THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
V A. and EMILY BOUCHER .Editors
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Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943, at the postoffice
aT Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3. 1879.
Wednesday. March 31, 1948
Democracies Awaken
(Bv Barnet Nover)
Despite some hopeful developments, the feeling of
profound alarm which began to grip western Europe
and Amerioa when the Red tide swept across Czecho
slovakia shows no signs of easing.
Democratic statesmen are acutely aware that time is
running out; that unless the western nations take
speedy and constructive action to combat the twin men
aces of Communist infiltration and economic chaos,
Czechoslovakia will not be the last country to lose its
freedom.
They are, at the same time, aware tfcat in one signifi
cant particular, the struggle is an unequal one and all in
Russia’s favor.
Russia is in a position to act whenever it suits her
purposes to act and to act alone. The Kremlin does not
have to await the outcome of a prolonged debate among
men of varying views. Agreement among the handful
of men who compose the Politiburo is enough.
Nor does Russia have to reconcile her plans with
those of other nations. Her allies are also her satellites,
bound to her hand and foot, and whatever their nation
ality, her stooges all speak Moscow’s language and act
as Moscow instructs them to act. Togliatti, Tito, Gott
wald, Thorez, Pauker, are all peas out of the same pod.
The speed with which Russia moves and the slow
pace that prevails among the democracies even with re
spect to matters of great urgency is found in the con
trast between what has happened to Czechoslovakia
and what has happened to the Marshall plan.
Czechoslovakia lost her freedom in a fortninght. The
Marshall plan has, thus far, been nine months in the
building. It would be little short of a miracle if, on the
anniversary of Secretary Marshall’s Harvard address,
the European recovery program becomes a functioning
system. To be sure, Czechoslovakia represented, so far
as Russia was concerned, a single, concentrated problem
in policy; the Marshall plan calls upon seventeen separ
ate nations to integrate their economies, poll their re
sources and join together in a common effort toward re
covery.
In normal times we could regard it as little short of a
miracle that so much has been accomplished since June
in putting flesh and bone on Marshall’s concept. In view
of possible developments in Italy, where a Communist
victory is not beyond the realm of likelihood, there is
no reason to congratulate ourselves on the speed with
which Secretary Marshall’s original proposal was taken
up, developed and transformed into an actual plan.
The same is true of certain very heartening collateral
developments that have recently taken place.
It is tremendously inspiring to read that Great Bri
tain, France and the Benelux countries, after only three
days discussion, reached a general agreement on the ba
sic principles of an economic and military union be
tween them.
Yet it will take time, a great deal of time, to translate
the general agreement of Brussels into a binding agree
ment and more time will be needed before other Mar
shall plan nations join the five in this pact of union.
It is also encouraging that, at long last, agreement on
the German problem has been reached at London by
the Uitited States, Great Britain and France. This, too
(like the Brussels agreement), can be said -to be the con
sequence of the Marshal plan plus the Czechoslovak de
velopments.
The London agreement will make it possible to ex
pand the production of western Germany and add it to
the common west European pool. But it will be months
before the benefits of the London pact will materialize.
That is why, cheering as the news is from Brussels and
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London, we must not delude ourselves into thinking
that the value of the agreements reached in those places
recently is, for the time being, any more than psycho
logical. The fact is that on the eve of the climactic peri
od in the struggle betweetn east and west, the west has
only just begun to mobilize its strength and to deploy
its forces.
I
World Trade, ERP Go Hand In Hand
(By Lawrence Martin)
WASHINGTON AND THE NATION at large are
deenV absorbed in the Congressional fight to provide
the Marshall plan with strong monetary muscles. An
other program which, in the long run, may be an even
treater influence for peace and prosperity has received
but scant attention so far.
The reciprocal trade act will expire June 12 unless
an extension, requested by President Truman is ap
proved. If the Marshall plan restores employment and
productivity in democratic countries, the degree of
prosperity those countries then may expect to enjoy
will depend largely on the extent thev are able to trade
with one another—and with the United States.
If the act is extended, the state department will be
empowered to continue the negotiation of mutually
beneficial tariff agreements with any and all nations
which may wish to negotiate. i
If it is not extended, tariff-making, as far as United
States is concerned, will cease to be a matter of give
and-take bargaining. Instead, U. S. tariffs would be
nurelv on the basis of Congressional log-rolling and the
lobbying efforts of special interests.
In the fourteen vears since it was first enacted, the
reciprocal trade act has fallen short of the accomplish
ments expected of it. But it must be remembered that
economic w?r or actual shooting war has been in prog
I ress over most of the world during that time. The act
1 never has had the opportunity to function under “nor
mal” conditions.
In a few instances, the tariff reductions the state de
partment has negotiated have not been based on the
realities of the world trade situation. However, the re
ciprocal trade policy is the only long-range hope for
general economic well-being that this country is hold
ing out to a distraut world. If hope should disappear,
Communism would move in unopposed.
A return to the economic isolation is no more possi
ble for this country today than a return to political iso
lation would be. Most Americans have come to realize
the significance in the fact that the periods of greatest
domestic prosperity have coincided with periods of rec
ord-breaking foreign trade.
They are aware that America in years just ahead will
be dependent more than ever on imports of raw materi
als to keep the world’s largest industrial plants going.
They understand other countries cannot buy from us
unless we buy from them.
They know that “cheap” foreign labor, from which
f
tariffs are supposed to protect us
usually turns out to be inefficient
and expensive labor.
They have learned that a tariff
which helps any American indus
try helps all American industry
because if the southern cotton
planter finds a profitable overseas
market he and his workers can
buy more clothing from New York
more refrigerators from Michigan
and more beefsteak from the far
west.
The United States is the only
strong champion of reasonably un
restricted trade in the world. The
reciprocal trade act is the only
tool we have to implement that
trade program. Failure to renew it
would play directly into the hands
of Russia and leave the Marshall
plan as a temporary expedient
with no sustained policy to back it
up.
U. S. Food Shipped
To France Called
Salvation for Them
(By Palmer Hoyt, Jr.)
France is full of gratitude for
American interim aid these days,
and while some of it is official
gratitude, a great deal of it is
spontaneous.
The American interim aid pro
gram began Dec. 17 and at that
time the French government
agreed to publicize United States
donations. The government has
lived up to its word, although of
ficial gratitude has sometimes
been a bit slow and perhaps a bit
forced. Yet this does not seem so
indicative as a single letter from
a little girl in the south of France.
This little girl wrote a letter to
American Ambassador Jefferson
Caffery last month, thanking him
for the almost-white bread that
she and her family had on their
table. She thanked him for all the
family, for her father had told her
that the bread was better because
of shipments of American flour.
H u n d r eds of shipments of
American food already have ar
rived in France and have been dis
tributed to the areas which need
it most.. Most of the grain, milk,
prunes, potatoes and eggs have
gone to the cities, for the French
government knows that a good
deal of the production of the coun
tryside never has been delivered.
In Paris, and in other cities of
France, approximately 70 per cent
of the flour in every loaf of bread
now comes from the United States.
The French people know it, be
cause Premier Schumann and
other members of the government
point this out in frequent radio
broadcasts. The French newspa
pers, other than the Communist
papers, carry almost daily stories
about interim aid.
According to American sources
here, it has been difficult to pub
licize American aid to France. Un
til the war, France was always a
self-sufficient nation as far as
food was concerned, and it has
been a great blow to the national
pride to have to accept relief.
Even after the war, there was
little direct relief given this coun
try, for the French bought food
where they could get it and paid
with their external assets. Until
the interim aid program began,
there was no charity involved ex
cape for CARE and other private
relief organizations. In the fall of
1944, there was a supply of 208,000
tons of flour brought in southern
France by the American army, but
this was a part of American lend
lease aid to France.
As it now stands, the American
interim relief that is brought into
France is turned over to the