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| Index / Volume 4 / Volume 4 No. 17 |
pages 2 l 3 l 4 l 5 l 6 l 7 l 8 |
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Many of the hundreds of patrons of local travel agencies pay more than twice
as much for travel and accommodations in Japan as they would if they embarked
for that country independently and put themselves in the hands of the official
Japan Travel Bureau upon arriving.
That was the revelation this week of a number of returnees from excursion
trips who came back to Hawaii last week on the SS President Wilson. Spokesman
for the group was Shigeo Takemoto, member of the Maui civil service commission,
who patronized a Mr. Yoshimizu of the Komatsuya Hotel agency, only to allow it
to make hotel arrangements for him a part of the time. Later, when he moved into
other hotels on his own, he found he had been charged about $15 U. S. for accommodations that should have cost him about $5 U. S.
Further investigation by the RECORD revealed that the charges may be even
higher than Takemoto thought.
$850 Low
Queries at three hotels, the Komatsuya, Kobayashi and Nakamura, showed that
the price quoted by Komatsuya was lower than the others. It was, to one
inquirer, "a little more than $300." Another who inquired later, was given a
figure of $850.
The Kobayashi Hotel agency, going a little higher, named $865 as a price and
the Nakamura quoted $870.
Figures on all three were based on a $430 price for third-class round-trip
passage (toku-san) on American President Lanes ships and all are the prices for
21-day tours.
Travel Bureau Lower
But a spokesman at the Japanese Overseas Government Agency quoted figures for
a number of different types of tours conducted by the Japan Travel Bureau, and
the highest of these, the De Luxe Tour, costs only $166.50, and is called an
"all-expense" tour. To this, however, may be added $2 a day for hotel, if
tourists are to! stay two to a room, or $4 for single rooms.
Takemoto and others said those travelling under agency auspices for the flat
rate always room two, and sometimes three to a room.
The inescapable conclusion arrived at by RECORD investigators was that a
traveller to Japan, if he put himself in the hands of the Japan Travel Bureau
upon arrival there, would be charged less than half what they pay in advance for
the same accommodations and the same tours when they book their tours through
agencies.
$88 By Bus
Although there is some variety in accommodations offered on various tours,
the $166.50 paid by the traveller who books his De Luxe tour in Japan from the
official agency puts him in a group of four who travel together in one vehicle.
If he wishes to take the Popular tour, he pays only $88 and rides in a group of
16 in a bus. It is impossible for travellers who wish to book their trips with
the Japan Travel Bureau to do so here unless they write directly, the Japanese
government spokesman said. But the office here can give advice on prices and
tours.
That's where the agencies come in for their extremely lucrative business.
"The old folks," said the government spokesman, "don't like to go through all
the bother with their papers and internal revenue. It would take more time for
them than for a professional, and they're willing to pay, for it."
Whether or not they know how much they're actually paying is another
question. Returnees on the Wilson Indicated that they had previously no
conception of the actual costs in Japan before their trip.
More than that, one agency, that of the Kobayashi Hotel, prophesied that the
rate of $865 will be raised soon, because of an expected 30 per cent increase in
all transportation costs in Japan. The Komatsuya said, on the other hand, that
the increase would not come for some time and that it wouldn't make any
difference in the price of tours paid for here—at least not now.
The Japanese government spokesman said a resolution was passed Oct. 31
increasing fares on the national railway 30 per cent, and also charges for telephone and
telegraph service.
Eager To Sell
At all three agencies, RECORD investigators were greeted with eagerness by
the agencies, so long as they were considered potential customers, and they felt
this eagerness reflected the keen competition among agencies here for the highly
profitable trade.
There was not, however, the same eagerness to explain a breakdown of the
costs and possible refunds. Some agents avoided making any substantial breakdown
into prices of hotels, food, transportation costs, etc. Regarding refunds for
travellers who might wish to spend part of the 21 days visiting relatives, or on
business, one agent said such refunds were possible, but he didn't go into
detail.
$13 Refund
Another, the agent at the Nakamura Hotel, said there would be a refund of $13
a day. But his quoted price of $870. with $430 for ship passage, leaves $440 to
cover the 21 days in Japan, or almost $21 a day.
That spokesman, admitting that it would be much cheaper for the travellers to
go Without using the agency, argued, "but you'd have more fun. You'd see the
girls, you know, where they make motion pictures."
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The distance between Honolulu and San Francisco is a little less than
two-thirds the distance between Honolulu and Tokyo, but the passenger traffic
rate charged by airlines for travel to San Francisco from here, is about
one-third of the charge for a flight to the Japanese city.
Similarly, charge per mile of travel by ship is almost two and a half times
more for passage to Yokohama than it is for a trip to San Francisco.
Criticized As Discriminatory
Travellers to the Orient say that this is highly discriminatory and say that
the rates for traffic to the Far East should be brought clown.
The board of supervisors of the city and county of Honolulu and the Japanese
Chamber of Commerce have both come out for reduced rates for passage to the
Orient. Supervisor Samuel Ichinose is reported to have initiated the move after
his trip to Japan.
The rate charged by Pan American World Airways from here to San Francisco is
$184 for one way and $331.20 for a round-trip ticket. To Tokyo, the charges are
$515 for one way and $927 for a round trip.
The American President Lines charge $90 for men and $100 for women, steerage
class, to San Francisco, and $135 minimum for first class. For tickets to
Yokohama, there are two steerage rates of $215 and $250, and $390 minimum for
first class passage.
Air miles between Honolulu and San Francisco is 2,400 miles, and from here to
Tokyo, 3,860 miles.
Surface travel charges have gone up considerably since the beginning of the
war. According to the Hawaii Times Nov. 16, ocean passage was $60 per person
before the war compared to $215 charged today.
Monopoly Scored
The board of supervisors' resolution says the high rate is the result of monopoly by the PAA and the APL.
A source reportedly well informed about airlines operations, told the RECORD
that the reason for the "low rates" between here and the Mainland is that the
fares have been brought down "to promote travel to the islands." He said
Mainland-Hawaii fares are, therefore, "almost comparable to coach fares anywhere
else."
Leonard Withington, secretary of the maritime affairs committee! of the
Honolulu Chamber of Commerce, said that the civil aeronautics bureau establishes
the rates for air traffic. He added that passenger tariff is set generally by
traffic operating between the points of travel. West Coast to Hawaii is highly
competitive, he also said.
Big Fish Alone Escape
The so-called pay-as-you-go tax bill that bites into the limited resources of
those who do the work of the nation for another nearly 12 per cent of taxes was
enacted in the last minutes of the Congress just adjourned. This law is another
sad example of the inequality of sacrifice that goes on under prevailing
circumstances. There will be no delay in collecting this extravagant and unjust
tax from those who work for wages, but there will be plenty of delay for the
malefactors of great wealth, as FDR used to dub them, to call in their lawyers
and pay them the money they ought to pay the government, to find the loopholes
in the tax law for them.
—Minneapolis Labor Review
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Honolulu Commissioner of Customs Francis X. DiLucia, has little answer to
make to charges, bared in the latest issue of the Marine Cooks and Stewards
Union "Voice," that he harassed Joe Taylor, MCS Lurline delegate, and read
personal mail of seamen on the China Transport when it was in Honolulu.
"I have operated within the realm of my jurisdiction," DiLucia said, adding
that he was duty bound not to say more, since an investigation of the charges by
the customs department is reported in progress here.
But the "Voice" reports Customs officials Fred Gardner and Martin G. Scott were interviewed by an MCS delegation headed by President Hugh Bryson, and that Gardner admitted "DiLucia had no right to
take Joe Taylor's seaman's papers."
Interpreting the action on the China Transport as aimed at the MCS, the
"Voice" reported: "The customs representative (in Honolulu) looked through MCS
members' lockers and read their personal mail. One of the members had a diary
which the customs officers read from cover to cover. The black gang and deck
gang members were not molested in any way."
Lurline Delegate Taylor told the customs officials that he had passed
DiLucia. three times prior to the search against which he was protesting.
Searched After Confab
MCS member Ted Rolfs told the officials that he and four other members, all
returning delegates from an MCS convention, had been searched by DiLucia in
Honolulu, their books taken from them and letters from their families read.
President Bryson said that, although Taylor was not found guilty of smuggling
or any other offense, the search might be used as a basis for screening the
delegate off the ship, and he prophesied that if this happened, the Lurline
would not sail.
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I was on night shift at an army transport dock in San Francisco on the night
of December 7, 1941—"Pearl Harbor" day. During the morning I heard the news of
the Japanese attack over the radio.
One of the first thoughts that occurred to me was about the status of people
of Japanese ancestry in the United States in this new situation. I recalled the
Hearst "yellow peril" propaganda that poisoned the minds of people against
Orientals on the Mainland, particularly on the West Coast. I recalled the
stories I had heard and read of ill and brutal treatment of early Japanese and
Chinese immigrant labor in the western states. I thought of the racist attitude
prevailing among people in power when the Japanese exclusion act was passed in
the '20s. I remembered stories of the cruel treatment of German Americans during
the first World War, of how they were stoned and chased by mobs of people
propagandized with hate.
Will we go on living as we are, making our contributions to the war effort as
any other person, or will we be subjected to demands for "proving" our loyalty?
During the decade prior to "Pearl Harbor," Japanese Americans were criticized by
the press in Hawaii and on the West Coast for not denouncing Japanese aggression
in Manchuria and China proper strongly enough. There were some, however, who
wanted expressions of loyalty in order to strengthen their defense of the
Japanese Americans.
Although the Japanese Americans took this country as their native land and
their parents regarded the United States as their adopted country, those white
Americans who were prejudiced against us because of color and behaved
accordingly in everyday life, questioned our loyalty the most. Racists who
discriminated against any non-white were quick to question our loyalty, or doubt our loyalty. This was logical. Ironically, this is the
behavior of people who feel they are "the Americans" and because they have not
treated non-white people with decency and respect, they could not see how these
people could love a country which they call their own. Here are people with a
different concept of what America means. One thinks of it in terms of monopoly
by a few. while the other believes in the extension of constitutional rights to
all—still not obtained.
On December 7. I went through my bags to pick out my selective service card,
citizenship certificate, seaman's papers and other identification. These I
carried to work with me that night.
I Was the Cause of the Commotion
Shortly after we commenced working there was a great deal of commotion on the
dock, with army officers and enlisted men rushing around. We longshoremen
commented that war had alerted everyone, particularly the military.
Then, we all learned that I was the cause of the excitement. A man in army
uniform grabbed my arm and took me to a major who was all flustered.
The major was intensely infuriated and indignant at me because I did not
realize what a serious situation I had created for him by being present on docks
where military cargo was handled. "But I am a citizen!" I told him and took out
my citizenship paper, birth certificate and other identification.
"You can't work on the docks from now on. Don't ever come back here! Can't
you see we are at war with Japan?"
"I'm a longshoreman and a citizen. Even aliens have the right to work cargo
on these docks," I said.
Citizenship Treated As Scrap of Paper
The major told a sergeant to take me out of the docks. I pointed at my
identification papers and the major shoved them toward me. He said they did not
mean a thing to him. He was concerned about our country, he said. I said I was
too, when citizenship was a scrap of paper without meaning to him.
Finally the major said,: "Come see me tomorrow at the Presidio. Here's my
name and address."
The following day I went to see him. The guard at the gate phoned him. The
major could not see me; he was busy. No, not even tomorrow or the next day or
the day after. I understood very clearly.
My Lunch Kit Gets a Going Over
Thereafter, the union dispatcher at the hiring hall sent me out to work on
private docks which handled non-military cargo. Since army transport docks took
only citizens, most of the longshoremen I worked with were aliens. Some were
German and Italian, but they were against Fascism and Nazism.
Down on the waterfront, sentry boxes were everywhere. Even as I walked to
work on the Embarcadero to my assigned dock, national guard sentries halted me
at short intervals. Often I was stopped more than 10 times. The sentries
examined my pass and when they saw my Japanese name they became excited. A few
of them made telephone calls to their superiors. Every one examined my lunch
kit, and for each of them I took out my sandwiches and thermos bottle to show I
concealed nothing. When some tried to stall me and I was afraid I would be late
for work, I pulled out my citizenship paper. The sentries changed frequently and
this made it more difficult for me, as I had to go through the same ritual night
after night. The "Free" Press Did a Damnable Job
Some guards made it very unpleasant for me. They were young, inexperienced
and I was afraid, trigger-happy. A few told me in no uncertain way that if they
had their way, they would shoot me. • The "free" press was then doing a damnable
job. The Hearst newspapers were leading the assault against people of Japanese
ancestry. Japanese American loyalty was ripped to shreds and painted black as
night. Rumors of downed Japanese airmen in Honolulu wearing rings of West Coast
universities, Japanese American sabotage and other groundless information were
printed as facts day after day, even after government authorities who conducted
an investigation, denied such acts. Japanese toy weapons were photographed and
printed in West Coast newspapers as actual weapons.
Japanese Stereotyped To Create Hatred for Them
In whipping up war feeling, Japanese Americans became scapegoats. The
anti-Oriental press on the West Coast really went to town and they played a
great role in creating the sentiment to oust us from the western states. These
newspapers showed Japanese in horn-rimmed glasses and with buck teeth. This was
propaganda to create hatred for all Japanese. The meaning of Japanese
imperialism, the thought control of people in Japan starting with persecution of
Communists, trade unionists and liberals in order to stifle criticism of the
policy of foreign aggression, the feudalism of the countryside that made
peasants serfs of landlords, were not explained to the American people.
The newspapers and radio propagandized that all Japanese were "treacherous."
War feeling created through such information was unhealthy. Americans should
have been informed about the basic reasons for Japanese aggression and who
profited from it, and to fight them, not the Japanese people in general because of their alleged "inherent treachery" or their "horn-rimmed glasses and buck
teeth.
White Imperialism Lost Prestige
With time, I was to learn that the war had different meanings for various
people. For the white supremacists and western imperialists, the early Japanese
victories were a terrific loss of prestige for the white man. For West Coast
racists and vested economic interests, it meant the opportunity to wrest
cherished properties from Japanese aliens and their children, accumulated
through many years of toil, by banishing these people inland. For the workers
and democratic minded people, it meant the struggle to defeat fascism at home
and abroad, to defeat imperialism and help win freedom for colonial people.
I deeply felt the effect of the white-supremacy and racist propaganda every
time the sentries stopped me on the Embarcadero. German and Italian aliens were
not stopped, and they did not have to take their sandwiches out to show that
eggs of luncheon meat were between slices of bread, and not dangerous weapons.
Union Brothers Back Me Up
One night as I started up the gangplank a guard told me to jump down and wait
until everyone had gone on the ship. The gangplank was pretty crowded with
longshoremen in front and back of me. A great many of them knew of my
difficulties and had seen me showing my citizenship paper.
"Tell the Hawaiian brother to show his citizenship paper!" a longshoreman
yelled.
"Stop bothering the poor guy. He's a native American and he gets treated
worse than us aliens!" came from someone else.
"Show the guy your paper, brother!" another longshoreman yelled.
Up and down the gangplank union brothers swore at the guards. The
uncomplimentary remarks directed at them brought laughter. The longshoremen had
no love for national guardsmen who had been used by employers to shoot and club
them in past) strikes.
The guard on the ship pointed his rifle at me and I finally got out. of the
line where I was sandwiched by shoving longshoremen.
After this incident, if I worked in a ship, I had to wait until all the
stevedores had climbed the gangplank. Then a special guard with fixed bayonet
accompanied me down into the ship's hold where I worked.
I Carried a "Dangerous Weapon"
Several weeks later, I was handling sacks of plaster on a dock. Someone from
behind yanked out my cargo hook which I carried in the back pocket and tore my
jeans. I whirled around and saw a national guard sergeant.
"What's"the matter?" I asked.
"You're under arrest," he said. Then he turned the hook in his hand to
indicate that it was a dangerous weapon.
(This I recalled a few months ago when three FBI agents burst into my home in
an early morning raid and rushed into our bedroom. Then they went through our
bookshelves and picked up three books from among many and handled them as though
they were dangerous items. These books, like the cargo hook, are sold in the
open market and are on library shelves.)
The sergeant of the guard would not let me talk to my foreman. I picked up my
jacket and lunch kit. I then noticed a lieutenant and five enlisted men besides
the sergeant. The sergeant and a private with a fixed bayonet walked behind me,
with others in front and on each side.
As I was marched off the dock the longshoremen in my gang milled around the
state guards and demanded that they examine my papers. Those I had come to know
quite well began protesting. Before we were out of the docks a small
demonstration was taking place.
The FBI, army and navy intelligence men questioned me at the Perry building.
Why did I leave Hawaii? Why did I go to Georgia? Did I go to the seaport of
Savannah? Why didn't I? Etc., etc. There Were Only Two AJA Longshoremen
Twice the state guards picked me up in the same manner, with so much fanfare
that the longshoremen gave them a razzing they deserved. I still kept on working
and this annoyed the intelligence agencies. There were two of us Japanese
Americans working on the San Francisco docks. One day we were called to the
waterfront employers' office and told that the army did not want us to work on
the docks any more.
Some Japanese families were being evacuated by the government from so-called
strategic areas. I considered going on the farms as a migratory laborer. Only
One Newspaper Helped Fight "Jap Hunting License"
About this time my Japanese American longshore friend and I learned that a
printer was selling a poster saying: "Open Season! Jap Hunting License." We went
to the print shop and told the owner that this sort of incitement would stir up
race riots.
"Never mind; we don't want the Japs around here," he said, thinking we were
Chinese.
We went to the daily newspapers in San Francisco and wrote them letters
asking them to discourage such activities. Only one newspaper out of many
responded and as I recall it was the Daily People's World whose editors are
today on trial under Smith Act indictment for advocating and teaching the
overthrow of government by force and violence.(To Be Continued)
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Stewards department men aboard the SS President Wilson were ready to walk off
in Manila during the recent stop there, in protest against the beating and
jailing of Thomas "Blackie" Kuaano, crew member from Honolulu, by Philippines
customs officials, seamen told the RECORD.
The incident occurred shortly before the Wilson was ready to cast off, seamen
said, and it began when Kuaano intervened in an argument between customs
officials and another seaman. "They hit him over the head with a blackjack and
arrested him," a seaman said. Later, when it appeared that the ship would sail without him, the stewards department made known its
intention of walking off in mass protest. The agent of the President Lines got
busy talk-tag to Philippines customs officials and Kuaano was released. The ship
sailed on schedule.
Wallace Ho, Honolulu Marina Cooks and Stewards Union port agent, confirmed
the incident and said it and others will form the basis for protests against
corruption in the Philippines government agencies, to be sent by Hugh Bryson,
president of the union, to President Elpidio Quirino of the Philippines, to
President Truman and to the U. S. State Department.
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Cops Wouldn't Search Waikiki Hotel As They Did Kalihi Home, Judge Says
When Judge Kenneth E. Young castigated members of the police vice squad last
Friday for their beating of Francisco Dela Cruz after arresting him on his own
premises for disorderly conduct and for assault and battery on a policeman, he
posed a question which was not reported by the dailies.
Discussing a point with Bernard Trask of the C-C prosecutor's office, he made
the comparison of police action at Dela Cruz's home in Kalihi and in Waikiki.
"At Waikiki there is a beautiful hotel, the Edgewater," said Judge Young.
"They get a call informing them there's prostitution—that a girl is working out
there. Would they rush in past the manager, open the doors of the rooms and look
under the beds? Do you think the police
would go out to the Edgewater and do what they did here? I don't think so."
Dela Cruz was beaten so badly he had to be hospitalized after Officers
Takabayashi, Sam Liu and two others, entered his premises Oct. 25 and began
searching, without a warrant. Dela Cruz protested the officers' presence and was
beaten in the fracas that followed. Police charged him as stated above and
Friday, after hearing the case, Judge Young acquitted him with a statement which
drew a hot rejoinder a day later from Chief of Police Dan Liu.
Cops Trespassing
In his statement, not all of which was reported in the daily press, Judge Young said he did not wholly believe either the testimony of the police or of the defendant.
Dela Cruz had denied that he struck Officer Takabayashi, as the policeman
said, but Judge Young said: "I believe the defendant did strike the officer. However, the
officers were in reality trespassing and the defendant had a right to use
reasonable force to resist an illegal search."
After the arrest, Judge Young said: "I feel they (the officers) gave this man
quite a severe beating that was not justified."
Further, Judge Young said: "A murder or a killing might have resulted from
the actions of the police."
"Greater Crimes" And he added: "The police sometimes commit greater crimes in
their efforts to find evidence ofgambling. Actions of this kind cannot be condoned."
Chief Liu attacked next day, with "shock and dismay" in the columns of a
daily, to say he found Young's words "appalling and most regrettable." Liu
objected to the "greater crimes" part of Young's statement on the ground that
the police "crime" is that of mistaken judgment, and he objected further, that
the judge's statement might be interpreted as meaning that "murder or killing of
police may be committed with impunity following Illegal entry or arrest."
Judge Young answered that he had meant no such thing—only that Dela Cruz
might have been killed if he had fallen on his head during the incident.
Said the judge: "I consider assault and battery of a man a more serious thing
than the minor offense of gambling."
[PAGE 2] [back to the top]
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When Eddie Ujimori, employe of Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., Ltd.,
gave an orientation talk to 16 pineapple workers at Honolua on apprenticeship
training program, he warned the prospective trainees to protect themselves from
the "raw deals" experienced earlier by HC&S apprentices.
The apprentice training program was instituted at HC&S Co. in March 1946,
with about 18 participating. Practically all trainees were World War II
veterans, and they were employed in the tractor, machine, welding, blacksmith,
garage, electrical shops and power plant.
The agreement signed by the apprentice, Territorial Apprentice Council and
the company said that after completion of the required hours of training, all
apprentices would be classified Grade 9 journeymen. This was lowered to Grade 8
a few months later, and again lowered to Grade 7. Then in 1949, it was lowered
to Grade 5 by the HC&S Co.
Peeling that a fast one was being put over on them, the apprentices met to
discuss the problem. The company heard about this meeting and notified the ILWU
that it would give Grade 7 to all apprentices after the completion of the
courses, provided Section 5 in the contract was waived.
The apprentices flatly rejected the company proposal.
* *
The Maui Chapter of the Independent Taxi Drivers Union was recently organized
by UPWA
Regional Director Henry Epstein. The first meeting was held on Nov. 16 at the
ILWU division headquarters in Wailuku. Among the first to sign the membership
roll were Daniel Moikeha, and Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Araki.
* *
Richard Gima , Star-Bulletin reporter who arrived on Maui on Nov. 15 to gather
names of Democratic precinct officers, faced a stone wall when county committee
secretary, Rep. Dee Duponte, refused to cooperate until the county committeemen
and committee-women gave their approval. According to Mrs. Duponte, who had a
telephone conversation with William Ewing, managing editor of the Star-Bulletin,
the newspaper wants to get the information for its files.
Other Democratic officials feel that something is cooking when the
Star-Bulletin goes to all that trouble and expense to collect information such
as this.
Gima said that on Kauai and Hawaii he had no trouble at all in getting the
names of precinct officers from the secretary, but here on Maui, since he can't
get any information from the secretary, he would have to contact each precinct
in order to get the names of the officers.
* *
The second unit of 200 homes costing between $7,000 and $9,000 is now being
built at New Kahului Town—better known as "Dream City." Reliable sources say
that no bids were sent to any
of the contractors, but KD Co. officials and a contractor have talked things
over to build the homes. Sources say: "No wonder the KD Co. is making a big
profit."
* * THE Puunene School PTA went on record that hereafter, complaints will be taken up by the grievance
committee. Grievance procedure will be drafted by a member to be approved by the
Puunene School PTA executive committee at the next executive board meeting.
* *
Eddie Ujimori tractor shop steward, will file a grievance against Richard
Gonsalves, field equipment and repair shop foreman, this week. The grievance is
that Gonsalves has been favoring his son Ralph, who is also employed in the same
shop. Ralph is alleged to be getting all the breaks by working in the magneto
room, where magnetos, starters, distributors, carburetors, etc., are repaired,
while other employes have no opportunity to ever work in there.
The work Ralph Gonsalves is doing is classified as Labor Grade 9. Last year
when he was only a Labor Grade 5 man he worked in there and acquired experience,
and only recently he was promoted to Labor Grade 7. Beginning two Mondays ago,
he was transferred temporarily with Labor Grade 9 pay, which is clear-cut
favoritism and discrimination against others who have much greater seniority
than young Gonsalves. Ujimori's beef against the foreman is reportedly supported
by all workers in the tractor shop.
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By John B. Stone (Federated Press)
The amazing and ominous growth of J. Edgar Hoover's self-created Federal
Bureau of Investigation from an unknown appendage of the Justice Department to a
national secret police at last met something that has the aspects of a
roadblock.
Now that the excitement which accompanied publication of The Federal Bureau
of Investigation by Max Lowenthal has died down, it may be possible to associate
that book with the recent U. S. Supreme Court decision allowing persons accused
to the FBI by malicious persons to sue in court.
To put it briefly, that well-documented book, which exposes the role the FBI
has played in wrecking militant unions, should be read carefully by every person
interested in the continued existence of any union which dares express its
desire to better the workers' position through strike action. And it should be
read by any person who believes this free democratic country can do without a
secret national police.
But to come to the Supreme Court decision.
Despite the "packing" of that high tribunal by the current Washington administration with such questionable
advocates of democracy as Tom Clark and Harold H. Burton and despite the free
rein the administration has given Hoover and his gang in wire-tapping and other
unconstitutional infringements of American liberty, Truman's own Supreme Court
has dared to defy the FBI chief.
In a 6 to 3 decision the high, court declared that a person who has been
named through malice by an informant to the FBI may bring suit for damages
against the person giving the information.
The case involves Cecil E. Foltz, Jr., who says he was fired from a
responsible post in the Economic Cooperation Administration in Korea because of
"false, misleading and defamatory statements" given to the FBI by his former
employer, the Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc.
Foltz brought suit for $350,000 damages. A lower court in New York threw out
his case but the circuit court of appeals in New York said he had a right to
sue.
The Supreme Court, in effect, told him to go ahead and sue. The appeals court
agreed that the FBI is an agent of the U. S. government and as such, has some
special privileges. But it declared it is desirable to allow some restraint to
reduce the waste of requiring the FBI to investigate "false charges maliciously
made."
It seems simple enough. But the implications for anyone who dares say
something the government doesn't like are tremendous.
Take the Judith Coplon case in Washington, for instance. There, a judge who
believed in actual evidence rather than the sayso of an FBI agent, demanded that
the FBI produce in court its actual records. These records revealed an amazing
collection of hearsay by malicious neighbors, envious acquaintances and just
plain gossips.
It is apparent from the earnestness with which the government fought the case
before the Supreme Court and the pontifical statements by Hoover that such a decision would wreck operations of his FBI, that gossip as such, plays an
important role in the FBI compilation of so-called evidence.
The Supreme Court decision, by itself, merely allows one man to sue for
damages.
But according to attorneys well versed in legal ways, it means that from now
on, anyone who suffers damage because a malicious person goes to the FBI with
gossip, can sue the gossiper.
That means Hoover will have a considerable decrease in the number of eager
beavers flocking to his secret police with stories about personal enemies.
Faced with the possibility of a suit for thousands of dollars, these eager servants of gossip will think twice before handing their stories over to the U. S. secret police.
|
Life for Americans on Okinawa and life for the Okinawans themselves, are two
vastly different things, according to a report of the Pan-Asia Newspaper
Alliance, an agency noted largely for its anti-Communist views. . Double
standards of living exist not only in housing but in purchasing the necessities
of life.
PANA reported July 1: "Okinawa, where 63 per cent of the Ryukyuans live,
provides a striking contrast in life and living. While on the southern half of
the island, where U. S. administrative installations are concentrated, a
stateside look is fast appearing on the surface as a result of prefabricated
metal and Quonset houses, apartments and Florida-type as well as typhoon-proof
residential quarters, the northern half, where most Okinawans live, looks dirty,
dull and poverty-stricken. "In the American area, most roads are tarred and have a hard gravel base. At Naha, political and economic
hub of the Ryukyus, there are only dirt roads and narrow alleys.
"A good many of the indigenous dwellings are shacks or improvised
constructions made of wood and ' tin gathered from the packing cases and cans
discarded by the U. S. Army and Air Force. Most other houses are typical wood
and paper dwellings with thatched roofing. Only a half-dozen concrete structures
could be seen. These Japanese-type modern buildings are invariably owned by the
new rich people."
Okinawans find, PANA- reports further, that they can purchase only the bare
necessities such as rice, vegetables and thin slices of fish. Based on prewar
figures, the price of fish has tripled, PANA says, clothing has doubled in cost
and building materials are up 250 per cent.
Since the average income of the Okinawan is not enough to enable him to buy
the necessities of life, PANA reports, he must "make up the gap" by sending his
eldest son or daughter into the American area to work as a houseboy or a maid.
PANA says a wide-open black market flourishes, most of the profiteers being
Okinawan businessmen who are engaged in export-import transactions, "selling
construction materials and furnishing supplies to the American area."
Because of the acute housing shortage, not substantially improved by the U.
S. occupation of more than five years, the most ramshackle residence requires
"key money" for the Okinawan to rent it.
|
(New York Post, June 5, 1951)
In affirming the conviction of the Communist leaders, a majority of the
Supreme Court has upheld the infamous Smith Act. We believe the bold dissenting
opinions of Justices Douglas and Black will be reverently remembered long after
the tortured phrases of Chief Justice Vinson (and the uneasy, agonized
concurrences of Justices Frankfurter and Jackson) have been repudiated and
forgotten.
Let there be no misunderstanding about the meaning of the decision. At stake
was the issue of whether, under our Constitution, men may be punished for mere
advocacy of inflammatory ideas. The Communist chieftains were not convicted of
serving as foreign agents, which is the only unchanging idea in the modern
Communist book. They were not convicted of acts of espionage and sabotage, for
which adequate legal penalties exist. They were convicted of conspiring to teach
and advocate the overthrow of the U. S. government by force and violence. That
is the verdict which the high court has sustained.
To justify the decision Chief Justice Vinson was compelled to write his own
perversion of the "clear and present danger" concept. The Communist conspiracy,
he said, has "created a 'clear and present danger' of an attempt to overthrow
the government by force and violence." The weasel words are unworthy of a Chief
Justice. He does not seriously contend that Communist propaganda has created the
peril of an imminent uprising in the U. S. A. ... If his opinion means anything,
Vinson can only be saying that the Communist leaders may legitimately be jailed
because their words and music embody the hope of insurrection on some distant
day . . .
We prefer to stand with Justice Douglas' wiser words: "Free speech—the glory
of our system of government—should not be sacrificed to anything less than plain
and objective proof of danger that the evil advocated is imminent."
No decision could be less American in spirit than that of the court majority.
It will damage the democratic cause at home and abroad far more than it will
inconvenience the Communists . . .
The judges could have affirmed our national pride and confidence in our free
institutions. Instead, they displayed the timidity of Scared politicians . . .
But now the court has given its blessing to heresy-hunting. Henceforth, men's
minds may be searched—for "intent" and for daydreams. Never was it more vital
for Americans who value their liberties to speak up against repression.
|
|
Today, Hawaiian employers will have nothing to do with arbitration. In former
years it was different. Late in 1907, when a dispute arose between the Marine
Engineers Beneficial Association (MEBA-AFL) and Inter-Island Steam Navigation
Co., the company offered arbitration and the union at first turned it down.
Later the MEBA agreed to arbitrate the wage dispute.
|
"At Oahu plantation a few days ago, we are informed that the Japs got ugly
and eventually assaulted Manager , Ahrens, who is laid up with an injured leg.
Our correspondent states that the attitude of the Japs was very threatening, and
that Manager Ahrens would have been killed if the Portuguese laborers had not
appeared on the scene and, taking the part of their employer, knocked the Japs
out."
—The Independent, Dec. 11, 1897
[PAGE 3] [back to the top]
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Affidavits of "bias and prejudice,'' asking Judge J. Frank McLaughlin to
disqualify himself in the "conspiracy" trials, were filed this week by five of
the seven defendants. The five were Jack Hall, ILWU. regional director; Charles
Fujimoto, chairman of the Communist Party; Dr. John Reinecke, former school
teacher; Jack Kimoto of the Hawaii Star, and Koji Ariyoshi, editor of the
Honolulu RECORD.
Hall's affidavit, filed Monday, alleges bias by the judge against the ILWU
and against the 39 local persons who were acquitted of contempt of Congress
charges after they had refused to answer questions of the un-American Activities
Committee here. Hall was one of the 39. Hall cited statements by Judge
McLaughlin before a group of aliens being naturalized, in which the judge
referred to "labor leaders who refuse to state whether or not they are members
of the Communist Party."
Hit Pauling
Fujimoto's affidavit, filed on Wednesday with the remaining three by Bouslog
& Symonds, attorneys who also represent Hall, alleges that McLaughlin showed
bias, by endorsing the views of Justice Robert H. Jackson on Communist aims, and
by his expression in favor of the banning of a speech by Dr. Linus Pauling at
the University of Hawaii because of his participation in organizations on the U.
S. attorney general's list of "subversive" organizations.
Dr. Reinecke charges that McLaughlin showed bias by condemning as "one-sided"
a pre-
sentation of "Current Trends In Russia" in 1946 at the University of Hawaii
by the Hawaii Youth for Democracy, for which Dr. Reinecke acted as advisor.
Ariyoshi and Kimoto allege McLaughlin is biased toward then; because of their
connection with the Hawaii Star and the Honolulu RECORD because of the coverage
of those papers of the incident in which McLaughlin approved the! banning of Dr.
Pauling's speech.
Bouslog & Symonds said no affidavits from the other two defendants, James
Dwight Freeman, construction foreman, and Mrs. Eileen Fujimoto are anticipated.
|
Captain Leon M. Strauss, chief of detectives of the Honolulu police
department, took the stand this week as a government witness after the
Territorial supreme court denied a motion by Assistant Attorney General Michiro
Watanabe to dismiss the writ of habeas corpus for John Palakiko, 24, and James
E. Majors, 25.
The assistant attorney general asked that the two men who were convicted of
the murder of Mrs. Therese Wilder be remanded to Oahu Prison for execution. The
court denied this motion and another to strike out testimony that Majors was
beaten in the Salvation Army boys' home and at the Waialee boys training school.
Denies Seeing Cuts
Captain Strauss denied that Palakiko was beaten, that he was bleeding above
his left eye when questioned by the officer because of alleged beatings by
former Detective Vernal Stevens. Captain Strauss also denied that he saw cuts on
Palakiko's face.
Earlier in the hearings, Palakiko took the stand and testified that he was beaten by Officer Jack King and for
15 to 20 minutes in the "sound-proof" room by Detective Stevens.
Prior to being taken to the., "sound-proof room," he said he was hit in the
stomach by Stevens and when he tried to get away he ran smack into another blow
which spun him around and caused him to hit the corner of a frame of a map. This
cut opened a wound above his left eye and he wiped the blood with his shirt,
which he stripped off, he testified.
Captain Strauss' absolute denial of police brutality to get a confession from
Palakiko came about a week after Captain Eugene Kennedy of the police force
testified that he had noticed "something" over Palakiko's eye and it looked like
a scar. He did not think there was "anything significant about it." Captain
Kennedy denied that be had made a statement appearing in the Honolulu Advertiser
to the effect that Palakiko had been held in solitary confinement at Oahu Prison
from March 12 to 21, 1948. He said, contrary to the story, lie knew Palakiko was
in police custody between March 12 and 17. He also denied making other
statements appearing in the dailies during that time.
"Didn't Look So Good" Joseph Gonsalves, ex-guard at Oahu Prison, testified
that when Palakiko was taken to the police station on March 20, he "saw no cut
or scratches on his face." Gonsalves said that when he saw Palakiko after the
police questioning at the police station, Palakiko's "head was hanging down, his
shirt was off and two detectives were dragging him along. He didn't look so
good."
Dr. Prescott S. Irwin, Honolulu physician, took the stand as an expert
witness and testified that "I can't think of any circumstances under which I
would give anybody four grains" of phenobarbetal.
Queen's Hospital records show that Majors was given four grains of this
sedative. Majors testified that he was "dopey" and "drowsy" when he was being
questioned by police officers. He had been taken to the hospital for treatment
after he drank a bottle of iodine immediately after his arrest.
Majors said he did not want to return to Oahu Prison. During his testimony he
told the court that he was placed in the Salvation Army home when he was 9 or 10
years old. At the home, he escaped several times. When he was captured after his
first escape, he was given five strap lashes by an officer of the home. Every
offence brought five more lashes and he said he received up to 45. When the
police beat him after one escape, he reported this to the officials of the home
and was given a strapping for this also, he testified.
"I still carry the marks on my back," he said.
Both Palakiko and Majors said that they did not know their legal rights when
they were being held in police custody, questioned by the officers and signed
the confessions.
|
A LESSON FROM THE JUDGE
The sooner Police Chief Dan Liu realizes that police brutality is every bit
as serious an offense as police dishonesty, the better it will be for the people
of Honolulu. The better it will be for the department's own record of
efficiency, too, and the more respect the public will feel for police officers
as public servants.
Last week, Judge Kenneth E. Young heard a case in which police beat a
man—whom they had arrested illegally, and whose house they had searched
illegally—and he spoke words that should have given Chief Liu food for serious
thought.
The fact that the chief, instead, chose to indulge in an intemperate outburst
against the judge's words need not prevent him, even yet, from using the
criticism constructively to give Honolulu better police service—minus the
beating of its lower income residents.
Likewise, Chief Liu would do well to instruct his officers, especially those
on the vice squad, that under the American Constitution the poor man is entitled
to the same treatment as the rich. As Judge Young pointed out, the search which
vice squad officers carried out at the Kalihi home of Francisco Dela Cruz, and
which led to his protest, arrest and beating, would hardly have happened at the
Edgewater Hotel in Waikiki.
Censuring the police who beat up Dela Cruz and put him in the hospital for
opposing an illegal search of his home, Judge Young said: "Such actions cannot
be condoned."
By his hot, hasty reply, Chief Liu implies that he does condone rough stuff
by his officers, and there is other evidence to indicate that this is true.
Similar cases, proved in court to the satisfaction of Judges, have gone
unpunished in the police department.
Yet, in money matters Chief Liu is known as a strict disciplinarian. The case
of the motorcycle patrolmen who were disciplined for receiving gratuities from
undertaking parlors has been well publicized, and it is a matter of record that
officers have been suspended for irregularities involving comparatively small
amounts.
But officers—Shaffer, Faria and Takabayashi, to name a few—cited again and
again for violence and conduct unbecoming any public servant, go unpunished and
are even promoted.
The discrepancy can only mean that Chief Liu regards the offense of violence
against the public as not so serious after all.
Yet police violence is a serious matter from a standpoint of police
efficiency, as well as from the public viewpoint.
But Chief Liu calls it "a grave disservice to the public and police" that any
word of Judge Young's might in some far-fetched way be interpreted as meaning
that an officer might suffer bodily harm while carrying out an illegal search or
making an illegal arrest. The whole picture indicates that Chief Liu expects
Judge Young and the public to overlook one of the most fundamental tenets of
American law—that a man's home is his castle, to be defended as such against any
illegal intruder, be he policeman or burglar.
Chief Liu could better spend his time curbing his quick-fisted vice squad
than penning press releases berating a courageous judge.
|
No one mentioned a total figure at the supervisors' public works committee
meeting Friday, but it appeared that repairs and completion of the Ala Moana
force main might cost taxpayers more than anyone has thus far publicly
estimated.
The $53,000 appropriated for repairs to the main, broken by some allegedly
unknown means last January, is wholly to be paid by the city. This was finally
made clear. Before, it had been stated that half this cost would be assumed by
the Hawaiian Dredging Co., which has the contract. Cost Unnamed
But E. C. Gray, chief engineer for the company, appearing before the board,
named no figure for the work his company will do. Instead, he said the company
is willing to assume the obligation of putting the dislodged links back into
position. It is not willing to purchase any tile, should it develop that some
links have been lost or damaged beyond repair. That expense, as well as the cost
of new precautionary measures, must be borne by the city.
Pressed by Supervisors Trask, Teves and Ichinose for a figure on the probable
cost of. that work, Gray would not commit himself. The figure of $20,000 as an
estimate was mentioned but not substantiated.
Alterations Bared Queries, especially from Ichinose, as to the cause of the
original break, brought no further move toward placing the responsibility,
though Gray admitted substitutions were made in several pertinent parts of the
specifications set by Metcalf & Eddy, who drew the original plans. These
substitutions included:
1. Change in the type of backfill.
2. Change in the type of rock fill.
3. Change in cradles to hold the links.
Another element which might have contributed to the shift which broke the
line was that the pile-drivers ran into mud where they expected to find sand,
Gray admitted.
Didn't Like Flan
"We did not like the Original , plan," Gray said, but said
no objections were ever put in writing and the plan was accepted after the
"alterations" had been made. Earlier in the meeting, Ichinose accused Engineer
Sinclair and the company of making a "deal" into which supervisors were not
called.
Gray denied any "deal" and said "There was no collusion." but later Sinclair
said, speaking of the unpublicized alterations, "We got together and worked
these things out." Supervisor James Trask, whose questions largely resulted in
the appearance of Gray at Friday's meeting, repeatedly opposed a $24,000 extra
appropriation Sinclair asked for unforeseen expenses.
Trask Blocks Addition
"I want to know where that $24,000 is going," Trask
said. "I want to know how it is going to be spent."
The engineer, after arguing that this appropriation would provide funds for
quick movement, should that be necessary when the $53,000 had run out, finally
said: "I can't steal a nickel."
Gray said it is important that work be resumed since some of the links of the
sewer are loose on the ocean bottom and may be washed out to sea if the delay
continues. It has been four months since repair operations were halted pending
further appropriations.
It was agreed the $24,000 appropriation would be held up pending further
information.
[PAGE 4] [back to the top]
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By Helen Robello
San Pedro —A reception and luncheon were given by the ILWU Women's Auxiliary
Local 8 of Los Angeles, honoring Joseph Kealalio, president of Honolulu Local
136, International Longshoremen's & Warehousemen's Union.
Subject of Mr. Kealalio's talk was the relationship of the women's auxiliary
to the men's local. It is the duty of one of the officials to attend each
auxiliary meeting to bring back a report to the executive board so that the
program of work can be coordinated between the auxiliary and the local.
Mr. Kealalio, who came from Honolulu to attend the San Francisco ILWU caucus,
spent three days in San Pedro observing working conditions on the waterfront
before returning to Honolulu.
|
Sugar plantations in early days were reluctant to enter into written
contracts with their cane-planting contractors. Four hundred Japanese at Onomea in January 1908 demanded written contracts in place
of the oral contracts which ,had been in force, but the plantation didn't want
to set such a precedent.
The joint congressional committee on the economic report estimates
productivity has gone up 7 per cent in the last three years.
Output per manhour has increased at a rate averaging "in excess of 2 per cent a year" since 1929, according to the Commerce
Department.
[PAGE 5] [back to the top]
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The convictions and death sentences of John Palakiko and James E. Majors for
the murder of Mrs. Therese Wilder are void on four constitutional grounds,
according to the brief filed by Attorney Harriet Bouslog of Bouslog and Symonds
in the current hearings going on before the Territorial supreme court.
She requests that the court set aside the sentences, remand the two for a new
trial or for further proceedings according to law.
Attorney Bouslog also contends that Section 11393, Revised Laws of Hawaii,
under which the two men were convicted for first degree murder, is
unconstitutional because conviction can be brought for murder "without
premeditation."
Cites Ruling On Confession
In the brief it is contended that confession was
procured from Palakiko by the police only after he had been beaten, following police questioning of about five days. Majors, who
was in Queen's Hospital, was subjected to continued interrogation by police
officers, the brief says.
Among the legal precedents cited to support the contention that confessions
taken in such a manner are inadmissible in court, the brief quotes from the U.
S. Supreme Court ruling on Liang Sung Wan vs. United States, which says in part:
"... In the Federal courts, the requisite of voluntariness is not satisfied
by establishing merely that the confession was not induced by a promise or a
threat. A confession is voluntary in law if and only if, it was, in fact,
voluntarily made . . . None of the five statements introduced by the government
as admissions or confessions was made until after Wan had been subjected for
seven days to the interrogation. The testimony given . . . left no room for a
contention that the statements of the defendant were, in fact, voluntary." Both
Palakiko and Majors were further denied due process of law because of the
circumstances under which their confessions were taken, the brief alleges.
T. H. Laws Violated
While Sections 10705 and 10709 of the Revised Laws of
Hawaii, 1945, authorize the police to make arrests on suspicion without
warrants, no one can be held for more than 48 hours without being charged.
The police held Palakiko in custody from March 12 to March 17, 1948, and
again from March 20 to 26, at which time he was charged with second degree
murder, having been turned over for interrogation by the warden of the prison.
The brief says that "No provision of law permits the warden to turn prisoners
over to the police or authorizes him to permit prisoners committed to him by
order of court to remain in the custody of others."
"Usual Police Procedure" Violation
On the matter of arrest and police custody, the affidavit says:
"The provisions of Section 10705, coupled with the provision of 10709,
subparagraph (5) of the Revised Laws of Hawaii, 1945, purport to authorize
police officers in any seaport or town to arrest persons on suspicion, without a
warrant, when they do not even know an offense has been committed, and to hold
them for 48 hours, within which time they must either charge or release persons
so arrested."
"Palakiko." Attorney Bouslog says in the brief, "was recaptured on March 12,
1948, after his escape from Oahu Prison, and was unlawfully held by the Honolulu Police Department until March 17, 1948, when he
was returned to the Oahu Prison ... On the evening of March 20, 1948, four
officers of the Honolulu Police Department removed him from Oahu Prison . . .
"He was held until March 26. 1948, by the Honolulu Police Department and the
questioning continued at least through the 24th of March . . .
"Palakiko's unlawful detention by the Honolulu Police Department from March
12, 1948 to March 17, 1948, was effectively concealed from the jury and court at
the trial."
On the recapture and custody of Majors, the brief says that he was arrested
shortly after midnight March 21. He was taken to the Kaneohe Emergency Hospital
for treatment, since he had drunk a bottle of iodine, then to Queen's Hospital.
The affidavit continues: "He was kept under sedative drugs during the time he
was in Queen's Hospital, from Sunday, March 21, 1948, through March 24, 1948. He
was then held at the Honolulu Police Department from March 24, 1948, through
March 26, 1948, when he was returned to Oahu Prison."
Arrested persons, the brief further contends, are required by Territorial law
to be brought before the district magistrate by police officers, "whether it be
forthwith or within forty-eight hours." Sections 6809, 10709 and 10774. Revised
Laws of Hawaii, 1945, are cited in support of this point.
Attorney Bouslog says in the brief that "Palakiko and Majors were not
indicted until May 6, 1948, and were not taken before any court or magistrate
until May 7, 1948."
On "illegal detention," the brief cites as precedent Upshaw vs. United
States, where the Supreme Court rejected confession obtained after the accused
had been held for 30 hours. To the prosecution argument that this procedure, was
"usual police procedure," the Supreme Court had said:
"The argument was made to the trial court that this method of arresting, holding and questioning people on mere suspicion was in accordance
with 'usual police procedure' of questioning a suspect . . . However usual this
practice, it is in violation of law, and confessions thus obtained are
inadmissible under the McNabb rule. (Another case also cited in the brief.) We
adhere to that rule."
Provisions of Section 10709, Revised Laws of Hawaii, 1945, were also denied
Palakiko and Majors, the brief points out. This section, the brief says, "makes
it unlawful to deny to the person arrested for examination the right of seeing,
at reasonable intervals and for a reasonable time at the place of his detention,
counsel or a member of such arrested person's family ... or in event the
arrested person has requested to see family or counsel, to examine the person so
arrested until ha has had a. fair opportunity to see and consult with counsel or
family."
As to age education and knowledge of one's constitutional rights during
police questioning, the brief cites among others, Haley vs. Ohio. This was the
case of a 15-year-old boy who was arrested about midnight on a charge of murder
and questioned by a relay of police. He signed a typewritten confession and
later protested when it was submitted in evidence. He was convicted.
On Knowledge of Rights
When this case was appealed to the Supreme Court,
the high tribunal held, that:
"The age of petitioner, the hours when he was grilled, the duration of his
quizzing, the fact that he had no friend or counsel to advise him, the callous
attitude of the police towards his rights combine to convince us that this was a
confession wrung from a child by means which the law should not sanction.
Neither man nor child can he allowed to stand condemned by methods which flout
constitutional requirements of the process of law."
The court replied to the argument that the defendant had been informed of his
constitutional rights before signing the confession in these words: ". . .
Moreover, we cannot give any weight) to recitals which merely formalize
constitutional requirements. Formulas of respect for constitutional safeguards
cannot prevail over the facts of life which contradict them."
Right of Counsel
As to denial of counsel, the brief argues that the Sixth
Amendment provides for right of counsel at all stages of criminal proceedings,
but Palakiko and Majors were denied! such right during preliminary hearing.
Their defense attorneys were appointed by the court four days before the case
began, and they were to prepare a case which had taken the prosecution from
March 16 to May 6, 1948, only for presentation to the grand jury. It "seems
doubtful" that the counsel for Palakiko and Majors had adequate opportunity to
consult with the two men, who were in Oahu Prison, In preparing for the trial,
the brief says.
In Powell vs. Alabama, a case cited in the brief, the Supreme Court reversed
the conviction of four defendants on a charge of rape on the ground that there
was no effective appointment of counsel. The court said that the "circumstance
of public hostility," the fact that "their friends and families were all in
other states," and "above all, that they stood in deadly peril of their lives—
we think the failure of the trial court to give them reasonable time and
opportunity to secure counsel was a clear denial of due process."
Release By Habeas Corpus
Again, in Johnson vs. Zorbst, also cited in the
brief, the Supreme Court ruled:
"Since the Sixth Amendment constitutionally entitles one charged with crime to the assistance of
counsel, compliance with this constitutional mandate is an essential
jurisdictional prerequisite to a Federal court's authority to deprive an accused
of his life or liberty . . . If this requirement of the Sixth Amendment is not
complied with, the court no longer has jurisdiction to proceed. The judgment of
conviction pronounced by a court without jurisdiction is void and one imprisoned
thereunder may obtain release by habeas corpus."
The brief also alleges that Palakiko was questioned for 11 days and Majors
for six days. Such interrogation produced a 21-page confession in Palakiko's
case and a 42-page document in Maiors' rase, both "signed after a hasty
reading."
Such a confession is also inadmissible in court, the counsel for the two
alleges in the brief, and Attorney Bouslog cites Gros vs. United States where
the Supreme Court says that Gros was "not taken before a committing magistrate"
and was held in "illegal imprisonment" for "over five days and in a cell."
Furthermore, the questioning "spread over five days" produced "the 4,000-word
document signed after a hasty reading." The high court said it is forbidden as
agencies of justice and custodians of liberty to permit "conviction upon
evidence secured under the circumstances revealed here."
Constitutionality of Law Raised
The constitutionality of Section 11393, Revised Laws of Hawaii, 1945, is
raised in the brief on the ground that it authorized a conviction for murder in
the first degree "without premeditation." This section defines murder in the
first degree, as charged in the third count of the indictment against Palakiko
and Majors, that "murder committed . . . with extreme atrocity or cruelty is
murder in the first degree."
"It is counsel's contention," Attorney Bouslog says, "that it is impossible
to define these terms with exactitude; that these words make the statute so
vague and ambiguous that the degree of murder is determined by the passions and
feelings of the court, the prosecutors and the members of the Jury, rather than
the legislature."
In Winters vs. New York, the brief says, the Supreme Court of the United States held a statute of New York State unconstitutional for
vagueness and indefinite-ness. In this case the court ruled that "The crime must
be defined with appropriate definiteness. There must be ascertainable standards
of guilt. Men of common intelligence cannot be required to guess at the meaning
of the enactment ..."
Premeditation Lacking
Pointing to the unconstitutionally of Section 11393,
Attorney Bouslog says in the brief that:
"When premeditation is lacking, our legislature has ordained that the highest
degree of cruelty or atrocity only can substitute for premeditation. To one
jury, torture or dismemberment might seem within the scope of this language; to
another, poison causing great pain. Where any statute leaves to the temper of
the jury in a given case the determination of its meaning, it provides no
ascertainable standard, and is therefore void." The so-called 48-hour law which
supplied the opportunity for police to use coercion against Palakiko and Majors
while they were detained "illegally" and to wrest from them the alleged
confessions conflicts with the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States which guarantees one from unwarranted arrests and seizure,
Attorney Bouslog says.
"The seizing of the person on mere suspicion and putting him under the duress
of imprisonment for the sole purpose of coercing him into being a witness
against himself, as the statute purports to authorize," and as happened in the
Palakiko-Majors case, "is surely an even more fundamental denial of security of
the person" than the seizing of any papers, the brief contends.
"This patently unconstitutional law furnished the only color of justification
for the detention for investigation of Palakiko and Majors for the murder of
which they were convicted," the brief says, and the denial of security of their
persons guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment can only be effectively remedied by
habeas corpus.
[PAGE 6] [back to the top]
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A fair sized cache of heroin was unearthed, the grapevine has it. when
addicts forced its custodian into an automobile, drove him out to Koko Head and
threatened to kill him unless he produced. The dealer, who had stashed the stuff
away until the traffic "cooled off" around here, was convinced that it would be
healthier for him to kick in and he did, though he was still fearful because of
the heightened activity of narcotics agents here.
* *
More stories of "fixes" in high school football are coming to light but they
can't be proved unless the participants take a notion to tell in court and few,
if any are likely to do that. One involves a coach, paid by a businessman to
shave points off the score he might run up, who changed his mind and broke the
businessman who had been a close friend. When the bettor sent a note to the
coach to find out whether the "fix" was still on, the note went to the wrong
party. That person, not recognizing the semi-code language, crumpled it and
threw it on the ground.
* *
Police had the six men charged with burglary last week, under surveillance
for a long time before they made the arrests, it is believed, though without
very much direct evidence. The hunt settled on one of the sextet in earnest when
he purchased a Buick automobile, though he had not been engaged in his usual
traffic for some time. It is also believed that the total amount stolen in the
16 burglaries well exceeds the published $4,000 figure.
* *
If she hadn't got the run-around from C-C Engineer Karl Sinclair last week,
Mrs. Moses Ome told the public works committee Friday, she wouldn't have come
back. She wants to know when the C-C bureau of plans expects to have some
opinion on the feasibility of a Moomuku subdivision. Sinclair refused to give
her an answer lost week, she said, claiming the question is "administrative" and
implying it's none of a taxpayer's business. Harold Butzine, chief of the
bureau, said he thinks it will take about three weeks to gather the necessary
data, and Mrs. Ome thanked him. That was all she hoped for in the first place,
she said, and she would be back when three weeks are up.
* *
Hong Kong real estate is going down, say seamen returning from the Orient,
and the price of eggs is up. Seamen observe that English officials at Hong Kong
are far less arbitrary and dictatorial than they were in the old days
* *
The Japanese people are in for a rough winter, returnees say. because of the
coal shortage. Living continues extremely difficult for all those who depend
upon wages or lower bracket salaries for their incomes, returning visitors
report. Scandal of the moment in Tokyo is the exposure of the bathhouse operated
by gangster Ujitoshi Konomi, and established with the approval of the government because it
was to be for Tokyo's workers. Instead, it has been run as a high-priced
amusement place, with scantily dressed girl attendants, patronized chiefly by
diplomats and black marketers. With an evening's bill of $100 not unusual, few
of Tokyo's workers ever saw the inside of the place. A GI who visited it said he
got "the damnedest bath I ever had in my life."
* *
"Sashu suru " is defined by Sanseido's "New Concise Japanese-English
Dictionary" this way: "To obtain by fraud; swindle; defraud; (U. S.) financier."
The New Yorker contains this information under its standing head, "The
Mysterious East." But what's so mysterious about that definition?
* *
"You're Under Arrest!" is the title of an article by Irwin Ross in November's
"Pageant" that everyone should read, and especially Chief of Police Dan Liu.
Ross tells of a recent roundup of 500 persons by the New York police— with only
three convictions out of the lot. Ross describes the manner in which police
beatings, usually unwarranted, tear down the confidence of people in the police.
The author also gives a number of rules which may guide the inexperienced in
dealing with police—especially when the officers may be overstepping their authority. Some of
the most important are— "Get the badge number of any officer who attempts a
search without a warrant"—"Get the badge number of any officer who. arrests
without a warrant." Ross also points out that no one is legally required to
answer any question asked by an officer. Name and address may be legally
required, but Ross says anyone arrested is better off if he insists that (1) he
be booked immediately so he may know the charges and (2) that he be allowed to
communicate with his lawyer.
* *
The Nuimalu Hotel is the locale nowadays for the inner sanctum of C-C
supervisors, an informed source says. It's quiet out there all day long, the
explanation goes, and a wonderful place fop uninterrupted political intrigue.
* *
Two months ago the rumor was around and it's back again, so there must be
something to it—that Gov. Long is considering appointing either Attorney Eugene Beebe or
Baron Goto to the Hawaiian Homes Commission. The governor must know either
appointment will get opposition from a number of Hawaiians, for the) rumor is
usually accompanied by that kind of talk.
* *
More than one supervisor is thoroughly irritated with the manner in which C-C
Engineer Karl Sinclair and a number of his subordinates "sit on" pertinent facts
as if they were military secrets and the supervisors the enemy from which such
information is to be guarded. Then he asks appropriations and has harsh words
for the supervisors when they balk. * *
"Joe Rose looked to be in the best of health the last time I saw him," said
one puzzled fan. "Funny he should have taken sick so suddenly."
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Honolulu's newest entertainment venture opened last week on Hotel Street with
the latest crew of vaudeville "artistes" showing in a repertoire of skits,
hi-jinks, assorted dances and blackouts.
"Whitey" Jensen, long in show business here in Hawaii, is the local
entrepreneur and doubles as lighting technician, floor manager, chief bottle
washer and producer. We caught the first show along with the army, navy and
marines, and the local civilian population who also gave the show the once over.
Four chorus girls cavorted around the converted stage of the former Chinese
restaurant to the music of Professor Eddie Camara who for years has been playing
the "carney" circuit.
The number done to Irving Berlin's "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" in which
the four chorines appear met with especial approval of the front row of sailors
out for a good time. Incidentally, the four lovelies answer to the names of
Yvonne, Celia, Annette and Gloria. These girls also received about an equal
amount of applause, but that night an enthusiastic marine showed more enthusiasm
for Celia.
Comedian Jo Jo Jordon along with Jimmy MacFay and blonde Noma, carry on the
hi-jinks and blackout skits. MacFay plays the straight man to the antics of Jo
Jo, who works hard at the laughs. While we did not see anybody rolling in the
aisles, the armed forces gave him a good send-off. The best skit, a blackout
number called "Relief for the Poor," shows the team of Jordon and Noma with Jo
Jo playing second fiddle to Noma and her garters. We said garters, not 'gators.
Noma also did a Gay Nineties number to the tune of "Dixie." We always thought of
Dixie as a march. Noma gave Dixie a lot of vibratto.
Several movie musical shorts complete the show. See you on Hotel
Street.—Night Beat
[PAGE 7] [back to the top]
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Filipinos are often victims of police brutality, Attorney Myer C. Symonds
pointed out, following Young's decision, in a letter to Police Chief Dan Liu.
Myer C. Symonds, partner in the law firm which represented Dela Cruz, wrote:
"During the past few months, we have referred a number of cases of police
brutality to you for attention, particularly with reference to Filipinos. In
those cases in which there are no apparent markings on the victim, we are
informed that the result of the investigation has shown no evidence to
substantiate the charge. If the victim has markings, then we are notified that
the police officer acted in self-defense."
He also wrote: "The foregoing observations have been made because the instant
case is one in which there can be absolutely no justification for not
disciplining the officers involved."
Symonds adds that Dela Cruz paid a $40 medical hill at Queen's Hospital as a
result of the heating given him by the vice squad officers.
Dela Cruz was represented in the case by Attorney James King of Bouslog &
Symonds.
[PAGE 8] [back to the top]
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World War II veterans returned to their
respective communities after their military service to participate in building
more wholesome environments. They particularly saw the need of improvements when
so many had to double up with friends and families and suffer inconveniences
because housing was inadequate. This was merely one of their many wants.
The purchase of home and homesites was beyond the means of the great majority
of veterans. A comparatively few took GI housing loans, but the number who can
afford to buy houses under this plan is relatively small.
A great many of the veterans and their families turned to converted army and
navy barracks, and emergency civilian cracker-box housing. Even here the waiting
list was and is long, and with the war program going on again, some veterans are
being evicted to make room for servicemen's families.
Construction of public housing would have alleviated this difficulty and
inconvenience for veterans and their families, but the government ignored such
crying need in almost every community in the United States.
Money spent in such a constructive effort would have postponed the depression
just as effectively as the Korean war into which President Truman plunged this
nation without congressional authority, at a time when all the earmarks of a
depression were present—growing unemployment, high inventory, etc.
The big business-controlled government would not spend for housing, and
continue the GI education program and other programs for veterans, in full
force, but laid the groundwork for rearmament spending that now runs into $70
billion. The profits from such a war program go to big business. The tax bite to
finance such a program hurts small wage earners the most, while exemptions and
tax amortization further help to line the pockets of war profiteers.
In order to finance such a war program, now the government is economizing on
spending for general welfare. Thus we find the public housing administration
authorized by the Lanham Act to increase rents in veterans' housing 20 per cent
beginning December 1.
On the Mainland, veterans are protesting this rent increase at a time when
the cost of living is mounting.
Locally, the Disabled American Veterans on Oahu have taken a commendable
stand. They are not only opposing rent increases but are asking for reduction of
rentals in veterans' housing units of from $6 to $8 per unit. This is fair and
proper.
The DAV resolution says in part, that the buildings were constructed at a low
standard. It mentions Manoa housing as being typical of housing for veterans on
Oahu. It further points out that the housing units were to have yielded the
Federal government a 100 per cent return on its investment within the five-year
period which ended May 11, 1950.
There is still time for veterans' organizations and individual veterans to
protest this unjustified increase. Why should veterans pay higher rentals on
housing that was all paid for a year and a half ago? Why take from the veterans
and give to war profiteers.
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Bloodshed in Lahaina:
III. President Roosvelt's Warning
Perhaps the unnamed Japanese laborer shot down by police at Lahaina on May
20, 1905, did not die in vain. Present at Lahaina toward the end of the strike
was Commissioner C. P. Neill of the U. S. Department of Commerce and Labor, who
speedily prepared a report for President Theodore Roosevelt himself. Fewer
Safeguards of Law for Japanese Workers
On June 16, Roosevelt wrote to William H. Taft, then Secretary of War,
calling his attention to Mr. Neill's memorandum. "I suggest," wrote the
President, "that you have a copy of it sent to Governor Carter and another to
the commander of the Federal troops in Hawaii, warning them of the extreme care
with which they should behave. Also, when you stop at Hawaii, will you take the
matter up with Governor Carter and with the colonel in command of our troops,
and go over it most carefully?
"I call your special attention to that phrase of Mr. Neill's letter where he
speaks of finding on the part of the officers of the law a very distinct
impatience with those forms of law which hamper summary action on the part of
police and militia, and of the feeling which he asserts exists that the
safeguards of the law for the protection of the individual citizen need not be
so carefully observed in dealing with Japanese laborers. This is a very
important matter."
And what was the report that called for the personal attention of the
President of the United States and the man who was to succeed him in that
office?
"Japs Must Be Taught a Lesson"
"Recent developments in Hawaii," wrote Neill, "have given a peculiar turn to
labor conditions which, if not carefully handled, might necessitate explanations
on the part of Federal authorities to the Japanese government.
"On most of the plantations the labor force is so overwhelmingly Japanese
that this nationality now completely controls the labor situation. The Japanese
laborers realize this, and are becoming more aggressive and self-assertive in
their dealings with their employers . . ." (Here follows an account of the
strike and bloodshed.)
"Both the plantation interests and the police authorities of the Territory
are anxious to check this growing aggressiveness on the part of the Japanese. In
some quarters the expression is heard that 'These Japs must be taught a
lesson'—the lesson in mind being of the kind that the militia can best teach. I
was present at the more serious strike above referred to and found on the part
of the officers of the law a very distinct impatience with those forms of law
that hamper summary action on the part of police and militia. There seemed to be
the feeling that those safeguards which the law sets up for the protection of
the individual citizen need not be so carefully observed in dealing with
Japanese laborers."
Since the legislature had not made an appropriation for the National Guard,
it seemed likely that when labor trouble next arose, the governor would have to
call upon Federal troops.
Advertiser Called for Companies of Troops in 1909
"In view of the desire felt in many quarters to 'teach the Japs a lesson,' it
is probable that the Federal troops would be called out on the slightest
provocation. In the event of a strike, the entire body of the strikers will be
Japanese, and any indiscreet action on the part of the troops would probably
lead to complications with the Japanese government.
"This is especially likely at the present time, since the Japanese in Hawaii
have begun a movement to demand the recall of their consul for not properly
protecting their interests, and should they effect a change, the next consul
might prove over-zealous in protecting their rights as subjects of the Japanese
government.
". . . The situation is not one requiring merely formal treatment. Sagacity,
discretion, and very level-headed judgment will be important requisites in
handling situations that are likely to develop."
It is possible that Commissioner Neill's warning, emphasized by President
Roosevelt and Secretary Taft, had some effect when the big strike of 1909 broke
out on Oahu. Feeling ran high then, and there was much temptation to "teach
these Japs a lesson."
The Advertiser called for a company of troops to be stationed on every large
Oahu plantation. But, in this strike, searches, arrests and convictions on the
most doubtful legal grounds were the weapons used against the strike leaders.
There was no "Hanapepe massacre" or "Bloody Monday," or even a repetition of the
shooting at Lahaina.
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By Frank Marshall Davis
A Council is Born
A couple of weeks ago I wrote in these columns of the founding convention of
the National Negro Labor Council scheduled for Cincinnati, Ohio, Oct. 27 and 28,
and said that what happened there could easily have an effect on the
kaleidoscopic peoples of Hawaii.
The convention was an outstanding success. It was a success despite the
desperate efforts of the CIO and stooges for reaction to red-bait it out of
existence. The Cincinnati press and police, taking their cue from opponents of
the movement, were contemptuous and suspicious as sessions opened but by the
second day the attitude had completely changed. Reporters softened and sat
spellbound by what they heard and saw; police held up traffic and ushered
delegates across the street.
CIO Sold Minorities Down the River
What caused this change? Simply the sincerity and determination of those
present to work intelligently together until the rotten conditions of
oppression, which cripple all non-white peoples throughout the world, are
removed. The 1,500 delegates cited instance after instance of discrimination and
terror as the result of white supremacy, and vowed to stand together until they
had fought their way out of the wilderness.
This spirit is what made the CIO and the stooges for reaction fight the
convention. It is an open secret that the bankrupt national CIO leadership has
sold the Negro and all other minorities down the river. The CIO, riding the
Truman coattails, agreed, off the record, to soft-pedal its backing of civil
rights legislation in exchange for wiping out or materially changing the
Taft-Hartley law. Thus we have no new civil rights laws—and Taft-Hartley is
still on the books.
Despite its sellout, the CIO is still trying to hang onto its prestige among
working people and minorities. For that reason any movement geared to labor
which cannot be controlled by the CIO hierarchy will be fought by the Murrays
and Reuthers and Rieves. And this new National Negro Labor Council will be
controlled neither by Truman nor the national CIO.
Strong Base Among the Organized and Unorganized
But the new group does have a strong base in the CIO, just as it does in AFL,
independents and unorganized workers: The national president is William R. Hood,
Detroit, secretary of Ford Local 600, UAW-CIO, biggest local in the nation;
director of organization is Ernest Thompson of New Jersey, United Electrical
Workers, Ind.; a vice president-at-large is James Husbands of Durham, N. C., of
Local 208, Tobacco Workers International Union, AFL. Other officers are drawn
from unions throughout the nation.
One of those taking a key part in the founding convention was Joe Johnson,
port agent in California for the Marine Cooks and Stewards, who visited here in
the Spring of '49. Hitting at critics of the new group, he said:
"Those who label us communistic every time we open our mouths to gain our
rights don't know the difference between communism and rheumatism and know
little about either. The darker peoples of the world want to choose their own
kind of government and their own leaders. It makes me mad as hell for our
administration to give away millions to maintain the rulers of their choice in
colonial and European countries and don't want to give me my unemployment
insurance!"
And if you somehow have the idea that Paul Robeson no longer has a following,
here are the words of one of the women delegates. Pearl Laws, furriers' leader
from New York. Condemning the withdrawal of Robeson's passport by the state
department, she brought down the house when she said:
"We women will stretch ourselves across the ocean and let Paul walk across on
our back's."
White Man Being Tested All Over
There were white delegates, too, who came to join with colored workers in the
struggle for equality Their chief spokesman was Maurice E. Travis of Denver, of
the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, who had lost an eye fighting against white
supremacy. Condemning the patronizing attitude of many whites in the labor
movement, he said:
"I think it is about time that white workers and their leaders registered a
fact of life. It is time for them to understand that all over the world, the
white man is being tested. Millions of people in Asia, Africa, South America,
the Pacific, axe taking a close look to see if the white man means what he says when he talks about democracy and equality."
Resolutions passed by the convention extended brotherhood "to all oppressed
people everywhere" and urged unity with Puerto Rican and Mexican minorities in
the U. S.; urged an end to the war program and a five-power peace meeting with
Russia and China; an end to discrimination in public and private housing and
construction of a minimum of 250,000 low-rent housing units annually; the
establishment of youth committees to work on the specific problems of the young;
a campaign for a million signatures demanding a Federal FEPC; the opening up of
100,000 new jobs in lily-white industry, and the bringing of the plight of
agricultural workers before the entire trade union movement.
Program Will Benefit All
The civil rights resolution also demanded the dropping of indictments against
Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois and William L. Patterson of CRC, restoration of Paul
Robeson's passport, unconditional release of Mrs. Rosa Lee Ingram, repeal of the
Smith and McCarran Acts, ending of discrimination in the armed forces and all
government agencies, the granting of reasonable bail and "the right to speak for
and advocate peace without, fear of intimidation and coercion."
That's the program of the new National Negro Labor Council. If it succeeds,
it will benefit everybody in Hawaii.
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