one except soldiers. And las.t Sundayts papers contain a 'story that Toppenish has been abandoned as a Japanese Assembly Centero The ~rhole Toppenish affa.ir has been a curious one, from Ric~~rd Neustadt's denial that it was ever befung considered for Japanese to Colonel Conmy 8 s statement that it 'lr10Uld be used as soon as it had been fixed up.

At any rate l-16 sto:pped off and had a look.. The -vmrst of the buildings have not changed since Floyd took photos of them and had his conversation with the FBI about them~ But the sergeant on duty told us that the Federal.Property began-on the other ~ide of a fence behind these worst buildings and that only poor filthy American Indians would.be living in. them (as they have done each summer),. \fe "€:1ere not able to· ente:J? the Government Property to examine the buildings there close up, ·out from a distance 1ve could see that the buildings had. been painted a dark red with grey window and door frames. There lle.s no barbed 1-.rire in evidence, but above the camp a large combination \'rater tank and, -vratch tower has been built •. From a distance there seemed to be new bat~ houses and mess halls~ In other words, it didn't look too bad; if anything a little better than Puyallup, no1nr that l'10rk had been done on it. In the lease the Government signed with the owners of the ranch on which the camp is located, it was stipulated that the Japanese would be out of there.be­fore hop-picking season began, so .that the American Indian hop-pickers could be brought in at the usual time' and a million dollar.hop crop not lost. So that it was planned that if the Japanese had gone there, they irmuld. have stayed only a short time (three months-'a.t mostL. ·

On Bainbridge Island in March an Army Captain remarked to us that there was an. area near Pasco which would be available for voluntary resettlement of Japanese,. Accordingly, Paul l·11chener and I. spent a morning l'1andering through the hinter~amd.\behind P~.sco~ It is wheat

13

country, with 3000 and 5000 acre farms devoted to wheat farming on a machine basis~ The Grand Coulee Dam is sposed to provide water (or electricity for pumping water) to irrigate this entire area (11 200,000 acres) one day, but sincf? no start on this irrigation aspect of the Grand Coulee Project has been ma.cte, and since it 1-.rould take vast amounts of pumping equipment etc~ on which the priority problem would be a tough one and since much of the land is already occupied by wh~at farmers, I feel none of the region around Pasco even though it is outside· the pro~ibted area is satisfactory for Japanese resettlement~

Although Pasco seemed to hold. little promise for a model resettle­ment pro.ject, Dayton seemed to us a go9d bet~ Dayton is one of the oldest towns in \'lashington and lies in rolling country i..rhich remind~ed me of the Mohawk River country in New York State~ !>iuch Qf the territory is. wheat· farming, some of it peas and asparagus (on 8. mass production. basis). Ther~ iS little irrigation being ~one around there now, but there are a number of streams and 1 .. ivers near which irrigation o:n either gravity or pumping basis 9ould take place~ The Government has had an irrigation project in mind for the territory to the north east of Dayton. .We did not see this area, 1'1hat made Dayton app~al to us as a resettlement possibility was that it is country which could be farmed ·as the Japanese are used to doing, ne...mely: truck farmingo In Dayton there is a large and flourishing cannery, used now for peas and asparagus, but which could be 1,1sed for other vegetables,~· There are no defense industries in DBston and none nearer than Walla Walla which is 30 miles away· to the southwest~ Dayton itself is a clean n~at little farming town, population 2500, elevation 1606(9 To the south li·e the Umatilla Mts..,, l-.rhich 11;1clucle some of the wild.est regions in the USA,. From them come cool night winds in the summer, so that Dayton 1 s climate is said to' be pretty ideal,. · tie talked with a number of townspeople while the Dragon got his generator fixed, and l!ound that although Dayton had never had any "furriners 11 :

. "'WJ re ·all v.rhite folks, no Chinese, no Mexicans, only 2 negroes," still, there seemed to be no special ~~tipathy towards the Japanese as a people in the towno It seemed to me to be the sort of small town that could be 11 condi tioned 11 to receive Japanese families,. It \'rould be a job, as it would be anr~here, but it looked more plausible to me at Dayton than in any of the other towns in Eastern Washington that we wandered through. Whether ov not there is actually land available anytrhere near Dayton, I don 1 t knollr"' "i>!e meandered up e.nd doi¥n several pleasant ·valleys 't.Yhich . were not all occupied and where there was water, ~ut until we have checked vrith the State Agricultural Dept!> or somebody l'rho real-ly knows, we can't say. Anti vre felt it vcriser not to do that until -.;,Je· v.rere more" stire of what the AFSO had in mind~ ·

_We drove down through Central Idaho through country that made me thinK of the Yangtze River Va~ley as I 1ve heard it described and the. hig:P.way -vms a. replica of the Burma Road. . The rolling eroded range land from miles up looked like a lirinkled carpet -- as if you could get .down on your hands and ltnees and smooth it outc9 Superb country: tremendous hillslopes, no trees, rocky gorges and here and thei'e a real live Indian on horsebe,ck: just like the movies!

In Idaho,. we drove through Boise and down into Jerome County to have a look'at what the Government is building there by l.'lay~of a permanent ~ resettlement camp for the Japanese'~' 3erome County is way off to~..rard ~·

I

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Salt Lake City. The tract of land contains 63,000 acres of which they plan to develop only 17,000 to begin1o1'ith~ It is 12 miles east of Jerome and 4 or 5 miles north of Eden, which is a mudstrewn messy rundown little hamlet of tvten'l;y or ·thirty b.uildingso The to1>m of Jerome where the construction company is making its headquarters is a honey of a. little fe.rming community., Population 3537 ~ It lies on the road to Sun Valley about 14 miles north of Twin Falls. It has a handsome city park and its houses are neat and clean a~d its streets wide and the general effect is one of quiet prosperityo Seems that the land around about is very fertile and the fa~ming successful9 All irrigation from canals· V".rhose water comes out of vast underground rivers the.t flow down from the Sun VaJ.ley Mountains under the crust of lava that lies under everything out there. . In the tolm of Jerome there was no special_· . anti-Jap sentiment, in fact the toirrn was thrilled at the idea of the project going in next door to them: th.ey were agog, housewives registering vacant rooms for construction-crenv- -r"'rorkers at th<? Cha.mbe.r of Commeroe 1 the tot,.rn police force -v1a.s being ctoubled to take care of supervising the construction crew (dombled from 2 men to 41 )-o · _ ·

·Work on the project itself was only just beginning~ A railroad spur was under ~onstruction and th_e Government v-.ras out drilling for· watel' (for drinking).. Jt.s soon as ~hey hit 1vater (for :l.rinking: there is . plenty of water in the canals for irrigation, we 1>Tere told)' the Govern­ment 'tvill let a contract vd th a private company (the Morrison-Knudsen Co-.) for building the camp. It is stip~lated in the contract that the camp· must be finished in 60 days. So that in three months (or by the 15th of August) the Jerome County Resettlement Project should be ready to welcome Japanese from the West Coast Assembly Centers. .

It is flat country i:tTi th just a slight roll and every nm1 and then an outcropping of lava rockiol> ~then you come up on top of a .11 ttle rise you can see for fifty miles across endless sage brush to the-Sun Valley Mountains to the north, and for f-ifty miles to the Humboldt Nevada Mts •. to the south., The se,ge brush grows five and a half to six feet high all over the project. The height of the sage brush shows how ~ertile the land iso With water on it it will do wonders,.

The plan as the Jerome townspeople told us about it -is to build_ individual family units like the FSA Labor Camps 1 perhaps four such . units in a buildine:, but at least each family will do its own cooking'' and live in privacy as regards plumbing fe.cili ties. (some contrast to­the Assembly Centers).. It is expected that the Japanes_e vlill not leave the. Camp to go out to do seasonal or other labor on nearby farms, but will.~be confined to the Camp and will be self-supporting there by September, 1943 and contributing a surplus to 'our economy by September, 194:4. Under agreement td th the Governor of Idaho ( 't'rho is a sourpuss and very anti-Jap) 1 all the Jape.nese must be out of the State 't<Tithin six months after the end of the Waro The land on which tne·project is located is State o-vmed land a.nd v-rill be the property. of. the Sta~te of Id?..ho t<rhert the war is overo Except c'luring the 'tvar, the Japanese will not .benefit from the improvements made to the land. But in general, it sounds like a fairly satisfactory setup, better in many y,rays than i•ianzanar,. Jflhe thing that is bad is the isolation of the Jape.ne!i!e off in a community of tlieir 0\¥11,. This mea.11s a tenden_cy to Orient8.lize the American (nisei) Japa.nese and means that the real resettlement after the W'a.r l<rill be very difficult to accomplish; once Caucasians have forgotten all about hmv swell these people are, and have learned (in

15

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a sen~ to get along without them. Isolation on Government reservations of this kind may lead either to deportation or to perpetual confinement on reservations, like American Indians~

After we'd our fill of Jerome, we wandered back through Boise to Caldr!ell, Greenleaf and the terri tory of the Idaho Friends. 1'/e talked. with a number of different sorts of people, but realize tr~.t in 24 hours one cannot hope to do a Gallup Poll, and so we don 1 t know whether we really caught the temper of the people or not. But it seemed to us . that Idahoans 1rmre objecting to having any Japanese in not because of the i\far and fear of sabotage, ~to., but be cause Idaho is a W'hi te State 10 The people want to keep their i:itate clear of Hforeignersnll No Ne~roes, Mexicans, Filipinos, etc~ as well as no Japs~ In March feeling.ran very high in ana. around Cald'!'rell vti th ;\mer Legion vigilante groups . organized with shotguns to run out any Japanese who dared appear~ ·But in the last ten days (since the 5th or. 6th of z,fay) this changed! And now mass meetings are called and held beg5ing Governor Clark to change his position and let the Japanese come! ~eems there's a beet crop on -w;hich the entire SouthHestern na.rt of the State denends for its bread and butter10 And this beet crop must be. thinned by-hanCI.labor no't-.r, in May, and then peas must be picked in August and then in October the beets dug~ And there's nobody to do it~ T~e night before we arrived. in Caldwell there had been a. hu~e mass meeting of the local farmers -­not the beet company capitalists l'<:rho might be expected to exploit any la.bor that came in, but the indiviCtual beet gro1.-:rers -- a.nd they had a cony of the five conditions the Governmant said must be met before the Japanese ¥OUld be released from the Assembly Centers and brought in: ne~ely, 1) There must be a need that can8 t be filled with other labor. 2) they must receive the preve.iling wageo 3) must have adequate housing and social conditionsb 4) employers must pay.transportation from the Centerso and 5) Japanese must be protected.. #s 3 and 5 w.rere the sticklersJI The be.et growers 1 hov?ever, had ans1-1er . for botho Usually the. average beet farmer has a family of hire help living on his farm 1-ri th him the year around.,. Then at peak time, extra. migr.9.nt help is hired... Nowr this· year most_of the hired help as well as the migrant help has disappeared!:., And so many of the farmers has a vacant house on his fe.rm where v!hite hired help usually lives. \iha.t thP. Idaho fe.rmers vfere proposing -vthen we were over there Friday of last week was that individual Japanese families should be released to individual Caucasian farmers, to live in the hired help's house, be v.ratched ovsr by the farmer• The sheriffs of the counties involved stated. their opinion tbe.t this i'•rould be adequate protection_ ·

All in a.ll v.re 'v-ere thrilled. 1-1i th this proposal. It really sounds like a solution~ If individual Japanese families go and live .the year aroimd on fa.rms next. door to Caucasict.n farmers, it can't help but 1-.rork for better understanding betirTeen 11vhi tes and yellows and eventually per;haps to disappee.re.nce of some of the Idaho prejudices~~ (At least there• s a hope of such a development; 1c-rhereas if the Japanese are herded onto great tracts of government land miles away from anybo.dy, there seems to be no hope of getting them ana. Cauca.sicm s better acquai!lted!) tve here. have thE1 Bailibridge Island Japa,nese very close tQ our hearts these de.ys, because 'ltfe remember how· 't;rell they had been Americanized and hovr devoted the Btdnbric.ge Caucasians l1rere to their Japanese neighbors, .and ":re figure it is t:lue to the closeness to vihi.ch Japanese and Ce.ucasians lived on Be.inbridgeo Therefore, we are thrilled at the prospect of Japanese and Idahoans living side by side.. And. ;;Je hope, desperately, the.t Eisenhower e.nd the itlar Relocation Authority see the light and insist that Governor

16

Olark•s proposal (that Japanese be allowed in the State only under armed guard and kept in camps and let out only as migrant labor) be over ruled and that the proposal of the people of Idaho, the beetgrowers, be adopted,. 2000 Japanese and their families would be a.ccomod.ated in this TfTay in Southwestern Id.aho aloneo And if the Id~lhoans did get to know the Japanese during the War, perhaps they ~rmuld let them come as permenent settlers on the vacant Icla.ho le..nd after the War,.

\ve found Ide,ho Friends quit~ friendly, to us of course, but also to the Japaneseo They say they are ready to do their share a..nd willing to fit themselves into any program the AFSC might have in mind for Idaho$ They point out that the beet farmers need the laoor so desperate­ly, that~they will agree to any conditions to get them in~ The prevailing wage is ~75 a month plus room and butter and eggs and milk from the farm dairy co~'l8o Idaho Friends are very much interested in religious· education in the permanent Je,panese Camps in Idaho and are organizing T~Jith the other denominations to get in on it~ ·

On the Trlay home vie stopped off at Cascade Locks,o While there I had a long talk v.ri th Le~r Ayres the night before he ~;as inducted· into the Army_ All along he has expressed his desire to serve in the Army Medics, He likeo_ CPS but felt 14edics more vlorthi.vhile., He is trained as a Red Cross instructor and is able to do a number of routine medical things (like inoculations)~ He feels that the assurances (not guarantees) he has been given that he will after induction actually receive medical service are due not to his fame as a movie actor, but to the fact that he is trained in medical work and therefore he is not ashamed that he a movie-star c.o9 gets what he wants wh~le country Co0. 1 s from Oskaloosa Iowa have to accept any non-com service t~e Army gives them~ He· i~ a stvell fellot>r, ~:tlthough an inc'lividue~ist. The boys at Cascade Locks liked him and were sorry to see him leave~ They seemd to feel no resent­ment wb~tever at his leaving them. Cascade.Locks is by all odds the cleanest neatest CPS Camp, I have ever seen~ Their buildings ha.ve been

·done over in 't¥onderful fashion, the library and chapel ·honies"" They have some real artists in camp and some topnotch craftsmenb

Was the Idaho trip worthwhile? On the way up from Portland to Seattle, I stopped off at Puya~lup Assembly Center and spent four or five hours telling Japanese friends in each of the camp's four areas all about what I had seen and done. And if you could have seen their faces beam: to have some real first hand news from the outside world of what is happening beyond the barbed wire, you would I think agr~e rdth me that if the trip produces nothing else, it has been worthw~ile~ Several very interesting things have occurred at Puyallup recentlyti .·

.,.. One night one of the soldiers on duty in Area B.9 sa1..r something moving outside the fence 6 lie commanded it to halt. 4 The something moved on. So·the soldier lifted his rifle and shot the something dead. It was a· cow. But it could have been a child or a twelve year old out on spree~

While Iowas over in Eastern Oregon I heanta rumor frGm a hotel desk clerk that there had been rioting in the Puyallup Camp between the Japanese· loyal to the USA and those who ~rere not loyal and that soldiers he.d to go in· and quiet them, ~i\.nd at Cascade Looks one of the boys whose mother lives in the tovm of Puyallup told me that she had said there had been a riot one ni~ht and that the soldiers had to rush out of bed and into the camp to quell the thing... You can imagine hov-1 eager

17

I was to hear the trite story.., I could not believe that there had actually been a riot, (There apparently was a riot up in British Columbia where the men Japanese are being held separate from their \"iiomenfolk and they raised a fuss when 1nterv1s1tat1on was denied),., Wliat really has happened at Puyallup was this: one night at supper the Japanese in Area A were served some canned fish which. turned out to be poisoned and ?-llthrough the night .Japanese throughout the Area. found it necessary to get up, turn on a light, and make a. bee line for the bath housesb The soldier on duty up in the little guard tower saw the lights blinking on and off and saw the Japanese running hither and yon and suddenly he got the idea that there was about.to be a riot, so he blew the warning siren and out poured the soldiers from their quarters and for ten or fifteen minutes confusion reigne9-4 Luckily nobody tvas hurt"' The next day the Camp medic~tl staff counted 500 cases of food poisoning, none of them serious, just unpleasantv

The food at Puyailup has improved4 They now have fresh meat and veget~bles and fruits~ And feeding has grown more efficient so that . the mess halls are now available in the morning from 9 to 11 for children's classes a.ncl in the afternoon from 2:30 to 4 for lacty1 s crocheting classesco In the Nursery School in Are.9. A · (entirely organized by the Japanese themselves vdth no helu or eouipment from the Government triCOA ~rhos-e t:':Toman director of education ha.snt t -shcnm up yet) there are novr 70 children · enrolled. And various chu~ch groups-(and ourse~) have brought equipment (paste, scissors, rubber balls, ga.mes, papers) and encourage­ment~

l•iany exciting things happen every day down there,. An FBI m~.n comes and te.kes somebody a.:vray~ A Japanese released from Missoula arrives unexpectedly. Another group of Japanese arrives from some place and room has to be made for them, the last time by crovrding the bachelors into the· 11 condemned11 qu:;o,rters under the; grandstand where there is neither da:vlight nor air (one tin,y opening for 200 boys),. It ~s said that the poker game in that place lasts all night: the air is too stuffy for sleeping, and the lights can 1 t be seen from outside~

This afternoon I_ went over to watch the departure of the rest of the King County Japanese for California9 They w~re told to ~rrive at 12:30~ Their train left at 50 4 and a .. half hours stanc1ing first on one foot and then on another in broiling hot sunshineD They left o~ old dirty excursion train ds.y coaches., The soldiers in cha!.rge were friendly but very in1efficfent and much tougher than others wJe ·have seen~:~.- Some cursing and muc:Ja reference to beer and v.rhiskey,. By pure chs.nce ,I met a_ Japanese wJho sai{~ he's a member of the Iowa Yea.rly I11eeting through ,the Pa.sadena Friend~ Church., Maka.to Kobuke .. ta_ Does anybod~ knov:r him? Seemed like a Sl-Tell fellow.~~ Lived in Isst:tqua., only Japanese family therec~~

End of fifth page and 11:30 PM. Will tell about Gorden Hirabayash1 (member Univ. Friends Htgo~~ here) and his refusal to regd:._ster for evacuation later., Enclosed is his magnificent statementp ·

TOM BODINE.

18

COl?Y'O

Why I refused to register for evacuation:

Over and above e~y man-made creed or law is the natural law of life -- the right of human indivictuals to live and to creatively express themselves~ No man was born with the right to limit that law~ Nor1 do I believe, can anyone justifiably work himself to such a positiono

Down through the ages we have had various individuals doing their bit to establish more securely these fundamental rights~ They have tr~ed to help society see tl:;e necessity of understanding these fundamental laws; some ha.ve succeeded tolthe extent of having these natural laws recordedo Many have suffered unnatural deaths as a result of their convictions~ Yet, today,·because of the efforts of some of these individuals we have recorded in the la.ws' of our nation certain rights for all men, and certain additional ·rights for citizenso These fundamental moral rights and civil liberties are included in the Bill of Rights, U~ S~ Constitution, and other legal records~ · They guarantee that these fundamental rights shall not be denied without due process of law~

The principles or the ideals are the things which give value to a person's life. They are the qualities which give impetus and purpose tO'tvard meatningful experiences"' The violation of human personality is the violation of the most sacred thing t>rhich m~m o-vms ..

This order for the mass evacuation of all persons of Japanese descent denies them the right to live~ It forces thouse.nds of energetic, lal.r­abiding individuals to exist in a miserable psychological and horrible. physical atmosphere4 This order limits to almost full extent the crea~ive expressions of these subjectedi) It kills the desire for a higher 11fe,6

Hope for the future is extermin?-ted.,.. Human personalities are poisoned.0

The very qualities which are essential to a peaceful, creative community are being thrown out and abused~ Over sixty per cent are American citizens; yet they are denied on a wholesale scale without due process of law the civil liberties which are theirs#

If I were to register and cooperate under those circum.sta.nces, I would be giving helpless consent to the denial of practically all of the things which give me incentive to live~ I must maintain my Christian principles~ I consider it my duty to maintain the democra.tic standards for 1vhich this na.tion lives~~ Therefore, I must refuse this ora.er for evacuation.,

Let me add, hmvever, that in refusing to register I am: w·ell aware of the excellent qualities of the army and government personnel·conn~cted tdth,..the prosecution of this exclusion orcter4 They are men of the finest type and I sincerely appreciate their sympathetic and honest efforts . .o • . Nor do I intend to cast any shadow upon the Japanese and the other Nisei who have registered for evacuation.. They have faced tragedy admirably~ I am objecting to •the principle of this oro.er which o.enies the rights of human beings, including citizens ..

Gordon K~ Hirabayashi

:May 1~., 1942

19

-- 6/5/42

L •

. .

20

Offie . T:'i'O'r"Wi;ffit:::! ""'"""tlU-fiJ!i

,......_.~ ..... ""'.""~'···~~ . ..,~~ l;}~ncv!~"'<~ (JCJl!Jin!fillilw-. . .·· 15thAV'e., N~."'~· J.:'l'~E

Seattle, Wasbington '

7, :t942 (Sunday

... ~in it • s bean. two ;,veek~ e1nee a rt1po~t . gane out from the :Se1:t:tt~ office. some or us tnought that onee al; the J~paness;ware ev~.r.:n.fllttid. out ~f their- homes and v,rere safely beh:tnd bazmed wire at puyar-iup. Pinedale,. we could clraw a long breath and do a good job of repf"tlng: . pla.nning. such is ~ot the situatltUlo We are. mer~ busr · if 40Sfi1bl~ · tbJll1 before. it J.s n~J<t only i\1 eeA:Je of Ql?ge:n1z.ing sp~it-uai~lldshak~cS$ but in. suppli!lmenting those ~_ndelasps !ith mater~l;}l. . ~~iertance, partiattle.rly at Puya1lup Camp, which l:t.ea only 3~ mUe~ Ia:;;-. Bot only are we busy wlth the :new Pespoaa:lbility thrown t)!l the · ;;:Srvice O.emmi ttee of ~rganizing a setup which wi~~ get· eol~egi"..ag~, ' · out of the camps into v.nive:ra:tti~s to the EB.st, but w.e. ·J:i:t'.e

in eduo&'~tiou~J. reoreat1on.al 1~1fe of the ·_puyall.up Siiteattse temp£Jrary, Gover>nment 1 s pla~s toY.

a:re l.1m.1tgd. '!here an Education andRecrea-' s 0'9varnmen:tal ataff (P,iru\i be's a :ve::ey abl.e,

there ian 1.t much money or equipment av.al.:table.

beginning to acquire a valuable r-eputation with the: Oamp ~ansgement as iiie11 as the Ja:panese which rllakes it possi,.ble for us in collabo!'ation. other OPga."lizt:~.tio.ns and ind:'i:viduals to dQ some Fe~~1. w-or~.. £ ... s a symbol o:f our atanding with the U! !Aanag~~ent. I might tell of a reEark to me by the l?r6Bidtm .. t the 'iiOlll.t?:tl 's ~r~tude:nt Government .aseoc.i~;:tion on the Univar~i:ty o~ Wasbingt:on ca-.mpu.s. flhil.e we 11:1ere sta.nd.ing arouno- :tor a m:e~tug to begin the other

.she me (who we.s a t:otal. to her-) " Have :tou been at.Q'~~~l't~ilk u I repli.ed you been ihsld~ th& 01:atnp? tt.

1t. h'Ji/ell," says, **I can tell you how. te get nJ-uet go up to gate say yo;;~, 'r~ from the Friends

:iW~i~t-; tabj '11 let you. in. u ( l } I enl.y Wiifili vih~:t were true-.

It is true ttgat t;tte have able yaru3es. ~ie. 1u~re allowed inside w~, drove peGpl~ Camp. · *.rbrougb. the Oouncil of Oh\n,.ehas we have been granted ona pe,sa ee.ch Sunday, osteneiply tD eondttct ;J?el.igious s~rvie~s, · ~.nd Floyd Seroaoe did preach there one Sun­<1.!(y; but usually we htl.vfi'1 Ufl~d these passes mePely for visitation. amongst OUl"' 1'riendso Floyd Sehmoe has he.d a p~.€le fo!.• himaeJ.! and and.· uopel.,atortt to go in and give mov:ias each t~turday night.· .. And ';f!h::..le ~1arJor1.a sohautfl~.r w<:.uJ she :r ~eeeived all iie:}r ptlsses to all four areas {pvioeless) beo~use we 'll~ere coming on a mission crt the Relocfation Authority, namely; 'to begin to m~..ke plans fo-p getting the ~tudents out of the ~~mps into colleges in the East4

In oonneation with Floyd. Schmoe's samonJ I hail a le"tter i'ro:r1 a Japan~se friend:s ~hich reads in part: It:fhis last StL."l.d~Y I went aver to A1~ea D for ahnrch se~iee. The sermon was an absolute f'allu'l:e. For

preB.aher'a .salie l will not mention nama hera, but all. his se~on ~.mounted to "l!aG s. !"ationalization for accepting the evacuation s;s God 1s will .or something like that. He ran .. ,e~~ for half nn hau.~ about

21

ion ligion; his vi.sita

La~ft !hursday S.I'H:tttai:n:~.nee tJf l1a.Vil',li;J the ,J s J.) ( I } it. ssible to

ua 1n

thought tb.~l.t he t Sc!'..moe had · int~lligence, aineerity .. 1a not an isolated more re-

way they ehe:viah

the oppGrt~iity through a p~r~on1~l J. J.. ( C~'bayes pl$as~ .note .P'tl!1~11up Assembly C1enter. I wish

ha.d to t5ay · tl) us, but theY. by his ea11.Ll'l.S me 'J::om ~~1d. l

at tbe .nF;xt morning~ · th us som.~ 40 mlnu'5'!s~;

.... #' . Jl b' . +;r • a:part. .-.rom own do· •. t4e. s a.ll thlnga ~ons.id.el;ed. There ig

Gc·.1f•r::o.,...nr,:~~7 hag :pie}~eil high C6libr.e to do

I

~l."''h .a in Ohiea.go to OtH11Il Bftrstol!? 's

tf!e 'Went

a~ l~sy young thi~ty; in the JAOL ~ean.~~.ar~~~:rs the college

tional Direetor, ·!".niL p~:v-ed. w£;~~,~5 ~ ;;hen he begi:1s

~t:i.~d,;;;:~:tt> ind.;'ivio.u~lly •

sor..auffler interviewing very diBCGUrRg~d;

w.er€i.bloeke4 s W!Ztr·k Corns. Tha,n ociin!nr desc:t•ibing the meeting li.~l.d

tb(1:1P r·t:sfJ:t've ars.e:, got them for f¥:Jbbins

jpb ]'uyall.up· supr,er and failed to keep all possible time.~ith

talk~d wi.tn·· oru.y··two we sat o.o<;>.,ll':r with t~- group

s.bcut a a.ozen .. · Q.s.mp, ~-$· .,1-ell ~.s

'"'"".J..'"'= \iith .M1~. W~ir, the 0£1411]} .E(luea-0 'B~iens work in 11:e1Jt

qu~stionnaJ.r-es arul intet'vlewing

w1lil~ w~lk.ing tn..·•·;tnlgh /Area l'J6 li:t~Gllea. do,~n a~n.d~n!llSO R0¥1; a. rabbit hutehas people a.c~Wl!t unts.er' the Grat1dstand, . s~ at h1£~h noon excep'G f'or el19ctria lte...hta~ w:Lth e:ir- sG .stale your nostrils to breatr!El it. In At>er~ B, we wer'S ent~rtained ..

irl ·the of one Japtuleae family, a room i:>f.)llghly 20 feet by 181 into ~hi.eh ·'eight beo_s h.r~d beGn fitted again~t one ~~::.111.. !n the Gente!* a stcrvt:, along one \'!tall ~ set af h.nmE!m~u'!e bure~n.ts and ahel ves FL"'ld ir.t one corner~ ~ homemada clothe?;; closet. !t '!i'JEzs thr:lllin~ to see :tmw much

. C!'!\atec-. out G:f' SO little. were f!Sated on bOX lllz.e Ohairs1 aer~.ps of ll:mb~r, iitere g1.ven eoda pop £H~rved in dainty t1apanese

1!he 0 :r·o.om wtH~ g~y tb brlght color~d. bad. eoveringe., window curtaJ . .ne, ~nd. pillows 2?.nd eheery ourtflintll in f'l:'f.mii c:if the shelves. t~u.t front of th~ rabb-'~t hutch "J:as ~ tiny .uvictory Garden", ·~llth an

plant ~nd severs.l l"Owe of vf,getebl~;>a coming up. lfo quiel..:ly sketch some· other imp~t=;:(~S . : tlM:t gQoil morale;-fo.r e;}tamplef tile Judge

te in r;ne area (.n iJn1v~rsity of ehingt~n .lgw studentJ boasting

22

to us he had only two oases to t~y, both of them cases, the little prides, the rumors, and how tP~ings grow on you ~hen you're coQped up. The story about the little boy in A se. head gt;;_shecl open by. a horseshce, a. cut four inches long, t~ken to . ·the :first a5a station, tr-ee. teet, but t.a.aving to wait an hom:a and twent-.r minutes while th.e doctor got a to oome over from J'l.rea C to take stitches.

I can conclude ·on this page. ':rae plan of he.:ving Japanese over to in the bee~ of Eastern Oregon and Idaho>has been

called of"f', probably because of high feeling ovf.:!r Dutch Harbol" bombing. ifherre to he li ttlli? ooo:rd.tmJ tion t~.rmy \lCOA an<l WPJi on how . individ1.1ale.: or f'nu-:ti~y ts may resettle vo.l~J.ntarily out of the cempa, with vc:.r-;ring versions current. Floyd arrailged for the University Puppet tour ~l"ea.a Clamp. c"<.nd. also the University 'Players He to Yakima over the

" 1 "- 4. ... t• . 1 ..,. • ,;a mtnll:"1te,~ns t.O W8.t;C!l nem. cLose .~.r~~n,.~.a,. a most tragic folk: not "';ing · travel~d since Floyd .:~,rent to

a s:peeoh a lottery _s,f.t~r .a solctier .dld another $2. for

! enolo se version of who the Japanese are and c,~rryi!l.g a heavy load. of co:rreapond.ence CEmps, Em inv~.lURble

Bodine

23

John Rich, James Va.il,..&Lli~li~& Hugh Moore, Lynn Zimmerman, Passmore Eikinton, Elmore Jackson, Mary Magilligan, Eleanor Stabler Clarke, !iary Hoxie Jones.

JAPANESE RELOCATION-. R.EFORT·

Seattle Office· AMERICAN FRIEl~DS SEB.VICE . COMMITTEE 3959- 15th Ave., N.E. .

II 16 Seattle, Washington

September 4, 1942

"C.AMP F.ARllONY u AB.MUJO!lED. *'Camp Har.i'non;y fJ was only a name ••• it . never meant much. Bow Camp F.armony is only a

memory .•• to .a few young people who met lovers there a pleasant. one, tomost.a>nightmare, but .significant in the lives of. eight thousand :people because it was the first stop of a tragic fourney. l1Camp Harmony'f at ?uyallup, Washington, was tlle "loading pens n into wtrl.oh the entip:~ Japanese American population of Seattl.e and Tacoma was herdedpreparatory to shipment ••. not to-the slaughter houses ••• but not to gree pastures either. . ·

.•. --•· . ·. .. . Only work crews remain, the others ha.ve gone to th~ Minidoka project 2:lt Eden, near Twin Falls, Idaho. · At Puyallup although behind barbed wire fences they were stUl within sight of familiar scenes, the berry farms of the Puya.ll.up Valley where ~~.ny of them r.tad worked were just over the fence. Mount _F.ainier looked"'?~c;Jwn on them, friends and neighbors were frequent callers, the Pugci:t;)3ound summer was pleasant. Eden, Idaho, does not lie in the Gardeui of Eden. (The Snake River flows nearby.) Like alJ. except two o:f' the eleven War Relocation Centers ·it lies in the midst of a barren desert. Depending ur~n the length of "the duration» it may or may not be made, by the efforts of the Eden colonists, to blossom. In the end they must move again ••• no one knows whe.re •.. for the land belongs to the· Reel.amation Service and Idaho has been promised they vr will not stay. 'fhere. is no hope in the irt er1.1men t ca.m:ps. We dould make the.m. tb..e. 11fi.nest in the world •• <l .. l'l.C. they would still- be prisons. Hope is out_side not inside. They appeal to us for help. Our respon­sibility is to get as many out as possibl.e. If bY the end of the \var the interment ea.mps · are still full ~ have failed. lf they are empty there is sti.ll a_ chance of a solution 1D the problem but it will .!12! :r~:et -1:!!!· solved.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF EDEN (we quote from recent letters) uwe ·atop-. ped on a spur ~rack in the midst of. the sa•::ee-

brush at 1:30 A.M.; and were met by. o .of all things._ •• BUn Valley -buse£/i. -----''You: Just cari•t imagine .my spirits went down, Just -~own-down down, when the train stQpped at the end of a spur track ·in the,m1ddle of a. desez>t:. u _____ nThere' was a terrible dust storm yesterday and we just l].ad a dicltensis of a time trying to keep th..e place clean"----- 11In faoy i.t is impossible to keep ~nything cleanff----"The dining halls and the. 'homes'' are considerably bette:rpf than at Camp Harmony"-----"We are using 'farm Style' ·.toilets still. They smell •.•• "--~..:.-nM.y father roused us all at 6:30 this morning to see the morning glory that has start~d to bloom''----tt •.• the two tb.ings that bother the :No rthvlest peonle most are the mosquitos and the dust. Time will come \Vhen the people will plant trees and plant grass •.• "--..,--n.Many txt us took our good ls.st look of the beautiful country when we traveled up the Columbia River*'----.::-flThe Personnel here is mar­vetl.ous ••.• All in all the peopl.e here have m de ·us feel so ·muehbette:r· · a.nd more secure·'•-----"If I am to be here for the .duration you can bet my boots I am going to b.end. every effort to F.&S.ke thi-s the most model, i-'imerican community in the United: States o "

24

. - 2-

LATEST UYSTEP..Y is the sudden and unexplained transfer of four families from.Puyall~p Assembly Center to widely scattered Re­

location Centers._ During the last week at Puyallup the heads of i'our families ••• all active leaders very . popular with the group, were suddenly called into the office and given from two to .four hours to pack and leave for camps other than that to which the group was to go. Tnree of these were attorneys, the fourth a student leader. One was sent to Poston, one to Gila, one to Granada, and the' other to an Arlta..l'leas Camp. Official uaurmisen is tbat "leadership is being distributed!. (by meth­ods very reminiscent of German S~eret Police) . Persistent rqmor is that the JAOL controlled political machine of lflam.p.Ha.rmony 11 (?) is purging itself. The machine wishes to continue in control at Ed.en.but there were a i'ew cogs that had been found not to mesh as smoothly as could be

- desired. Outside we nview with alarm"· tha roili ty of puppet ruler·s in­side to pull govera~ent strings ••• a power probably purchased for "a consideration!t. Facts when knOl'm will be interestirzg.

N.ORTH PORTLAND ASBEJ..:BLY CENTER EMPTY. Work crews are Qlaaring t·he build-. ing of the Interne. tional Live

Stoh}t :.ftssooiation for use again by prize-winning cattle e.nd horses. The people .who have spent the summet> in the box stalls and arenas have been moved Eia~t; Oregon people to join those from the Northwest at Eden, and Eastern Washington"p~ple · to Hea.rt .Mountain in Wyoming. Many Oregon- · Washington romances thnt have bl.o~somed turing the summer will~:.now be upon the gQOd offices of the postm~ if they continue to flourish. Too bad Evangeline did not have benef'it of the U.s. mail.

TOO WU~Y COMM!!fTEES. Consideration for the future of the aeattle office · ', has tu..rned our eye s to a review of the Dast. The

Se~retary' s desk calendar for the year so far revea1s the tilowlng sum­mary of time-consuming activities:

. ·,-tfallts to. cr..nre~ groups, service clubs, womens clubs and others on .Service Gommit;t~e problems ••••• 47.

~,.., . < '· ~.. -

Radio talks on work of Service Committee ••.•• lo

1¥Iagazine articles .written and published •••.• 3. Total words •• " .8500. Ar'triqles published in Cf!RISTEffOOM (reprinted as booklet.), F~ljOWSHil?, and tHE M.rtEPt.!OMi FRIEl~D.

Travel; incluliiing two trips to Calif'. , one to Idaho and Montana., several to Eastern Ffashi1fgton, and three to Portlandl •• 25 trips and a total of 10 7 295 miles by train and private ce~r.

Money secured by donations to the work of the American Friends Service Committee· through the Seat·tle offm approximately trooo. Bulletins issued; Evacuation Reports. Relooa.tion Reports, P"\C!FIC Oft..BLE ••• 18. These have reached mo;re than 10 ,ooo people. .

Cases contacted •.• ioo't·Japanese only) Much time has been spent on the problems of CO' s and CPS program. as l!?ell as numerous miscellaneous items. '

Correspo11dence ••• a check-up on the files indicate.s_a correspondence with more ·than 200 people with a few of ~.rhom we have· bull t up bulky dosser-s. Approximately half of our time has been given to aQr.respord en<

" .

Co:m..mittees attended .•• 143. This repreaen·ts .cooperation. with the C~un!),il_of Churches, YW and YM, FOR, NCW1'f, JA.CL·, etd._

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ON OU£<. PR!SOli CALL!l~G L!S'r are t).l..ree nisei meri and two Ca.ueasian 00 • s. GOaDON HIRABAYASH!, senior at the U~iversity

of Washington and member of the University 1friends Meeting, is still in the King Oounty Jail . .wwa.iting trial. The date ~s not yet bsen set although he :r..as been in prison more than three months. Gordon is always cheerful. He bas a saving humor ana_ abundant patience. He and John Woolman (his .Journal) are cell-nmtes. .

Lii~OOLl'i KAJ4Al1' Hawaiian-born former secretary of the Japanese Y. C.A. in San Francisco~ has been senteoned to six months. at Federal· Prison 115, Dupont, Washington. This is a caJl'lp prison for misdemeanors O!lly. Ed sanders is ita best knm,vn alumnus. J~!JES BUGliJR..<l, ei~YJ.teen :year old Seat1!1e boy w.hose mother is Caueasian a.nd who bas red hair, :v1as picke.d up recently ·by the FBI for failure to ac­cept evacuation. F..ad he gone to !Juyallup ,with his sist.ers he i<YOV~d have been :f'ree now, under recent ralmngs, but since he .n.egleeted:to heport f'or evaaua tion he is keeping Gordon company in .Federal. Tank 3 -C •

. EDGAR PEDER.SOll after eight months of 1'sit­ting tight" as a CO at Fo:r.~ Lewis has at l~st bee.q 'reclassified by his board at 4..;;E. We hope an army disebf-lrge and assignment to CPS i.s · merely a nw.tter of l"OU tine. HERBERT OLESO t 49E of San FranciscO. who refueea alter,na.tive service and went- on a l1unger strike as a protest against conscription ~s 'been transferred to Mol'leil lsland Penitentiary in Puget Sound. So far we have been refused nermission to see him or any report on his condition. One of t-he fellows. who lfwalked ou.t 11 of the Oase~tde Looks CPS camp spent a few days with Gordon . in ~ ... a -but has now been. transferred to Portla..t'!d to stand. trial.

AN !rlOR.Ej\.S!!iG TP..!OKLE of releases is allowing nisei to leave· the, .. camps and go east 'to schools and jobs. This somewhat

compensates ~for tbe sinking morale due to transfer to inland camps with its inevitable confusion and readjustment. Now tl:l..at Job-release is possible we are flooded with appeals for help in finding employment. The Service Committee has a responsibility here. .

Il~ THE! l'IAIL. Not all o:r our letters tr.tS.nk or praise us. One came yes-terday which really ~•put us right. If I quote choice phrases:

••• «Professors that get in a rut of which you are one are not supposed to kn0'\>'1 mucl1 so I will tell you that there are one millipn ·six. hundred thousand Japs in this oountry artd every one of them.a.:re 5th -columnists. They have three kids to a white· families one. Every one is a citizen of Japan ••• every Jap born in Seattle has to take, and of 9ourse is glad to take, this .oath to this emperor, "I hereby swear tl:_lat r· will do·JnY utmost to annihilate the white raee off the face of the earth. u lf: you· had a Son who was being tortured while the Japs here are being fed the best -·of everything, your feeble mind would get different ideas.

Yours, At'J Al'JlERICAN

·by Floyd Sehmoe

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