F Matheson to Mr. Sadakichi Kobayakawa, 03 June 1947

June 3, 1947

Reg. No. 06597

A letter, signed "M Kobayakawa, but apparently written in your behalf, has been received in this office. This letter contains a paragraph reading as follows:

“I would also like to inquire about the sale of our boats. The man who sold them credited the amount of $125 in the same of Y Kobayakawa, our uncle, who in turn signed a type written statement saying that the amount was to be credited to our father, S. Kobayakawa (Reg. 06597) and sent it to you. Then last year we received a note from your office saying that you had sent the balance of our account to our brother, T Kobayakawa. When he returned from a visit from work recently, we inquired about this matter and he says that he has not received it. In order to make a clear understanding of this question please send a complete duplicate of your file of our account.”

In order that you may more readily understand our letter, we will first explain that Custodian records do not deal with family groups. This office has a separate file for each person. We have examined the files of the members of your immediate family and these reveal the following information:

Your own file (No. 9940) reveals that, on May 23, 1942, you stated that you owned no personal effects, but on June 29, 1942, you reported that you were leaving in the care of the watchman of Francis Millerd & Co. Ltd., 4188 Marine, West Vancouver the following articles: one Singer sewing machine, one bandsaw, one motor and nine boxes of kitchen utensils. The sewing machine was shipped to your wife in response to her request of December 31, 1942. The bandsaw and motor were sold for the net sum of $192.50. On May 25, 1944, the B.C. Security took delivery of two wooden boxes of kitchen utensils and a bundle containing three washtubs and a boiler for shipment to you. The saleable articles identified as your property that remained after shipments made to yourself and your wife were sold for the net sum of $68.38.

The file of your wife (No. 9976) reveals that Mrs. Kobayakawa stated that she owned no property of any kind in the protected area, but that she later requested shipment of the sewing machine referred to above.

The file of your son, Masao (File 9939) shows that he stated that he owned no proeprty other than a life insurance policy.

The file of your daughter, Sadako (File 9941) shows that she stated that she owned no property other than a life insurance policy, but that in 1943 she wrote inquiring about a radio. This radio appears to have been the one surrendered by your son, Takao.

The file of your son, Takao (File 9942) reveals that he stated on May 23, 1942, that he owned no property of any kind in the protected area, other than this bank savings account and his life insurance policy. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, however, reported that a radio had been surrendered by Mr. Takao Kobayakawa. This radio was sold for the net sum of $60.65. At the request of Mr. Takao Kobayakawa, life insurance premiums totalling $56.40 were paid from these funds, and the balance of the money, $4.25, was remitted to him on July 28, 1946.

The files referred to in the preceding paragraphs are those of all the members of your immediate family that reported property to the Custodian, as far as we have been able to discover. In each case, the person concerned has signed a statement reading as follows: “I certify that the above information is true and complete and fully discloses all my property of every description in any protected area in British Columbia.” In no case did a member of your immediate family report ownership of a boat of any description.

However, Yoshizo Kobayakawa, Reg. No. 10736, did report that he was the owner of a row-boat, left at Sherman, B.C. in the care of the Great Northern Cannery, and on February 16, 1943, Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa wrote this office inquiring about his boat. On February 22, 1943, Francis Millerd & Co. Ltd. wrote this office as follows: “When Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa left he asked us to sell two row-boats that he left here if we had an opportunity.”, and the letter went on to report that one boat had been sold for $60.00, but as there was a debit against the account of Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa of $4.10, the company has $55.90 to the credit of Mr. Kobayakawa from this sale. This sum was later sent to the Custodian and credited to the account of Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa, and we informed Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa on March 4, 1943, when we also informed him that Francis Millerd & Co.Ltd had reported that two boats had been left in their care by Mr. Kobayakawa. On February 14, 1944, Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa wrote asking for the $55.90 received from the sale of one of his boats. On February 24, 1944, we informed Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa that were were unable to send these funds to him because a claim of $300.00 had been lodged against him, and we asked for his comments regarding this claim. On July 17, 1945, we received from Francis Millard & Co. Ltd., the sum of $56.00 in payment of a rowboat belonging to Mr. Kobayakawa. On August 25, 1945 we received a letter from Mr. Takao Kobayakawa asking that insurance premiums be paid for the $111.90 received from the sale of his boats. As we had no funds standing to the credit of Mr. Takao Kobayakawa from the sale of boats, but did have funds to the credit of Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa, we telephoned Francil Millerd & Co. Ltd. and were informed that the boats had been left in their care by Yoshizo Kobayakawa. This information was given to Mr. Takao Kobayakawa in our letter of August 31, 1945. On September 26, 1945, we received from Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa a letter reading as follows:

“I have received a letter from my brother todays stating that Francis Millerd & Co.Ltd. has forwarded to you the sum of $111.90 to my credit for the sale of two boats. Would you kindly trust this $111.90 to my brother, T. Kobayakawa's account as two boats sold belonged to him.”

On September 27, 1945, we informed Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa that all our previous corresponsence with him had indicated that the two boats were his property, and that, in view of the claim of $300.00 against him, we could not transfer the funds from his account, without some very definite evidence that the funds were the property of the brother to whom he wished these funds transfered. We also asked for the full name and registration number of the person to whom he wished the funds transfered. The letter recently received from "M. Kobayakawa" is the first reference made to the boats in letters from any of your family since. We were not informed of the full name and registration number of "T. Kobayakawa" the brother of Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa, and we have not been able to identify him from our records, and we had no evidence that Mr. Takeo Kobayakawa who had previously inquired about these boats was a brother of Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa.

In the letter recently received from "M.Kobayakawa" it is stated that Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa had asked that the money from the boats was to be paid to you. We received no such request from Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa. We do not know that Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa is your brother apart from the fact that Mr. M.Kobayakawa has stated that he is. In any case, we cannot pay the money received from the boats to you because of the claim against Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa which is still unsettled, and because Mr. Yoshizo Kobayakawa did not ask us to pay this money to you.

We trust that we have answered your inquiry in full. If not, we shall be pleased to answer any further questions you may have. We would suggest, however, that in writing to this office the full name of the person writing be given, in order that we may be sure that our reply goes to the correct person.

F Matheson