[x]

That's an interesting allegation. Do you have any evidence that it is true? Unfortunately, the author of this piece fails to provide any.

It sounds like he's projecting current conditions back onto the past without really looking at the details.

I don't have any information either, but Hawaiian requirements for birth records were lax even when the welfare state wasn't much to speak of and immigration was limited.

Just why that was -- an effort to get around restrictions on Chinese or Japanese immigration and citizenship or just general inefficiency -- I don't know.

How likely is it that the White Territorial governments would have made things easy for Japanese newcomers? Maybe there were just too many children born on out of the way plantations to keep good records.

[curiosity]

I don't have any information either, but Hawaiian requirements for birth records were lax even when the welfare state wasn't much to speak of and immigration was limited.

I've seen this claimed, but I have yet to see it substantiated.

How likely is it that the White Territorial governments would have made things easy for Japanese newcomers? Maybe there were just too many children born on out of the way plantations to keep good records.

Yes, that is why it was relatively easy to get a "Certificate of Hawaiian Birth" during the territorial era. It's also why such a certificate is NOT accepted as proof of citizenship by the feds.

But I haven't seen any evidence that the documentation standards were lax for certificates of LIVE birth in 1961. I've seen lots of birthers make this allegation, but as usual, they present no evidence to back up their case.

[curiosity]

It sounds like he's projecting current conditions back onto the past without really looking at the details.

I'd also note that the welfare state in 1961 was pretty modest. There were some New Deal programs in place, but the really generous programs didn't come until the Great Society was passed under Johnson ~5 years later.