Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-09-22

III OsbAWa, ILL., HOW the ucAu OF
the Girard family in the States.
1t was Louis who persuaded VII
liam TO 1lght in United States
courts against ceding jurisdiction
over his case to Japanese courts.
The fight. which proved vain.
caused bitter feelings on both
sides Of the Pacific. At one time
Louis advised william, don't
marry that JAP" and Specialist
Girard declared himself offended
by the use Of the word Jap"
Later Louis strongly urged his
brother TO marry Candy.
The propriety Of william Gil
rard's marriage to Candy has been
sharply questioned by the Japan
ese. on the ground that it may
have been q calculated move to
vitiate the impression that he held
Japanese life cheap, and there
fore to prejudice his trial.
His own defense counsel, a IA
nous Japanese criminal lawyer
named Itsuro Hayashi, feels that
the timing Of the wedding, not
long before the trial opened, was
most unfortunate. Mr.. Hayashi
! has kept Mrs. Girard away from
the courtroom because he feared
her presence might adversely af-
feet the judges decisions.
There Is no doubt that the
Girard trial. and particularly the
battle over jurisdiction. which
threatened Japan's, sovereignty
six years after the signing Of the
peace treaty, has stirred up old
antagonisms and quilts. Of agrees
sor and victim, Of victor and van
pushed.
Many Americans do not forget
Pearl Harbor and the Bataan
death march and the prison
camps; Japanese do not forget
Hiroshima and Nagasaki and de-
feat. Pious suggestions that more
than q decade has passed since
the war, and that its horrors
should be forgotten, are useless at
this point. The memories exist.
They are perfectly valid. It does
not advance the cause Of peace
to deny the remembrance Of war.
There is such a thing. however,
as spelling good milk with sour.
The ill-advised Girard fight over
jurisdiction was such an act.
Unprecedented cose
In more than $4,000 cases in
which United States servicemen
had been accused Of breaking Jap
anese laws, this was the first in
which the Japanese government
felt obliged to press with every
recourse at its disposal under the
status-of forces agreement be-
tween Japan and the United
States, for its right to try an
American.
Japan had previously claimed
and been freely given jurisdiction
in approximately $50 cases and
had actually tried about 435. But
only SO soldiers served prison
terms.
The United States Supreme
Court decision Of July IL. ceding
jurisdiction over the Girard case
to Japan. did much TO relieve the
anger many Japanese felt over the
Girard challenge.
Some Of the support In the
United States for reserving juris-
diction to an American military
tribunal arose from a fear that
Japanese courts might be vindic-
tive in this case. Expressions Of
this fear in turn produced in
Japan a mixture Of anger and
anxiety over the idea that Amer
leans think Japanese justice
primitive"
Neither fear was justified.
American visitors to the Girard
trial have been forcibly struck by
its dignity and fairness. The pros
ecution entered much material
that could be construed as favor
able to Specialist Girard. For the
benefit Of the accused and his
American advisers the entire pro-
ceedings are being translated from
Japanese into English. He is TECH
nically in Japanese custody but
actually returns between court
sessions to Camp Drew.
The efficiency and orderliness Of
Japanese trial procedure have i'm
pressed American legal experts.
The court does not meet continu-
ously. as in American trials, but at
intervals. and between sessions
much underbrush is cut away. A
great deal Of evidence is introduced
in documents based on pretrial
examinations under oath. and this
is q time saver. The prosecution.
for example, has introduced 81
written evidences" and will bring
in only nine witnesses.
There are three principal Ques-
tons around which the balance
Of the trial will probably revolve:
1. Was Specialist Girard follow