THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box filK
*1.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAR
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER.Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoff’ee
at Nome. Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Friday, December 27, 1946
1947 Legislative Problems
(Anchorage Daily Times)
IN ALASKA is it customary for the legislature to
meet at Juneau, initiate laws on a wide variety of sub
jects, discuss them thoroughly and either enact or kill
them.
At the same time, the constituents back home hear of
the proposed legislation for the first time when it is in
troduced. They discuss it with the information at hand
and decide they approve or disapprove.
It frequently happens that the decision made back
home is at variance with the decision made by the rep
resentatives of those same people. Consequently, when
legislators come home they find themselves getting
“kicked in the pants" for something they did which
they sincerely believed to be in the best interest of their
own people.
This situation is due in a large part to the lack of in
formation and the inability of the legislators and their
constituents to work together. The distance between the
hometown and Juneau is great. Communications are
often slow or expensive.
Sen. Edward Coffey, a member of several sessions of
the legislature, is well aware of this problem and has
suggested a possible solution.
The senator would like to see legislative problems
presented to the people generally before the legislators
leave for Juneau. He would like to see the Chamber of
Commerce and other organizations study them and make
recommendations for the guidance of the lawmakers.
It has already been reported by visitors that appro-1
priation requests to come before the next legislature
will total about eight million dollars. This would be a
substantial increase over the five and one-half million
appropriated by the last legislature.
Big increases are expected in the territorial school
budget, the territorial health department budget, the
highway engineer’s budget and in other departments.
The legislators face the problem of trimming down
the appropriations and curtailing the governmental
services rendered by the territory, or that of finding
new sources of revenue to provide the additional money.
Curtailment of services is popular in some quarters.
New taxes are popular nowhere.
Senator Coffey’s suggestion for a public airing of the
problems has much merit.
This newspaper will seek all the information it can
get on legislation that will come before the next session.
But it predicts that if these efforts meet with the success
of past efforts toward the same end, such information
will be meager. It seems that proponents of legislation
too often prefer to “spring it’’ during the session and
push it through with the least discusion.
Meanwhile, we recommend it to all, including legis
lators, as a subject for “Letters to the Editor,’’ so that
the opinions of each will be available for all. We urge,j
however, that the letters be confined to one topic at a:
time and framed within 200 words so that space will
permit their being published. i
Budget And Defense
(Washington Star)
When it takes over in January, the new Republican
Congress will have an excelent opportunity—after the
long years of deficits—to restore order to the Nation’s
fiscal affairs. Any effort to do this, however, will in
volve serious hazards, the chief of them being a tempta
tion to reduce taxes prematurely and balance the bud
UP TO NO GOOD
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get primarily by making ill-considered cuts in Army
and Navy appropriations.
As far as taxes are concerned, Senator Taft, who
probably will be majority leader and chairman of the
Senate Finance Committee, has just suggested a reas
suring approach. He feels that the federal budget for
the fiscal year beginning next July can be cut down to
a figure between $25,000,000,000 and $30,000,000,000, a
drop of at least $13,000,000,000 from the total outlay es
timated for this fiscal year. But he would go slow on tax
reductions; he would not make them until after the
lower levels of spending actually have been reached.
Such an approach obviously commends itsell to com
mon sense. It remains to be seen, however, whether Sen
ator Taft’s colleagues will adhere to it or whether they
will rush pell-mell into the politically popular but dan
gerously unwise course of cutting taxes without really
effecting a proportionate cut in expenditures. Moreover,
even assuming that they will first reduce the spending,
there is some reason to wonder whether they may not be
setting their sights too high in estimating military econ
omies—the biggest single reduction they have in mind.
Although he says that any decision on this point must
be governed by what the Army and Navy recommend,
Mr. Taft himself believes that $8,000,000,000 probably
will be enough for the armed forces in the next fiscal
year. This would be $5,000,000,000 less than at present.
There can be no question, of course, that our military
expenditures must be substantially reduced sooner or
later, but the reduction roust be timed most carefully if
we are not to do grave injury to ourselves while the
world is passing through a period of serious tension and
when it is important for us to be strong.
Events within the next few months may prove that
Senator Taft has soundly o'1 ted what the Army and
Navy will need. Meanwhile, though, it ought to k? kept
in mind that our expenditures on national defense are
intimately linked with our foreign policy and that if we
pare them down too swiftly and too drastically, we shall
be undermining our efforts in the United Nations to pre
mote the kind of peace that will best guarantee our own
security.
Now that they control both the House and the Senate,
the Republicans have a heavy responsibility in this re
spect—a responsibility to be statesmanlike, and not
merely political, in dealing with the budget and taxes.
We have a sound bipartisan foreign policy, and to keep
it that way the new Congress will be well advised to lis
ten attentively to the State, War and Navy Departments
before acting on military appropriations.
Washington
News Letter
ALASKA HIGHWAY
HOTEL FACILITIES
Through the courtesy of C. J.
Rogers, president and general
manager of the White Pass and
I
Yukon Route, the NEWS-LETTER
is able to give more complete in
formation about stopping places
along the Alaska Highway.
There is a hotel at Fort Nelson,
B. C. mile 300 and other points
along the Highway at which ac
commodations may be found are:
Coal River, B. C. mile 533, lunch
stop with some sleeping accommo
dations; Lowes Post, B. C. mile
620, hotel; Ranchedia, Y. T. mile
710, lunch stop with some sleep
ing accommodiations; and Dry
Creek, Y. T. mile 1184, hotel.
Gasoline and food are availab^
at all these places.
ALASKA SHIPPING
In response to a letter from Del
egate Bartlett regarding Alaska
shipping service and Alaska ship
ping rates, Admiral W. W. Smith,
Chairman of the U. S. Maritime
Commission, has written as fal
lows: “I have your letter of De
cember 2, 1946, regarding the re^
turn of ships engaged in the Alas
ka traffic to their owners with al
lowances of increases in existing
freight rates.
“I can assure you that the Com
mission is cognizant of the diffi
culties confronting not only Alas
ka, but also the Commission itself
in attempting to divorce itself of
the Alaskan services within the
time limit set by the Congress of
the United States. All possible so
lutions are being explored ;n tlm
hope of finding one which win
meet the needs of Alaska from
both a transportation and an eco
nomic standpoint. All factors en
tering into the problem will be
duly considered in any proposal
which may be received. No pro
posal from the carriers will be ac
cepted without the most careful"
scrutiny as to its accuracy and as
to its effect upon the internal econ
omy of the Territory.”
VISITORS
Dr. C. Earl Albrecht, Territorial
Commissioner of Health, who has
been in Washington for the past
few weeks left yesterday evening
for his home in Juneau. Enroute
he will make business stops at,
Oklahoma City, Denver, Chicago,
San Francisco and Seattle. ^
Colonel J. P. Johnson, general
manager of The Alaska Railroad
is now in Washington.
Mr. and Mrs. Ray G. Day. long
time residents of Alaska, are vis
iting in Washington with Mrs.
Day’s sister Mrs. Eugene McLach
len. Mr. McLachlen is head of the
McLachlen Banking Corporation,
one of the prominent financial in
stitutions of Washington.
Prior to coming to Washington*
Mrs. Day attended a national con
vention of the Eastern Star re
cently held in Miami, Florida. Fol
lowing the close of the conven
tion Mr. and Mrs. Day spent five
days in Havana. They now plan
to return to Florida for the re
maining winter months and will
return to Alaska in the spring.
Mr. and Mrs. Milton Howe ol^
Moose Pass are visiting in Wash
ington for a short time. Mrs.
Howe’s sister, Mrs. Earl Pilgrim,
is the author of the well-known
book, “Alaska.”
P. G. Briggs, president of the
Briggs Steamship Corporation,
was a visitor in the Delegate s of
fice this week. Mr. Briggs report
ed his company’s recently acquired
ship is now in San Franciso being
refitted. Tiie ship will be used iif^
furnishing steamship service from
Prince Rupert, B. C., to south
eastern Alaska ports. This service
is to start next March.
Mrs. Louise Collier of Ketchi
kan, vice president of Alaska Ter
ritorial Federation of Labor, has
been in Washington recently as a
delegate to a labor conference
called by Secretary of Labor
Schwellenbach. ^
W. Ted Wilson who is with the
U. S. Engineers in Anchorage^
called on Delegate Bartlett while^
in Washington on business.
Miss Alice Stuart of Fairbanks
was a visitor in the Delegate’s of
fice before returning to her home
in Fairbanks.