OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_
VOL. LII. No. 141 NOME, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1950 Per Copy—15c
Opposition In Senate To Statehood For
Alaska Grows “By Leaps And Bounds”
_ <S>-—
WASHINGTON, (^—Southern
Democrats, with strong Republi
can backing, waged an all-out
fight in the Senate today to block
the bill to grant statehood to Al
aska.
President Truman has asked
the short session of Congress to
pass the bill and a companion
Hawaiian measure, both passed
by the House.
One southerner, asking not to
be named, told a reporter the dis
pute might endanger Mr. Tru
man’s entire program for the ses
sion. The president has asked for
rent control legislation and big
defense appropriations, among
other things, before this Congress
expires Jan. 3.
Senators generally take it for
granted that the fate of the Alas
ka statehood bill is apt to be the
fate also of the Hawaii measure.
Lucas, who made the motion to
give the statehood bills right-of
way. told reporters he will take at
least another day to test out the
opposition’s strength before decid
ing whether—or what—new steps
may be needed.
Senator Taft (R-Ohio) announc
ed he would vote against giving
the statehood bills the right-of
way. He told reporters, however,
the Senate GOP policy committee
which he heads has not taken a
stand on the issue.
Both major party platforms ad
vocate statehood for the two Ter
ritories.
After the opening speech yester
day in favor of the bill by Sena
tor O’Mahoney (D.-Wyo.), Sena
tors strayed out of the chamber
until only a handful remained.
(Continued on Page Three)
U. S. Steel Makes
Unknown Wage
Offer To Union
PITTSBURGH, (£>)—'The mam
moth United States Steel Corpo
ration today made an undisclosed
wage offer to the CIO United
steel workers. Union president
Philip Murray promptly called his
top policy makers together to con
sider the proposal.
The log jam in the current steel
negotiations broke suddenly with
Murray reporting he was calling
both the USW executive board
and the wage-policy committee in
to session.
“Big Steel” then confirmed it
had made an offer. U. S. Steel of
ficials would not elaborate on the
confirmation and refused to dis
cuss the nature of the offer.
The only comment available
from U. S. Steel was this terse
(Continued on Page Six)
*
Korean Situation i
At A Glance —
Tuesday, November 28, 1950
Thousands of Chinese Beds
were reported today pouring
! through the retreating Eighth
Army’s broken lines near the cen
ter of the Korean Peninsula. The
wav had reached what may be its
gravest crisis.
General MacArthur summoned
his two chief field commanders
back to Tokyo for urgent confer
ences. Lt. Gen. Walton H. Wal
ker, commander of the Eighth
Army and Maj. Gen. Edward M.
Almond, commander of the 10th
Corps in northwest Korea, arrived
by plane in Japan from their sep
arate headquarters.
A First Corps spokesman said
Chinese communists were swarm
ing “along every road, every gully
and every ridge line” for a dis
tance ctf 35 miles north of Tok
chon. This poised a threat to the
Allied main supply line from
Pyongyong, the former Red capi
tal.
Earlier MacArthur had warned
that the non-communist world
must find a diplomatic solution
because of the crushing Red Chi
nese intervention that has thrown
U. N. forces into retreat just as
| they seemed poised for victory.
MacArthur described the situa
tion as “an entire new war.” In
| an extraordinary communique he
acknowledged he is powerless to
cope with the with the undeclared
Chinese belligerents.
The Allied line was broken near
th center of the peninsula where
furious Red Chinese night attacks
crumbled three South Korean di
visions. In the Tokchon sector the
Reds in their breakthrough poised
I a threat to the former North Ko
rean capital of Pyongyang. The
flanks of American divisions were
! dangerously exposed.
(/P) correspondent Don White
head reported:
“The blunt truth is the army is
being driven back by an enemy
obviously much stronger than had
; been estimated.”
MacArthur estimated the Chi
;
1 nese have thrown 200.000 men in
to the Korean fighting. He added:
“Heavy reinforcements now
| concentrated” across the border in
Manchuria are “constantly mov
ing forward.”
Allied intelligence has estim
i a ted there are 500,000 Red Chi
nese troops massed in Manchuria
in what MacArthur calls a privil
eged “neutral” sanctuary which
the United Nations has decided
must not be attacked.
With the Eighth Army in retreat
(Continued on Page Two)
Chamber Discusses
Proposed New
Mining Laws
The contents of a secret memo
on proposed mining laws which
was exposed by the Los Angeles
Times was read to the Chamber
at their regular noon luncheon
yesterday by Secy. A. Polet, and
placed in the hands of the mining
committee which is composed of
A. Saario, Bob Rediway, Ted Duf
field, James Walsh, James Mc
Lain, Dan Jones and Helen Boch
man.
This secret proposal by the
heads of the interior department
would triple the annual assess
ment work to $300.00 and in some
cases as high as $600.00. Many
new technicalities would be added
to increase the “red tape” of pros
pecting.
Surface rights requirements,
such as trespassing on govern
ment property, etc., and obtaining
patents would be limited and the
interior department would retain
control of the surface resources.
According to the Los Angeles
Times this would destroy the en
tire fabric of the present system
of prospceting, discovery and
claim filing.
Mr. and Mrs. George Mullaly of
Anchorage, auditors for the N. C.
Co., were guests of the Chamber.
Mr. Mullaley stated that) the com
(Continued on Page Six)
Railroad Link To
Alaska May By
Pass Seattle
SEATTLE, (iP)—Pacific North
west Trade Association delegates
heard Monday night that there is
a real po'ssibility that a railroad
to Alaska might start from Ed
monton, Alta and bypass the Pa
[ cific Northwest.
Thomas Braidwood, Vancouver,
B. C., businessman, said mid-west
interests appear much more inter
ested in the development of the
Canadian north and land along
the Alaska Highway than are
Washingtonians or British Colum
bia residents.
Chicago and Minneapolis-St.
Paul interests are exploring trade
possibilities along the highway
and an immense amount of Amer
ican capital investment already is
visible in Alberta, Braidwood de
clared.
The Vancouver delegate said
the Northwest would stand to lose
much of its present Alaska busi
ness of the rail line is constructed
north from Edmonton.
Extension of the Pacific Great
Eastern Railway north through
British Columbia to Alaska was
termed a “war necessity” in a talk
by B. C. Senator Stanley McKeen,
who represented Premier Byron
I. Johnson at the association’s gov
ernor’s night banquet.
McKeen said he could pledge
(Continued on Page Five)
United States Charges Red Chinese
With Aggression In Korea
WASHINGTON, (/P) — The United States decided
yesterday to charge Communist China with aggression
in Korea.
Assistant Secretary of State John D. Hickerson so
advised the American degelation at the United Nations
by telephone.
Hickerson telephoned Ambassador Warren R. Austin
shortly before yesterday’s U. N. Security Council meet
ing at New York, It was considered possible here that
Austin would make the aggression<
charge publicly almost at once.
This is a step which the Ameri
can government has heretofore
refrained from taking on the
ground that to charge any nation
with aggression might set in ac
tion an extremely serious chain
of events—since once an aggres
sor is so labeled there is strong
pressure to act against him.
Hickerson instructed Austin to
press for immediate adoption by
the United Nations of the pending
U. N. resolution which would:
(1) Call on the Chinese Reds to
get their troops out of Korea.
(2) Assure; them the United Na
tions seeks only peace and Korean
independence. ■ _
Michael J. McDermott, state de
(Continued on Page Three)
p- • —
AT THE PIONEER
ROOF GARDEN
Look at the styles of the gay
nineties- Styles in dress, styles in
whiskers, styles in dances and
even in bustles! So, hustle and
tussle to see them muscle and rus
tle as the theme of the gay nine
ties develops in a fast moving, in
structive entertainment filled with
side splitting situations and the
most delightful music. Perhaps
thereTl be blizzards in summer
and sun schorchings in winter!
Don't miss it . . . The PIONEER
ROOF GARDEN on December 9th.
NEWS IN BRIEF
WASHINGTON, (/P)—Secretary
of State Acheson will speak to the
nation this afternoon at 3 p.m*
(Nome time) on the crisis in Ko
rea.
The state department announc
ed that the secretary’s 30-minute
address will 'be broadcast by the
Mutual, ACS and CBS networks,
Acheson will speak from his of
fice in the state department.
SEATTLE, (/P)—Alaska Salmon
Industry, Inc., may offer carpen
ters and machinists a wage in
crease counter-proposal in a meet
ing December 6, a spokesman
said yesterday.
Hope Lodge 79 of the Independ
ent Association of Machinists and
the carpenters union renewed
their request for a 20 per cent
wage raise at a meeting Monday.
Under fear of a wage-freeze,
the two unions, according to busi
ness agent I. A. Sandvigen of the
machinists, have agreed to nego
tiate their 1951 contract early,
with wages the only matter for
discussion. Fishermen’s unions
elected to wait until the regular
spring negotiating time, when
their entire contract will be open
ed for revisions.
FAIRBANKS, (JP) — Ladd and
Eielson Air Force Bases were
heavily damaged by “enemy”
planes in the closing exercises of
operation Stop-Gap Monday.
The mythical raiders blasted
the power plant and main water
system at Ladd “out of commis
sion.” and temporarily knocked
out hangars, control towers, hos
pitals and runways at both bases.
The operation was the conclud
ing phase of a three-day test of
Alaska’s air warning system and
defense machinery.
SEATTLE, (JP)—Alaska Gover
nor Ernest Gruening passed
through Seattle Monday night en
route by plane from Juneau to
Washington, D. C., where he
hopes to hear, first hand, the Sen
ate debate on the Alaska State
hood bill.
The measure was listed earlier
(Continued on Page Five)
_
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