Honolulu Record, September 2, 1948, vol. 1 no. 5, p. 1
Dr. John and Aiko Reinecke possess the ideals of democracy and they are good teachers whether or not they are members of the Communist Party.
These points were made on Monday and Tuesday of this Week by defense witnesses of the two school teachers who were discharged for not possessing the "ideals of democracy" because of alleged membership in the Communist Party.
Excellent Reputation
The witnesses followed Dr. Chester K. Wentworth, city-county water board geologist, who last Friday testified that Mr. and Mrs. Reinecke have "an excellent reputation for integrity and honesty." "Knowing them as I do," he said, "they're just the kind I would like to have teaching my children."
Asked by Deputy Attorney General William Blatt if he would change his opinion of their integrity had he known the Reineckes had refused to say whether or not they were Communist Party members, Dr. Wentworth answered that the two teachers take "the position that such matters are for the individual conscience."
Takes Consistent Stand
He added, "And the government has no right to invade their conscience . . ." He also stated: ". . . refusal to answer a question regarded as improper does not impugn I their integrity."
Defense Attorney Myer C. Symonds asked Dr. Wentworth to assume that the teachers were Communist Party members, the party was an agent of Soviet Russia and it advocated the overthrow of the American government by force. He then asked the witness if he would want the Reineckes to teach his children under this condition.
"My answer is the same as before," he said quietly, explaining that he judged teachers by their merits and not by the organization they belonged to.
Mrs. Edith F. Keen, counselor at Farrington High. School where Dr. Reinecke taught, testified that she "can't conceive of Dr. Reinecke doing anything subversive, un-American or contrary to the ideals of democracy."
Reinecke Taught Daughter
The second witness to take the stand on Tuesday was Mrs. Sarah Kamakau, teacher at Hookena School, who had taught at Waialae School with Mrs. Reinecke.
"I don't think there is anyone who works so hard as Aiko," she stated, adding that Mrs. Reinecke was first to volunteer when another teacher was absent. Mrs. Kamakau said her daughter had learned under Dr. Reinecke at the University of Hawaii and reported her daughter spoke highly of his teaching.
Others who testified for the Reineckes on Monday were John Luiz principal of Central Intermediate School, Clarence Akwai, former school teacher and now manager of Associated Sales; Mrs. Ann McClellan Praender, housewife, and Beatrice Krauss, research worker for the Pineapple Research Institute.