ONE HUNDRED LAPEL PINS CONFISCATED BY RAIDERS
Buttons Believed 5th Column Identification in Case of Invasion of
Seattle; Two Germans Arrested
The arrest in Seattle of 20 Japanese aliens who possessed 100 Nazi Swastika lapel pins, and of an Italian and two German aliens in Port Angeles, one of them possessing a veritable arsenal and another a supply of explosives, was announced yesterday by H.B. Fletcher, agent in charge of the Seattle office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The agents seized eight iron helmets, six rifles, a camera and 1,300 rounds of ammunition from the Seattle Japanese.
One of the Port Angeles Germans had in his possession a three-barreled Krupp combination shotgun and rifle, a double-barreled 16-gauge shotgun, a .22-caliber Remington pump rifle, two large hunting knives, two pairs of binoculars, a 25-power spyglass, a camera and 1,069 rounds of ammunition.
The other German alien was held on an immediate charge of possessing a powerful short-wave radio he failed to turn in, but agents said he also will be charged with being in the United States illegally. They said he failed to register as an alien both in 1940 and 1942.
Other contraband, some of it taken from aliens who were not placed in custody, included: Six radios, all equipped with short-wave receiving apparatus; seven firearms; two pairs of binoculars; five cameras; 75 feet of blasting fuse; seven blasting caps; a full box of blasting powder, and 612 rounds of ammunition.
The blasting powder, caps and fuse were taken from one of the men arrested.
Seattle Police Assist
The Japanese were taken into custody by F.B.I. agents, assisted by Seattle police. The Germans and Italian were taken by the federal agents with the cooperation of the Clallam County sheriff's office and Port Angeles police.
It was pointed out that the Japs possibly intended to use the Swastika pins to identify themselves as fifth-columnists, in event the Japanese army invaded Seattle.
All Japanese arrested were placed in detention quarters of the Immigration Station, 815 Airport Way.
Secret Society Link Hinted
The two Germans and Italian were held in the Clallam County jail, but Fletcher said they will be removed to the Immigration Station later.
The agent said all the Japanese placed in custody are believed to be members of pro-Japanese societies.
Army Aquires Site For Evacuee Center
SAN FRANCISCO, March 7.--(UP) Lieut. Gen. John L. De Witt tonight announced the Army has acquired approximately 5,800 acres of land in Owens Valley, Inyo County, California, for establishment of a reception center for enemy aliens and American-born Japanese evacuated from Military Area No. 1.
The Owens Valley area will be
L.A. Owns Property
The property is owned by the City of the Los Angeles and is under jurisdiction of the city's Department of Water and Power. Notice of the acquisition was given today in a letter from General De Witt, commander of the Fourth Army and Western Defense Command, to H.H. Van Norman, general manager of the Los Angeles Bureau of Water Works and Supply, Department of Water and Power.
General De Witt disclosed the government plans to construct prefabricated houses of a family type at the reception center near Manzanar, Calif., for use of evacuees.
The Owens Valley site was selected, De Witt said, because it had adequate railway facilities, water supply and agricultural land "sufficient to make the center largely self-sustained."
"While the center is to be used principally as a clearing house for the more permanent resettlement elsewhere of persons excluded from military areas, a self-supporting establishment will be maintained as far as is feasible," De Witt said.
Protection Assured
General De Witt assured the City of the Los Angeles that "full protection will be given the Los Angeles municipal water aqueduct and works against possible damage or pollution.
"Water in the watershed in which the property lies and the rights to which are legally vested in the City of Los Angeles is more than sufficient to take care of the needs of the center, without even slight interference with the requirements of the City of Los Angeles," De Witt said.
The announcement indicated all persons to be excluded from Military Area No. 1 along the Pacific Coast and Southern Arizona--designated by proclamation March 2--will be "received" at Owens Valley, and either passed along to evacuee resettlement areas elsewhere or given the opportunity to settle in Owens Valley.
Zones Designated
General De Witt has not yet issued an exclusion order, but has set up designated zones under presidential authority from which enemy aliens and citizens alike may be removed.
The Western Defense Command also issued a statement expressing concern over reports that Japanese in some areas "have plowed under crops or have abandoned seeding operations because of an apparent fear that their labor will go unrewarded."
"No reason for such fear exists," the Army said. "Foodstuffs are vital in prosecution of the war, and for Japanese ranchers professing loyalty to the United States there is no better way of showing sincerity than by continuing to raise crops.
"On the other hand, wilful [willful] destruction of crops demonstrates disloyalty and unwillingness to cooperate. There is no valid reason why an alien farmer should destroy what is already growing on his place or fail to plant as usual. By so doing he is only helping the enemies of this nation, and if that is his purpose, well and good.
"But for the alien or alien-citizen who is loyal there is only one course--plant and produce as much food as possible."