THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME, ALASKA
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 610
$1.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAR
W. A. Boucher .Owner-Publisher
Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943, at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Wednesday, April 6, 1949
ARMY DAY, APRIL 6
Army Day, which falls on April 6, today, is the day
set aside by the American people to honor an institution
which protects their way of life.
It is a self-evident'truth that, the welfare of the Army
is linked with the welfare of the Nation. To build
soundly, the Army and its civilian components—the Na
tional Guard, the Organized Reserve and the ROTC—
must have the wholehearted support and respect of the
people.
Army Day serves as a traditional occasion for the
Army to explain itself to the community. It also is an
excellent time for the community to demonstrate its
interest in the institution which it maintains with its
money and men.
The future is uncertain. The Army must not only plan
for today and tomorrow, but for a time when the fate of
our homeland might very well depend upon how wisely
the Army has built.
To discharge this grave responsibility, the Army
must continue to attract high-tvpe, intelligent young
men and women who voluntarily choose military serv
ice for a career. For, desoite the many technical ad
vances, its strength still depends primarily upon the
spirit and efficiency of the individual soldier.
The Army today offers remarkable opportunities to'
ambitious youth. It operates more than 60 technical1
training courses. The United States Armed Forces In
stitute provides a means for Service men and women to
continue their education on the high school and college
levels. The pay, taking into consideration the essentials j
provided—such as food, housing, clothing, medical care, |
etc.—compares favorably with civilian income. Retire-'
ment benefits are generous, permitting a soldier to re-1
tire after 20 years’ service at half pay; after 30 years at
three-quarters’ pay. The demand for specialists is -in
creasingly important.
FOURTH ROUND PAY INCREASE DEMANDS
(By Clarke Beach)
Will Spring bring another round of wage increases?
Here are some of the questions that will have to be de
cided at the conference tables—
Workers’ representatives will ask:
Have raises up to now met the rise in the cost of the
living? Have they been enough to provide the workers
with his share of the growing output per man per hour
made possible through technological and other ad
vances?
Employers will ask:
Is business good enough and is the outlook favorable
enough to justify giving wage raises? If the employees
forced a raise, would industry have to raise prices, thus
adding another turn to the rising spiral of inflation? If j
prices could not be raised for fear of losing . buyers, I
would employees have to be laid off to keep the business
on a profitable basis?
CIO economists, in the latest issue of the CIO News,
already have called for wage raises. One big employer
already is committed to an increase—General Motors.
The contract which the automobile manufacturer made
last year with 270,000 production workers provided
for a 3-cents-an-hour raise on May 29, 1949.
This is for increased productivity or, as it is called by
some, “the annual improvement factor.” The recent cut
in wages which GM employees took was an adjustment
to the lowered cost of living, another provision of last
year’s contract. But the productivity raise has nothing
to do with the cost of living.
Workers in a large number of smaller industries are
getting raises. The Department of Labor reveals this in
its monthly report, Current Wage Developments. Of
435 contracts reviewed in the January and February is*
WHO GETS HURT ?
sues, raises were granted in all but 13 cases. Both AFL
and CIO textile unions failed to receive wage raises. An
arbitrator said business conditions were such that pay
raises would be likely to result in lay-offs harmful both
to workers and employees.
And the United Shoe Workers (CIO) sought a raise
from 70 Massachusetts shoe manufacturers but failed to
get it. The Amalgamated Clothing Workers (CIO)
asked for no increase. Increases granted so far are not
all “fourth round.” It’s the fifth raise since the war's end
for some industries, only the first or second for others.
All eyes this spring will be on the Consumers’ Price
Index of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The -index,
which is a measure of living costs, has dropped to 170.9
from its all-time peak of 174.5 last August.
Since 1939 the average weekly wage in manufacturing
industries has increased from $23.86 to $54.54 as of Oc
tober, 1948. The rise in the wages of bituminous coal
miners has been perhaps the most spectacular—from
$23.88 a week in 1939 to $76.40 last October. In terms
of real wages, however, the workers have not improved
their lot nearly so much. The $54.54 which the factory
worker was getting in October would buy no more than
$31.23 in 1939.
The Labor Department has figured out that the aver
age factory worker, although receiving a raise of 128.1
per cent since 1939, has gained ony 30.9 per cent in pur
chasing power. The bituminous coal miners have in
creased their purchasing power 83.2 per cent.
But some other kinds of employees have done much
worse. Brokerage house employees’ real wages went up
only 3.6 per cent. The real wages of employees of insur
ance firms have dropped 14.9 per cent.
The President Council of Economic Advisers said in
its year-end report: “Substantial wage increases are
still called for in a number of instances where wages are
substandard.” But the council added: “Pushing for the
highest possible wage advance is dangerous to the econ
omy in a period when that advance necessitates even
higher prices.”
LABOR HOLDS LEAD
The political parties of Great Britain are looking for
ward to the election of 1950 when, up to date, there ap
pears no reason to believe that the Labor Party will lose
its control of the government.
Since 1945, forty-eight special elections have been
held to fill vacancies in Parliament. So far, the Conserv
atives have not managed to win a single constituency
that voted for Labor in the 1945 election,
The Labor Party presents their idea of a welfare
state, with the government providing many benefits for
the people, and the Conservatives have not been able to
formulate a program to capture the imagination of the
people. Election fights have been based largely upon al
legations of inefficiency, incompetence, waste and ex
travagance. The Labor reply is that, despite high prices
and high taxes, the Party has given the people greater
economic security and fairer treatment than they would
have enjoyed under any other administration.
“Susie” Writes
Another Letter
Dear Elsie:
I’m writing to tell you all about
what the N.C.O. Club at Marks
Air Base did for the children here
yesterday. You remember I told
you last month about the kids hav
ing fresh milk served at their
desks at Nome Public School, and
how happy we all were that the
good people all over town are co
operating to keep this project go
ing?
Well, a committee from the X.
C. O. Club (that’s the Non-Com
missioned Officers, you know*
made up of their President, M Sgt.
Heert; their Secretary, 1st Sgt.
Gifford: and their Board of Gov
ernors, M/Sgt. Diaz, T/Sgt. Bris
bais, T/Sgt. Holm and S/Sgt.
Hawkins, came into Nome yester
day and visited the school—had a
real visit with the children and
the teachers, too. And then, gues^
what, Elsie? Then the N.C.O. Club
gave the milk fund committee a
check to pay for all the milk for
this whole week. Isn’t that grand?
But I m ahead of my story. S
Sgt. Shepherd from the Base
Photo Lab, who just happened to
have his camera with h m, took
pictures of everyone and we all
became well acquaintel. The fel
lows visited around the different
rooms, listened to recitations of
lessons, and learned about the
school program in general.
Oh yes, Elsie. I heard one of the
fellows say afterwards (not men
tioning any names' that maybe he
should go back to school. In the
Sixth Grade class, he heard a
question about decimal fractions
that had him stumped,* and what
do you know? One of those pupils
gave the answer quick as a flash.
He certainly agreed that the chil
dren were being helped to grow
up healthy and wise.
Now before I forget it, the Wal
rus Club members want me to let
the N.C.O. Club know how grate
ful they, as well as the children,
are for this kind deed this week.
Everyone just feels happy all
over. Hoping this finds you the
same,
Love,
SUSIE.
( ommumcalion
Savusuva,
Fiji Isles,
March 14, 1949.
The Editor,
The Nome Nugget.
Nome, Alaska.
Dear Sir:
During the last war I served
for a while for the United States
Army in the Far North.
There is something about the
people and the place that one can
not forget. I would like to hear
from anyone, who is interested in
travfel, the South Pacific and
prayer. If you have a suitable
column, kindly insert this letter
or a little notice. Trusting to have
the pleasure to hear from you.
Yours faithfully,
Father Swaan,
(Rev.) William Swaan.
HEW TERRITORIAL TAX
OH PUHCHBOARDS
Effective on April 1st, the tax
commissioner, M. P. Mullaney.
has announced that punchboards
will pay a tax of:
$2.00 per board of 2000 holes
or less and
S4.00 per each 1000 holes in
excess of 2000 holes iji each
board.
This tax is a stamp tax and vio
lation of it shall be punishable up
to fines of $500.00.