THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
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$1.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAH
_____________!
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER.Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffic«*
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Monday, December 2, 1946
This Is It
(Rocky Mountain News)
THE COAL STRIKE is on.
This is the crisis toward which America has been
moving through all the humiliating years of appeasing
John L. Lewis.
This is the bitter fruit of government policies which
have given unionism vast powers and no responsibili
ties.
This is the collision long foreseen as inevitable when
ever the government of the United States should decide,
firmly and finally, to take a stand for the rights of all
the people.
This is the test that had to come—the test of whether
men like Lewis shall rule this country, or whether ours
shall remain a government of, and by, and for the peo
ple.
In this test there is no question where the overwhelm
ing majority of Americans stand.
They stand with their government.
America is angry with John L. Lewis, but sober
thought advises that jail would be no answer to his con-,
temptuous flouting of the national welfare.
We may freeze. We may darken our cities. We may
shut down our reviving industry. But imprisoning John
L. Lewis will not dig a pound of coal.
It looks very much like a game of freezeout with the
cards favoring Lewis’ 400,000 miners against the na
tion’s 140 million people. And jailing the mine czar for
contempt would not even be a moral victory, for it
would need be followed by appeasement to get the
miners back to the pits.
Nothing in the bitter history of recent years has
shown so conclusively the extent of monopolistic power
that enables a minority to bring a whole people to its
knees. The fulminating of labor leaders about the perils
of “capital monopoly” become a grim joke. When did
capital ever clamp a chokehold on the nation to ap
proach that which we are experiencing today?
We are faced with the most profound challenge to our
democracy since the Civil War, for this is no ordinary
strike. We have nourished a scheme of democracy which
promises the protection of minorities within a frame of
majority rule. It is the loftiest conception of govern
ment ever devised. But now we find that in our anxiety
for protecting the few we stand in direst danger of en-,
slaving the many.
We have given labor all the big guns, and labor has
pointed them at our heads. Until we take away those
guns there can be no peace.
A Victory For All
(Publishers Auxiliary)
A notable victory for freedom of the press has freed
two Negro publishers of contempt penalties imposed by,
a lower court at Little Rock, Ark.
The publishers—L. Christopher Bates and hsi wife—
had commented in their small weekly last March on the:
conviction of three Negro workmen for violation of the
state’s anti-violence-in-strikes law.
They charged that the workmen had been sent to the
penitentiary by “a hand-picked jury” in the Little Rock
Circuit Court, and that Judge Lawrence Auten then
cited Mr. and Mrs. Bates for contempt, fined them $100
each and sentenced them to 10 days in jail.
The Arkansas Supreme Court’s unanimous decision
was written by Chief Justice Griffin Smith, a former
newspaperman.
There is, it said, “no rule of law permitting jail sen
THE PEOPLE VS. LEWIS
tences and contempt fines merely because a newspaper
thinks some judge mistakenly stated the law. . . . Such
comment does not crete a present danger to the admin
istration of justice.”
We applaud that decision, not only because of its
manifest rightness, but also because those who benefit
directly by it are Negroes whose newspaper is published
in a Southern community.
It never can be said too often nor too emphaticalh
that freedom of the press is not a privilege reserved ex
clusively to the wealthy, the powerful and the spokes
men for popular opinion.
It is a right guaranteed to all American citizens, and
the protection of that right in such cases as this is in a
very special sense a victory for all.
One Man’s Opinion By Walter kiernan
JOHN LEWIS is not without supporters ... I met a
fellow today who said, “I’m for Lewis all the way ... I
think he’s a wonderful man.”
I said, “Do you know him personally?” He said, “No
. . . but I sell oil burners.”
He said, “Give me five years more of Lewis and I’ll
be a millionaire.”
I said, “What will become of the coal miners?” He
said, “Ask John . . . he’s always been quick with the
answers.”
I said, “You mean John may be faded out of the pic
ture?” He said, “Have you heard anything recently
from the president of the Livery Stable Owners asso
ciation?”
I said, “But couldn’t we go on using coal forever and
ever?” He said, “We could go on' using anything that,
was convenient, comfortable and cheap . . . John isn’t
moving in that direction.”
Maybe he can’t see the handwriting on the mine shaft
for the dust.
By GEORGE S BENSON
hiildtnt of Harding Collegs
Searcy. Arkansas
- I
LAND OF VIKINGS
Norway is one of the delightful
little countries of Europe. About
the size of two of our average
states, her population is only three
million—half that of New York
City. Manufacturing is growing in
importance, but farming, lumber
ing, fishing, and shipping have
been for generations the chief
pursuits of Norwegians.
A parliament is elected by di
rect vote of the people every four
years, and it constitutes the real
authority of the nation. They have
a King, who reigns but does not
rule. Next to the King, the speak
er of the parliament is the highest
official in the country. The fair
haired Norwegians are a strong,
sturdy people, whose chief quality
is individualism.
"Labor" Party
Communism invaded Norway at
the end of World War I. A "labor”
party was created by the Com
munists, but eventually most of ita
members went over to the "Social
ist Democrats,” now the leading
party controlling more than half
the lf>n seats in parliament. Com
munists, as such, are now unable
to elect a single member to parlia
ment, but instead the Social Dem
ocrats represent what might be
called the Norwegian “JabMp”
party. ~
The extent to which Marxian
philosophies have been made into
harmful practice is evident when
one examines the present state of
the Norwegian industry. It is ap
parent that the early Communist
influence did not just disappear in
an assimilation into the leading^la
bor party, despite the important
factor of “individualism” in pf
Norwegian character. Communism
remains like a hungry dog,strayed
from Russia, and it is now eyeing
the prosperous merchant fleet of
Norway.
Equalization
The greatest private industry
Norway has ever developed is her
merchant marine that sails the
seven seas, all out of proportion to
the size of the country. This ship
ping industry has been the chief
source of revenue for balancflag
the national budget and for ob
taining essential foreign credit. II
remains the backbone of Norwe
gian finance.
Present policies of the Soeialisl
government, in an attempt tc
equalize everything for everybody
are seriously threatening this im
portant industry. This is the pa^t
te’*n: It took 4,600,000 governmen
dollars to subsidize the distribu
tion of milk last year, therefore U
meet the cost of this subsidy «
4,600,000 dollar tax was placed oi
the shipping industry because i
had experienced a good year ant
appeared able to pay.
Killing the Goose
A reliable Norwegian informan
told this story. The merchant ma
rine lost many ships during tfa
war, and although they were in
sured by Lloyd’s of London is wa
impossible to transfer the mone,
to Norway while the country wa
in the grip of the Germans. Ac
cordingly, the funds were held a
credit in London. The present So
cialist government now looks anx
iously over the books of the ship
ping companies. If they conclud
that a lost ship had quite paid fo
itself, they tax the company ^
per cent of the face of the insm
ance policy.
This extremely high tax on th
shipping industry, plus virtu:
confiscation of insurance prem
urns on lost ships, threatens to r(
duce the industry to the detr
ment of the entire nation. This
a fine example of killing the goo:
to get more eggs immediately, bi
the production of golden eggs 1
the future is definitely threatene
I cannot help feeling that tl
source of this sort of thing in No
way was the stray dog influem
of Communism. I found it the di
tinct opinion of those who ha^
done most to create the wealth <
Norway that the greatest prese:
threat to progress now is monop
ly and regimentation.
1fl
Die-Hard Nazis Never
Heard of the 8-Ball
BUDAPEST, (/P) — Unregene
ate Nazis in Germany have d
vised a new method of giving t
“verboten” salute. Released Hu
garian war prisoners and return
displaced persons report th
around Nurenberg one Nazi gre<
another with “acht, acht” in sol
voce.
Translated, that is “eigt
eight,” which to these die har
indicate the eighth letter of t
alphabet or “H—, H—.”
And that means, “Heil Hitle