THE NOME NUGGET
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Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943. at the postoffice
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Monday, December 2% 1947
World Future Hungs On
1947 U. S. Policy
(By J. M. Roberts, Jr.—(/P) News Analyst)
WHEN TIME has sifted and graded the events of
1947, the one day that will stand out above all the others
will be March 12, when President Truman stood before
Congress and announced, in effect, that the United
States would build a world-wide defense line against
Russia’s expansionist and revolutionary dreams.
Out of that pronouncement has grown a great pro
gram of military and economic aid for non-Communist
countries which, whether it succeds or fails will leave a
perpetual mark on world history. If it succeds in full it
will mark the end of the era of the totalitarians. If it
fails, completely, there is hardly any chance that a great
war can be avoided.
This struggle, in the year 1947, became the focal point
around which revolved almost all of man’s other prob
lems. The immediate question was “Wh6 will win the
cold war?’’
It involved the price of all we ate, as well as food’s
availability in many places. It almost completely ab
sorbed the energies which, during the war, man had
promised to devote to the development of a brave new
world. The new Parliament of Man at Lake Success, N.
Y., stood by handcuffed while the great powers maneu
vered for position.
Out of the pressures produced by this battle grew an
offshoot of tremendous importance to history. It was
something that' had been growing gradually, but it
emerged full-blown in connection with the Truman
Doctrine. The United States finally had a foreign policy,
forged by necessity rather than whim of sentiment.
The country was approaching the position that Bri
tain had occupied for centuries, where regardless of who
held the reins of government, foreign policy remained
devoted entirely to what must be done for the country.
If this is continued, so that the voice of America will not
be constantly changing like that of an adolescent, it will
produce vastly increased confidence among other na
tions in the dependability of our commitments.
This, with growing U. S. acceptance of the responsi
bility that goes with power, may cause this period to be
looked upon as one in which a new stabilizing force was
substituted for the ancient power of the British empire.
Just as 1947 produced violent renewal of the Com
munist effort at world revoution (in China, France and
Itay) as compared with the more direct expansionist
tactics of Russia in the Balkans and Central Europe, so
it also brought signs that the peoples of western Europe
were turning away from the more extreme forms of so
cialism and toward more conservative governments.
Municipal elections in England, France and Italy all
revealed an important swing back toward the center
from the immediate postwar positions. Communist par
ties lost ground practically everywhere that free elec
tions were held.
George Marshall, doughty old fighter who was Amer
ica’s wartime chief of staff, took up as secretary of state
where James F. Byrnes left off early in the year. He had
already helped make plans for merger of the Army,
Navy and Air Forces to place the United States in posi
tion to meet whatever-the future might bring.
The administration asked and got $350,000,000 for
foreign relief to replace UNRRA activities in countries
friendly to the U. S., and the ball began to roll. The
$450,000,000 aid for Turkey and Greece, much of it t,o
maintain our own political and military position in/the
Mediterranean, came next, along with announcement of
the Truman Doctrine.
Crops failed in Europe, and Secretary Marshall cl?al
NUTS I
lenged the European countries to help themselvc: by
joint economic planning, with the U. S. willing to help
meet the deficit. That became known as the Marshall
Plan. Some day history may call it the initial concrete
step toward a United States of Europe.
Russia declared economic war to defeat the program,
refused to let her satellites participate, and organized
something like her old Comintern to carry on the battle.
The United States recognized the United Nations for
what the Russians had made out of it—a propaganda
platform and an agency for mobilizing world opinion.
A Marshall-sponsored “little assemby” was set up to sit
continuously, and to bring pressure against Russia’s tac
tic is the security council.
U. S. diplomats had recognized by then that confer
ences between democracy and communism would not
negotiate difference but would be largely for the pur
pose of “keeping the record straight.”
The Big Four council of foreign ministers tried twice
during the year, to reach some agreement on the admin
istration of Germany as a unit, but without success. It
appeared as the year closes that the immediate future of
Germany would be handled by each side for its own
purposes. Western Germany apparently was to become
an economic arsenal controlled by the allies for the ben
efit of western Europe, with eastern Germany aban
doned, if only for the time being and informally, to Ru. -
_•_ ^
sia.
Four new national states wore formed or authorized
during the year—Pakistan, India, New Judea and the
Arab State in Palestine. Each partition produced con
flict, but it was too early to determine whether it mere
ly meant some new birthdays in history, or whether it
might be the beginning of new wars.
Best News In Months
_ -
(By Barnet Nover)
The smashing victory won by
the French government in its
struggle with the Communists is
the best news to come out of Eu
rope in many months. Indeed,
nothing more heartening has hap
pened in France since her libera
tion from the Nazis. Tuesday, Dec.
9, 1947, was another day of libera
tion.
On that day, after many weeks
of industrial disorders promoted
by the Communists at Moscow’s
behest, the Communist-dominated
; General Confederation of Labor
capitulated to the government's ul
| timatum and ordered France’s 2
million strikers to go back to
work.
The back of the Communist ef
fort to paralyze the economy of
France has thus been broken.
It is too early to assume that
Communism in Europe has met its
, Waterloo. What has happened in
France was only another Battle of
the Marne, a turning point on the
road to victory but not victory
itself.
The larger struggle will not be
won in any one country alone. It
will be won after the threat of the
sovereignty and independence and
economic warfare of all the na
tions of western Europe has perm
anently been removed..
That will take time and the
combined and concerted efforts of
all the free nations, not least the
United States.
What has just happened in
France proves that the victory can
be won regardless of the disrup
tive and divisive tactics of Mos
cow s agents and camp followers.
Wars, whether economic or mil
itary, are costly affairs. The strug
gle that has been raging in France
was no exception.
There can be no doubt whatever
that as a result of the Communist
engendered strikes France’s recov
ery has seriously been set back.
But if Moscow expected to
to smash Fi ance’s economy beyond
the capacity of the United States
to help her the result was clearly
a failure.
France was gravely wounded
but no; fatally hurt by the strikes
that have plagued her during re
cl u weeks and which at one time
paralyzed 6U per cent of the no
ion s production.
So Moscow partially succeeded
in its objective, so far as France s
• nserned, but this partial success
..■’as only achieved at a very great
cost.
in t ie first place, a fatal blow
> have been dealt French Com
nuiiiism, at one time the leading
political force" in France. In the
second place, the gulf between
France and the Soviet Union lias
been enormously widened.
Why did Russia and her stooges
fail in France? For a number of
reasons circumstances were great
ly in their favor.
The Communists were in control
| of most of the trade unions in such
key industries as coal mining,
' electric power production, trans
| portation. They dominated the di
j reeling agency of the powerful
j C. G. T., the General Confedera
i lion of Labor.
The workers of France who
.vent out on strike or were prod
ijd into doing so, had very veal
V- ievances. Wages irt most indus
. vs are low; the cost of living has
I ven mounting fantastically; the
overnment has been helpless in
j fighting the black market.
One by one, as though pulling
rut the stops on some gigantic or
of disruption and destruction,
France’s industries were struc’ .
Had the government manifested
any sign of weakness, hed it
■» cwn panicky over the possibility
of a total paralysis of France's
economic life, which at one time
threatened, the Communists might
have won out.
Tee government did not grow
panicky. It held its ground. It
fought back and it won the sup
port not only of the people gener
ally but even of many of the strik
ers, who began to return to work
regardless of the efforts of the
Communists to keep them from do
ing so.
The French people are not fools.
They realized that their wholly le
gitimate grievances were being
capitalized by the Communists for
reasons that had nothing to do
with France’s welfare and every
thing to do with Russia’s ambi
o-'s ?v.-} policy.
The point was only too blatant
y emphasized by the presence in
Moscow of Maurice Thorez, the
French Communist leader, at the
very moment when Russia was be
ginning its campaign to destroy
the economy of France.
That's That
By BRUCE GUSTIV
Edwin W. Pauley may have his
good points. But he must be a
pain in the neck to President Ti n
man. Every time Pauley bobs up
in Washington, D. C., he gets the
administration into* hot water.
Why the President keeps h.m
hanging around is a mystery .
Less than two years ago. Presi
dent Truman tried to make Pauley
under-secretary of the navy. Har
old Ickes blew up and quit as sec
retary of interior. That was no
great loss. But Ickes’ charge that
Pauley, former Democratic nation
al treasurer, had suggested oil n
! terests would contribute $300,000
i to the Democratic campaign fund
if the government would drop its