THE NOME NUGGET
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W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER. Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943, at the postoffice
at Nome. Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Monday, October 21, 1946
Russian Lake?
By SUMNER WELLES, Former Undersecretary of State
Whether we are to have one world or two is the out
standing question of today. Many who think they be
lieve in a one-world order are advocating policies which
could only bring about the creation of precisely that
kind of a two-world order which they claim they oppose.
If any practical example were needed to clarify their
think'ng, that example is available in the controversy
over the Dardanelles.
The security of the straits has been of increasing con
cern to Russia ever since Peter the Gret captured Azov
in 1696 and thereby fained access to the Black Sea. The
straits afford the Soviet Union here one warm-water
outlet to the west. The nature of the control of the
straits directly involves the safety of the Soviet Union.
The right of warships as well as of merchant vessels
to pass through the straits has been a matter of dispute
since the beginning of the nineteenth century.
By the treaty of Unkiar Skelessi in 1831, Russia was
permitted free access to the Mediterranean while no
other power was permitted entrance into the Black Sea.
The London treaty of 1940 stipulated that no warships
were to be permitted to leave or to enter the Black Sea.
The Treaty of Paris of 1856 denied Russia the right to
maintain any naval vessels in the Black Sea. The Treaty
of Berlin of 1878 laid down the rule that the warships of
powers friendly to Turkey were to be allowed passage!
both in and out of the Black Sea, and permitted Russia
to maintain a Black Sea fleet. The Lausanne convention
of 1923 established a new principle by providing for the
demilitarization of the Dardanelles, and by creating, un-i
der the League of Nations, an international commission
of the straits. Finally, the Montreux convention of 19361
again changed the rules for the transit of warships and
of merchant vessels, permitted Turkey to fortify the1
straits, and reaffirmed the principle of “freedom of
transit and of navigation, by sea and by air* in time of
peace as in time of war.”
'Any study of international extorts to regulate tratfic
through the straits brings out two salient facts. The first
is that the regime of the straits has been changed when
ever international conditions changed.
The second was clearly stated by Maxim Litvinov at
the Montreux convention when he said, “There exists
no other sea which is in the same geographical situation
as the Black Sea. If the Mediterranean Sea or the Baltic
sea were in the same geographical situation as the Black
sea, I should not oppose equality of rights between the
Black Sea states and those of the rest of the world; but
such is not the case. The Mediterranean is not a closed
sea, you can penetrate it through its two extremities,
and that is also the case with the other seas. If to the
contrary you wish to penetrate the Black sea, it is for a
definite end. This may be either to pay a visit or to offer
your assistance to a state in difficulty, in application of
a decision of the League of Nations. For my part, I can
not imagine another legitimate aim for which foreign
vessels would enter into the Black Sea.”
The great difference between the Russian position in
1936 ^nd the Russian position today is this: The Russian
government was then willing to place the straits under
international control, subject to the League of Nations.
The Soviet government today seeks what is equivalent
to the sole right to control the Dardanelles and to fortify
them, to the exclusion of the authority of the United
Nations.
In its note to Turkey last August, Moscow claimed
JUST A SECONDS
that “the regime of the straits must constitute the com
petence of Turkey and the other Black Sea powers”—
namely, Russia and her sattellites, Bulgaria and Ro
mania—and that “Turkey and the Soviet Union . . .
should organize by joint means the defense of the
straits.” In its more recent note the Soviet government
has, of course, added the implied threat that, if Turkey
organizes “military measures in the straits together
with any non-Black Sea power,” the Soveit Union
would regard her safety as in jeopardy.
In the light of present conditions the Soviet govern
ment is fully justified in asking for a reconsideration of
the Montreux convention. That has already been agreed
to by the Turkish government and by the western pow
ers. But when the Soviet government maintains that the
control and the defense of the straits are solely a matter
for the Black Sea countries- it thereby automatically de
nies the one-world principle upon which the United Na
tions has been founded, as well as the principle of free
dom of communications.
Were the Soviet government to secure the rights it
seeks from Turkey, the Black Sea would immediately
become a Russian Lake. The countries bordering upon
it would all be forced to come under the Soviet svstem.
Any acquiescence on the part of the United States in
such a demand would mean that this government ac
cepted a two-world system.
The issue is therefore much more than merely the
Question of what constitutes Russia’s rightful security.
Russia is entitled to seek legitimate safeguards in the
straits. But those safeguards can only properly be estab
lished and controlled by the United Nations if that or
ganization is to survive.
The future of the United Nations and the decision as
to whether we are to have one world or two may well be
determined by the final outcome of this dispute over the
Dardanelles.
By GEORGE 3 BENSON
Resident of Harding College
Searcy. Arkansas
. i l
LONDON TODAY
England suffered much during
the war. Many blocks in the heart
of the great city of London, com
pletely razed by the Nazi “Luft- j
wtaffe,” remain unrepaired. All
parts of the city sustained scatter
ed damage from the raids. They
took much punishment bravely,!
and they are industriously setting j
about to repair their country.
Perhaps it is partly Britain’s |
proximity to continental trouble-!
makers and the consequent disas- j
ter, although some of these trou-'
ble spots have been pawn as well
as threat during her history, that
gives the people such an aware
enss of foreign realtions. They
have learned the defenses that are
usually provided by a good for
eign office, and have developed
shrewd international statesmen.
There is little apparent disunity
in their foreign policy.
Nonetheless, war came to them,
and their sufefrings were great.
Reconstruction in Britain is mov
ing slowly. A long time will be re
quired for complete rebuilding,
even of her damaged streets and
destroyed buildings. Materials are
0
short, and rationing diverts most
materials into home building,
which is proceeding slowly also.
Rationing Slow-Down
Most Britons feel that rationing
of materials has slowed produtB
tion. The government is meticu
| lous about “filling out forms,” and
the proper approval must be had
I to obtain each different type of
building materials. Sometimes
brickwork must stop because the
bureau controlling glass has not
approved and returned the forms
for buying windows. This reminds
one of the days when our craft
unions were at odds frequently
(but perhaps never the bricklayers
and glaziers), slowing down con
struction work.
The London press announced
while I was there that building
contractors were being granted
extra gasoline rations because of
the additional travel required to
get their numerous forms filled
out and circulated to wholesalers
and retailers, which they found
necessary to do in order to com
plete a building. ^
All rationing seems to move
slowly. For instance, I had to ob
tain food points to give the hotel
for the week I was in London. Up
on the advice of the hotel man
ager that I should report at the
rationing office when the doors
opened at nine o’clock. I arrived
at 8:45 and found a long queue
already waiting. Eventually T
found myself in a special room for
foreign visitors, with only a few
of the waiting applicants, and had
to wait only about an hour. The
speed of the ration clerks remind
ed me of some of our own paid
clerks during the war; it was evi
dent they were not paid by the
number of customers they served
and that they had no fear of com
petition. ^
Queues and Bread
England is experiencing a great
er shortage of food, clothing, and
gasoline than during the war, and
therefore rationing has not been
eliminated. On the contrary, some
items are now rationed which
were not under rationing during
the war. Queues of from 50 to 300
people were constantly on the
streets, at most all hours, waiting
to get rationed articles. a
I was actually 'hungry every day
I spent in England. Bread counts
as one of the three courses avail
able for a London dinner, and if
bread is ordered this eliminates
either the soup or the sweet. Dur
ing my last day in London a hotel
waiter was fined $20 for inadvert
entyl putting a roll on the table
for each of two men who had noL
ordered bread. They chanced to be
inspectors.
Birds In Belfry
Ring The Bell
BALTIMORE. (>P) — The Rev.
George E. Englert and police came
running when the burglar alarm
in St. James Catholic church
clanged in the early morning
hours.
Their search ultimately led
them to the church steeple, where
they found two frightened boys,
clutching their “loot”—a bag con
taining 21 pigeons captured in the
belfry.
Adding Injury To Insult
SALSBURY, Md. (/P) — When
Maryland state police advised Av-1
ery W. Hall that his stolen auto
mobile had been located in Folk^Ml
stone, Ga., the Salisbury business
man doubted that he’d go south
to claim it. The machine was
abandoned on a railroad tracks,
and a train cut in virtually in half.