Court Opinion

ID: 9419769
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 22:51:25.600347+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:20.552816
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Burton,
with whom Mr. Justice Frankfurter concurs, dissenting.
With the rest of this Court. I subscribe unreservedly to the Bill of Rights. I recognize the importance of the civil courts in protecting individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution. I prefer civil to military control of civilian life and I agree that in war our Constitution contemplates the preservation of the individual rights of all *338of our people in accordance with a plan of constitutional procedure fitted to the needs of a self-governing republic at war.-
Our Constitution expressly provides for waging war, and it is with the constitutional instruments for the successful conduct of war that I am concerned. I recognize here, as elsewhere, the constitutional direction that our respective branches of the Government do not exceed their allotted shares of authority. The courts, as well as our other agencies of the Government, accordingly owe a constitutional obligation not to invade the fields reserved either to the people, the States, or the other coordinate branches of the Government. The courts have an obligation to help define and protect the discretion with which the people have invested their legislative and executive representatives. Within their proper spheres, the robúst strength and freedom of action allowed to the policy making and policy executing agencies of our Government are as vital to the success of our great experiment in securing “the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity” as are the checks and balances which have been imposed upon our representatives. It is in the application of these views to the cases before us that I am obliged to dissent from the majority of this Court and to sound a note of warning against the dangers of over-expansion of judicial control into the fields allotted by the Constitution to agencies of legislative and executive action.
The controlling facts in the cases before us are the extraordinary conditions created by the surprise Japanese invasion by air of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Visualizing the devastating success of that attack and the desperate conditions resulting from it, the primary question is what discretionary action by the executive branch of our Government, including the Army -and Navy, was permissible on that day and in the period following it. *339Pearl Harbor and the Hawaiian Islands were the key to America’s defenses in the Pacific. The attack of December 7th destroyed more of America’s naval forces than our Government felt it safe to announce. America’s first line of defense was pierced. The attack demonstrated that it was part of a carefully planned major military operation against not only Hawaii but the United States. Presumably it would be pressed further. It might well be followed by a land invasion of the Islands and by aerial attacks upon their centers of population.1
*340Handicapped by major losses of air and sea power, the commander of this isolated outpost was faced with imminent danger of further invasions under conditions calling for a desperate defense of the Islands. The Islands suddenly had become the focal point of a major action which converted them into an outpost of critical military importance to the world in general and to the United States in particular. Their invasion and possible capture overshadowed every other consideration. The Islands were a white-hot center of war ready to burst into flames.
Military attack by air, sea and land was to be expected. The complete disregard of international law evi*341denced by the first attack and the possible presence on the .Islands of many Japanese collaborators gave warning that the enemy’s next move might take the form of disastrous sabotage and terrorism among civilians. The extraordinary breach of international law evidenced by the attack made it essential to take extraordinary steps to protect the Islands against subversive action that might spring from deeply laid plans as secret, well aimed, and destructive as the original attack.
On December 7 and in the period immediately following, every inch of the Territory of Hawaii was like a frontier stockade under savage attack with notice that such attack would not be restrained by the laws of civilized *342nations.2 Measures of defense had to be taken on the basis that anything could happen. The relation of the Constitution of the United States to such a situation is important. Of course, the Constitution is not put aside. It was written by a generation fresh from war. The people established a more perfect union, in part, so that they might the better defend themselves from military attack. In doing so they centralized far more military power and responsibility in the Chief Executive than previously had been done. The Constitution was built for rough as well as smooth roads. In time of war the nation simply changes gears and takes the harder going under the same power.
The conduct of war under the Constitution is largely an executive function. Within the field of military action in time of war, the executive is allowed wide discretion. While, even in the conduct of war, there are many lines of jurisdiction to draw between the proper spheres of legislative, executive and judicial action, it seems clear that at least on an active battle field, the executive discretion to determine policy is there intended by the Constitution to be supreme. The question then arises: What is a battle field and how long does it remain one after the first barrage?'
It is well that the outer limits of the jurisdiction of our military authorities is subject to review by our courts even under such extreme circumstances as those of the battle field. This, however, requires the courts to put themselves as nearly as possible in the place of those who had the *343constitutional responsibility for immediate executive action. For a court to recreate a complete picture of the emergency is impossible. That impossibility demonstrates the need for a zone of executive discretion within which courts must guard themselves with special care against judging past military action too closely by the inapplicable standards of judicial, or even military, hindsight. The nature of judicial authority is largely negative as contrasted with' the generally positive nature of executive authority, and it is essential that the opportunity for well directed positive action be preserved and vigorously used if the Government is to serve the best interests of the people.
For this Court to intrude its judgment into spheres of constitutional discretion that are reserved either to the Congress or to the Chief Executive, is to invite disregard of that judgment by the Congress or by executive agencies under a claim of constitutional right to do so. On the other hand, this Court can contribute much to the orderly conduct of government, if it will outline reasonable boundaries for the discretion of the respective departments of the Government, with full regard for the limitations and also for the responsibilities imposed upon them by the Constitution.
It is important to approach the present cases with a full appreciation of the responsibility of the executive branch of the Government in Hawaii under the invasion which occurred on December 7, 1941. The question is not shall the Constitution apply under such circumstances? The question is with what authority has the Constitution and laws of this country vested the official representatives of the people upon whom are placed the responsibilities of leadership under those extraordinary circumstances?
The vital distinction is between conditions in “the theatre of actual military operations” and outside of that *344theatre.3 In this case Hawaii was not only in the theatre of operations, it was under fire. If the Territory of Hawaii, on that date and during the immediately succeeding period, is recognized as the battle field it was, then under such circumstances of invasion and threat of immediate further invasion, the actions taken by the Governor of Hawaii and by the Commanding General of the Hawaiian Department, supported by the President of the’ United States, in suspending the writ of habeas corpus, declaring martial law and vesting in such Commanding General for those first several days the powers normally exercised by the Governor and by the judicial officers and employees of the Territory (at least to the extent *345that would be involved in the present cases if they had arisen at that time), were within the executive discretion of the officials who authorized the action. The actual presence of battle in a community creates a substantially different condition from that which exists in other parts of a nation at war. That conditions of war and the means of meeting its emergencies were within the contemplation of the Constitution of the United States is shown by the broad authority vested in the President of the United States as Chief Executive and as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy and in the war powers of the Congress and the Chief Executive to preserve the safety of *346the nation in time of war. The present cases arose in a Territory of the United States, directly under the care and jurisdiction of the Federal Government. That conditions of actual invasion were contemplated by Congress in the Organic Act of Hawaii is seen from the provision quoted in the majority opinion to the effect that
“whenever it becomes necessary . . . [the Governor] may call upon the commanders of the military' and naval forces of the United States in the Territory of Hawaii, or summon the posse comitatus, or call out the militia of the Territory to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion, insurrection, or rebellion in said Territory, and he may, in case of rebellion or invasion, or imminent danger thereof, when the public safety requires it, suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, or place the Territory, or any part thereof, under martial law until communication can be had with the President and his decision thereon made known.” § 67 of the Hawaiian Organic Act, 31 Stat. 153, 48 U. S. C. § 532. (Italics supplied.)
The Governor’s proclamation demonstrates that, in so far as the discretion lay in him, he recognized in those days that a condition had arisen calling for the exercise of these powers. The proclamation of Deceijnber 7, 1941, in its every word is the best evidence of the exercise of this discretion and speaks for itself:
“Whereas, it is provided by Section 67 of the Organic Act of the Territory of Hawaii, approved April 30, 1900, that, whenever it becomes necessary, the Governor of that territory may call upon the commander of the military forces of the United States in that territory to prevent invasion; and
“Whereas, it is further provided by the said section that the governor may in case of invasion or imminent danger thereof, when the public safety requires it, suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus and place the territory under martial law; and
*347“Whereas, the armed forces of the Empire of Japan have this day attacked and invaded the shores of the Hawaiian Islands; and
“Whereas, it has become necessary to repel such attack and invasionand . “Whereas, the public safety requires;
“Now, Therefore, I, J. B. Poindexter, Governor of the Territory of Hawaii, do hereby announce that, pursuant to said section, I have called upon the Commanding General, Hawaiian Department, to prevent such invasion;
“And, pursuant to the same section, I do hereby suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus until further notice;
“And, pursuant to the same section, I do hereby place the said territory under martial law;
“And, I do hereby authorize and request the Commanding General, Hawaiian Department, during the present emergency and until the danger of invasion is removed, to exercise all the powers normally exercised by me as Governor;
“And I do further authorize and request the said Commanding General, Hawaiian Department, and those subordinate military personnel to whom he may delegate' such authority, during the present emergency and until the danger of invasion is removed, to exercise the powers normally exercised by judicial officers and employees of this territory and of the counties and cities therein, and such other and further powers as the emergency may require ;
“And I do require all good citizens of the United States and all other persons within the Territory of Hawaii to obey promptly and fully, in letter and in spirit, such proclamations, rules, regulations and orders, as the Commanding General, Hawaiian Department, or his subordinates, may issue during the present emergency.”
This action was communicated by him to the President and the President’s decision upon his action was made known in accordance with the Organic Act of Hawaii in the following messages:
*348“Dec. 7 1941
“The President the White House Washington D C
I Have Today Declared Martial Law Throughout the Territory of Hawaii and Have Suspended the Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus Period Your Attention Is Called to Section Sixty Seven of the Hawaiian Organic Act for Your Decision on My Action
t, „ Poindexter
“December 9, 1941
“Honorable Joseph B. Poindexter,
Governor, Territory of Hawaii,
Honolulu, Hawaii.-
Yóur Telegram of December Seventh Received and Your Action in Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus and Placing the Territory of Hawaii Under Martial Law in Accordance with U. S. C., Title 48, Section 532 Has My Approval.
Eranrlin D. Roosevelt”
The discretion to determine within reasonable limits the existence of the emergency of war contemplated by the Organic Act must be an executive discretion. Under the circumstances now generally known as to what took place at Pearl Harbor on December 7 and the seriousness of the threat which that attack carried with it, not only to the people in the Territory of Hawaii but to the United States of America, I am unable to find that on that day the President and the Governor exceeded their constitutional authority in taking the steps evidenced by the foregoing declaration of-policy or that the Commanding General exceeded his authority, in carrying out those instructions through the issuance of his proclamation pursuant thereto .on December 7,1941 4
*349The findings of fact, express and implicit in these prompt and forthright expressions of executive leadership, *350leave no room for doubt as to the genuineness of the emergency and of the conscientious determination of these officials to act so as to meet it. At the same time, the appreciation felt by the Commanding General of his responsibility to the civilians on the Islands is shown in his three concluding paragraphs. Starting with the propriety of that battle field regulation in the presence of disastrous invasion, the question resolves itself solely to one of when and to what extent the constitutional executive discretion to continue these orders can or should be held by this Court to have been exceeded. Once the Islands are visualized as a battle field under actual invasion, threatened with further invasion, and invaluable to the enemy as a base from which to attack the continental United States, the situation is completely changed from that of an ordinary civilian community. Under conditions likely to disregard, even the laws of civilized warfare, the island population was threatened with immediate destruction. It thus became necessary to organize and protect that population against imminent danger from bombing, fire, disruption of water and food supply, disease and all the other incidents of modern warfare. The limited area, limited garrison and great isolation of the Islands put a premium on the efficiency of its civilian defense and on the integration of it with the military defense. All activity was subordinated to executive control as the best constitutional safeguard of the civilian as well as the military life.
That in such a case there must be restoration of civilian control is clear. It is equally clear that there must be limits to the extent to which the executive discretion constitutionally may delay such restoration. In the first instance, however, there is a period, bearing a reasonable relation to the original emergency, during which it must be within the discretion of the executive agencies of the Government to decide when and how to restore the battle fiéld to its peace time controls.
*351In view of the responsibility placed upon the executive branch of the Government and especially upon its armed forces in time of invasion and threatened invasion, it is essential that that branch of the Government have freedom of action equal to its needs. At the center of invasion, military control is the proper control to be applied, subject to provisions of the Constitution, treaties and laws of the United States applicable to a battle field. On December 7, 1941, I believe that the facts of the invasion and threatened further invasion amply established such a condition and justified at the time the military control established on that basis throughout the Islands.
Whether or not from the vantage post of the present this Court may disagree with the judgment exercised by the military authorities in their schedule of relaxation of control is not material unless this Court finds that the schedule was so delayed as to exceed the range of discretion which such conditions properly vest in the military authorities.
It is all too easy in this postwar period to assume that the success which our forces attained was inevitable and that military control should have been relaxed on a schedule based upon such actual developments. In fact, however, even now our Chief of Staff in his report to the Secretary of War as of June 30,1945, reminds us that in “the black days of 1942 when the Japanese conquered all of Malaysia, occupied Burma, and threatened India while the German armies approached the Volga and the Suez. . . . Germany and Japan came so close to complete domination of the world that we do not yet realize how thin the thread of Allied survival had been stretched.” Biennial Report of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1945) l.5 Those were critical days when the *352United States could afford no military mistakes and when the safety and control of the Hawaiian key to the Pacific was essential. It was the responsibility of our military commanders not only to do the right thing in the interests of safety but to take no chances of error or surprise. It was the obligation of our military commanders to insure safety rather than to risk it. Acting as they were in the “fog of war,” they were entitled to_a wide range of discretion if they were to meet the obligations imposed upon them. It is not justifiable to tear Hawaii out from the context of the war as a whole. Our military policy there, as elsewhere, had to be guided by its relation to the global war.
Under these circumstances it is conceivable that the military authorities might have tried to continue complete military control in effect for a substantial period with a view to later relaxation of all such control when conditions made it obvious that there was no longer a need for any control. Such a course was not attempted here. The Commanding General of the Hawaiian Department followed from the beginning the policy foreshadowed in his original proclamation. He restored civilian control of civilian activities wherever and whenever he felt that a partial restoration of it was in the public interest. In the meantime he had the primary duty of maintaining law and order and of fostering civilian activities as much as possible. Perhaps he could have arrested and detained individuals charged with violation of laws .or regulations and held them for later trial by civilian courts. However, in view of the size of the population and the necessarily limited facilities for large scale detentions, he owed an equal duty to dispose promptly of violations of the law. *353To this end, law and order was enforced and justice was administered in the first instance through military tribunals. With evident care and with substantial rapidity the military control was relaxed gradually, in instance after instance, until the administration of justice over civilians was restored completely to civilian administration when, on October 19, 1944^ the President issued a proclamation effective October 24, terminating martial law and directing the Governor to issue a proclamation accordingly.
There is set forth in the margin6 a summary of the steps by which this relaxation was accomplished. As early *354■'as December 16, 1941, the courts were reopened in so far as they applied to civil matters not involving jury trials. On January 27, 1942, the restrictions on court procedure were further modified. On August 31, 1942, a general order extended the jurisdiction of the courts to jury trials. Further relaxation occurred from time to time in 1942 and 1943.
It was on August 20, 1942, that the petitioner White was arrested for embezzlement in violation of Chapter 183 of the Revised Laws of Hawaii. On August 25 he was tried and convicted before a provost court, and sentenced *355to five years’ imprisonment, later reduced to four. In so far as the issue relates to his case, and in the light of the evident consideration that the Commanding General was giving to the restoration of civil control to the courts, I am unable to hold as a matter of law that, through not acting more quickly and less cautiously, he violated his constitutional discretion when on December 16,1941, he authorized the civil courts to open to a limited extent for the trial of limited classes of cases not requiring jury trials or the subpoenaing of witnesses, or when on January 27, 1942, he authorized the civil courts, as agents of the Mili*356tary Government, to exercise their normal functions except for jury trials, writs of habeas corpus and other specified classes of cases, and when, on Aúgust 31, 1942, he extended their jurisdiction to jury trials such as would have applied to the petitioner White. Even on that date, in General Orders No. 1337 he found expressly that “martial law has been declared and the emergency which called it forth still prevails.”
The petitioner Duncan was convicted on March 2,1944, of maliciously assaulting and beating two marines on February 24, 1944, with intent to prevent their performance of their duties as sentries at the main gate of the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. For this offense, he was sentenced to six months in jail. At this time civilian agencies had resumed most of their peace time jurisdiction, including criminal and civil proceedings, except for .criminal proceedings against members of the armed forces, civil suits against them for acts or omissions in line of duty and criminal prosecutions of violations of military orders. The close relationship of these items to the military functions of the armed forces on the Islands indicates the reasonableness of their exception. Even these exceptions were removed in October, 1944, when martial law was terminated. I find it impossible under these circumstances to hold that the President and the military authorities violated the, discretion vested in them to insure the safety of the Islands in time of war, invasion and threatened invasion, in that they failed to terminate martial law so completely before March 2,1944, that a civilian, who attacked marines on duty as sentries at the main gate of the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, could insist upon a trial in the local criminal courts as distinguished from the local provost court which had exercised jurisdiction over such cases throughout the Japanese war which was still actively in progress.
*357Now that the war has been won and the safety of the Islands has been again assured, there is opportunity, in the calm light of peace, for the readjustment of sentences imposed upon civilians and military personnel during the emergency of war and which have not yet expired. It is important, however, that in reviewing the constitutionality of the conduct of our agencies of government in time of war, invasion and threatened invasion, we do not now make precedents which in other emergencies may handicap the executive branch of the Government in the performance of duties allotted to it by the Constitution and by the exercise of which it successfully defended the nation against the greatest attack ever made upon it.
One way to test the soundness of a decision today that the trial of petitioner White on August '25, 1942, before a provost court on a charge of embezzlement and the trial of petitioner Duncan on March 2, 1944, before a similar court on a charge of maliciously assaulting marine sentries were unconstitutional procedures, is to ask ourselves whether or not on those dates, with the war against Japan in full swing, this Court would have, or should have, granted a writ of habeas corpus, an injunction or a writ of prohibition to release the petitioners or otherwise to oust the provost courts of their claimed jurisdiction. Such a test emphasizes the issue. I believe that this Court would not have been justified in granting the relief suggested at such times. Also I believe that this Court might well have found itself embarrassed had it ordered such relief and then had attempted to enforce its order in the theatre of military operations, at a time when the area was under martial law and the writ of habeas corpus was still suspended, all in accordance with the orders of the President of the United States and the GovernorCof Hawaii issued under their interpretation of the discretion and responsibility vested in them by the Constitution of the United States and by the Organic Act of Hawaii enacted by Congress.
*358In order to have the benefit of the full strength of our Constitution, both in time of peace and in time of war, it is necessary to protect the authority of our legislative and executive officials, as well as that of our courts, in the performance of their respective obligations to help to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

 Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet, who assumed naval command in the Territory of Hawaii December 18,1941, testified that the Hawaiian area constituted the only base for the Navy in the Pacific Ocean at that time and that throughout the war until the last Japanese carrier was destroyed, a Japanese surprise carrier attack on the Islands was within the enemy’s capabilities. While invasion by sea-borne troops in sufficient number to seize a beach head was not probable, invasion by submarine commando raiders and espionage parties was imminent and constantly impending. Lieutenant General Robert C. Richardson, Jr., Commanding General of the Central Pacific Area, who assumed command of the Hawaiian Department on June 1, 1943, testified that the Islands were within the theatre of operations of the Pacific Ocean area and that the Islands were the keystone of the defense of the western coast of our country. He testified that the Japanese fleet in April, 1944, was still capable of making a surprise attack upon Oahu by the use of air or undersea craft and that Pearl Harbor was the most attractive target for the enemy because it was the base of the Pacific fleet. He said that it was likely that Japan would take the risk of launching an attack because of the attractiveness of the target and the'considerable damage that might be inflicted. He pointed out that the probability of night attacks through the use of submarines and parties sent ashore to attack important installations was increased by the presence of disloyal individuals among the population of the Islands. The successes of our fleet had not removed the imminent danger of invasion because these successes made it more imperative for the enemy to repeat its former invasion of the Islands. He further testified that the discharge of his responsibility for military security required a method of enforcement of military security regulations which was prompt and subject to his *340immediate control and authority and that under martial law the provost courts provided such a method of enforcement. He testified that a military trial for such an offense as that of Duncan in attacking the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard sentries was necessary in order to uphold the authority of military sentries charged with important military duties. He also gave as his opinion that military necessity required trial of White’s offense in a military tribunal in August of 1942 at which time the Japanese successful military offensive still continued. In addition to the occupation of Hong Kong, the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, and bases in New Guinea, the Japanese had successfully occupied our own territories of Guam and Wake which, with Midway, constituted the island chain connecting Hawaii with the Philippines which themselves were soon occupied. The enemy’s occupation of the Solomon Islands, including Tulagi and Guadalcanal, gave the enemy advance air and naval bases for offensive operations against our South Pacific supply line and the north coast of Australia. Biennial Report of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army to the Secretary of War (1943) 14 (House Doc. 288,78th Cong., 1st Sess.); Mclnnis, The War, Third Year (1942) 238.
Early in May, 1942, one Japanese attempt to extend enemy control southeastward along the borders of the Coral Sea with the ultimate objective of an attack on Australia, was repulsed in the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Japanese offensive, however, continued. In early June the Japanese attempt to occupy Midway Island preliminary to an invasion of Hawaii was thwarted in the Battle of Midway. At the same time, however, Japanese forces occupied our territory of Attu, *341Agattu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands. Biennial Report, supra, p. 30. (These islands were not recovered until May, 1943. Biennial Report, supra, p. 31.) Japanese advances in New Guinea continued during the summer of 1942 and by September, 1942, had forced Allied ground forces back to within 30 miles of Port Moresby, a gateway to Australia. Biennial Report, supra, p. 14. On August 7 a landing was ■made on Guadalcanal by United States forces. For a time it did not appear that the effort to wrest this crucial island from the Japanese could succeed. A strong Japanese attempt to' recapture Guadalcanal was beaten off as late as November 16, 1942. Not until early in 1943 was enemy resistance on Guadalcanal overcome. Ibid. Even then our forces had only succeeded in checking the enemy’s offensive and had not launched their own offensives or ousted the enemy from any American territory. The American offensive in the Central Pacific did not begin until a year later with the invasion of the Gilbert Islands in November, 1943, followed by invasion of the Marshall Islands in January, 1944, and the invasion of the Mariana Islands in July, 1944. Biennial Report of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army to the Secretary of War (1945) 69. Our forces landed on Guam on July 21 and resistance ceased on August 10. By that time our forces in the Southwest Pacific under General MacArthur had reduced or by-passed the enemy’s footholds in New Guinea and the way was prepared for the Battle of the Philippines which began with the landing on Leyte on October 20,1944. Id., p. 75 ei seq. The “Battle of the Bulge,” in the Ardennes, was fought and won at high cost in December and January, 1944-45. Id., p. 44.

 “Hawaii constitutes the main Pacific outpost of the United States, and accordingly must be regarded as a fortress to whose defense the entire population of the Islands is committed. Its manpower and its economic resources must be subject to a single ultimate control.” General Orders No. 133, by order of the Military Governor of the Territory of Hawaii, August 31,1942.

 “Again, in the place where actual military operations are being conducted, the ordinary rights of citizens must yield to paramount military necessity. This was conceded in Milligan’s ease [4 Wall. 2, 127], where it was said in the prevailing opinion:
“ ‘If, in foreign invasion or civil war, the courts are actually closed, and it is impossible to administer criminal justice according to law, then, on the theatre of actual military operations, where war really prevails, there is a necessity to furnish a substitute for the civil authority, thus overthrown, to preserve the safety of the.army and society; and as no power is left but the military, it is allowed to govern by martial rule until the laws can have their free course.’ ” Address by Hon. Charles E. Hughes, War Powers Under the Constitution (1917) XLII Reports of American Bar Association 232, 244.
In the present cases the records have incorporated the following testimony of Lt. Gen. Robert C. Richardson, Jr., U. S. A., Commanding General of the Central Pacific Area:
“A. . . . this whole area under the command of the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Ocean Area, Admiral Nimitz, is an active theatre of war, and within that theatre of war is the theatre of operations, of which the Hawaiian Department is a part.
“Q. Will you explain what you mean, from the military viewpoint, by the terms ‘active theatre of war’ and ‘theatre of operations’?
“A. Well, an active theatre of war is that area which is or may become actively involved in the conduct of the war. A theatre of operations is that part of an active war theatre which is needed for the operations either offensively or defensively, according to the missions *345assigned or a combination of the missions; and it includes also the administrative agencies which are necessary for the conduct of those operations.”
“Q. Is there any military parlance that indicates that portion of the earth's surface where the fighting actually takes place?
“A. Yes.
“Q. What is that called?
"A. Combat zone.
“Q. You would hot call Hawaii a combat zone?
“A. Yes, I would, because the theatre of operations or the combat zone also includes that part assigned to your mission, whether it be offensive or defensive. We are on the defensive mission here in Oahu, whereas the fleet operates offensively from here, and some of our troops which are based here operate offensively from this base. But concurrently with its mission as an offensive base, we have a very decided mission here as a defensive base, and that defensive mission designates or characterizes it as a part of the combat zone.
“Q. Then a combat zone can be an area where no shooting is going on at all?
"A. Oh, yes; oh, yes.
“Q. No real destruction of life or property? v
“A. Absolutely. . . .
“Q. Wellj do you have any term, military term, that precisely fits the place where life and property is actually being destroyed as a result of organized warfare?
"A. Yes, the battle.”

 “To the People of Hawaii:
“The military and naval forces of the Empire of Japan have attacked and attempted to invade these islands.
“Pursuant to section 67 of the Organic Act of the Territory of Hawaii, approved April 30, 1900, the Governor of Hawaii has called *349upon me, as commander of the military forces of the United States in Hawaii, to prevent such invasion; has suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus; has placed the Territory under martial law; has authorized and requested' me and my subordinates to' exr ercise the powers normally exercised by the governor and by subordinate civil officers; and has required all persons within the Territory to obey such proclamations, orders, and regulations as I may issue during the present emergency.
“I announce to the people of Hawaii, that, in compliance with the above requests of the Governor of Hawaii, I have this day assumed the position of military governor of Hawaii, and have taken charge of the government of the Territory, of the preservation of order therein, and of putting these islands in a proper state of defense.
“All persons within the Territory of Hawaii, whether residents thereof or not whether citizens of the United States or not, of no matter what race or nationality, are warned that by reason of their presence here they owe during their stay at least a temporary duty of obedience to the United States, and that they are bound to refrain from giving by word or deed, any aid or comfort to the enemies of the United States. Any violation of this duty is treason, and will be punished by the severest penalties.
“The troops under my command, in putting down any disorder or rebellion and in preventing- any aid to the invader, will act with such firmness and vigor and will use such arms as the accomplishment of their task may require.
“The imminence of attack by the enemy and the possibility of invasion make necessary a stricter control of your actions than would be necessary or proper at other times. I shall therefore shortly publish ordinances governing the conduct of the people of the Territory with respect to the showing of lights, circulation, meetings, censorship, possession of arms, ammunition, and explosives, the sale of intoxicating liquors and other subjects.
“In order to assist in repelling the threatened invasion of our island home, good citizens will cheerfully obey this proclamation and the ordinances to be published; others will be required to do so. Offenders will be severely punished by military tribunals or .will be held in custody until such time as the civil courts are able to junction.
“Pending further instructions from this headquarters the Hawaii Defense Act and the Proclamations of the Governor of Hawaii heretofore issued thereunder shall continue in full forcé and effect.” (Italics supplied.)

 See also the letters of General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, of September 25 and 27, 1944, to Governor Thomas E. Dewey, emphasizing the tragic military consequences which at that date would *352follow disclósure that the United States had “broken” the Japanese secret message code. Hearings before Joint Committee of Congress to Investigate the Pearl Harbor Attack, 79th Cong., 2d Sess., Part III, 1128-1133.

 Dec. 7,1941. Governor Poindexter invoked § 67 of the Hawaiian Organic Act and by proclamation placed the Territory under martial law; suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus; and delegated to the Commanding General of the Hawaiian Department of the United States Army not only all of his powers as Governor but also all of the “powers normally exercised by judicial officers ... of this territory . . . during the present emergency and until the danger of invasion is removed ...”
DeG. 7, 1941. By radio the Governor of Hawaii notified the President of the United States that he had placed the-Territory Under martial law and suspended the writ of habeas corpus.
Dec. 7, 1941. The Commanding General, Walter C. Short, referring specifically to Governor Poindexter’s proclamation of the same date, himself issued a proclamation notifying the people of Hawaii that he had assumed the position of “Military Governor of Hawaii” and had taken over the government of Hawaii.
Dec. 7, 1941. The Military Governor of Hawaii issued General Orders No. 4 by which he set up a system of military courts to try civilians for violations of the laws of the United States, the laws of the Territory, and “rules, regulations, orders or policies” of the military authorities. The procedure prescribed for these military courts was that of special and summary courts martial.
Dec. 8,1941. The courts of the Territory were closed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii under the direction of the Commanding General.
Dec. 9, 1941. The President approved by radio, the action of the Governor suspending the writ and placing the Territory under martial law in accordance with the Organic Act of Hawaii.
Dec. 16, 1941. By General Orders No. 29 the complete closing of *354the courts was partly relaxed. The relaxation affected only civil matters not involving jury trials.
Dec. 17, 1941. General Short transferred to General Emmons his powers as Military Governor of Hawaii.
Jan. 27, 1942. The Military Governor, by General Orders No. 57, modified further the restrictions on court proceedings. By this order the courts of the Territory were authorized to exercise certain of the powers normally exercised by them during the existence of civil government. With certain exceptions, the courts were restored to their respective functions prior to martial law, “as agents of the Military Governor.” The criminal courts could not, under the order, summon a grand jury; and neither the criminal nor civil courts could grant a jury trial, or at any time grant a writ of habeas corpus.
Aug. 31, 1942. General Orders Ño. 133 extended the jurisdiction of the courts to jury trials. This order stated in § I: “. . . Martial law has been declared and the emergency which called it forth still prevails. ... It is to be understood that the relaxation herein specified is intended to return to the courts criminal prosecutions and civil litigation to the extent that war conditions permit. However, this action is experimental in nature and the Military Governor reserves the right further to limit the jurisdiction of the courts or to close them entirely, if that course shall be necessary.”
Sept. 4, 1942. General Orders No. 135 enumerated the criminal offenses involving crimes against the Government or related to the war effort, in respect to which the courts were not authorized to exercise jurisdiction.
Feb. 8, 1943. Governor Stainback, who succeeded Governor Poindexter, issued a public proclamation providing that, although martial *355law and suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus were to remain in effect, the Governor and other civil agencies would resume their respective jurisdictions, including criminal and civil proceedings, except for criminal proceedings against members of the armed forces and civil suits against them for acts or omissions in the line of duty and criminal prosecutions for violations of military orders, except as these exceptions might be waived by the Commanding General in any particular case or class of cases.
Feb. 8, 1943. General Emmons, the Military Governor, issued a public proclamation relinquishing to the Governor and other civilian officers of the Territory the functions set forth in the Governor’s proclamation.
Mar. 10, 1943. General Emmons issued a revised set of General Orders Nos. 1 to 14, and rescinded General Orders Nos. 1 to 181, issued under prior proclamations. General Orders No. 2 vested provost courts and military commissions with jurisdiction to try any case involving violations by a civilian of “rules, regulations, proclamations, or Orders of the Military or Naval authorities, or of the Military Governor of the Territory of Hawaii, or of the laws of war,” and to impose a fine, imprisonment or both. Maximum punishment was to be confinement at hard labor for five years, or a fine of five thousand dollars or both.
Oct. 19,1944. The President issued Proclamation No. 2627 providing that, effective Oct. 24, 1944, the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus was restored and martial law terminated and directing the Governor to issue a proclamation accordingly.
Oct. 24, 1944. The Governor- issued a proclamation which proclaimed that “the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is restored and that martial law is terminated in the Territory of Hawaii.”

 See Footnotes 2 and 6.