Telephone conversation Bendetsen/Tate, McCloy's office, June 5, 1942. (page 3)

T: You spoke to me, some time back, about the control of people in your centers, your law and order -- this suggestion has been made. I would like to put it to you to get your reaction that we arrange with the local authorities to appoint a Justice of the Peace and assign him in each center to handle the cases that normally would come before such a Justice. If they, the State or Local Authorities say they do not have the funds, that we use our own funds to pay this man under the authority give you in the original letter from the Secretary of War, authorizing Gen. DeWitt to go ahead and do this job. We have put up our own Guard House. The Justice in there would set the penalty, under the State Laws and anybody who should be down, should be confined, should be put in thos [those] guard houses. I would like to get your reaction.

B: I'd like to give it careful consideration.

T: In addition to that you would have your own camp discipline run by the camp commander for minor petty things, you see?

B: That does not in any way alter the proposal and latitude presented in the former opinion, does it? As to what could be done by the Military? Hello?

T: This is a new approach to the problem, Karl.

B: Yes, that is to say, it is supplemental to that, isn't it.

T: Well, it is a replacement of that. Throw out the old one and figure out this as a new approach.

On the censorship that you have in mind, the Judge Advocate General seems to feel that he should apply that, in between the time that the Post Office Department delivers the mail to the centers, at which time they step out of the picture -- so far as their responsibility is concerned. At that time, we could take it over, obtain from the people in the center and obtain an agreement to allow us to censor the mail -- if they do not consent to that, we could simply hold the mail. Deny them the right to receive it, just as you do with Military Prisoners in the Guard House. There is no law which says that a Military Prisoner's mail will be censored. That is all handled as a matter of regulation set up by the A.G. and it is generally understood in the service. If these people agree to censorship, we can go ahead with it, if not, we would pigeon-hole the mail and give it to them when the war is over, or when they consent to signing an agreement. There is one drawback to that that I can see off-hand. A lot of this mail will be in Japanese, you probably will have difficulty finding people who can read Japanese.

B: Yes.

T: Now, in such cases when you do, you handle it this way, in such cases where you get letters in Japanese, just pigeon-hole it. I'd like to have you think those two things over and let us have your reaction.

B: Off hand, I'd like very much what you have now proposed. I think it is entirely practicable. I'd like to give further consideration to the first idea. I think it is a very sound approach and can be done. I think it is "Can Do".

T: Well, I believe that you could make the arrangements with the local authorities, to furnish such officers.

B: All right -- its possible but let me consider that carefully. I think this second thing is probably the answer. The first one, I'm a little on the doubtful side.

T: You mean about the Justices.

B: Yes, just a little, but I want to consider it. Maybe, it is sound.