THE NOME NUGGET I
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME, ALASKA
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 6ie
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W. A. Boucher .Owner-Publisher
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffice
•t Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3. 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Wednesday, June 15, 1949
“AS JAPAN GOES, SO GOES ASIA.”
(New World News Service)
“The Open Door was closing fast in China. In all Asia,
tiny beaten Japan is the one place where the U. S. still
has a firm foothold, where it still has a chance to re
deem the West’s sorrv record of failure and confusion
in the East.” So began a feature article in “Time” mag
azine, May 9, 1949.
Japan today is in much the same predicament Britain
found herself in the summer of 1940 after France fell.
For two years, Britain stood as a lonely bastion against
the swirling tide of Nazism. Now, nine years later, and
half way around the world, Japan stands as democ
racy’s outpost in an Asia inundated with Communism.
There is an old saying, “As Japan goes, so goes Asia.”
General Douglas MacArthur has long been convinced
that old legend can be as true for democracy as for to
talitarianism. He has often talked about the job of de
mocratization done bv the U. S. in Japan as a “mile
stone in the march ol man.” Again and again, he has
emphasized to policy makers in Washington that we
cannot abandon Asia to communism any more than we
would think of abandoning Europe to communism. At
the same time, he has been searching for a way in whichj
the Japanese can grasp democracy in the heart as well
as the head.
As “Time” stated in its article, “the Japanese find |
U. S. democracy attractive but elusive.” It quoted onej
politician who said, “We can explain the theory of de-i
mocracy and even make laws about it. But to feel it,!
that is the big jump.”
In answer to this problem certain Japanese leaders,
have initiated moves to train themselves in the ideas)
of democracy. A Japanese nobleman, descended from a
long line of feudal lords, found a new humility through*
working with his hands. A communist leader cleaning!
a drain pipe with him found his spirit contagious. The;
communist’s speeches changed.^hey were just as pas-;
sionate, but called for the moral- re-armament of Jap-!
anese society instead of communism. A former premier)
heard him speak and was deeply impressed. He decided I
to take action. A United Press dispatch from Tokyo on
May 11 stated that “Katayama, former Japanese Pre-j
mier and now head of the Social Democratic Party will
iead a delegation of prominent Japanese to the World:
Convention of the Moral Re-Armament Movement,” be
ing held in Caux, Switzerland. This move, together:
with news that Japan’s largest paper, “Mainichi” has
invited a Moral Re-Armament task force to Japan, is
encouraging evidence of Japan’s desire to bridge the
gap between theory and feeling. If we back Japanese
efforts like this it may still be true that ‘‘as Japan goes,
so goes Asia.”
!
SEEKING ECONOMY IN GOVERNMENT
(Hugo S. Sims) <
Mr. Herbert Hoover, former President of the United!
States, recently headed a special commission set up by |
Congress and the President, to study the government
structure for the purpose of recommending economies.
The report of the Hoover Commission has been re
leased in a number of sections. They have received
some, but not enough, publicity throughout the United
States. The proposals are now before Congress, but, as1
nearly as we can judge, they have received no great
popular support.
This, no doubt, is because the public is not much in
terested in matters relating to the general government
al structure. The idea behind the creation of the Hoover
Commission was wise, but it will take more than the
streamlining of governmental structure to produce
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economy in our Federal Government.
As long as States, businesses and other groups con
tinue to appeal to the Federal Government for funds to
promote various projects, there will be enough political
pressure to preclude any effective economy.
The idea that the spending of the Federal Govern
ment can be greatly reduced by reforms in government
al machinery or the elimination of some employees is
far-fetched, to say the least. The bulk of the spending
of the Federal Government relates to armaments, veter
ans, world rehabilitation and interest on the public
debt.
The listed items account for about three-fourths of
the expenditures of the Federal Government. There are
many other activities about which no great economy is
expected, such a§ the postal service, etc., and the elim
ination of useless, and perhaps political employees, will
be more than offset by increases in salaries for those
who remain.
PLIGHT OF ARABIAN REFUGEES
The United Nations has appealed to its fifty-nine
members to increase their contributions to the fund that
is caring for 944,000 refugees in the Palestine area, ahd
the United States, according to reports, is urging the
State of Israel to permit 800,000 Arabs, who fled during
the recent fighting, to return to their homes which are
now under Jewish control.
The Arabs are reported to be in great distress. The
United Nations says that the scale of assistance now be
ing extended is “dangerously low’1 because the number
of refugees proved to be much greater than original es
timates. Israeli circles say that the government of the
new State does not believe that there are more than
560,000 Arab refugees from Israeli-controlled territory.
We have called attention to the plight of these Arabs
before. Apparently, outside of a rather limited effort on
the part of the United Nations, there is no insistent
“voice of humanity” raised in their behalf. Certainly,
Uje interest taken in the refugees and displaced persons |
of Europe is much greater.
The Arab refugees are the victims of the effort to set!
up the State of Israel. When the fighting began, they j
left their homes and farms to seek shelter in surround
ing areas. Unless they can come back to their posses
sions, they stand a chance of losing much of what they
had.
So far, the new State has not bothered to pay the
refugees for the lands they left. The Israeli Govern
ment, it is reported from Lake Success, has offered to
permit 130,000 of the refugees to make their homes in
Israeli territory, but the offer is coupled with the pro
vision that Egypt return the Gaza coastal strip to Israel.
The Navy has perfected a device which is being used
to record the groans and moans in White House timbers.
It will also come in useful for recording these sounds in
the armed forces whenever the subject of unification
comes up.—St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Krug Report Shows
Vast Hydroelectric
Power Resources
In Alaska
• Continued from Page One)
habitable and fertile and with
more natural resources than the
average land in Norway, Finland,
and Sweden.
“A potential population density,
midway between that of Norway
and Sweden, would result in a po
tential Alaska population of more
than 12,000,000 persons. •
“By this reasoning, it is not un
likely that Alaska ultimately will
have 10,000,000 people.”
The report said Alaska can
nevei* hope to be entirely self suf
ficient in food production. It add
ed:
“With a population of 5,000,000
to 10,000,000 however, it would be
highly desirable to a balanced
economy to have 10,000,000 to 20,
000,000 acres of land in agricul
tural production.
“The commissioner of agricul
ture of Alaska states that agricul
tural land suitable for develop
ment is approximately 17,000,000
acres.
“Ample low-cost power is a
prerequisite to the development of
a mature and balanced economy.
Fo tunately. Alaska river systems
could produce more than 50,000,
000,000 kilowatt-hours of energy
a year.
“This much power would give
10,000.000 people more than twice
that now available to each person
in the States.” . . .
“Individuals can reclaim small
areas within their abilities and fi
nancial backing, but for agricul
ture to expand in Alaska—even to
meet the present needs—will re
quire aid by the federal govern
ment both in know-how and fi
nancial support.
“Reclamation, to be paid for
from the production of the lands,
can best be accomplished by an
extension of the basic reclamation
laws, provided that for Akiska
fhese laws are broadened to in
clude land clearing and reclama
tion by drainage.
The report proposed that the
f ilowing surveys be started im
mediately:
1. Irrigation prospects in the
Fairbanks-Dunbar-Chena and the
Matanuska - Anchorage - Spenard
districts.
2. Municipal water supplies for
the Fairbanks area, Anchorage,
Cordova and other Alaskan com
munities. “In Faiibanks well wa
ter supply is contaminated by
cesspools,” the report said. “Epi
demics are imminent and improve
ments are critically needed.”
3. Resources of the Big Susitna
river basin.
4. Possibilities of transmountain
diversion of water from the Lewes
River, Yukon, drainage basin in
Canada, with its chain of lakes, to
the Taiya river outlet 10 miles
north of Skagway.
4. Other potential power sites in
Southeast where pulp industries
are investigating the possibilities
of establishing pulp mills.
This action program would help
bring at least 135,000 acres of new
land into agricultural production,
the report said.
It estimated 8,294,000 kilowatts
of potential installed power capa
city, in these areas:
Southeastern region, 2.221,0«')0
kilowatts divide! as follows—
Ketchikan area, 133,000; Wran
gell area, 218,000; Sitka area, 58,
000; Angoon area, 37,000; Juneau
area, 1,775,000.
South central region, 3,203,000