THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday. Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome. Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box fiix
$1.50 PER MONTH $15.00 A YEAR
W. A. and EMILY BOUdHER.*..Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffir*
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Monday, June 9, 1947
Free Press In Russia
(Cincinnati Enquirer)
IN A RECENT INTERVIEW with HaroJd Stassen,
Premier Stalin declared that Russia is “unable” to lift
the censorship ban on newspaper articles emanating
from his sountry. Stalin’s announcement ,made verba
tim by the former Minnesota Governor, occasions little
surprise. There have been no indications that the Krem-1
lin had any intention to comply with the “free press”
requests made by other democratic nations.
It is difficult—perhaps impossible—for leaders of
many foreign lands, particularly those long under dic
tatorships, to understand either the values of or the rea
son for a free press as we in the United States know it.
To the dictator free speech is dangerous; free discussion
something to be feared. The individual who rules by
force rather than by popular will constantly must be on
guard lest the mass of his people learn the whole truth,!
either about his own administration or the administr-1
tion of democratic nations.
Nor is it probable that the people of a nation long un
der a rule would be able to comprehend the meaning of
a free press. For years and years they have looked upon
the press as an instrument of government. They expect
to find, in their newspapers, government propaganda
rather than factual truths. Experience—and experience!
alone—can teach them that real truths, freely circulat-!
ed, give the public the full information on which good
government must be founded. i
Democracy is not a precept which can be handed to a
people complete and ready for operation. It must come
from the people themselves. They must built it grad
ually; must educate themselves in its methods and
structure. A free press, as an instrument of democracy,
also must have a gradual growth. It would be impossi
ble to install, instanter, a free press within a dictator
ship as it would be to pass a camel through the proverb
ial needle’s eye.
Recovery Can’t Wait
(Rocky Mountain News)
BRITAIN IS DYING of slow starvation, says Dr.
Franklin Bicknell, noted London nutritionist. That star
vation assertion may be overdrawn, but it shouldn’t be
discounted too greatly.
The people of England, according to the doctor, are
getting hardly two-thirds of the food energy they need.
They are suffering from “prolonged, Chronic malnutri
tion.”
It is physically impossible for them to work hard
enough to grow all the food their own soil can raise, or
to produce enough export goods to pay for the imported
food they must have if they are to work harder.
•
The vicious cycle Dr. Bicknell describes, is operating
in most of Europe and all of Asia. It presents a challenge
that must be answered if our civilization is to survive.
The longer adequate treatment is withheld, the faster,
more surely will the situation go from bad to worse.
Political stalemate blocks economic recovery for
some areas. But that part of the world which will co
operate must be mobilized to meet the needs of the
areas for which it is responsible.
Its productive capacity, wisely and fully used, can
provide enough food. The more complex distribution
problem can be solved, if there is determination to solve
it. What we did in war we can do in peace.
No more time should be wasted on futile missions to
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Moscow. We must tackle the real, immediate job before
; us. Measures have been adopted to blend the economies
i of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. A gen
eral pooling of interests by Britain, France, Western
Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Spain should fol
low.
If a United States of Europe is impossible at this time,
at least some of the political obsta’nces to an economic
union of Western Europe can be removed. The trend in
that direction can be speeded up. America can help by
insisting on a self-liquidating recovery program for
Western Europe as a whole.
This task can’t wait. It must be accomplished before
hunger-weakened people become too weak to work and
lose the will to live.
Afraid Of A Hot Issue
(The Denver Post)
TIME IS RUNNING SHORT on this session of Con
I gress and still no action has been taken on one of the
; most urgent questions on the legislative agenda—uni
versal military training. The excuse is that Congress
ional committees have been waiting for the report of the
President’s special committee, which was expected a
month ago. But ,as weeks go by without even prelimin
ary discussion of this matter, it looks as though the real
; reason for delay is a lack of courage by Congressional
leaders.
The almost continuous debate which has been carried
on in the guest editorials of this page during recent
weeks shows the heat which the training question can
generate. We cannot hope there will be any less passion
—although it would be desirable—when the issue is
projected into the chambers of Congress. But this ques
tion needs to be brought into the field of official discus
sion, and the sooner the better.
Any further procrastination—and that is the word for
it—will reduce the time available for a thorough public
weighing of the pros and cons. It will mean either that
the program will be drummed through Congress with
out sufficient debate or that it will be rejected without
proper consideration of the consequences. In either
event, it will be no fit manner for handling a question
with such vital implications.
The long-overdue report of the President’s committee
should be brought forth at once. Congress, in the mean
while, should not further put off this undertaking.
What’s In The $400,000,000 Package?
(By Lawranca Martin)
Harry* Truman is sending John
Smith a big package, C. O. D. The
bill comes to 400 million dollars.
Wrapped up in the package is a
large chunk of foreign policy
which Harry and John are buying
for the 400 millions. It is tagged
"Aid to Greece and Turkey.”
There was a lot of haggling over
the purchase. John Smith, who is
the composite of all ordinary
Americans, had his ears battered
with loud and emphatic phrases
during the argument. There was
such a hoo-rah that a lot of John
Smiths aren’t quite sure now that
the debate is ended, just what they
are getting in this expensive pack
age from their friend Harry. Now
that the “Truman policy” of aid
to Greece and Turkey is John
Smith’s policy by right of pur
chase, John has a right to look
into the package to see whether it
contains* some of the things he has
been told are in it.
For instance: Does this policy
mean war with Russia?
Sure it does—but not a shooting
war. It is, in fact, a shot fired in
a war in which we are already en
gaged. This is a fight to the finish
against the idea that any nation or
government has the right to tell
any other nation or people that
they must have a certain kind of
government. On that, Harry Tru
man and John Smith have already
been at war with Russia for
months. For the Soviet rulers are
trying, by means more foul thafi
fair, both openly and covertly, to
impose Communist regimes on the
people of other countries. They
have already put this over on Es
thonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Yugo
slavia, Romania, Hungary and
now Bulgaria, and to some extent
Poland. They are trying to do it in
Iran and Iraq, in Greece and Tur
key.
Truman and Smith ara in favor
of letting the Russians who live in
Russia have a Communist, collec
tivist-socialist. totalitarian state if
they want it. But they are dead set
against having the Russians make
other people take that kind of
thing and like it. Truman and
Smith believe, as all Americans
do. that every nation must be free
to select its own kind of govern
ment and way of life. That is the
war between democracy and total
italitarianism. and it's that John
Smith buys into with his aid to
Greece and Turkey.
Further examining his 400-mil
lion-dollar package, Mr. Smith
wants to.Jcnow:
“Does it contain any assurance
that Greece and Turkey will not
go Communist?”
It does not. It is intended to
strengthen those countries to resist
aggressors who would tell them:
“You must have Communism,” or
“You cannot have Communism.”
That’s really the bargain. Greece
and Turkey are to be freed from
any threat to their freedom of
choice. We are betting 400 million
dollars they will never choose
Communism. Democracy was born
and cradled in ancient Greece: the
battle between tyranny and indi
vidual liberty was fought in Ath
ens 500 years before Christ. De
1 mocracy has not always won in
j Greece, but it is part of every
I Greek’s heritage.
i Smith knows, from the earnest
J ness with which Truman urged
: this aid, that edibles and wear
! ables for Greek men. women and
! children are sorely needed. But
[ why, John asks, is so much of the
; money to go for guns and muni
i tions of war? Nearly half of the
| 300 millions for Greece and vir
j tually all the 100 millions for Tur
I key will be for military purposes.
It’s very simple. Before the
Greeks and the Turks can be sure
of peace and order, national and
individual freedom in their coun
j tries, they have to be able to de
fend those necessities. The Turks
lie directly in the path of Russian
imeprialism. They stayed out of
the war; many people say they de
serve no help from us. because
they gave us none. The fact is that
they did help us: they worried
Hitler no end. But even if they
hadn’t been of even negative help,
1 we still ought to help them, be
cause if they are swarmed under
by the Russians, that will mean we