THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO..
Nome, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER .Editors
$1.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAR
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Wednesday, November 5, 1947
The Plan’s Big Test
(By Palmer Hoyt)
WITH THE VICTORY of Charles de Gaulle in the
French elections, the Marshall plan is stepping into the
forefront as the determining factor in the fight against
Communism in western Europe.
While the Communists polled more votes in this e’er>
tion than they did last year, de Gaulle’s party took 41
per cent of the total vote, largely at the expense of Pre
mier Paul Ramadier’s Socialist party and the Popular
Republican party.
The resuts of the elections are certain, but the future
of France most certainly is not. When he created the
Rally of the French People last April, de Gaulle de
manded constitutional reform, to create a new France,
which would maintain an equilibrium between the
United States and Russia—“two enormous masses, both
inclined toward expansionism.” Yet just before that he
said that France would stand with America if “a new
tyranny” threatened the peace.
What this all adds up to, probably the French do not
even know. It is certain that de Gaulle wanted a more
centralized government; he was stanchly opposed by
the left and by the other parties of the right. In election
of de Gaulle, the French people may have been turning
to a wartime hero, hoping that he could ^ve them from
the economic defeat that seems so close.
There is little doubt but what the new French gov
ernment must depend as much on the Marshall plan for
survival as the present government. That does not mean
that they will depend on the handout. But they must
have certain materials for reconstruction and rehabili
tation, and today those can come only from the United
States.
The Communists, who ran second, have indicated
that they will do all in their power to cause the failure
of the Marshall plan, and the failure of the new govern
ment. The next few months will be the test for France.
If with American aid, de Gaulle’s government can res
cue the French economy, the Communists will have
been beaten. If not. after the next elections, the western
world may be faced with a Communist France.
Mr. Petrillo’s Delusion
(Rocky Mountain News)
“WOULD AN ICEMAN make an electric refrigerator,
knowing it would put him out of business?” asks J.
Caesar Petrillo.
Probably not. But millions of people who benefit by
the use of electric refrigerators may be thankful that no
iceman had the power to forbid the making of them.
Mr. Petrillo has—or assumes—the power to decree
that, after Dec. 31, members of his musicians’ union
never again shall make recordings for radio broadcast
ing, home phonographs, juke boxes or any other pur
pose.
He says the members are willing to give up five mil
lion dollars a year they now earn by making recordings,
rather than go on “creating compeition which would de
stroy them.”
His union, which reported 80,000 members in 1925,
claims 225,000 today. This hardly seems to indicate
that recorded music has meant fewer jobs for union
musicians. But his latest ukase, if he could make it com
pletely effective, eventually would destroy the jobs of
many times 225,000 people employed in the making,
selling, and servicing of radios, phonographs and juke
boxes.
Technological progress—new methods, labor-saving
machines—often does destroy jobs and cause hardship
+ fV*o nonnlp who Vipvp VipI/J tViPm Rnt thocp who likp
* , , _ :_^:ur.T. >
“LOVE ME, LOVE MY DOGt” I
Mr. Petrillo, see this as a reason for resisting progress
are suffering from a great and dangerous delusion.
It’s an old delusion. Back in 1760, the 7900 persons
i then employed in England to spin and'weave cotton by
hand deplored the invention of Arkwright’s spinning
machinery.
Yet in less than 30 years the number of persons em
ployed in spinning and weaving cotton rose to 320,000.
Early in the last century, introduction of machines to
knit stockings caused bloody rioting among the English
hand-knitters—just before tha century ended the stock
ing industry was employing at least 100 times as many
workers. »
In our own country, many unions have opposed ma
chines and methods that increased human productivity.
Many still do. Their attitude, though understandable,
is misguided.
It’s fortunate that the makers of oil lamps and tallow
candles couldn’t prevent introducion of the electric
light. And that the buggy-makers, horse-breeders and
blacksmiths couldn’t kill the automobile industry in its
cradle.
These and other developments have destroyed many
jobs. But they have created far more and better jobs.
And they have created more goods and brought them
within reach of more people. It’s no accident that the
countries with the most technological progress are the
ones with the highest standards of living.
Those whose jobs are outmoded by technological prog
ress deserve every possible holp in adjusting them
selves to new work. But trying to help them by stopping
progress hurts everybody.
If Mr. Petrillo really doesn’t understand that, some
means of enlightening him will have to be found.
i
What Happens Next?
(Denver Post)
IN ITS LATEST POLL, the American Institute of
Public Opinion has found that twice as many Americans
now believe that our development of the atomic bomb
was a bad thing as did in September, 1945. Now 55 per
cent of Americans believe that development to have
been good, but 38 per cent believe it was bad, and the
number who had no opinion fell to 7 per cent.
It has now been well established that American and
British physicists were the only ones known to be even
near a solution to the atom problem during the war. For
a time it was believed that' the Germans had almost
found the secret, but in an article in Life magazine,
Samuel A. Goudsmit said that German scientists had
not ever been using the proper approach—that they
were far from any solution.
There is no doubt but what development of the atomic
bomb is at best a mixed blessing. Some have held that
the fear of atomic warfare would stop all war, yet recent
international moves have indicated otherwise.
The important point discovered in this poll is that
most Americans—70 per cent—believe that we should
^wkinAie4^^.nm,AU'wr^UM,,larrc^jy..be.caRso..oLth£.£ear„
that other countries have solved
the atom problem. Whether the
atomic bomb is a good thing or not
is an obsolete question, for the
bomb exists. The real question o£
today is what shall be done with
it.
To date attempts to organize in
ternational control have been re
sounding failures, because of jtiu
tual distrust. The Soviet Union has
absolutely refused to submit to
complete international control ami
inspection of her atom plants. Un
til this question is solved there can
be no possibility of international
control, and the United States
must continue to manufacture and
develop bombs, as a simple matter
of self-protection.
That’s That
By BRUCE GUSTIN
There is a note of caution in sec
retary of interior Krug’s report on
“National Resources and Foreign
Aid.” He says the United States
can furnish up to 20 billion dol
lars of European aid in the next
five years without endangering
American security or living stand
ards. But he adds this warning:
“It is self-evident that even a
country as wealthy in resources
as the United States cannot long
underwrite the material defects of
other nations without serious im
pacts upon its own economy or its
resources.”
Any estimate of the American
aid which can be provided under
the Marshall plan over a five-year
period necessarily involves a lot
of guessing. What this country can
afford to give away will depend so
much upon economic and weather
conditions. Nobody can forecast
those accurately even one year
ahead. The sharp drop in corn
production this year was a warn
ing of what can happen.
After Dec. 31, says James Cae
sar Petrillo, czar of the musicians’
union, “there will never be any
more phonograph records or trans
criptions made by members of th.^
musicians’ union. “Never” is a
long time. Petrillo may find issu
ance of a ban on recordings and
radio transcriptions much easier
than making it stick. It will boom
erang against his musicians. They
will be cut out of a lot of employ
ment. And his latest edict will be
a challenge to Congress to knock
his ears down again as it did when
it outlawed his decree requiring
radio stations to hire “stand-by”
employees they do not need.
Governmental pressure has been
I put on American distilleries to
shut down to save 10 million bush
els of grain for "hungry Europe.”
They are asked to release for ship
ment abroad all stock of grain
they have on hand and order.
Great Britain is one of the “hun
gry countries. But, according to
press dispatches from London,
British distilleries have no inten
tion of shutting down. What do
you think about that?
It would be outrageous to take
grain away from American distill
eries and give it to British distil
leries. But, in effect, that is what
would be done if the British liquor
making business is continued as
usual. If it is wrong to use Amer
ican grain to make whisky here in
the United States when that grain
could be used to feed hungry peo
ple in Britain, it must be infinite
ly worse for the British to keep on
using grain for whisky.
There is still another matter to
be considered in connection with
the planned shutdown of Ameri
can distilleries. What about their
employees? If the distilleries are
forced by governmental pressure
-an^Mle.opinion, to go out of