THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Noma. Alaska
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W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER...Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postofnr*
at Nome. Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Friday, May 30,1947
MEMORIAL DAY
t
Concealment Or Achievement
(Anchorage Daily Times)
IT IS DOUBTFUL that any people except the Japan
ese were more frightened by the atomic bombing of
Hiroshima than were the Americans. Scarcely had our
Army unveiled this weapon before we began speculat
ing on its possible development and use against us by
future enemies.
Ignorant speculation was shortly added to this fear.
That was hardly avoidable, considering the complexity
of the subject and the secrecy surrounding it. Then
later the atomic bomb was taken into the political arena
and kicked around with considerably more energy than
accuracy.
The result of all this seems to be that the country
which pioneered in producing atomic explosives has
lost valuable ground in the development of atomic en
ergy during the last 21 months. This situation has been
commented on from time to time. But seldom has com
ment been more clear than that found in the current is
sue of Collier’^ magazine.
The issue devotes three articles to “Year Two, Atomic
Age.” One is by David E. Lilienthal, chairman of the
Atomic Energy Commission. The others are by Lester
Velie, who tells the distressing story of the bickering1
and inertia which have marked our work with the atom
since Hiroshima, and Albera Q. Maisel, who writes on
the first helpful medical results of atomic energy re
search.
Quite naturally Lilienthal’s article is of primary in
terest. He outlines his conception of the job facing the
commission and how it should be done. And it may com
fort some skeptics to read his statement that, until in
ternational atomic control is secure, “to lose our head
start would be folly, an invitation to disaster, and un
worthy of American world leadership.”
Lilienthal favors a gradual relaxing of the govern
ment monopoly on atomic research and development,
consistent with security. He strongly opposes concen
tration of power at a bureaucratic top. He would put the
diversified, nationwide atomic program largely in the
hands of science and industry, under broad government
policy and supervision.
Wisely, it seems to us, Lilienthal does not dwell at
length on the possibility of an international atomic arm
ament race. This has absorbed too much of our thinking
to the exclusion of atomic energy’s positive promise.
Rather, he sees the harnessing of atomic energy as one
of the mountain peaks of history. He sees in it a power
for great good, capable of vitalizing man’s life through
a new faith in knowledge.
As commission chairman he also realizes the great
educational work that has to be done until all Ameri
cans “get this atomic energy development into majestic
perspective.”
iHow short our perspective has been is shown in Vel
ie’s article. He cites such eminent atomic scientists as
Dr. Harold Urey and Dr. Vannevar Bush in assessing
the damage and delay caused by unnecessary secrecy
and political wrangling. And he digests the problem
facing this'country by quoting Sen. Brian McMahon;
who says that only two courses are open: “Security by
concealment and security by achievement.”
It is generally conceded by now that concealment will
not long be trustworthy or even possible. So it seems
clear that America must abandon pettiness, narrowness
and atomic hysteria. She must go forward and keep for
ward in the development of atomic energy. This will
require the highest possible intelligence by our states
men and scientists if peace and preservation are to be
achieved.
Two Sets Of Prices
(Cincinnati Enquirer)
PERIODICALLY, PRESIDENT TRUMAN feels
obliged to do something about inflation. Up to now he
has done little more than to urge manufacturers and
merchants to lower their prices—presumably as a
friendly gesture, a contribution to the national welfare.
Price levels are not made by philanthropists. And it is
idle to expect businessmen to afct as though they were
philanthropists. In fact, it would be dangerous if thev
did.
And careful examination of the price picture today
will show unmistakably that industrial prices are not
primarily responsible for our conditions of inflation.
More than two-thirds of the increase in the consumer’s
price index in the last year is accounted for by increased
food prices. And from 1939, the last reasonably normal
prewar year, industrial prices have risen only 59 per
cent, comparing with an increase of 178 per cent for
farm prices.
The prices of farm products, in the main, are prices
established by the government and maintained by the
'Tovernment. The policy of the government continues to
bo one of supporting the present fantastically inflated;
prices of major farm products. This has the virtue of |
keeping production high and insuring large suprluses
keeping production high and insuring large surpluses
not work very long if it .brings uncontrollable inflation i
in its train.
Going beyond his previous pious adjurations, Mr.,
Truman recently declared that if prices are not brought j
down, th#economic situation would hardly justify fur-!
ther wage increases for the nation’s workers. This is aj
stupendous piece of folly. In the first place, industrial
price levels are not made by businessmen acting delib
erately to set prices where somebody thinks they should
be. Businessmen do not have the power to make price!
levels.
In the second place, Mr. Truman is himself deliber-i
ately giving momentum to another round of ^age in-1
creases, because he is asking businessmen to do what is
impossible, and declaring that if they fail to do the im
possible, new wage boosts will be justified. That is an
outright invitation to workers to launch new campaigns
for wage increases—which, in turn, will bring a sorry
harvest of price increases, a new spurt to the inflation
spiral.
Whenever the President and Congress, are ready to
take the political risks of an honest, sane policy, they
can stop buying farm products at inflated prices to sup
port the farmers in the style to which they have become
accustomed. If they are not prepared to do that, they
ought to have the good manners to stop asking busi
nessmen to cut their prices deliberately in the public in
terest.
_ _ _ _ »
A MANDATE TO PRT-cRVE THE PEACE
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A PUBLIC RELATIONS JOB
America’s biggest public rela
tions assignment, perhaps the
most significant job of this kind
in the history of the world, is gain
ing momentum. It’s off to a good
start. You may call it industrial
statesmanship, if you want to, or
you may call it selling the Amer
ican way of life. What it amounts
to is an all-out effort on the part
of each one of us to demonstrate
the faith * we have in our econo
mic system. So doing, we shall
weather any present or future cri
sis. '
'There must be no tongue-in-the
cheek when we assert that never '
has a system given a people so
much: nor has any system a
brighter future. We Americans are
not generally an emotional people.
We can read history without •
weeping. Eumoeans think of us as
’r'ore “practical” and less idealis
tic At any rate we have been so
busy that we have largely over
loo^e^ our selling job, until time
is later than we thought.
Selling Ourselves
An industrialist recently in
dulged in a bit of analysis: “The
simple fact that our American
style processes of finance, produc
tion, distribution and selling actu
ally produce more for more people
than does any other set of pro
cesses ever devised by man, has
never been planted deeply in the
minds of our people—at least not
to the extent that it becomes an
ever present and active part of the
public consciousness.”
I am afraid this is too true. If
we had actually sold ourselves on
America through the years, we
would never have seen the phe
nomenon of certain of our public
figures playing peek-a-boo with
the Communists. There would be
genuine appreciation of the ac
complishments and potentialities
of America in every university
chair in the land. There would be
no necessity for free labor to be
suspect, nor capitalism to be de
fended.
Campaign of Truth
Against so many rampant fa
natical destroyers, organized well
and supported well, a clean and
constant campaign of truth can be
effective. Against the doubters: and
the cynics, this great public re
lations program must be tied-in
with all-out effort to produce
*»oods for the American people,
through an economy of abund
ance. Without good works, your
theory falls flat. Only first under
stand the system, if you please,
fben it’s easier to make it work
In dealing with all the varieties
of dealers of hate and unrest, our
people must be fortified. It ought
to be difficult to hate the system
through which America has be
come the fairest land in all the
world. But we have to admit that
these destroyers have made some
headway. There are those who
will discredit our system of indi
vidual opportunity for all, whilst
enioving its many benefits and
advantages.
Symbols and By-Products
Too many somehow have de
cided that business, in this “cap
italistic” country, is. altogether
bad. These folks have not consid
ered, however, how many cher
ished thingfe they would have to
give up if they got rid of “capital
ism.” Without private . initiative