Letter from Lincoln Kanai to Milton Stover Eisenhower, Director, War Relocation Authority

1530 Buchanan St.,

San Francisco, Calif.,

April 2, 1342.

Mr. M. S. Eisenhower,

Hotel Whitcomb,

San Francisco, California.

Dear Mr. Fisenhower;

Thus far, very little has been done to bolster the morale of the Americans of Japanese

ancestry. About 75 per cent of them in the past few weeks have been unemployed and await

ing for orders to move, These persons have been spending their cwindiing fumcs and are

among the most bewildered and tragic persons. I am sure that your department which has

been designated by the Federal Government will serve in this case so that these dwindling

funds which in many cases have been going to hospitalization, and the payment of loans,

insurance policies, etc. are minimized and subsistence expenses are given. In the mean

time, nothing has been done to use or hirs these persons that have -- unemployed es a

result of the orders of the Western Command.

I called Ronald Born of the County Relief office and found only three cases that have

been given relief since the first order of evacuation from the restricted areas other than

the evacuees. According to a hasty figure of those who contacted this office at 1530

Buchanai Street, over a hundred persons should have been given consideration. It seems

obvious that a communal system is being used to assist mutually those dwincling funds when

these cases should be aided from funds that have been allotied to your eepartuent for this

purpose.

With every cuestion asked, the inquiring groups have been asked by the Federal

officials to voluntarily consider the problem and solve them thru their own leadership and

expens? rather than the Federal government's. In order to avoid this, I would suggest the

employment of personnel so that these persons can be usec to settle cach others problems,

assist during evacuation, at encampment, and during relocation. That this is another

example of a social problem by a "long arm" policy requiring en intimate contact which

can only be produced by interweaving personnel and utilizing previously established

personal contacts. Many social work has failed because social workers have been too

aloof" from the work and problem itself.

CaRPRENT AND SELUCATIC ON:

With the coming evacuation, the need of preliminary planning is imperative to gocd

social planning. The need is therefore for community groups that are already in existence

to be able to assist in the present planning so that when encanpment and relocation, the

processes keeping social values are kept alive.

a. A program of education

For ORSSEren, advancec stude PAA work projects, ete.

b. A. program for social wiithes. medical attention,

c. A program of recreation,

ad. A program for individual or family absorption to areas other than Zone 1,

e. A program where social agencies can continue in the processes of character

building, group work, etc.

We are particularly concerned with groups which are bringing pressure to exploit the

evacuees so that they will become peons, labor colonies, etc.

Sincerely,

L. Kanai