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 $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, Monday, February 6, 1950
A SENSIBLE LABOR POLICY
(By George S. Benson, President Harding College)
A great labor organization got down to earth tpe
other day with sonie real thinking on a resolution tpr
the new year. An Associated Press story from Washing
ton dated December 26 said: “The American Federation
of Labor today proposed that management and labor
get together in 1950 16 cut production costs and that la
bor get a wage increase as its share of the result in sav
ing. That’s talking real turkey!
Labor is right in suggesting that employees deserve
a share of what is saved when production costs are re
duced. I believe that workers ought to have higher
wages, when they can produce more goods without in
creasing costs in other ways. Actually, there is no
sound way to increase wages—except greater produc
tivity. Our production per man day has jumped 500 per
cent during the past 100 years. That explains today’s
good wages.
Throughout the industrial history of America, most
industries have paid about all they could afford to pay
in wages. There have been some exceptions. But in gen
eral, as productivity increased wages climber higher.
Because of modem methods and good tools, productiv
ity per man day has doubled during he past 33 years.
The reward for great output and efficiency has been a
very high level of wages.
But what s been happening lately f In the past live
years wages have been pushed upward by artificial
means. Heavy pressure from both unions and govern
ment has shoved them upward faster than productivity
has increased. Naturally, these methods create disloca
tions and encourage inflation. I believe we have reached
the point where any further steps in that direction
would bring unemployment and encourage depression.
Now, this A. F. of L. plea that labor join with man
agement to bring down production costs for the pur
pose of obtaining higher wages is a real ray of hope. It
makes exceeding good sense. For example, I am told
that in the housing industry the cost of laying brick
could be brought ’way down, with the right kind of co
operation of employees and management. Here is a con
dition that has hurt construction progress and slowed
the building of homes thruoghout the nation.
I understand that a good bricklayer can lay 800 to
1,200 bricks a day wihout much difficulty. However, a
good many builders have told me that the union will al
low their bricklayers to put oup only 350 to 400 per day.
If this industry represents a fair example of what could
be done with full cooperation of labor and management,
surely there are great strides o be made in the years
ahead toward achieving higher living standards for the
people of America.
Experts tell us that America s living standards have
advanced in direct proportion to productivity per man
day. This simply means that increased production will
bring about increases in living standards. My convic
tion* is that good labor-management cooperation could
increase productivity per man day another 100 per
cent within the next 33 years. This would bring a 100
per cent increase in living standards.
This miracle will happen again, only if labor and
management pull together. If they solve our industrial
problems in an intelligent way America will reach
higher and higher levels of output. Not only will this
co-operation insure plenty of jobs and the goods we
need. It will do much to reverse the trend towrad stat
ism, which threatens to reduce every American’s stand
ard of living to the same low level.
In one of our exchanges we noted the item that one
fact brought to light by the Hoover report is that “it
costs more than ten bucks to fill out a single Govern
Russian Spy Got
Both Atomic And
Hydrogen Secrets
. ..
(Continued from Page One)
ed that Great Britain—and all
other countries—be cut off from
any information about h-bomb
developments.
3. Senator Connally (D.-Tex.),
chairman of the Senate foreign
relations committee and a mem
ber of the Senate-House atomic
committee, forecast a drastic
. ■*, *
tightening of atomic security
regulations at home and abroad.
. The story Hoover unfolded at
a three-hour closed meeting of ,a
Senate appropriations sub-com
mittee Fittay brought astonish
ment, dismay and grim determin
ation to the men who heard it.
As outlined by the Senators |
present, Hoover’s story was this:
Fuchs, a German by birth, be
came a paid Moscow agent as
early as 1939. A physicist, he
went to England and applied for
and received citizenship papers
in 1942.
He worked his way to the top
of the British atomic delegation
and came to this country. Clear
ed by the British Security Agen
cies, he was given unquestioned
access to American atomic secrets.:
He worked with America scien
tists, visited major atomic instal
lations and even was present at
the assembly of a bomb, appar
ently the most vital secret of all.
He took part in atomic matters in
this country from late 1943 until
June, 1946.
In the course of his occupation,
Fuchs was able to pick up some
information about the proposed
super-destructive hydrogen bomb.
Senators quoted Hoover as say
ing Fuchs had confessed to pass
ing along atomic and hydrogen
bomb information to the Russians.
The scientist faces trial in British
courts, but possibly on a relative
ly minor charge so that still secret
Robertson Says,
He Is Not A Red
SAN FRANCISCO, (/P) —J. R.
Robertson is no longer the “for
gotten man” of thd Harry Bridges
perjury trial.
Robertson, 44, vice president of
Bridges’ CIO longshore union,
got his innings on the witness
stand Friday. He denied he is or
ever was, a communist. He denied
he ever attended a communist
meeting.
He had sat almost unnoticed
and almost completely ignored
by testimony that has droned on
since November 14. He had “wait
ed many days to talk.” On the,47th,
day of the trial he got his chance
to tell his views and his struggles
as a trade union organizer.
Robertson and Hepry Schmidt,
the union’s international repre
sentative, arc charged with con
spiracy to defraud in testifying
for Bridges at the Australian
born labor leader’s citizenship
hearing here in 1945. Bridges is
charged with conspiracy to de
fraud and with perjury in telling
the naturalization examiner that
he had never been a communist.
Robertson testified that he was
• , T * - .•* • -
waiting to be a spectator at
Bridges’ naturalization, when he
was picked as a last-minute sub
stitute for a man who cound not
qualify as Bridges’ supporting
witness.
“Of course, I was proud to
stand up and be a witness for
Bridges,” he testified. “Of course,
I had no idea this (the trial) was
gaing to happen.”
At the naturalization hearing,
he said, he had vouched for Brid
ges’ loyalty to the United States
and “most certainly” had recom
mended him for citizenship. He
testified he had had no previous
conversation with anyone as to
what he was going to say.
information will not be revealed
in testimony.
ment purchase order, and more than half of the Govern
ment purchases are under ten bucks.” And the sad part
of that fact is that it is probably 100% true. What fools
we mortals (an dtaxpayers) be.
—Hartford, Wic., Times-Press
In financial circles, according to “Trade Winds,” the
word is that President Truman will find a way to give
the Statue of Liberty some kind of Social Security
when she reaches 65 years of age in 1951.
—Mullins, S. C., Enterprise
STOP WORRYING ABOUT THE A-BOMB!
NEWS IN BRIEF
(Continued from Page One)
injured.
No further explanation of the
shooting was offered, other than
it was “accidental.”
LONDON, (/P) — Queen Mary
has been so badly crippled by
sciatica that she has been unable
to walk for the last week, it was
learned today.
The 82-year-old Queen Mother
is confined to her room at her
residence, Marlborough House,
but has declined to stay in bed.
. *• i i ■ «I *
P HI LA DELPHI A ,(/P) — Qut
fielder Rif hie Ash hum has. sign
ed his ,1950 contract with the Phil
adelphia Phillies, President Rob
ert R. H. Carpenter said today.
The contract calls for the same
salary—believed to be $10,000—
Ashburn received in 1940, Car
penter announced.
Ashburn was a rookie sensation
in 1948. He hit .333, stole 32 bases
was chosen rookie of the year and
played in the all-star game. Last
season he hit .284 and stole nine
( , J . t . . - i »
bases.
ELGIN, 111., (>P)—Frank Breen,
35, pitched a perfect game in
horseshoes last night and claimed
a world’s amateur record.
Breen, chairman of the Central
Association AAU horseshoe com
mittee, threw 32 straight ringers
in 32 shoes, or 16 straight double
ringers. He tossed them in an in
door match with Arthur Wier of
Elgin.
NEW YORK, (JP) — Charles
Luckman, recently resigned presi
dent of Lever Brothers, today
spiked rumors that he has been
offered the chairmanship of the
atomic energy commission.
“I know nothing about the offer
or the job,” he said.
Luckman has been mentioned
for several government posts
since he left the $300,000-a-vear
Lever Brothers presidency.
House Advocates
Larger Cut In
Excise Taxes
WASHINGTON, (.TV-Proposals
to cut excise taxes as much as
$1,000,000,000 instead of the
$655,000,000, recommended by the
administration drew expanding
Democratic support in the House
Saturday.
Some of President Truman’s
most constant followers joined in
a drive for more and deeper re
duction in the wartime levies.
They included some Democratic
member sof the tax-writing ways
and means committee and a quick
check indicated that the bloc,
with Republicans expected to
vote solidly for larger cuts may
take control and write their own
ticket.
They proposed to add $325,000,
000 to the proposed specified re
duction by cutting the taxes on
such things as theater tickets, lo
cal telephone bills, and cameras
and other photographic equip
ment.
In outlining the administration’s
tax program in detail Friday,
Secretary of the Treasury Sny
der called for higher taxes on
corporations, estates and gifts,
and the plugging of what he call
ed loopholes in the present law.
Snyder figures those increases
would offset the proposed exice
reductions and bring in net addi
tional revenue of about $1,000,
000,000.