THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME, ALASKA
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 6i»
$1.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAR
W. A. Boucher .Owner-Publisher
Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943, at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Wednesday, April 20, 1949
HOW S BRITAIN NOW?
(By George S. Benson, President Harding College)
The British are still having a tough time, tho things
seem a little better with them lately. Actually, it is high
time for signs of recovery. How much better off England
would 'be right now—how much sooner she would have
come out of the kinks if she had kept safe her traditional
freedoms—that no one knows. But if the English mind
and spirit come out of these dangerous experiences un
scathed, it will surely be a miracle.
Current news reports from Britain suggest that hard
times may yet linger there for a long stay. (There are
those who will give more credit for improvements to the
Marshall Plan and to the generosity of the American
taxpayer than they will to Britain’s labor government).
The sad thing about it is that the Englishman is still the
worse off, having given up much of his heritage of free
dom and liberty, charmed by the soothsayers of social
ism.
The swap has netted a poor mess of pottage indeed.
England’s experience is the lesson of the century for
America. In current news from England, we can read
the results of government management. There was the
dentist, for example, who took his own life because he
found it impossible to operate his office as the govern
ment ordered. His suicide note cited too many forms to
be filled out for the government and declared he could
not do his work and the red-tape too.
What about small business? Take filling stations (pe
trol there). From a London newspaper: “After two
years of deliberations, a committee of 13 men has re
ported to the government on the technical considera
tions which should govern the number, capacity, and
distribution of petrol stations.” Imagine! That is the re
sult, when people hand over their individual initiative
to government.
Forms, controls, red-tape: do it better with Bureau
cracy! Under the heading “First Warm the Teapot,” an
item in a British newspaper advises that the food min
istry is sending out an expert who will visit restaurants
in Tottenham and educate the restaurant staffs on the
subject of how to make tea! As if by now, the English
people have not learned to make tea.
Some of these seem a bit ridiculous. They are: Like
the report of demands for “free” wigs having risen un
der socialized medicine to more than 200 a week—at a
cost of more than $4,000,000 yearly. It is reported also
that “Application Order No. 2” will entitle hairless men
and women to the nationalized wig cleaning and dress
ing service, once every two months. From cradle to
grave, indeed!
The whole British story of snarling bureaucracy may
remind readers of wartime experiences in America. It
indicates, too, that government control clashes with in
dividual freedom. Another story has to do with an over
zealous government snooper, who was transferred from
his post because he had searched a woman’s shopping
bag. His superior sagely warned him: “Men like you
bring regulations into disrepute.”
Here’s another for you. In Froxfield, England, a man
named K. J. Kilford was building a house. He wanted a
round hall window in his new home. But the “area plan
ning committee” said no; the window must be rectangu
lar. “A round window would be out of place in a rural
area,” the panel declared. Commented Kilford: “There
is no individual liberty today.”
THAT HAPPENED IN ENGLAND! SHALL WE IN
AMERICA BE ABLE TO KEEP OUR FREEDOM?
Labor leaders have made some big mistakes, and they
may be making them still, but nobody can erase the fact
that organization has improved the lot of workers in
the United States.
THERE IS SS SUCH AN ANIMAL
<
w
**ST
I
NO SURE WAY TO PEACE
!
Trygve Lie, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
expresses two opinions when he says that the present
East-West conflict is “too dangerous to last” and that if
present hostility continues, it will result in a “war that
will end civilization as we know it.”
Views similar to those of the Norwegian have been
expressed before. While the present hostility of Soviet
Russia to the Western nations is dangerous, it is so
largely because of the preponderant military strength
possessed by the Soviet Union. Once there is something
like a balance of power, the leaders in the Kremlin will
not be tempted to take by force what they cannot win
by argument and veto.
The idea that the next war “will end civilization” is
' not new. It has been heard after every great war and
will probably be heard after the wars of the future. The
threat is not so much against civilization as it is against
the present economy of the nations. Neither Russian
| communism nor American capitalism would probably
' survive a disastrous defeat because the people of neither
: country would permanently endure the suffering and
dislocation that would be caused by such a struggle.
Meanwhile, the five Brussels Treaty powers — Bri
tain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxem
bourg—are reported to have reached tentative agree
ment as to the common defense of Western Europe. This
calls for the raising of a joint force of approximately
thirty-six divisions within the next two years. France
would provide twenty-four, Britain six, Belgium three,
the Netherlands two and Luxembourg one. In addition,
the British would maintain an air force and gradually
transfer jet fighter craft to France and the Netherlands
under something like a Lend-Lease arrangement.
The Western nations of Europe, not yet rehabilitated
| from the effects of the recent war, are not in a position
I to finance rearmament on a modern scale. This means
j that any effective military force in Western Europe
i will depend upon the availability of American assist
, ance, either in the form of weapons and equipment or
money. This seems to be the basis upon which the lead
. ers of Europe are proceeding in their efforts to organize
a force to counter-balance the mighty power of the Red
army which,,it is generally admitted, can overrun Eu
rope at will.
BAD INFANT FOOD LOSES SUIT FOR HOTEL
j
County Judge A. F. Clements, of Margate England,
has ruled here that fried kippers and gorgonzola cheese
are no proper breakfast for a two-year-old baby.
The judicial finding grew out of suit of a hotel' pro
prietor who tried to collect from a man who moved be
fore staying an agreed time.
He moved, said the man, because there was nothing
but cheese and kippers for" the baby, and the court said
• he was jolly well right.
Ireland Happy
In Her Newly
Gained Freedom
(By Carter L. Davidson)
DUBLIN, Ireland, (/P) — The
Irish, fully free of British rule at
last, face the future with a light
| heart, a world full of friends and
i money in the bank.
I Many problems confront them.
I but they face these unafraid. They
closed the books Monday on 730
years of rule by a foreign power,
and they feel the future will be
what they make it. They intend to
make it a good one. Individually
( the people are poor, but they have
j every hope they won’t stay that
way.
j They still look darkly at six
counties of Ulster which have
chosen to stay in the British Com
monwealth. The Irish call this
their No. 1 problem — to draw
, those counties into the Free Re
public of Ireland. President Jean
IT. O’Kelly says he hopes to see
i that goal reached within a gener
’ ation.
But in Ulster, the press and pol
; iticians called suggestions of fed
eralization within the republic 4
“unthinkable.”
Economically. Free Ireland is
sound. Her main business is agri
culture, and with Britain rhoppi 'g
for far more beef and other pro
duce than the Irish can produce,
the farmer has an assured market.
Marshall Plan dollars are avail
able to this new republic along
the way.
Ireland also has an army, rich
in military tradition, such as few*
na4ions her size.
Prices are lower than in New
York. A two-pound loaf of bread
costs six pence <10 cents. A five
pound beef roast can be had for
less than $3.
Alaska Airlines
Aids All Over
The World
NEW YORK — Alaska Airlines
during the past months have these
accomplishments to their credit.
They have made four complete
round the world trips, six trips
carrying military dependents to
T >yko from Seattle; eleven trips
carrying war brides from Ger
many to New York; eighty-seven
trips for the U. S. military from
the eastern seaboard to Europe in
support of the Berlin Airlift; a six
weeks operation from Mexico
City to Lisbon and Madrid for the
Mexican Flag Line, and a two
months operation between London
and Johannesburg for a South Af
rican line. At present the company
is transporting 5,000 displaced
persons from Aden to Haifa, about
1.600 miles and from Shanhgai to
Haifa, about 7,000 miles.
Recently Fred F. Jeffers, 1st Lt.
USAF, of Tachikawa Air Force
Base was so delighted with the
service of Alaska he wrote them
as follows:
“I would like to express my^
thanks for the prompt and effi
cient way that you performed the
difficult mission of carrying us
over half way round the world,
from Germany to Japan, the cour
tesy shown us during the trip by
your crews, and in particular by
your hostesses in caring for our
needs.
“Your consideration of our anx
iety not to be delayed, added to
the problems confronting you.
You have my sincere appreciation
for the manner in which you sur
mounted these problems and safe
ly delivered us to our destination,
to be reunited with our families.”