PROBE OF LUXURY FOOD, FANCY SCHOOLS IN JAP CAMPS ASKED

By United Press.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9.--Reports that scarce foodstuffs were made available in plenty to Japanese-American war relocation camps in the Far West, while residents of surrounding areas were subject to strict rationing, brought congressional demands tonight for investigation of various phases of the relocation program.

Representative F. LeRoy Johnson, Republican, California, said he had received "numerous reports and rumors" that huge shipments of scarce foods--including eggs, butter, sugar, coffee and meats--were furnished the camps. Residents of nearby areas had difficulty in obtaining their allotted amounts under the rationing program, according to the reports.

'Elaborate School System'

Johnson introduced a resolution calling for an investigation of these reports, and of the reputed "elaborate system of education" contemplated for the relocation projects.

"We are told that teachers in these camps receive higher pay than teachers in the state public school system," Johnson said, "and that extensive training in such non-essentials as art, dancing and rug-making are being offered the confined Japs."

Representative Harry Sheppard, Democrat, California, said, however, that he personally had investigated three relocation camps and found they were receiving necessary quantities of food. He also denied that teachers' salaries were out of proportion.

Representative Jerry Voorhis, Democrat, California, reported receipt of a letter from a state official who said proposals to establish university extensions in the camps left parents of drafted American youths in "a state of impotent exasperation."

"These parents know their sons won't receive university credits for what they are doing," the letter said.

Anson Boyd, California state engineer, informed Voorhis that officials of the Tula [Tule] Lake camp requested that the state furnish plans for construction of "small mausoleums" at the camp.

"A mausoleum is something that only the higher-income group is able to afford if they happen to be ordinary citizens," Boyd commented.

Immortality Charged

Voorhis said he felt the camps should be "kept simple and made self-sustaining."

Johnson said his resolution also would provide for investigation of asserted immoral conditions at some of the camps, and of activities of disloyal elements such as led to riots at the Manzanar camp recently.

Representative B.W. Gearhart, Republican, California, said he had received complaints from former constituents among the Japanese-Americans who said they were being subjected to intimidation by pro-Axis Japs in the camps.

"They are constantly called on to explain how in a democracy citizens can be interned," Gearhart said.

Gearhart showed a post card from Tokie Slocum, a Japanese-born member of the American Legion, formerly confined at Manzanar. Slocum described the "harrowing and horrible night of December 7, 1942, when pro-Axis Japs placed him on Death List No. 1" and made an attempt on his life. Although he was taken into protective custody and later discharged from camp, all his personal property was destroyed or stolen, he wrote.