Til <: NOME NUGGET
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W A. and F.Mtl.Y HOUCHER Editors
Entered as iwcoud Hass matter October 14, 1943, at the poatoffiee
at Nome. Alaska, under the AH of March 3. 1879.
Wulitostljiy, January 22. 1947
A Slirowd Muihmiht By dliiim's (lliiaim
• r
(Rocky Mountain News')
ANOTHER SCENE in China’s troubled political
drama is unfolding before western eyes, and it is as dif
ficult to undertsand as anv out of Cathav's ancient das
% V
sics.
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek startled observers
recently when he told the national assembly that since
it was taking over control of the government. "I have no
more political ambitions.’’ Chiang turned over a draft
of a national constitution to the assembly, then indicated
that after twentv-ono voars of chief of state he consid
rrod his duty completed to Sun Yat-Sen, his political
mentor It looked like a roundabout wav of saving Chi
ang was ready to retire.
Yet it must bo obvious to a nun as realistic as Chians
V •
that his nation is little belter off today than it was the
day he took over front the dying Sun. Twenty-one years
Ago China was ruled bv a dozen warlord. Todav the
warlords have been wiped out or won over, but the na
tion is split by a much more serious schism—between
the Nationalists and the Communists—with no prospect
of settlement. China in 1947 is no further advanced in
dustrially. in fact, the nation and the people largely are
destitute and exhausted from two decades of civil war
in addition to eight years of battling a rapacious invader
It is hardlv the time for the nation to entrust its fate
to the hands of an inexperienced assembly under an un
tested constitution
The tactics which Chiang has had to follow in main
taining his regime ruthless suppression of the opposi
tion have not been conducive to developing able load
ers There is no one in China, outside of the Communist
camp, that even nearly attains his stature as statesman,
administrator and popular figure. Even his brothers
in-law. 7 Y Soong, and H H. Kung. who were en
trusted w ith kov cabinet positions in earlier davs. large
ly hav e gone into eclipse.
In less troubled times Chiang’s decision to relinquish
the reins and step dow n in favor of a national assembly
might be hailed as a welcome and long-overdue step
Todav. despite a deep desire to see China embrace more
of the mechanical trappings of democracy. we can onl\
eons der such a move ill-timed.
China is flirting with utter chaos at a time when it. or
the western democracies, cannot afford further d.srup
tion. ‘.t would seem Chiang. despite his many failin
must see the hazard attached to his early retirement.
ospec.a'.l> when there is no assurance that his succes
sors would have any better luck in reaching reconcilia
tion w th the Communists
Thus his statement could well be a shrewd move to
inv ite a demand that he remain at the helm. A popular
''draft' would strengthen his hand to deal with the
growing crisis.
The Nation’s Survival Is The Real Issue
(The Denver Post)
WITHOUT KNOWN EXCEPTION the leaders of
American labor have missed the whole point of the
Ijrw.s tria Their bittc: recr.ruinations about “‘applying
the rule of the jungle." “‘government by injunction."
'“inviting the thug system and yellow dog contracts."
and oihe: such v t uperat ons are beside th# point.
That point, the very heart of the issue, is whether
this nat.:or. or an> nation can survive if its authority is
successfully challenged by any group or individual.
Who do we have the Sherman anti-trust act * We have
it because the nation, for its own safety, had to restrain
the power of big corporations and rich individuals to
damn the public for their own purposes. The great
monopolies at the turn of this century could not strike,
but they had power for evil no less great. They could
strangle trade, manipulate the stock market and put our
people on their knees. No nation could tolerate such a
threat to its power.
It is that very threat which John L. Lewis hurled
against our nation and its laws. Lewis has thundered
that there can be no law to restrain him. No nation
could bow before that challenge and live.
That is something loyal men among the rank and file
of American labor must understand. The prosecution
of Lewis was not a move to destroy their unions. It was
a defense of our nation—their nation—against anarchy.
It is an assertion of the fundamental rule of democracy,
that the welfare and safety of the whole people pre
cedes every individaul claim.
Always On Time!
w
LINDBERGH FLYING TO PARIS carried letters of
introduction just in case he needed them. Even cold,
calculating engineers make such mistakes. The Decem
ber issue of Long Lines magazine tells us the New York
telephone company's “time bureau” was opened Aug.
31. 1931, with an operator constantly on duty to tell
folk what time it is. An automatic gadget was rigged up
to tell her if no one is listening, so she can stop reading
the clock out loud and catch her breath. For more than
fifteen years that thing has been waiting patiently to do
its stuff but at least one time inquiry comes in every
minute, day and night. In more than eight million min
utes. there's never been a breathing spell.
TWO WORLDS
^ O'
ID 1
THAT'S THAT b> bri ce gustin
♦
Judging from the suggestion by
Dr Harlow Shapie.'. Harvard as
tronomer that the way to save the
human race is “to kill off, while
young all primates that show an?
evidence of promise of genius,” :t
w'ould be a good idea for him to
stick to study ol the stars. He lists
the genius-man ac as the most po
tent of instruments of human de
struction "W orst enemy of civiliza
tion that living generations have
known was Hitler. He w*as a ma
niac But in his youth no one rec
ognized him as genius. It is no:
the inventors of nrw and horrible
ways to fc.ll but the power-craze
politicians who have a world-con
queror complex who menace civil
ization.
Tax burdens cannot he reduce;,
until government spending is re
ducec radically Economy i* in>
perative all along the line
Senator Taft of Ohio says the
purpose of our labor policy “is to
adjust the balance so as to put
collective bargaining on an equal
basis/' but he is against any b 1.
to prohib.t strikes How can sue i
a balance be achieved without a
ban on strikes'’ When union ne
gotiators sit down at the confer
ence table with a strike club n
their hands what ensues is any
thing but bargaining on a basis of
equal ty. During the first eleven
months of lf*4fi. aeordmg to bur
eau of labor statistics, 107.475.0M
man-days were lost by strikes,
Such an appalling waste of pro
ductive effort certainly calls for
some kind of a ban on strikes
V hether is was his own idea or
he merely accepted good advice.
President Truman is entitled to
the credit for proclaiming an end
to hostilities in World War II. His
oiociamation ended a number ot
wartime controls. It means an au
tomatic reduction in wartime
taxes on July 1 (unless Congress
decides to retain the taxes) which
is expected to save the American
people around one billion dollars a
year. That ain’t hay.
In the last few months, Presi
dent Truman has done a lot to re
store himself in the good graces
of the American public. At the
same time, he has taken away
from the Republicans a number o(
opportunities they otherwise
would have had to capitalize on
their control of the new Congress.
He read correctly the "handwrit
ing on the wall” after the Novem
ber election. Instead of waiting
for a Republican Congress to abol
ish price controls, he promptly
ended them himself. When the
coal strike came, he stood pat and
forced John L. Lewis to back
down. He undoubtedly has re
gained much of the public favor
he had lost. ^
If the Albanian government has
ben conducting a "blind hate
campaign" against the United
States and Great Briatin, a.-> some
Americans who recently left Al
bania charge, this is very signifi
cant. The government of Albania
is not merely under Russian dom
ination. it is Russian. Any "hate
campaign" it may be carrying on
must be deliberate. What the pur
pose is must be known in Moscow.
But it cannot be calculated to pro
mote international harmony.
The nationalization policy of the
British labor government is being
subjected to the acid test of actu
ality. Recently the government
took possession of the nation's coal
industry. It is paying 58 million
dollars for the mines. Government
ownership and operation, the Brit
ish people are promised, will re
sult in modernization of the mines,
higher pay and improved medical
and social welfare serv.ces for the
miners, and increased production
for domestic use and export. T.iis
Socialistic experiment will be
watched with interest all over the
earth.
The House subcommittee report
on monopolies ignores the most
dangerous pnase of this siiual.on.
i. zssa.ls concentration of economic
power m industrial corporations
-nd overlooks a greater concentra
t on of economic power in labor
unions. T .e committee, headed by
Uongressman Patman <Dem.' of
Texas condemns as .neffecta.il the
administration's anti-trust pol.cy
. i thJj
•
troi in industry was greatly accel
erated by the war.
It is high time recognition was
g.vcn to the fact that the mosi
alarming eoncentrat on of econo
nv.c power has been in laboi
I If v I tin • ;• ..'.res:
corporations. After all. there i:
some governmental regulat on o
industrial monopolies, w hethe:
' adequate m not l'..: then
s not even a pretense of fedora
regulation of labor monopolie
which clearly have gotten out o
hand. Lndcr its constitutions
power to regulate interstate com
merer. Congress has authority t
eg.s.air against all resira.'its oi
trade w hether those are by busi
'.less corporations or labor unions
Governor AmalL of Georgi
has proposed a fair and reason
ah’.e solution of the present prot
!rm of gubernatorial succession 1
his state which resulted from th
th of C ect Talmaagl
He says he will remain in offic
until Lieutenant Governor -eie<
Thompson is sworn :n. Then t
will resign and Thompson aut