THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
$1.50 PER MONTH 116.00 A YEAR
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER.... . ..Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffice at
Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Friday, July 5, 1946
BLOW TO MONOPOLY
TOO LITTLE ATTENTION has been given to the
recent blow which the Supreme Court dealt to a mo
tion picture monopoly. By a 7-to-l decision the
court upheld a verdict awarding $360,000 damages
to an independent theatre operator in Chicago who was
the victim of a conspiracy to control the distribution
of first-run films. Here is ample warning to mon
opolists in the motion picture field that independent
theatres discriminated against in the distribution of
films may collect damages and have them trebled
under the Sherman Act.
The scheme by which motion picture producers
and chain movie operators kept tight control over the
distribution of films in Chicago is by no means unique.
It provided that the larger theatres in the Chicago Loop
should have all the first-run motion pictures produced
by the companies in question. After this first run
the pictures were withheld from all Chicago theatres
outside the Loop for three weeks. Then they were
released for “A,” “B,” and “C” “pre-release” weeks
before they became available to independent theatres.
When Chicago movie houses took to showing double
features as a general practice, no films that had not
had a prior showing were available to the complaining
Jackson Park Theatre.
Correctly noting the indefensible position which;
they occupied, the producers and theatres engaged in
this conspiracy gave up all effort to retain their dis
criminatory distribution system. They asked only
to escape the payment of treble damages on the ground j
that the extent to which the independent theatre had
suffered losses, if at all, could not be accurately meas
ured. But to this the Court replied, in the opinion
by Chief Justice Stone: “The most elementary con
ceptions of justice and public policy require that the
wrongdoer shall bear the risk of the uncertainty which
his wrong has created.” In short, the monopolists
in the motion picture field are under notice that they
may have to pay losses on the part of independent
theatres reasonably attributable to the illegal denial
of films, and not simply the amount of the losses es
timated by the jury but three times that sum.
(Washington Post)
TREASONABLE IN EFFECT
THE PROPOSAL to surrender American atomic en
ergy secrets to nations capable of hostile use of
those secrets against the United States is, as former
National Commander Warren H. Atherton of the Am
erican Legion says, treasonable in effect if not in act
ual purpose.
It is beyond dispute that the inevitable conse
quence of any form of international control of atomic
energy would be that Soviet Russia would come into
possession of the secrets pertaining to that source of
power which the United States now holds exclusively.
And Russia is the only nation on earth that is
conducting aggressive warfare as a matter of national
policy, against the nations on all her borders — and has
remained fully mobilized since the end of the recent
world conflict. *
Russia has poised a mighty military force for ac
tive conquest and subjugation, and for intimidation
and reprisal.
Russia has never disclosed a single military se
cret to her allies.
It is, accordingly, a matter of the most obvious
tnith, as iMr. Atherton says, that: '
“As long as one great power manifests its inten
tion to rely on secrecy and force, it would be treason
to the people of the United States to take away from
our people the protection of our atom bombs and bomb
secrets and give them to other powers or a combination
of powers.”
Any policy of government which has the effect
of making America helpless before a potential enemy
is not less harmful because it is not purposely treason
able.
The duty of government is to concern itself faith
fully and vigilantly and exclusively with the welfare
and safety of its own people.
And the fatal error — indeed the treasonable ef
fect — of the Baruch proposal for international control j
of atomic energy is in the fact that Soviet Russia would
thus come into possession of a military force which
would give her the power to destroy America.
• Mr. Atherton recites the record of Russian aggres
sion and hostility from which the American govern
ment and people must take warning of her true inten- j
tions regarding America.
“Russia has refused access behind the iron cur-1
tain to our press, to our military and naval represent
atives and to loyal American citizens,” he observes.
“It has denied American flyers whose lives were
saved by Gen. Draja Mihailovichs patriotism.
“It has fired on our planes over non-Russia terri
tory in both the East and the West.
“It has embarked on a 15-year program of inten
sive military expansion.
“It has brazenly announced its intent to rely on
force.
“In the face of such threats by a great power, any
suggestion that the United States give away the very
secrets which could destroy us is as dangerous as it
is fantastic, and out* Veterans will denounce it*’
The congress of the United States is thoroughly
aroused to the danger and the infamy of that proposal.
The people of the United States should protest
against it with all the means and force at their com
mand and they should not relax their vigilance until
it is definitely and finally repudiated,.
(Seattle Post Intelligencer)
Washington
News Letter
- (• ' <y«r t :
Airport Construction
No regulations have as
yet been set up for receiv
ing by the Civil Aeronau
tics Administration of ap
plications for airport con
struction under the new
federal airport program, a
ccording to information
supplied Delegate Bartlett
by Assistant Administra
tor for Airports, Charles
B. Donaldson. When the
regulations have been tijftr
tablished, applications will
be received by the CAA
regional office in Anchor
age. It is expected pro
jectd requests can be sub
mitted by about Septem
ber 15.
Interior Appropriation Bill
An Interior Departm#it
appropriation bill carrying
over $10,000,000 for Alaska
for the next fiscal year has
passed the Senate and is
now before the President
for signature.
This is approximately
$3,500,000 more than was
contained in the appropri
ation bill passed last year.
In addition, the bill, in
effect, appropriates addi
tional millions of dollatfc
for The Alaska Railroad by
providing that the railroad
may have transferred to
it from other government
agencies, without cost, 20
diesel locomotives, rolling
stock and other equipment
which will make possibly
the first thorough-going
rehabilitation of the sys
tem since it commenced op
erations over 25 years ago.
Scattered through the
bill are many other items
of importance to Alaskans,
but in addition to the as
sistance given The Alaska
Railroad, the principal p<&
jects which will be under
taken under the supply bill
are :
1. Construction of a 200
bed tuberculosis sanator
ium at Sitka.
2. Start of construction on
the Kenai Lake-Homen
road and start of construs
tion of the road which will
connect Fairbanks and the
Forty-mile country.
Specific Alaska appropri
ations total $9,984,615, and
this figure will actually be
in excess of $10,000,000 be
cause appropriations for
the Bureau of Mines and
some other agencies are
not segregated by the agen
cies concerned.
Likewise, the House and
Senate conferees agreed
that the bill should not
compel the territorial gov
ernment to advance one*
dollar for every three fed
eral dollars spent for new
construction. * The report
to the House, however,
contained the warning that
it was expected the terri
torial government would
comply with this formula
next year. Delegate Bart
lett has indicated that his
opposition to any such pro
vision “to give Alaska a
fifth class federal aid sys
tem” will continue vigor
ously.