Ickes 'Beat' Supreme Court On Jap Orders

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21.--(UP)--Secretary of Interior Harold L. Ickes boasted today that the executive branch "beat the Supreme Court by approximately 24 hours" in revoking blanket orders excluding persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast.

Asked at a press conference, why the ban was lifted at this time, he replied:

"It was time to issue the order; the Japanese had demonstrated that they were entitled to their full rights as citizens."

Then he laughed and said "We wanted to beat the Supreme Court to the punch."

The court had before it two cases on the exclusion issue, and on Monday ruled that loyal citizens of Japanese decent could not be further detained after their loyalty had been established. The revocation order, however, had been announced the day before.

Asked whether he contemplated any action to force Pacific Coast residents to accept eligible Japanese who wished to go back, Ickes replied that the evacuees could carry the cases of interference into court "with the full force of the government behind them."