THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME, ALASKA
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Bex 618
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E. P. BOUCHER . Managing Editor
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Monday, May 19, 1952
TAFT NO GOOD FOR ALASKA
(Anchorage Daily Times)
SENATOR TAFT'S opposition to statehood for Alaska, and his
reasons for it, should be sufficient to disqualify him for President
so far as Alaskans are concerned.
The Ohio senator has been consistent in his opposition to the
greatest achievement that is within the reach of Alaskans. His
opposition may have deprived the territory of statehood in the
present session of Congress. He and his friends in the Senate voted
against the enabling act when it lost by a margin of one vote.
Senator Taft has many sterling qualities. He is a great man.
But neither those qualities nor that greatness shows in his thinking
on Alaska’s statehood.
His thinking is just as wrong as that of his distinguished father,
who, when President, favored military rule rather than civil gov
ernment in Alaska. His father’s views toward the Northland figured
in his defeat for re-election to the Presidency.
SENATOR TAFT'S reasons for opposing statehood are the same
old chestnuts that have been heard throughout the history of the
nation and more especially the history of Alaska.
He says the economy of Alaska depends upon federal spending.
Statistics on trade and commerce throughout the years do not bear
this out. The territory has produced fish and gold and furs valued
at billions of dollars. The balance of trade was always favorable to
Alaska until the national defense effort started. It may be true
that certain segments of the present wartime economy are dependent
upon federal spending, but the senator’s sweeping indictment of the
entire economy is false.
He says the federal government owns 99 percent of the land and
resources in Alaska and that some of it must be released before a
state government can be operated here. Under statehood large por
tions of the land and resources would be released. The percentage
of federally-owned land here would be little different from the per
centages in the western states where up to 87 percent of the land area
is federally owned.
In his contentions about the land problems, Senator Taft is in
the peculiar position of withholding the one measure (statehood)
that would remedy the undesirable situation of which he takes note.
The senator is really stooping low when he brings up the popu
lation as an argument against statehood. He says Alaska has only
one-fifth as many people as Hawaii, which is not mathematically
correct. The last census showed Hawaii to have 499,794 and Alaska
• 128,643.
But regardless of the population figures, it is known that Alaska’s
present population is greater than that of 22 of the 35 states which
have been admitted to the Union since it was created by the original
13 colonies.
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Disparity of populations has been argued in connection with
the admission of almost every state. If Senator Taft had been per
mitted to apply his reasoning during the formative years of the
great United States, there would not be a state west of he Mississippi
River. Obviously, the nation would not be the great land it is had
Eisenhower Wins
Oregon Primary
PORTLAND, Ore., (JP)— Gen.
Dwight D. Eisenhower and Sen.
Estes Kefauver turned the Oregon
presidential popularity election
into a shattering route Saturday.
Republicans chanted a massive
“I like Ike” in returns from half
of the state’s precincts in Friday’s
primary that gave him a 51,000
vote lead over second place Gov.
Earl Warren of California. Sen.
Robert A. Taft of Ohio was not
a candidate.
There were gathering signs as
the slow-count results filtered in
that Eisenhower would sweep all
18 GOP national convention dele
gates.
It was never a question that
Kefauver would pack away the
12 Democratic delegates. He had
only to' outdraw two entries who
urged voters not to support their
unwilling candidacies. But Ke
fauver’s 3 to 1 plurity bespoke
his popularity with Oregon Demo
crats.
1 f
For Good Printing Call Main 125
U.S. Regiment Moves to
Koje as Reinforcement
TOKYO, (/P)—Gen. Mark Clark
Saturday said the U.S. 187th Air
borne Infantry Regiment has
moved from Japan to Koje Island
to reinforce the United Nations
guard over tough Red prisoners
of war there and prevent “mass
outbreaks which inevitably would
result in additional violence and
bloodshed.”
The new U.N. Supreme Com
mander said he ordered the rein
forcements to* Koje “to insure the
complete control of U.N. POW
Camp No. 1 at Koje by the United
Nations authorities.”
The newest commander, Brig.
Gen. Haydon L. Boatner, has
strengthened the island defenses
since he took over.
Associated Press Photographer
George Sweers reported that bat
tle-toughened U.N. troops on the
island were building new sandbag
pillboxes and new guard towers.
About 20 tanks, some equipped
with flamethrowers, were stand
ing by on the island in case of
trouble.
AND HE’S STILL HUNTING FOR HIS CINDERELLA
KEFAUVER I
1
7ito/^/2.
it been built on Senator Taft’s specious thinking.
The question of disparity of population was settled by the fathers
of the nation when they drew up the U. S. Constitution more than
165 years ago. The government was created with checks and bal
ances to prevent small states from outweighing large ones and,
vice versa, to prevent small ones from being dominated by the large
ones.
We doubt that Senator Taft deliberately intends to be so radical
that he would change this fundamental concept of the United States
of America.
BUT HIS THINKING goes even further into the realm of the
ridiculous when he claims that two senators elected from Alaska
would represent the Interior Department rather than the people.
This shows enormous ignorance of the prevailing situation. Those
senators would have the Interior Department as their main target
and enemy as long as the throttling restrictions were perpetuated
on any part of the state of Alaska.
The Ohio senator must be fully aware of the fact that Alaska
senators would have no chance of re-election should they represent
the Interior Department instead of their constituents.
To make his Alaska arguments still less credulous, he justifies
his support for Hawaiian statehood on the ground that the islands
are self-supporting, paying taxes and have 500,000 people.
Alaska was always self-supporting prior to the defense program.
And this self-support was maintained despite the neglect and dis
criminations by the federal government that made it difficult.
Alaskans have always paid taxes and, because of the higher
pay scales and higher living costs, they have paid more taxes into
the federal treasury per capita than have their counterparts in Ohio
or other states.
The population argument has been disposed of over and over
again. Senator Taft’s own state of Ohio became a state with a
population of about 45,000 in 1803. That’s hardly more than the
population of Anchorage and vicinity.
Mary Todd Lincoln
Describes As Myth
Lincoln-Rutledge Romance
CHICAGO, (A5)— The familiar
tragic love story of Abe Lincolh
and Ann Rutledge once was in
dignantly described as a myth by
Mary Todd Lincoln.
In a letter written to a Supreme
Court justice and made public
Sunday, the Civil War president’s
widow asserted Lincoln “always
assured me he had cared for no
one but myself.”
Willard L. King, a Chicago law
yer and historian, said he came
across the letter in his research
for a biography of David Davis
of Bloomington, 111., an Illinois
circuit judge whom Lincoln ap
pointed .to the U. S. Supreme
Court.
Davis was administrator of Lin
coln’s estate. King said he found
the letter in papers of Davis’
great-grandson, David Davis IV.
Some historians have said Ann
Rutledge and Lincoln were en
gaged to be married when both
lived in New Salem, 111., but that
she died of fever before they
could be wed. These biographers
say Lincoln never recovered from
shock and grief.
But. Mrs. Lincoln wrote:
“My husband . . . always as
sured me he had cared for no
one but myself. ... I shall always
remain firm in my conviction that
Ann Rutledge is a myth.
“Nor did his . . . joyous laugh
lead me to suppose his heart was
in any unfortunate woman’s grave
but in the proper place with his
loved wife and children.“
WARNER BROS. STUDIO
DESTROYED BY FIRE
BURBANK, Calif., UP) — An
area two blocks square in the vast
Warner Brothers studio lay in
blackened ruins Saturday after a
fire that caused damage officially
estimated at $1,500,000.
Destroyed by the flames Friday
were the studio’s Sound Stage 21,
largest in the movie industry,
several large exterior sets and
much valuable equipment and
scenery.
The fire started during the
lunch hour and burned over eight
acres before being brought under
control two hours later.
Studio publicity men posed sev
eral stars besicje hoses and the
charred sets during the fire.
Navy Cans Wealthy Son •
For Criticizing Discipline
PEARL HARBOR, (/P) — Sea- j
man Bruce S. Hopping, wealthy
son of a New Jersey lumber fam
ily, was sentenced to a bad con
duct discharge from the U. S.
Navy Friday after his conviction
on charges of criticizing naval
discipline.
The 30-year-old reservist, vice
president of his father’s Ripley
Hopping Lumber Co. of Port New
ark, immediately told reporters
“We need an investigation of the
whole court-martial setup.”
A special Navy court - martial
convicted Hopping on two counts,
conspiring to criticize Navy disci
pline and discrediting his super
iors aboard the salvage ship Re
claimer.
18/913 ADMITTED GAMBLERS
According to the Internal Reve
nue Bureau, 1,255 gamblers regis
tered arid bought betting tax
stamps in March, bringing the
nation’s total of admitted gam
blers to 18,913. The $50 stamps
and the 10 per cent tax on all
bets have netted the government
$2,796,000 in the five months they
have been in effect.
SCHOOL TAX NOTICE
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Under Chapter 4, Alaska Compiled Laws,
Anotated 1949, any person, firm or corporation
having in his or its employ persons subject to
school tax must furnish lists of such employees
to the local School Tax Collector and withhold
this tax, unless employee can furnish a receipt
showing that the school tax has been paid.
All other gainfully employed persons whose
school tax is not being withheld, must pay the
tax on their own initiative.
Failure to pay tax:
Any person subject to above tax, and any
employer whose employees are subject thereto,
who shall fail, refuse or neglect to pay the same,
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.
Listing sheets for employees are available
at the Nome Branch Office’ now located on
1st. Ave.
DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION
Territory of Alaska.