The Alamance Gleaner 1
Vol LXIX GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1943 No. 31
Need Farm or Factory Help? Thousands of Workers
In Japanese Relocation Camps Waiting to Be Hired
???
Nearly Every Trade
Found Among Loyal
Japanese - Americans
Farmers and factory owners
who are looking anxiously about
for help have available an al
most untapped supply of intel
ligent and industrious workers.
These people are the 90,000
Americans of Japanese ances
try who are now in the ten relo
cation camps in the West and
Southwest.
The War Relocation Authority has
found employment for 16,000, and is
seeking to place 25,000 more by the
first of the year. More than one
third of these American-Japanese
are farmers or hare done some agri
cultural work. Others are skilled t
mechanics, and many are in pro
fessions. Occupations, in fact, range
from doctors to ditchdiggers. Most
of these people are American born
and are considered loyal to the Unit
ed States.
These workers may be hired per
manently or seasonally by any farm
er or other employer anywhere in
the country, except in the military
zone, a strip running along the Pa
cific coast.
Procedure whereby American
Japanese and loyal aliens are
brought out of the camps and placed
in jobs is a simple one. A reloca
tion office in each area has a staff
of officers who look for jobs In dif
ferent kinds of employment: farm
ing, dairying, poultry raising, nur
sery, domestic, restaurant and hotel
work, skilled and unskilled labor,
factory work, various trades and pro
fessions such as dentistry, medicine,
engineering, industrial designing.
Job offers received are screened
as to suitability of wage and work
ing standards. If legitimate, the
offer is sent to any or all of the 10
relocation centers which are in the
states of California, Arizona, Idaho,
Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Ar
kansas.
In the camp, job offers are cata
logued, posted in mess halls and
administrative buildings, and printed
in the camp newspaper. Each evac
uee has filed his working qualifica
tions and each camp has an em
ployment staff to assist the proper
person to get the proper job.
The evacuee is not forced to take
a job. He can select one for which
he thinks he is best qualified. He
makes his own arrangements. He
corresponds with his prospective em
ployer and, if accepted, informs
camp authorities who then place him
on indefinite leave which means he
is entitled to leave camp and go
anywhere in the' United States ex
cept the forbidden regions.
Both American citizens of Japa
nese ancestry and Japanese aliens
are allowed to leave the relocation
camps in the West once their loyalty
has been assured. Each evacuee is
investigated by the War Relocation
authority and males of draft age
are checked upon by a joint board
in Washington composed of the in
telligence departments of the armed
forces and WRA officials. Also,, each
evacuee is checked against FBI
records.
On the other hand, before an
American-Japanese settles in a com
munity, it is canvassed by WRA
officers who seek reasonable assur
ances from responsible officials and
citizens that local sentiment will not
be against the newcomer.
Indefinite leave usually is granted
only to an evacuee who has a place
to go and means of support. Each
evacuee must inform WRA in Wash
ington of any change in jol or ad
dress. An evacuee must receive the
standard wage rate of the commu
nity. He can not enter as "cheap
SPINACH?Miss Momayo Tama to
colli rates the dark green atoll on
tho broad acres of the Gila Hirer
Heloeatios center farm. She for
merly worked in Fresno, Calif.
Ikwiiadi of skilled ayrienltaral
wookoso like Miss Tamato are leak
k| far ftirato employment. '
labor." WRA's motto is: "No more,
no less than anyone else for the
same work in the same community."
Both an American citizen of Japa
nese ancestry or a Japanese alien
can obtain indefinite leave. An alien
is checked more carefully and out
side camp his movements havf more
restrictions.
WRA procedure to move Ameri
can-Japanese out of the camps has
been approved by the department of
justice, the U. S. army and endorsed
by the War Manpower commission
as a contribution to national security
and manpower needs.
WRA's program of relocating
American-Japanese began in the
spring of 1942 when, for military
reasons, some 106,000 Japanese were
taken from California, the southern
third of Arizona, the western half
of Oregon and Washington and
placed in 10 relocation centers in
the West. WRA officials point out
that the centers are definitely not
internment camps or places of con
finement. They were established by
the United States government for
two chief purposes: to provide self
sustaining communities where evac
uees can contribute to their own sup
port pending gradual reabsorption
WELDER?Many Japanese-Amer
icans, like George I. Nakamora are
excellent tradesmen. He is working
in Chicago at a farm implement
factory, whence he came from the
Minidoka Relocation center, Ore.,
where he was maintenance machin
ist.
into a normal American life; and to
serve as wartime homes for those
who are unable or unfit to relocate
in ordinary American communities.
Beginning January of this year,
WRA initiated a program of steady
depopulation of the centers by en
couraging residents with good rec
ords of behavior to re-enter private
employment in agriculture or indus
try.
Relocation offices were set up in
Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Kan
sas City, Little Rock, Salt Lake
City and Denver to seek jobs for
American-J apanese.
Each relocation area has sub
offices. The Chicago area, for ex
ample, covers Indiana, Illinois, Wis
consin, Minnesota and the eastern
half of North Dakota. Elmer L.
Shirr ell is supervisor of the area.
Sub-offices are located at Indianap
olis, Peoria, Rockford, Milwaukee,
Madison, Minneapolis and Fargo.
Relocation officers there carry on
the same kind of employment and
placement service given in the area
headquarters.
Model Communities.
Life in an evacuation center is
no picnic. American-Japanese were
abruptly moved from their own
homes and placed in barracks,
which though adequately construct
ed, were bare of furniture, had no
running water, toilets or any con
veniences we accept as normal.
A camp is laid out in blocks like
a city. Each block contains two
rows of barracks housing 12 living
units. Each block has its mess hall,
lavatories, showers and meeting
hall. No family cooks for itself,
but must eat with the other inhabi
tants of the block in mess halls
which are staffed by full time Amer
ican-Japanese cooks and attendants.
Food for evacuees at camp is re
ceived from army quartermaster
corps and cost must not exceed 45
cents per day per evacuee.
Each camp has schools, churches,
playgrounds, recreation halls, YMCA
units and sometimes a boy and
girl scout troop. Each camp has
a police force, a fire department
and each block is represented in the
camp council which meets regular
ly with WRA officials to determine
camp administration and other prob
lems which come up.
Each family is housed, fed and,
if one member of the family is work
ing, the government gives a small
monthly allotment from $2 to $3.50
to each member for clothing.
Any able-bodied American-Japa
nese can work at the camp, and gen
erally can do the' same job he did on
the outside. American - Japanese
serve as doctors, dentists, nurses,
optometrists, watchmakers, clerks,
civil engineers, carpenters, masons,
farmers and in many other trades.
Each one who works receives from
WRA a monthly salary from $12 to
$19 depending on his job. Since the
WRA staff at each camp is ve{y
small, a huge amount of the admin
istrative work is done by the evacu
ees who work as stenos, bookkeep
ers, typists, clerks, interviewers,
translators, switchboard operators,
etc.
Each camp has co-operative food
and clothing stores, a canteen, no
tion counters, magazine racks and
even a post office. Most camps
have large agricultural tracts and
become largely self sustaining.
American-Japanese and Japanese
aliens sometimes are known as Is
sei, Nisei and Kibei. Issei are Jap
anese born in Japan but who came
here to live. Nisei are second gen
eration Japanese, born in the Unit
ed States and citizens of this coun
try. Kibei are American born Japa
nese who have gone back to Japan
for education and then returned to
America. WRA investigates Kibeis
*?ry closely, watches them carefully
and is reticent about giving them
freedom.
Mostly 'Nisei.'
The great bulk of the 135,000 Japa
nese in this country at the outbreak
of the war, including the 110,000
along the West coast, are Nisei.
They are the young boys and girls,
the men and women who have lived
here all their lives and are just as
American as we are.
They have broken away from Jap
anese customs. Their thought is
American thought. They prefer
American food and our way of do
ing things. They like to jitterbug,
go to movies, have coke dates and
parties like any normal American.
Surveys have proven that the Nisei
have a greater percentage of mem
bers with a college or university
education than any racial group in
the United States.
It is the belief of the WRA that
the spreading of the American-Jap
anese throughout the nation instead
of concentrated in groups along the
coast will be a good thing both for
all Americans and for American
Japanese.
Approximately 8,000 American
Japanese are in the United States
armed forces. After Pearl Harbor
they were given the opportunity to
volunteer and thousands of boys en
listed from the relocation camps.
Two large units at Camp Savage,
Minn., and Camp Shelby, Miss., con
tain most of the American-Japanese
combat fighters. From Hawaii alone
came a specially picked combat
team of 2,500 American-Japanese
boys. At Camp Savage many are
training to be interpreters and lan
guage teachers.
Wherever they have been sta
tioned, American-Japanese soldiers
have won high praise from their
commanding officers. They are
training with extraordinary zeal
even spending their free time in
military study and voluntary drills.
Instructors have to be keen and alert
to avoid being tripped up by ques
tions. It is a saying among these
Japanese-American soldiers that
"We have a year and three minutes
to live," meaning a year of hard
training, and three minutes in the
thickest of the fighting, for they ex
pect to go to the front.
WRA officials have found that ade
quate jobs can be found for the evac
uees, but that housing is a serious
problem. This is especially true in
large cities where booming war
plants have caused a heavy Influx
of war workers.
In the smaller communities this
condition is less severe. WRA be
lieves that a large measure of its
success will depend upon how well
the American-Japanese relocate in
small towns and agricultural areas.
OVEB THE PLATE?Strictly la
the American tradition, Omm Japa
nese-American sixth fTads boys
play softball at roc ass, at the Man
saaas Btiiftlw CCSttf fai CtUfOF
Who's News
This Week
By
Delos Wheeler Lovelace
Consolidated reaturea.?WNU Release.
VEW YORK.?In that new world
A ' which lies, maybe, just beyond
today's battle smoke, women will
need to fight for their rights or Mary
ear mm ,, , , AnUcI'ou,!
Women Must Hold learned
Rights in the New nothing in
World With Peace "j* *?"?
she has been
fighting for such rights as they now
hold. "They will probably all be
pushed back into clerical jobs."
Miss Anderson has been fight
ing for a quarter eentnry in the
neat office provided by the labor
department In Washington for
the director of its women's bu
reau. Before that she fought for
almost as long as union organ
iser. But she remains quiet
and unassuming, though big
enough either this way or that,
to be strident and forward.
Women of this country might
not have Miss Anderson on their
side if she had started from
Sweden when quotas narrowed
the immigrant gate between the
two worlds. But the gate was
wide open then, even to a It
year-old girl from unheard of
Lldkoping. Jobs were plentiful,
too. When the girl fretted in
housework she could hop to a
shoe factory, after she had
learned English.
From shoes the girl of Lidkoping
hopped into a union and then into
various projects favoring women.
She has been director of the Wom
en's bureau since 1919. In her
spare time she plays rummy, listens
to the symphony, takes pictures. She
used to have more spare time. Now
she has to keep close tab on the vast
wartime labor displacement and
plan against the confusion she fore
sees when ex-soldiers begin looking
for time-cards and paychecks.
??
\X7HEN the men of Holland free
" " theii homeland they will not
wait long before they call upon the
Nazis to account for Jonkheer Wil
.... ........ lemRoell.
Hitler Will Have to Y o u w i 11
Give an Account of have to be
This Dutch Officer I??16?1 **
the faulty
spelling of the last name, because
no American linotype provides the
umlaut which should stand over
the "E."
Roell is 7# years old now If
be is all re. Before the Germans
invaded Holland he was one of
its great men of war, command
er at last of the Fortress Hol
land. He was a lieutenant gen
eral and governor, too, of the
Royal Residence at The Hague,
and Queen Wilhelmina held him
highly. Two years before the
invasion be retired and was
pensioned. He was 64 then. At
64 a man has a lot of hard work
in his system, but the lieutenant
general had done a lot, had
climbed from a second lieuten
ant of artillery to the top.
After the Nazis came, he was too
prominent to be let alone, and they
interned him. A little while ago
word came out of Holland that he
? had been sentenced to death after a
secret trial. Now, after more than
a month, no one is sure whether the
sentence has been carried out. But
the men of Holland say the time
will come when the Nazis will have
l to tell.
?
'"THE French, under Davout, least
touted of Napoleon's marshals,
trimmed the Prussians at Auerstedt
by deploying faster. They got there
.... ?. . 'ust with
Soldier Skyrocket the mostest
Guided by Great because
Captains of Poet extend"
p ed into bat
tle front at 150 paces a minute while
the duke of Brunswick was content
with 75. It was simple old fashioned
business, but Ma}. Gen. Guy
Simonds may have recalled it as he
raced his vanguard through the
Sicilian surf to open Canada's share
of the big drive now ended.
Certainly Simonds knew an
about Davout. He knows aU
about all the great captains
from long-ago Gideon onward.
At 46, youngest Canadian divi
sional commander in this war,
ho has studied them so profita
bly that be has topped most
post-grad mate quizzes since ho
left the Royal Military college.
Simonds Is Canada's soldier sky
rocket. He was only a major three
years back. Englisb-born, he was
moving along with a quiet thorough
ness when the first Canadian con
tingent went acrosa. He went, too,
took over a tough Commstndo as
signment; for that he was made a
commander of the British empire,
and the major genera Icy followed
quickly.
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
Allied Bombers Concentrate Attacks
On Enemy Airfields, Communications;
Japs Continue Retreat in New Guinea;
Civilians to Get 75% of Food Supply
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Wkta epimleaa ut wanmi la ttwa mImm, t*ey arc U*m #f
WhUhi NtwiMM' Vilra'a mvi aaalyste aa4 aet Minurily ef IkJa uvimH' )
Riltutd by Wastern Newspaper Union. ?J
Killed in action against the Japanese, an American soldier is being
borne back from the front lines by these New Gaisea satires. Chaplain
Owen Monahan of the 41st division fellows the body. Natives are servmg
D. 8. forces as stretcher bearers and supply carriers.
EUROPE: )
Hell on High
As Allied troops poised for the
leap Into southern Europe, waves
of American and British bombers
whirled over the foot of the Italian
boot, smashing at enemy airfields
and communication lines in the ef
fort to paralyze Axis troop move
ments to invasion points.
Principal concentration has been
on Foggia, 80 miles northeast of the
once-colorful, now heavily bombed,
Neopoll tan port of Naples. Be
sides the main airdrome at Foggia,
10 smaller auxiliary airfields were
the targets for low level bombing
aid machine gunning attacks spear
beaded by fast, U. S. Lockheed
lightnings.
Throughout the Foggia area, rail
roads, over which trains were car
rying enemy troops, were shot up.
As a result of heavy, concentrat
ed RAF raids on Berlin, it was re
ported that 12,000 epople might have
oeen killed, 50,000 wounded, and
500,000 made homeless.
LEND-LEASE:
'Repaid With Victory'
"Victory and a secure peace are
the only coin in which we can be
repaid" for lend-lease assistance
thus far amounting to 14 billion dol
lars, President Roosevelt reported to
congress.
Of the total in armament and food
distributed through lend-lease. Great
Britain received 44 billion dollars;
Russia, 24 billion dollars, and Af
rica, the Middle East and Mediter
ranean countries, one billion, 300 mil
lion dollars. China, India, Australia
, and New Zealand have obtained
lend-lease also to the amount of one
billion 300 million dollars.
"The congress in passing and ex
tending the lend-lease act made it
plain that the United States wants
no new war debts to Jeopardize
the coming peace," the President
said.
SOUTH PACIFIC:
Smash Supplies
Using the airplane as an instru
ment for weakening the enemy by
disrupting his supply, Gen. Douglas
MacArthur sent scores of bombers
along the northeastern New Guinea
coast to blast at the small barges
with which the Japanese have been
replenishing their beleaguered
forces in the Salamaua area.
As the Allied airmen swooped low
to bomb and machine gun the tiny
craft darting through the coastal
shoals, or streaking for cover in
the many coves along the shore,
U. S. and Australian forces fought
jp to the gates of Salamaua itself.
Having fallen back through the Jun
gle under pressure of Allied infiltra
tion tactics, the enemy girded for a
last stand at his big New Guinea
base.
In a Tokyo broadcast, the Japa
nese claimed to have sunk nine
American cruisers and 11 destroyers
and knocked out 836 planes since
June 30. In addition, the broadcast
declared, four cruisers and eight
destroyers were damaged. The
Japanese claims were without coo
trmation in Allied circles.
J
FOOD:
Less Than 1942-43
Americana will have less to eat
during the next 10 months than in
1942-'43, but on the average they
will get as much food as they did
from 1935^39, the government de
clared.
Of the total food supply, civilians
will receive 75 per cent, it was re
ported. The army will be allotted
13 per cent, lend-lease 10 per cent,
and United States territories and
special needs 2 per cent.
In commenting on the army allo
cation, the government pointed out
that a serviceman eats about 54
pounds of food daily, to the civil
ian's 34 pounds. This is equiva
lent to adding approximately 44
million people to the population, it
was said.
WHEAT:
Feed Sales High
Since the initiation of the govern
ment's program for the sale of
wheat for feed at the start of July,
the Commodity Credit corporation
has disposed of more than 69,000.000
bushels, or an average of 50,000,000
monthly.
At the sama time, government
purchases to replenish stocks ap
proximate only 14.000,000 bushels
per month, it was reported. Much
of the new grain has been coming
in by rail from Canada through the
Dakotas, and arrangements have
been made for shipment through the
Pacific Northwest.
Should the demand for feed wheat
continue and sales outstrip pur
chases, the government can draw on
the 300,000,000 bushels of the 1943
crop held on farms under loans
which could be called before ma
turity.
MINERS:
No Travel Pay
Eight public and employer mem
bers of the War Labor board joined
in voting against
approval or a
wage contract be
tween Illinois coal
operators and the
United Mine
Workers granting
the latter tl.SS
daily (Or time
spent traveling
underground to
and from their
work. Headed by
Matthew Woll.
Matthew WeO
vice president or the American Fed
eration of Labor, the four labor
members of the WLB opposed the
decision.
Although voting against under
ground travel compensation, the
WLB agreed to payment of time
and-a-half to miners for all work
over 39 hours a week. WLB also
approved increased vacation pay
ments and provision for certain tree
equipment and services amounting
to 33 cents daily.
The WLB declared the miners
would have to go to court to collect
any claims they hold against the
coal companies for underground
payment under the wages and hour
law. _
FIGHTING FRENCH:
Made Administrators
Until the people of France are
able to choose a government, the
French Committee of National Lib
eration, operating from Algiers,
North Africa, will be recognized
merely as an administrative agency
of those parts of the French empire
over which it has succeeded in ob
taining control.
This recognition was made by the
United States, Great Britain and
Russia. It followed months of wran
gling between the factions of Gen.
Charles De Gaulle, who has bad
strong British backing, and Gen.
Henri Giraud, who represented the
pro-Vichy Darlan group which ar
ranged for American landings in
North Africa with Gen. Dwight
Eisenhower. Recently these factions
combined, with De Gaulle securing
political leadership and Giraud mili
tary direction.
The Liberation committee's ad
ministrative authority, however, will
be subject to the requirements at
the Allied military command in such
zones at operation as North Africa
and the Rear East.
RUSSIA:
Drive for Coal, Iron
With Kharkov, the "Pittsburgh"
of Russia, again in their hands. Red
forces hurled their might agamst
the Nazis farther to the south ia
the Donetz basin, scarce at much
coal and iron.
Giving way under the full weight
of massed Russian artillery, tank
and infantry attack, the Germans
fell back slowly, in severe defensive
fighting. But with the Reds driving
forward frcntally instead at slicing
to the Nazis' rear, the Germans re
tained their freedom to move back
and evade being surrounded.
To the north at Kharkov, Russian
troops urged into Zenknv, thus
passing the farthest point they
reached daring their winter offen
sive. But in front of Bryansk, stiff
Nazi defenses had slowed the Rus
sian advance to a crawL
WORLD PROGRESS:
Seen by FDR
Declaring that the war was prov
ing what could be accomplished
through the co-operative action at
cations. President Roosevelt told
30.000 Canadians at Ottawa that
"great councils (were) held on the
free and honored soil of Canada . . .
which . . . look to building a new
progress for mankind."
"There is a longing in the air,"
the President said. "It is not a
PrflM Kteuar Hnku?t* Kte? (MO ?<
longing to g? back to what they call
the good old days' . . . Sorely w?
can make strides toward a greater
freedom from want than the work!
has yet enjoyed . . .
"I am everlastingly angry only at
those who assert vociferously that
the four freedoms and the Atlantic
Charter are nonsense became they
are unattainable.'* the President
said. . . But I would rather be
a builder than a wrecker, hoping
always that the structure of life
is growing?not dying."
ARMY RULE:
Judge, General Clash
Demanding respect for the tun
dignity of the judicial branch at
the federal government, a U. S.
judge clashed with the military gov
ernor of Hawaii over the release of
two naturalized citizens of German
ancestry.
Picked up shortly after Pearl Har
bor when army rule was established
over Hawaii, the two citizens have
been held without bearings. Cer
tain court functions were restored
by proclamation in March. IMS,
and then the citizens attempted to
obtain their release from custody
by securing a writ of habeas corpus.
When the military governor, Lieut.
Gen. Robert Richardson Jr., failed
to produce the two citizens after
Judge Delbert Metzger had issued
writs for them, the judge sum
moned him on contempt charges
and then fined him $5,000 for ignor
ing the order. General Richardson
countered by forbidding further
habeas corpus proceedings, either
by a court or applicants, on grounds
of military security.
The general said the March. IMS,
proclamation excluded issuance of
habeas corpus writs, but Judga
Metzger said that the Constitution
required the foil and flee and not
just the partial operation of the
courts.