THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
S1.50 PER MONTH S16.P0 A YEAR
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER.Editors
Entered as second class matter Octooer 14, 1943, at the postoffice at
Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3. 1879.
Monday, July 15, 1946
EVIDENCE IN RATE HEARING
DURING THE THIRD Commission case in six years
dealing with Alaskan steamship rates, much evi
dence was submitted by various agencies of and for the
Territory of Alaska. Of these the Alaska Development
Board, the O.P.A., the several major cities, and cham
bers of commerce submitted the majority of the testi
mony against increased rates, fares and charges for
transportation to and from Alaskan ports and within
the Territory.
In 1940, the steamship companies were granted
increases in freight rates, giving them a net increase
of approximately 15 per cent.
In December 1941, an additional surcharge of 45
per cent was allowed for the three major steamship
companies serving Alaska.
Although the rate of the surcharge has been re
duced to 16 per cent for all areas of Alaska, the rate
is still much too high for the Territorial pocketbook.
David E. Scoll. Tttorney for the Alaska Dev
elopment Roard, ana Ralph J. Rivers, Attorney Gener
al of the Territory of Alaska, filed a brief before the
U. S. Maritime Commission. It contained the fol
lowing summary:
Summary of Testimony
The war and its ending have aggravated all that
was wrong with the rates, service and equipment in
the Alaskan trade before the war, and have created new
problems that cannot be solved by an increase in rates,
this is the gist of the testimony offered in Seattle and
Washington by the carriers, the War shipping Adminis
tration, and the Office of Price Administration, and the
Territory’s Alaska Development Board. ’ In the 1218
pages of testimony and voluminous exhibits introduced
by the parties, increased operating costs and labor,
troubles were analyzed and discussed at very great
length. Though opinions as to the evaluation of these
increased costs differ, the record shows that all parties
are unanimous upon the point that the Alaskan trade
cannot stand another general rate increase.
The issue which faces the U. S. Maritime Commis
sion in this proceeding, therefore, is one which cannot
be resolved by a finding of fair value and the fixing
of an allowable rate of return against which revenue
and expense may be measured. No fair value testi
mony was introduced by any of the parties. Revenue
and expense data were presented by the War Shipping
Administration for the Federal government’s operation
during the calendar year of 1945. The carriers of
fered their projections of revenue and expenses, based
upon their 1939 operations, to which they applied var
ious percentage increases. With such a record, there
is nothing upon which the Commission may bate a
rate order.
M ■ f
The concensus of the parties is that special legis
lation is required to provide Alaska with adequate
water transportation at reasonable rates and charges,
in order to secure a permanent solution to this problem.
However, before any such program for a permanent
solution of Alaskan shipping needs can be really effec
tive, a more careful analysis of the rates applicable to
various commodities and classes of traffic must be made
than was made at this proceeding. Otherwise, gov
ernment assistance will merely perpetuate the ine
qualities and inequities of the existing tariff structure.
Similarly, more information is needed on possible ec
onomies of operation, and in the matter of suitable de
signs for and cost of new tonnage. * •
vm nm im»wht !
A
WHY NOT LIKE CANADA? !
j
THE CANADIAN government at Ottawa has an
nounced a reduction in personal income taxes, ef
fective January 1, which will free 25 per cent of the
present taxpayers from payment of these imposts and
cut rates for the majority from 10 to 15 per cent. This
news has given fresh hope to American taxpayers, now
paying fantastic sums to Washington in the form of i
income levies.
“What can Ottawa do that Washington can’t do?”
they ask.
Under the Canadian order, exemptions for single!
taxpayers are raised to $750, compared to $500 in the.
United States, and married persons without depend-j
ents will have exemptions of $1500. Here is one of the;
most pressing subjects for congressional action when
the members return from their summer vacation. To
continue present income tax rates beyond January 1
in the United States is unthinkable.
The bureaucrats who plaintively recommend
continuance of present confiscatory federal tax rates
in the United States must be rocked back on their
heels by direct congressional assault if taxes are ever
to be reduced. Only when the money is no longer forth- i
coming will the federal payroll be reduced and other
urgently needed economies be effected. Give a bureau
crat the money and his enthusiasm for expanding his
activities knows no bounds.
It is not overlooked by American taxpayers that
Canada reduced income taxes an average of 15 per
cent on January 1, 1946, compared to the 9 per cent
reduction reluctantly agreed to by Truman when a
movement was under way in Congress to reduce rates
20 per cent in the United States.
The time for beginning worthwhile tax reductions
is here. If Congress postpones this vitally necessary
action until the bureaucrats admit they have more
money than they can use, taxes will never be reduced.
(The Anchorage Times)
; f
DECISIONS
MEN AND NATIONS gain
or lose by the quality
of decisions they make.
Founders of this remark
able republic made a wise
decision long ago, in favor
of personal self reliance
and individual achieve
ment. America is great to
day because so many smart
people were left free to do
as much as they could, as
well as they knew ho
and gain as much of a i
ward for themselves
they were able.
IVOT ALL Americans a
models of progress ai
success but they all ha
benefitted more or le
from the achievements
those who did have the ir
mortal spark. You car
pick successful men befoi
they try, but more men <
outstanding talent are sur
to come to light where e\
eryone is allowed to do hi
best. A large number c
thinkers at work alwaj
adds up to more for even
body.
Not Luck At All
pEOPLE may orate aboi
America’s greatness be
ing from her vast natun
resources. The resource
exist all right but the ret
skins had them before Co
umbus came and didn
know the use of a whee
Some people boast of thi
nation’s blue-blood herii
age. It was good. Ou
forebears, in large par
came from Europe. Tha
was probably the smartes
thing most of them eve
did.
y^MERICA’s economic sy
stem is what made Am
erica great. It is a systen
of liberty giving even
man the right to pick wha
he wants and go after i
hammer-and-tongs, get i
if he can and enjoy it tc
the extent of his capacity
so long as it does not tres
pass on the rights of some
body else. It is a spright
ly and dynamic economy,
quickly adjustable to chan
ging times and conditions.
What Developed?
J^IMITLESS opportunity
and keen competition
have borne a rich harvest.
Our farmers live better
than the peerage of some
foreign lands. Our labor
ers have more than work
ers anywhere have ever
had at any time. America
has seven percent of the
world’s population and 80
percent of the world’s au
tomobiles. We send more
children to high school and
college than the rest of1 the
world combined.
INURING the last two
years of World War II,
from a startled start in De
cember 19 4 1, America
made more war materials
than all her allies and her
foes put together. An Am
erican carpenter can buy
more with his pay for a