TIIE NO >1 E N U (; G E T
Published Monday. Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome. Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 613
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHI .Editors
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Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943, at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3. 1879.
Monday, March 8, 1948
‘Gallant Liberation* of President Benes
(The Denver Post)
TWICE WITHIN A DECADE, Eduard Benes* presi
dent of the now-puppet state of Czeccaslovakia, has seen
the shattering of an illusion. In 1938, it was the dream
of collective security broken at Munich and trampled
beneath the marching legions of Adolf Hitler. In 1948,
it is the dream of a socialist brotherhood in eastern Eu
rope where men might be free though united in social
democracy.
As the iron curtain drops around Czechoslovakia,
“godchild” of American democracy, Benes now knows
the truth against which he struggled so long—that the
Russian Communist movement is not ideological social
ism, as Henry Wallace proclaims. It is intolerant, crush
ing all opposition. It is nationalistic, serving the ends of
Russia. It is aggressive, with only the world as its limit
of conquest. In sum, it is no ideological “wave of the fu
ture”; it is nothing but brutal, aggressive nationalism,
different from Hitler’s only in more subtle technics of
conquest.
Benes, who thought to be a co-worker and is instead
a captive of the Communists, may now look back upon
his political naivety. For instance to the day in Moscow,
on his way home after the war, when he declared, “The
path of free Czechoslovakia lies through Moscow and
the Soviet Union, whose gallant armies, with the aid of
their allies, are liberating Europe.” What does he think
now of the gallant liberators?”
Benes—the internationalist who commands five lan
guages, the humanist who embraces respect and faith in
the individual even in a materialistic society, and the
democrat who, believes “democracy must fight its an
tagonists”—is a man of the civilized west. He personi
fies the human values our civilization holds highest. At
the same time, he embodies the tragedy which has over
come that civilization in much of Europe.
Here is an object lesson for all of the people of the
western world who look with tolerance upon the Rus
sian claims of democracy. Henry Wallace, when he first
bared his doctrine of appeasement, declared, “Under
friendly, peaceful competition the Russian world and
the American world will gradually become more alike.”
Where is the “friendly competition”? What we are
seeing is the brutal extinction of freedom wherever the
Soviet power can fasten its hold.
In Our Own Back Yard
(The Anchorage Times)
IT IS AN AMAZING story of want that came from
St. Lawrence Island as a result of a visit of a local party
there last week.
The Eskimos were found in dire need of food. Their
living conditions were unusually difficult for lack of
electric power from the community generating plant.
Youngsters were attending school with the classrooms
below 50 degrees.
That such a condition should prevail in these days of
master plans for sending aid to Europe is hard to ex
plain. Many Anchorage residents are spending their
money on relief supplies for Greek families.
Yet right in our own backyard, only a few hours of
flying from Anchorage, some mighty fine people are
bucking terrific odds for a mere subsistence through
the winter. Men, women, children and dogs were re
ported to be actually hungry because the hunting and
fishing has been poor. They are unable to purchase
white man’s food items, which have become a part of
their diet, because of*the scarcity of white foxes and the
low market prices on these furs.
The St. Lawrence Island Eskimos are among the most
self-reliant, healthy and prosperous of their race. Their
GOT BY THAT TIME__
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Mi fOK A ,
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self-reliance is being demonstrated this winter as they
make valiant efforts to aid themselves. They have asked
assistance from nobody.
The Anchorage party found the village made up al
most entirely of old folks, women and children. The
young men were out on the ice floes of the Bering Strait
hunting seals, walrus and other sources of food. Or they
were inland on the island hunting birds and trapping
foxes.
The combination of circumstances that makes life at
Gambell extraordinarily difficult was impressive. Why
has there been no attempt to repair the generating plant
in 18 months? Why has the cooperative store an $8,000
deficit where it had a $70,000 surplus only five years
ago? The Anchorage party brought no answer to these
questions.
Perhaps Alaskans are being as blind, in a small way,
as they accuse the United States Congress of being in a
big way. They find the federal legislators so occuDied
with the affairs and problems of Europe that they have
little time or money to consider the “back door” of the
nation. Appropriations to build up the defenses of Alas
ka is months behind schedule and slow in coming from
Congress. But hundreds of millions of dollars have been
voted for aid to Europe.
Alaskans may be guilty of the same charge in con
nection with relief. Efforts to send food and clothing to
Greek families are most commendable, but what about
out own people here in Alaska?
The first answer to this problem came from Jamss A.
j Wooten, president of Alaska Airlines. He has offered to
| have a transport plane made available to fly a load of
relief supplies to Gambell without charge, if arrange
ments are made to load it.
Wooten’s generous offer is a challenge. It is the equiv
alent to approximately $1,200, the cost of such a charter
flight.
Pacific Northern Airlines has offered to cooperate by
transporting free of charge from Juneau and Cordova
any food items contributed by residents of those cities
for the relief ship from Anchorage.
These offers from the airlines make it possible for
Alaskans to fill the need. Three tons of food will make
up the required load. And perhaps replacements for the
broken parts in the Gambell generator can be included
in the shipment.
It is to be hoped that substantial contributions from
Alaskans will be made available in the next few days to
aid the Eskimos.
SENATOR SOAPER SAYS: Russia is much like the wo
man driver on a one-way street, where everyone else
moves the other way. At no time is its faith in its own
correctness unsettled..;. A top man on atoms, Dr. R. E.
Lapp, points out that one atomic bomb dropped on the
Pentagon building would just about clean out Wash
ington without the formality of an election. . . .Middle
age is that time of life when you’re o.k. if you remember
, there was something you had to remember.
> LOOKING
I AHEAD
t* GEORGE 1 BENSON
Shi PitiidfKt—Hirdltf MUft
Ht
LIVE IN RUSSIA?
One test of a country’s econ i
mic pattern is whether ym w > i I
like to live there. The advantages
of the social scene, in other words,
make up its strongest advertise
ment. Or, the proof of the pud
ding is in the eating. It is com
mon scandal, naturally, that none
of our American “fellow 4rave!
e s” cherish the idea of actually
living in Russia. Apparently, from
a personal viewpoint they'll take
American living any day.
On that paint, these commun
ists and Russophobes show good
judgment. Your Russian factory
worker, under the new Russian
price.- , has to spend the income of
one hour and 18 minutes of labor
for a quart of milk, which the av
erage American factory worker
gets in exchange for the price of
10 minutes of his labor. A pound
of butter costs the Russian 10
hours and 42 minutes; the Ameri
can only 48Vfe minutes (not count
ing the time spent griping about
the current price).
Spending Labor
It costs the Russian factory
worker about four weeks’ work to
get himself a part-wool suit. If he
wants a worsted suit he’ll have to
spend his entire pay for more than
three months. His American coun
terpart can work out a good qual
ity worsted suit in little more than
three days. More than two weeks’
pay would have to go into a pair
of leather shoes for the Russian,
yet the American can work them
out in less than a day.
These comparisons are based
upon estimates of the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, and on Russian
prices as reported by the Associ
ated Press in December. The com
parisons are as accurate as the
iron curtain will permit. They
show that prices in a communistic
economy ai'e much higher than
our own, in terms of work. And
those are the terms that count.
Eating The Pudding
The real pay-off of any econo
mic system comes in the standard
of living that it provides for its
people. Without question. the
American workingman enioys the
highest living standards of any
nation. He’s rightly proud of this,
although he may not know the
United States has 5 per cent of the
world’s telephones, 84 per cent of
the automobiles, nearly 50 percent
of the radios, and 92 per cent of
all the bathtubs on this planet!
Can you believe it, Americans *
are able to spend mor than $4,000,
000 a day just for tickets to the
movies! Indeed, who would want
to live in a Communist economy?
If our Commies want to live in a
land where only the ruling class
is favored and is well-off because
of the sweat of the masses then let
them go to Russia. As for the av
erage American let him begin to
appreciate Hie advantages of a
capitalistic economy.
Why America?
A “capitalistic” country con
trary to Russian descriptions is a
nation where men are permitted
to have a high standard of living.
This is exemplified by America.
Here men are free to work, to in
vent, to initiate, to experiment, to
engage in the enterprise of their
dreams. Unhampered by restric- n
tions that in other nations tend to
keep down any individual enter
prise, an American worker can
start his own factory or set up his