Hearings and Reports on the Evacuation Claims Bills

              The  indemnification bill H.  R.  27G8  is,   in my opinion,   a most
important step  in the  right  direction,   for  it provides  for a commission
to handle   losses  of Americans  of Japanese  ancestry arising from the
evacuation.     It excludes  claims  from, those  deported and  claims  for personal
hardship and  suffering.     Only damage  or  loss  of real  and personal property
may be  remunerated and to a  limit  of $2500.     There   is   no provision for
claims  for  losses  in earning power  or   potential  earnings during  the  period
of incarceration.    Attorney's  fees may amount  to  20% of the  total  award.
The  rules  of evidence  recognize   "any relevant  evidence having probative
value."     The bill provides  that awards  or   orders  of dismissal,  if not   set
aside by the  commission,   permanently preclude  the  claimant from establishing;
any other  claim against the   government.
We are unprepared,  and we  fear  that no  one  at this  time is prepared,
to estimate  the  over-all   losses  in earning power  or in property.    However,
on the basis  of an examination of the  findings  of a  loss  survey  of 300
families   conducted by us  at  Long Beach,   California,   and  our   long-time
research  on related topics   involving  a  cross  section of the population,
I  should  like  to  raise  some  problems   for  the  Committee's  consideration.
The  chief question I have about  the bill is  that  it does  not provide
for  losses  of earned income  and earning power.    As   is  true  of most of the
population,  the   chief resources  of Americans   of Japanese  ancestry  lay in
their earning power.     Their  chief loss,  therefore,   is  due to the fact that
for a period  of one   to four  years  they were   forceably restrained  from
engaging in their   occupations.     Cur  researches  lead, us  to believe that the
earning  loss  for  the period  in the  camps exceeded the material  loss  in the
great majority  of  cases.     Furthermore,  the mere  release  from the  camps  did
not and  could not reinstate  the family enterprises  in their pre-war form.
Therefore,   not   only were  there  substantial   losses  in earnings   for the
period while   in camp but the  general  earning status  of the   population was
reduced.    Not the  least aspect  of this  lowered  economic position is the
element of good will  and  long-established business  relationships which are
difficult  to evaluate  in dollar  terms.
A specific instance  may illustrate  these  facts.     The Matsumotos
operated a retail produce  store  in San Francisco  for  21 years.     In 1941,
the widowed mother,  her married son,   and  her daughter worked in the  store,
and employed two  additional persons.     The  da.ughter-in-law worked part-
time,   since  she  had three  small   children to  care  for.     The family net
income  in 1941 was  around  $5000,     They rented their house and  store.     In
the week prior to evacuation in May 1942 they  sold  furniture valued at
$750 for $250,  and  a 1939  Chevrolet  coupe with Blue  Book value   of  $645  for
$500.     They  sold clothing worth at  least  $100 for  $20 and  spent $250 for
clothing  in preparation for  evacuation.     Their business  losses  included
forced sale  of equipment,   office machines  and  furniture,   safe,   and  scales
at  25% of its  value,  a  loss   of $2900,     They simply abandoned  $50  in display
stands.     These material  losses were  $3925.     Two thousand  dollars  in collectible   customers'   charge  accounts became uncollectible.     Good will  for the
business was  estimated at  $1000.     From the  relocation center  the  daughter
went to New York early in  1944  and secured a job  as  dressmaker.     The   son
went  to New York a year  later,   leaving  his wife  and  children in the  camp.
After  failing  to  find housing for his   family,  he  returned to the   Coast.
When the  camp was  closed  in October  1945,  the  aged mother  joined her daughter
in New York,  and the   son's  family joined  him in Southern California.     The
son has been unable to  secure  steady work and has been unemployed  for twelve
months  in the  two years   since  he   left the   relocation center.     Because   of
evacuation losses he  is unable to re-establish the   family business.
In numerous  instances  the pre-war   functions have been taken over
by  other groups,  especially in the  produce business,  who  cannot be  displaced  in a period  of inflated values.     These  considerations  are especially
important because  nearly two-thirds  of American  families   of Japanese
ancestry were  engaged  in familial enterprises.
The most  important gap in the bill   can be  taken care  of by recognizing the   legitimacy of claims  for earning losses.     However,   I  fear that the
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