THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome. Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 p. o. Box 61»
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W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER.Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postortir**
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Wednesday, April 2, 1947
Russia's American Allies In
The War Of Words
(The Denver Post)
IN PRIVATE LIFE, William Benton was a highly
successful and enlightened advertising man, a parter
ner with Chester Bowles in the firm of Benton &
Bowles. In public life today he is assistant secretary of
state, in charge of the state department’s worldwide pro
gram to inform other peoples of American aims and ac
tions.
Bill Benton’s campaign is part of a global “war of
words” in which the United States is aiming siege guns,
of truth against the totalitarian citadels of ignorance
and misinformation. In an address to the Foreign Press
association, the U. S. word-warrior told of the other side
of this war—American defense against a “psychological
warfare” offensive which the totalitarians are waging
against the United States. Benton characterized the to-!
talitarian—Russian—campaign as an “international
libel conducted behind barriers to free information. I
“When foreign governments in control of information
day after day, year after year, concentrate on the abnor-!
mal and malignant aspects of America, while excluding
the normal and benign, then I think those countries con-1
struct a barrier to stability and peace that can conceiv-;
ably prove insurmountable.” '
Benton described the “enormous and efficient organ
izations” by which the Russians conduct their campaign
abroad. He cited, for example, France with a Comfnun
ist-controlled press of sixteen daily papers and sixty
three weeklies and with 1,452 committees and offices of
the organization “France-U. S. S. R.,” devoted to pro-:
moting Franco-Russian friendship.
Benton could have touched closer to home and men-i
tioned the National Council of American-Soviet Friend
ship, with its widespread organization of local councils
in the United States. The “Friendship councils,” along'
with the Communist party and its various fronts, are the
principal agents of Soviet propaganda in this country,
just as they are in every nation of the world which per
mits their formation.
As the leading proponents of the Russia-can-do-no
wrong school of thought, the council is distributing
propaganda sheets captioned “WAR OR PEACE .. WE
MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN TWO ROADS.” Their the
sis is that the U. S. policy is an aggressive “repudiation
of Potsdam and of everything the Allies foughtfor . . . ”
As they phrase the alternatives:
“Either we insist upon strategic and political posi
tions against the Soviet Union in Greece, Turkey and
other encircling nations, or else we seek a fundamental
settlement with the Soviet Union on the basis of permit
ting the peoples of Europe, the Near East and Asia to de
termine their own affairs in light of their own needs.”
The first course means war, the second peace, advises
the council propaganda. It is a subtle line which re
verses the facts of the Greek situation: actually it is the
second course—that of seeking a settlement with Russia
which will guarantee weaker nations the right of self
determination—which forms the basis of American pol
icy. And it is Russian aggression which threatens this
right. Contrary to these facts, tl\e council follows the
Soviet world propaganda line and libels the United
States as the aggressor.
Bill Benton must regret that U. S. propaganda has no
such allies behind the totalitarian frontiers, even though
as he remarks, “Free peoples could not carry on the kind |
of psychological warfare waged by the totalitarian
states even if they wanted to.”
Certainly free peoples are the only ones who would
tolerate the activity of their own fellow citizens as
agents of hostile propaganda.
We Must Be Prepared
(Rocky Mountain News)
THE GRAVITY of the international situation is a
compelling argument for prompt action in Congress on
universal military training legislation.
We cannot expect to maintain peace in the world un
less we have the force to back up our policies. We do not
have it now.
The GIs of World War II? They have done their bit.
Many of them would respond to another call, but that
might not be enough. And each passing year will broad
en the gap between the number of trained men needed
in an emergency, and the trained men ready to meet that
need.
We must have an ever-ready reservoir of trained man
power, reinforced each year by replacements, if we are
to have real security insurance against attack.
Worthwhile national defense cannot be a “Let
George-Do-It” proposition. Preparedness must be spir
itual, as well as physical.
If there is any quality of democracy that sets it apart
from other social systems, it is the recognition of equal
ity of all citizens under the law. That principle involves
obligations as well as privileges.
If democracy is to survive, the burden of maintaining
it must be equally distributed. If there is fighting to be
done, we cannot expect the few to do it for the many.
The heroic defenders of Bataan had to stand against
overwhelming numbers because their fellow country-1
men were not prepared to go to their rescue. It will be
to our eternal shame if we let anything like that happen
again.
British economy is crippled, and British industry suf
fers from an acute manpower shortage. Yet the House
of Commons is considering a most drastic peacetime
conscription bill.
It calls for 18 months’ full-time military service and
five and a half years’ part-time service for men between
18 and 26.
The War Department’s civilian military training pro
gram does not require service in the regular military
establishment.
ilt is strictly a training program—six months in camp,
and an additional six months in the National Guard, an
organized reserve unit, the ROTC, or specialist training
in an approved technical, trade or vocational school.
Unlike the British, our trainees would not be soldiers,
and they would not be subject to foreign service. Only
men of 17, 18 and 19 would be required to register. The
training could be taken any time between their 17th and
20th birthdays. That is a relatively insignificant sacri
fice to make for the privileges of living under American
democracy. It is a small price to pay for security.
THAT’S THAT By bruce gustin
_ <S>
Mrs. Helen Gahagan Douglas
<Dem.), Congresswoman from Cal
ifornia,, complaining that food
prices have skyrocketed since fed- j
eral price controls were ended, |
told Republicans in Congress last
week, “Don’t look now, but a very
lively ghost is at your shoulder;
he is the high cost of living.” There
the two such ghosts at the shoulder
of every wage earner. One is in
creased food prices. The other is
the threat of increased taxes. And
don’t ever forget, as so many of
the politicians and demagogs do,
that taxes are as real a part of liv
ing costs as are food prices. You
may cut down on your food buy
ing. But death and taxes are two
things from which there is no es
cape.
There’s talk in Congress of legis
lation continuing the President’s
emergency power to seize and put
under federal operation strike
threatened vital industries. Such
action is needed. And this seizure
authority should be extended to
cover the striking union as well as
the strike-threatened industry. If
the public interest is to be protect
ed, the government cannot tolerate
strike strangulation of any essen
tial public service. And if its in
tervention is to be fully effective,
it should take over both parties to
the dispute, instead of merely one.
The Russian demand for 10 bil
lion dollars of reparations from
Germany is fantastic. Such a sum
couldn’t be collected. After World
War I, the Allies fixed the Ger
man reparations bill at 33 billions.
Later this was scaled down to 9
billions. Attempts to collect even
that eventually were abandoned.
Germany escaped physical damage
in World War I. In World War II,
the Reich wos devastated.
Russia did suffer terribly from
German aggression. So did Britain,
Holland, France, Poland, Greece,
and other countries. And it should
not be forgotten that when the war
started, Stalin and Hitler were
partners and Russia grabbed half
I of Poland as her share of the loot.
' So far as the Allies are concerned,
the most important thing now is to
get the Germans back on their feet
( *o they can at least feed them
| selves instead of being a constant
drain on the Allied countries, es
i pecially the United States and
; Britain.
There is more iron in President
Truman than anybody suspected.
The vigor and decisiveness with
which he forced a showdown with
Soviet Russia on the issue of Com
munist aggression startled even
his own admirers. He doubtless
could have obtained a 400-million
„dollar appropriation for the relief
ol Greece and Turkey without any
difficulty, if he had sought thnt
merely as a relief measure. But by
taking the bold stand that this
American aid should be provided
to halt Communist aggression in
the Mediterranean area he forced
a decision on the most momentous
question of foreign policy that
could be raised now.
Not only on the foreign front,
but on the home front is President
Truman making it plain to the
Russians that they must pull in
their horns and demonstrate by
their actions that they mean their
words of peace. When Secretary of
Labor Schwellenbach, a cabinet
member, advocated outlawing the
Communists as a political party in
the United States, that is the same
as ,’i President Truman himself
had spoken. It should be as plain
as day to Soviet Russia that there
is to be no more appeasen^ent ol
Communist aggression from the
United States.
The United States supreme court
decision upholding the govern
ment’s right to fire Communists
and fellow travelers further stren
gthened the President’s hand.
There is no question now about the
administration’s authority to weed
out Communists who have infil
trated federal agencies.
Harold Ickes’ nose is out of joint.
The lower house of Congress has
voted to restore the name of “Hoo
ver dam,” which he, as new deal
secretary of interior, tried to
change to “Boulder dam.” In his
most sarcastic vein, the “Old Cur
mudgeon” says that “ought to go
far to satisfy housewives who are
complaining about the cost of liv
ing and the G.I.’s who cannot find
a place to live at any price.” In
that connection, Ickes might be
asked whether his action in chang
ing the name of the “Hoover dam”
put to work any of the millions of
unemployed who then were clam
oring for jobs.
Sugar Rationing
To Continue
(By Sterling F. Green)
WASHINGTON, </P)~Sugar ra
tioning gained a new seven-month
lease on life today, but President
Truman—fearful of “disastrous
: economic consequences” from such
a short extension—announced he
might seek longer controls.
The sugar act, which also carries
sugar price control to October 31,
was approved by Congress Mon
day along with a 90-day extension
of the President’s power to parcel
out a sharply trimmed list of in
dustrial, drug and food items.
Mr. Truman signed both bills in
time to prevent the entire sugar
rationing program from dying.
The act is the source of the prior
ity, rationing and allocation power.
It ran out at midnight, save for the
few control! salvaged.
No change in sugar rations or
regulations will be made for the
present, secretary of agriculture
Clinton P. Anderson announced.