Open forum, vol. 21, no. 50 (December, 1944)

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THE OPEN FORUM

Free Speech-Free Press- Free Assemblage

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty'-John Philpot Curran

VOL. XXI.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, DEC. 9, 1944

7 ER SB

LIFTING OF BAN AGAINST EVACUEES

CALLS FOR PREPARATORY MEASURES

Peace Officers and the General Public Urged To Follow the American Pattern of

Fair Play and Helpfulness

Over 30,000 Japanese evacuees have left

the various WRA centers and relocated in

the middle-West and the East. A few of

them (the number is now said to be between

1,000 and 2,000) have been permitted by

the military authorities to come back to

the proscribed Pacific coastal zone.

Just when the ban against the return of

the others will be lifted still seems un-

certain. That it may be near is quite prob-

able. It may come as the result of a favor-

able decision by the United States Supreme

Court in the Korematsu and Endo cases,

or the Army may announce that there is

no longer any military necessity for keeping

the evacuees in the camps and that they

are free to choose the place of their future

residence.

All signs apparently point to an early

restoration of the civilian rights of these

harassed people. Not long ago Pres. Roose-

velt, at one of his press conferences, ex-

pressed the opinion that while aliens should

be restrained, American citizens of Japan-

ese parentage should not longer be kept

locked up in concentration camps. Inci-

dentally, he called attention to the combat

record in Italy made by the soldiers of

the Japanese-American battalion.

Gov. Earl Warren also spoke out recently,

indicating that he expected the evacuees to

be permitted to return to this state soon,

and that if they were allowed to come

they would be given fair treatment. Quot-

ing him:

"We, in California, take pride in our

freedom from racial conflict and civil dis-

order and we are apprehensive of the out-

come of reintroducing Japanese into our

complex and_ strained wartime life

. I have assured them (military

authorities) however, that if and when

they do determine, under all these circum-

stances, that military necessity no longer

exists for the exclusion of the Japanese,

California proposes to support their de-

termination as patriotically as it did the

original order of removal."'

Here and there editors are discussing

the matter in a factual fashion and some

of them are helping to prepare the civilian

population of this area for a return of the

evacuees. The San Jose ""Mercury- Herald"'

last month printed an excellent boxed edi-

torial in the middle of its first page, urging

a sane and American attitude toward the

evacuees' return. We wish we had space

enough to quote the entire editorial but

we must be content with giving you a

single paragraph:

"We must keep constantly in mind these

returning American-Japanese are Ameri-

cans by the right of their American birth

and, as Americans, are entitled to all the

rights and privileges guaranteed by our

Constitution. To forget this is to violate

the very structure on which our democracy

is built."

If the press in general would similarly

counsel their readers, much of the hostility

BILL OF RIGHTS BIRTHDAY

Next week Friday we reach another

milestone in our democracy - the

153rd anniversary of the Bill of Rights.

Celebrations are being planned. For

instance, the mayor and city council

of Los Angeles have proclaimed that

the entire week, from December 10

to 15, should be called Bill of Rights

week, using the opportunity for mak-

ing the people acquainted with the

provisions of this document.

All this is fine, we think. Schools,

churches and organizations generally

should take advantage of the occasion

to stress the importance of our funda-

mental freedoms.

But more than lip service is demand-

ed. Behavior is what counts. And

at this moment all the world is watch-

ing us to see how we act on the home

front in the matter of these freedoms.

Loud professions mean practically

nothing, but actual practices-the

way we treat minorities, the equal

rights we accord unpopular racial

groups, the freedom for the function-

ing of conscience that we allow to

religionists with whom we disagree-

these are the tests that mark us as

loyal supporters of the Bill of Rights.

How much democratic freedom are

you personally practicing? Now is a

good time to stop and inventory your

own degree of Americanism-and then

to do something about your discover-

ed deficiencies.

that has manifested itself toward the evac-

uees would disappear quickly.

Law enforcement officers might well

speak out at this time denouncing the

threatened vigilantism, and assuring the

returning evacuees that their personal

property and rights will be vigorously de-

fended if they come back into this area.

We would like to suggest that the Mayor

and Chief of Police of Los Angeles, the

District Attorney and the Sheriff of Los

Angeles County, make public statements

over the radio and through the press, urg-

ing the people to practice fair play and

genuine Americanism whenever the ban is

actually lifted. Such authoritative sugges.

tions coming from these officials would

undoubtedly abate a good deal of the racial

prejudice which has recently manifested

itself, and pave the way for amicable re-

lations between the evacuees and the gen-

eral public.

Thus inthe area which, before the evac-

uation, contained the largest concentration

of Japanese and Japanese-Americans any-

where in the U.S.A., there might be estab-

RIGHT OF CITIZENSHIP FOR

RESIDENT FILIPINOS URGED

Immediate favorable action on a bill to

permit Filipinos resident in the United

States to become citizens is strongly urged

on Hon. Samuel Dickstein, chairman of

the House Committee on Immigration, in

a letter released November 17 over the

signature of twenty-four distinguished citi-

zens. The letter, signed by Dean Christian

Gauss of Princeton University, Rev. Harry

Emerson Fosdick, Riverside Church, N.Y.C.,

and Jennings Perry, editor of the `"`Nash-

ville Tennessean,"' among others, urges that

the bill, H.R. 4826, be "immediately and

favorably reported to the House in view of

the military and political situation in the

Far East."'

"The position of the United States would

be greatly enhanced in the Orient by remov-

ing evidences of discrimination against a

people to whom we owe such obligations,"

the letter, initiated by the American Civil

Liberties Union, says, pointing out that

both the State and Justice Departments

have approved the bill, as well as the A-

merican Legion and representatives of na-

tional organizations.

"Elementary justice to the Filipino people

demands that this right should now be

accorded them, not only for its own sake,

but in recognition of a valiant ally," the

letter concludes. It is estimated that there

are about 50,000 Filipinos resident in the

U.S., who do not now have the right to

become American citizens.

Signers of the letter are Prof. Edwin M.

Borchard, Yale University; Van Wyck

Brooks, author; Henry Seidel Canby, ed-

itor; William Henry Chamberlin, journal-

ist; Morris L. Cooke, consulting engineer ;

Prof. George S. Counts; Arthur Garfield

Hays, lawyer; Dr. John Haynes Holmes;

Mordecai Johnson, President of Howard

University; Harold D. Lasswell, political

scientist; William Draper Lewis, Director

of the American Law Institute; Prof. Kirt-

ley F. Mather; Bishop Francis J. McCon-

nell; Prof. R. M. MaclIver of Columbia

University ; Alexander Meiklejohn, former

President of Amherst; William Allan Neil-

son, former President of Smith; Bishop G.

Bromley Oxnam; Elmer Rice, playwright;

Prof. Edward A. Ross; Lillian E. Smith,

author; Oswald Garrison Villard, journal-

ist; in addition to Dean Christian Gauss,

Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick, and Jennings

Perry.

lished a pattern of procedure which would

quickly be taken cognizance of by other

communities and followed by people gen-

erally up and down the coast.

It has been repeatedly stated that there

will be no mass influx of the Japanese who

formerly lived here, whenever the ban is

lifted. Quite a number of them are now

well established in other parts of the Unit-

ed States and will not care to come back

to the Pacific Coast. Only a limited num-

ber of those still in the WRA centers will

return here because of the barriers which

interpose, such as lack of money to make

(Continued on Page 2, Col. 2)

were

Published every Saturday at 501 Douglas Building,

257 South Spring Street, Los Angeles 12, California

by the Southern California Branch of the American

Civil Liberties Union. Phone: MIchigan 9708

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Clinton J. Taft Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Upton Sinclair Kate Crane Gartz

A. A. Heist A. L. Wirin

John Packard Edwin Ryland

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Entered as second-class matter Dec. 18,

1924, at the post office of Los Angeles

Calif., under the Act of March 8, 1879.

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LOS ANGELES, CALIF., DEG. 9, 1944

NLRB TO HEAR CASE INVOLVING

RACIAL DISCRiMINATION

The National Labor Relations Board for

the first time will hear a case to determine

whether a union which discriminates a-

gainst members on account of race or color

can be certified as a bargaining agent for

the workers, according to a decision rend-

ered on November 18. The decision was

made on a motion to set aside an earlier

order for a hearing as to the certification

of the Tobacco Worker's Union (AF of L),

Local 219, in the Larus Brothers plant in

Richmond, Va. :

The ACLU filed a brief as a friend of

the Board urging that the hearing be held

as ordered, and that it take up specifically

`the question of whether Local 219 was a

fit bargaining agent, in view of the fact

that it segregated Negroes and denied them

voting rights in the Union. A rival C.I.O.

Union also urged that the hearing be held.

The Board's decision of November 18

reaffirmed the order for a hearing, and

added the following specific points to be

determined: whether Local 219 `provides

for equal representation of all employees

irrespective of race or color;'' and whether

"the collective bargaining agreement or

agreements made since certification confer

equal rights and privileges to all employees

. Irrespective of color or race."

The decision in this case will set an

important precedent in determining certifi-

cation of unions in the future.

The attack on discrimination inside the

unions was carried forward on another

front when the U.S. Supreme Court, on

November 11, heard argument in the suits

of Negro firemen Tunstall and Steele a-

gainst.a Railway Brotherhood for discrim-

ination in contracts under the Railway

Labor Act.

SHUBERTS CHIDED FOR REFUSAL

| TO HOUSE PLAY IN N. Y. C.

The New York City Committee of the

American Civil Liberties Union on Novem-

ber 7 prodded Lee and J. J. Shubert, well-

known theatrical producers, for reneging

on a verbal agreement to rent the Cort

theatre in New York for the scheduled op-

ening of the play `"`Trio'"' on November 8.

The Shuberts were understood to be afraid

of action by N.Y.C. License Commissioner

Paul Moss against the play, which deals

in part with a Lesbian theme.

In a telegram to the Shuberts signed

by Elmer Rice and Carl Carmer, among

others, the N.Y.C. Committee of the Union

said: "Your action invites censorship, a

practice which you undoubtedly deplore,

and, in view of your predominant position

in the New York theatre, makes it increas-

ingly difficult for the public to enjoy the

right to see plays uncensored." The play

was held over in Philadelphia pending a

solution of the housing problem.

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JAPANESE AMERICAN RETURNS

TO CALIFORNIA FARM IN PEACE

Despite protests from Governor Earl

Warren and newspaper predictions of vio-

lence, James K. Yamamoto, Japanese A-

merican evacuee, returned to his six acre

berry farm near Cupertino, in Northern Cal-

ifornia, on November 20 without incident.

Yamamoto was the first Japanese Ameri-

can farmer to return to the Northern Cal-

ifornia district.

A special report to the New York Times

said: `"`Most residents of the community

voiced no interest in his return, but several

defended his right to re-establish himself

on his property because of his American

citizenship.'"' Walter H. Qdemar, chairman

of the Native Sons of the Golden West

Committee on Japanese Legislation, in San

Francisco, furnished the only note of op-

position when he appealed to President

Roosevelt to give his personal attention to

the problem of returning Japanese Ameri-

cans as menacing "the safety of Ameri-

can military personnel and material."

Meanwhile, a U.S. Supreme Court de-

cision on the constitutionality of the evac-

uation and detention of American citizens

of Japanese ancestry is expected daily in

the Korematsu and Endo cases, argued be-

fore the high court in October by the

ACLU. The legality of individual exclusion

orders against Japanese Americans will

also be tested in the Federal District Court

of Los Angeles, in the ACLU supported case

of Dr. George Ochikubo, to be heard De-

cember 14.

The ACLU noted with approval the de-

feat on November 7 of a Colorado referen-

dum proposition which would have barred

aliens of Japanese ancestry from owning

land within the state. The proposition drew

a 20,000 vote majority outside of Denver,

but was defeated by the city vote. Arthur

A. Brooks Jr., a leader in the fight against

the bill, was elected to the state senate at

the same time.

PERMANENT FEPC BILL UNOPPOSED

IN HOUSE HEARINGS

Public hearings on a series of bills to es-

tablish a permanent Fair Employment Prac-

tices Committee concluded before the House

Labor Committee last month, without a

single opposition witness having appeared.

The bill may be reported out and voted on

in this session.

A companion bill in the Senate was favor-

ably reported by the Senate Education and

Labor Committee last September, and is

now on the Senate calendar. The ACLU

urges members and friends to write their

representatives and senators asking an

early and favorable vote on these bills,

S. 2048 in the Senate; and HR 3986, HR

4004, and HR 4005 in the House.

(Continued from page 1, Col. 3)

a fresh start in business or agriculture, the

crowded housing situation, the fear of not

being able to secure jobs and the expected

hostility of the racists and commercial in-

terests. :

Those who do elect to come, however,

should be fully assured in advance that

their constitutional rights will be respected

and that they will be given the same treat.

ment as any other racial group which has

come to make America its home.

In view of the shameful way in which

the evacuees have been stripped of their -

possessions and made to live for two and

one half years in concentration camps,

without being accorded due process of law,

we think that an extra effort should be

made by both officials and the general

public to extend to them a helping hand

in their efforts to rehabilitate themselves

and to go on living with the rest of us

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SETTLES "BLACKLISTING" CASE

Workers in essential war plants seized

by the government and operated under

Army or Navy supervision cannot be black-

listed for engaging in union activities, un.

der a decision of War Manpower Com-

missioner Paul V. McNutt in a case recently

called to his attention by the American

Civil Liberties Union. In a letter to the

ACLU, enclosing a copy of his decision

in the case of Arthur B. Burke, shop com-

mitteeman discharged from the: National

Motor Bearing Co. plant at Redwood City,

Calif., Mr. McNutt gives his ``personal as-

surance that he would not be party to any

such action."

Burke, a member of the Machinists

Union (AF of L), was fired last September

8, on orders of the Naval Officer in charge

of the plant, for protesting the payment

to another union man of machinists' wages

for the more specialized tool and die work.

The local office of the U.S. Employment

Service later refused to issue him the re-

ferral necessary to obtain employment else-

where. McNutt's decision on appeal from

the local authorities, orders that Burke be

issued a referral as of November Ist, and

lays down the general principle that ``the

period during which a referral should be

denied appellant should be that applicable

to a worker in a similar plant who quits

his job without good cause, i.e., 60 days

after the date of the termination of his

employment."'

In calling the Burke case to the attention

of Mr. McNutt, the ACLU, in a letter sign-

ed by Arthur Garfield Hays, General Coun-

sel, said: "We have entered blacklisting -

cases only where the charge is made that

the penalties incurred were a result of a

reasonable complaint about conditions in

the shop." The Union also expressed con-

cern about reports that workers had been |

blacklisted for refusing to work overtime

in government operated plants.

CITIZENSHIP FOR ILLEGALLY

ENTERED ALIEN SOLDIERS ASKED

Prompt action on a bill to grant citizen-

ship to alien members of the armed forces

of the United States who may have entered

the country illegally was urged on Sen Rich-

ard B. Russell, chairman of the Senate

Committee on Immigration, in a letter

from the American Civil Liberties Union.

The letter, signed by Arthur Garfield

Hays, General Counsel for the ACLU,

states that the bill, H.R. 1284, which pass-

ed the House earlier in the year and is

now before the Senate Committee, has

received widespread editorial support, and

asks that it be favorably reported.

"We have heard of many cases of hard-

ship," the letter says, ""where members of

the armed forces have been unable to ob-

tain citizenship merely on account of tech-

nicalities with respect to legal entry. We

urge you to keep faith with these many

hundreds who are fighting so valiantly for

this country, but who have been unable to

obtain the prized privilege of American

citizenship."

as residents of this West Coast. Some

groups have been working here for quite

a while back trying to find available houses

for the evacuees and employment that will

enable them to earn a livelihood. This

kind of work is most commendable and

bespeaks the fine type of Americanism

which those who are engaging in such

efforts really have. We of the American

Civil Liberties Union have constantly fought

for the fundamental rights of the evacuees

and will continue to do our utmost to see

that these rights are completely restored

to all of these unfortunate people.

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