THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nom*. Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. o. Box 618
$1,30 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAR
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER.Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at
the Postoffice at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of
March 3, 1879.
__Monday, July 9,1945
ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH
(Alaska Weekly)
Much has been said in high official cir
cles of the federal interest in Alaska as
prospective homeland for thousands of
service men for whom jobs may not be
available during the reconversion period.
Even the late President Roosevelt, in his
speech at Bremerton, referred in glowing
terms to this wondrous land of opportun
ity and assured his listeners that even
the Government was making plans for
assisting Alaska’s development and set
tlement by returning service men.
Repeatedly we have been assured by
Governor Gruening that if Alaska would
only help herself by making appropria
tions looking toward territorrial devel
opment in various lines that the federal
governments coffers would open like
Pandora’s box releasing a flood of fed
eral funds.
Recently we ran the story of $1,072,
600 requested by the Department of the
Interior for the use of the General Land
Office, Geological Survey and the Fish
and Wildlife Service in the develpoment
of Alaska being lopped off the budget by
the House Appropriations Committee
because, “this committee is of the opin
ion that the testimony presented as to
the puropses for which funds were re
quired did not justify approval of the
item/*
Who was asleep at the switch? Nobody
who has even a smattering of knowledge
of Alaska but knows that irrefutable tes
timony could have been presented justi
fying approval of such an appropriation
and proving that the funds properly ex
pended would become a dividend-paying
investment rather than an expense.
Alaska has created a Development
Board and appropriated funds within
keeping with its financial status. If there
was any question concerning the advis
ability of such a hoard it should be re
moved. Had the board been functioning,
as it shortly will be, the needed testi
mony would doubtless have been forth
coming ... a fact which absolves neither
the governor of Alaska nor the delegate
to Congress from censure for failure to
make certain that the needs of the Terri
tory were adequately presented to the
appropriations committee.
The inevitable post-war influx of peo
ple to Alaska is not a problem for Alaska
alone, nor is it a problem which Alaska
alone can handle. Its own. limited devel
opment program must have the support
of federal agencies and federal funds.
The interpreters at the World Secur
ity Conference at San Francisco had a
tough job. So often a diplomat said some
thing that couldn’t even be interpreted in
his own language.
Instructors in the paratroop division tell their
classes that if a parachute doesn’t open they’ll
l know what it is to jump to conclusions.
_ADVANCE AND ?E RECOGNIZED
I
vere^AH |
LOST MOTION
Good mechanics are economists.
Whether a workman is a compe
tent millwright or a graduate me
chanical engineer, he is an enemy
of lost motion. And lost motion is
a menace to prosperity, serious as
fire. When an engine is running
idle it is only wearing out. When
a machine is driven with its
brakes on, the waste is even more
damaging; property is injured and
energy thrown away.
What is true of a mechanical
assembly is true of a human or
ganization in this respect. The
owners of a farm or the stock
holders of a corporation are no
penny richer for having a crew
that works hard all day doing
nothing. Work is necessary on a
farm; sweat and callouses are only
incidental; it’s the crop that brings
in the money and pays the men
who till the land.
Production Pays
Prosperity results from work
but not from all work. Prosperity;
results from productive work.
People who kept busy but don’t
increase the yield might as well
be resting. The man who figures
out a way to increase yield with
out extra labor is the best man on
the job. He works with his brain;
knows enough to stop lost mo
I #
tion, to take precautions against
fire and the like.
I
In England there is a magazine
| called The Economist. It is Brit
; ain’s leading financial publication,
i it is read and respected by busi
ness men and financiers generally.
Right recently it has been running
a series of articles entitled “A
Policy for Wealth.” The articles
have shown why England is poor;
that is, why the English people
must put up with low living stand
ards.
Deserve Ihe Best
A large and respected group of
Americans often say “Mother
England.” The British are a proud
and industrious pepole and the
Americans respect them. The Brit
ish well understand how to enjoy
and appreciate life’s good things.
They deserve to live as well as
anybody but they don’t. What’s
the reason? Well, here’s what one
writer for The Economist, looking
back at 1943, has to say: ,
“Industrial efficiency, as meas
ured by production per head, was
roughly similar in Great Britain
and Germany, while in the United
States it was more than twice as
great as in the other two coun
tries.” The statement is that of Dr.
Leon Rosas, based on serious
study of authenitc records. Now
there is a movement on foot in
England to double her productive
output per man by 1972.
Lest We Forget
No longer ago than 1943, when
America and England both had
full employment, our American
workers were twice as well off.
They were producing enough to
live twice as well as the British.
About that time Britain was in
vesting only 3% of her income in
equipment for additional produc
tion. It was like a woodman say
ing, “Why buy a file? A dull saw
pulls easier.”
The British point to America
and say, “Look! They work fewer
hours a day, earn more money and
live better than we, all because
they encourage more investment
in tools to produce more goods
per man.” It’s the truth but it may
not be true long. America is start
ing her post-war race with her
brakes on—high taxes to discour
age investment. England wisely
encourages production. Unless we
adjust today’s tax laws, we will
be poor, watching the British fare
well in 1972.
Coffey Wants
Direct Anchorage
Seattle Air Route
PORTLAND, July 9 — <;P) —
Alaska is not looking for new con
necting highways with United
States, but to development of Ter
ritory airlines, Edward D. Coffey,
president of the Alaska Senate
said yesterday.
He said the pending decision of
the Civil Aeronautics Board re
garding a direct air route to An
chorage from Seattle is of prime
importance.
; Nome Directory
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