THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Noma. Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 61X
•l.*0 PER MONTH S1S.00 A YEAR
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER.Editor*
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffir*
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Wednesday, June 18, 1947
‘No Confidence’ Vote For Nome Gold
(49th Star)
BECAUSE THE LAST SESSION of the legislature
failed to appropriate sufficient funds, the Territorial
Bureau of Mines office at Nome was closed recently.
As an economy move, closing of the Nome Bureau of
Mines office could easily develop into a costly boomer
ang. Gold miners near Nome are trying to get a new!
post-war lease on life, a number of them seeking capi
tal with which to develop their ground.
Prospective investors, especially those Outside, could
not be blamed for questioning reports of the wealth,
buried in the great Nome gold fields. Killing an office
as essential to the development of mining as a Territo
rial mines office is not conducive to producing confi-j
dence in would-be investors. i
In failing to continue the life of Nome’s Territorial
mines office, Alaska’s lawmakers have in effect given,
a “no-confidence vote” to the area’s gold potential.
The negative effect resulting from the economy move
may retard mining development on the Seward penin
sula. If it does, there will be less taxable income to pro
vide Territorial revenue. When the bookkeeping is fin
ished, it is possible that closure of the Territorial Bur
eau of Mines office at Nome will add up to a costly sav-,
ing. -
Join The Army Against TB
(Anchorage News)
FOR WANT OF A NAIL the shoe was lost; for want;
of a shoe the horse was lost; for waht of a horse the!
rider was lost; and so on runs the ancient tale clear up
to the tremendous climax when a nation was lost.
There’s a modern parallel to that graphic word pic
ture of a snowball that rolls to mountainous proportions
It is the contagion of tuberculosis. This month the Ter
ritorial department of health and the Anchorage Health
Council revealed something of the malevolent spread
of this disease. Eight out of ten people who enter the
sanatorium are in advanced stages of the disease. These
late, or undiscovered cases may easily infect eight more
undiscovered cases and so on, multiplying until—as
in the adage—a “nation is lost.”
A nation forewarned is * a nation forearmed. The
American government builds battleships on the theory
that it is a precautionary way of avoiding war. Just one
of the new battleships will cost well over $50,000,000.
It is interesting to note to what lengths preparedness
can go in the face of an unknown conflict.
But, on the tuberculosis front, the war is on constant
ly with the enemy located, the campaign mapped. Fifty
million dollars adds just one unit to our national arma
ment. What would it do for the offensive against tuber
culosis? Just this:
For $50,000,000 every man, woman and child in the
United States could be X-rayed for the possibility of
tuberculosis infection. What a victory that would lead
to in the age old battle against the disease.
That is intelligent warfare. These are the tactics the
Health Department would wish to have employed gen
erally throughout Alaska. Help find those eight cases
before it is too late. The X-ray will do it.
Open Covenants, Openly Arrived At
(Rocky Mountain News)
BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER BEVIN has cited
the full coverage of the foreign ministers* meeting in
Moscow by the American press as one reason for the
iaiiure to draft a German peace treaty.
At the next conference he wants important proceed
ings kept secret until agreement has been reached. Yet
he insists he does not want “any secret agreements.”
His position isn’t clear. Nor has he shown that the
so-called full coverage of the Moscow meeting contrib
uted to that stalemate.
Before the conference met there was little if any hope
for agreement on a German treaty, because of the well
recognized differences between the Russian and Brit
ish-American positions. The meeting only emphasised
the depth of these differences.
If the press separated this wheat from the chaff, that
was no more than sound reporting.
All the basic conflicts between the Soviet Union and
the Western powers stem, from the loose, ambiguous!
terms of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements. Both of
those were made by the kind of secret negotiations Mr.
Bevin is talking about. And as to the agreements them
selves, the full scope of the one at Yalta is yet to be
given to the world.
if the differences among the great powers are insur
mountable, the sooner that is understood the better.
Then we can proceed to make the best of the situation,
without delay. Occupied Germany has been allowed to(
drift into its ptesent critical state because of too much
wishful thinking in high places .
General conditions will not improve until there have j
been drastic changes in policy. The public understands
the problems, and is entitled to know what the states
men are doing about them. •
Too much secrecy got us into the jam we’re in. More
hush-hush won’t get us out of it. '
I « J j • . f f K , ^ ,_V ;
ByGBOHOt SBENSOff
Nrlimi mi Hording Collogo
Scanty. Albania* i
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A SOUND THINKER
As I sat recently in the spacious
office of Mr. John Snyder, secre
tary of the Treasury, and listened
to that keen thinking gentleman
outline his views on certain mon
etary policies, I found myself
wishing that all public thinking
were as clear, and as cognizant of
good economic horse-sense.
In the first place the Secretary
believes that a thorough study of
the necessary costs of government
should be made. He believes then
that this cost should be reduced
to the very minimum consistent
with good government. In the sec
ond place he believes that a high
national income is possible only
if a sound economy is maintained.
This sound economy must be
based upon maximum production
high efficiency, which he feels
would make possible a large for
eign trade.
Op Your Feet Sami
In the third place he believes
we should seriously undertake lib
eral payments on the national
debt. This should be done at once.
To me that is just plain, common
horae-Sense. It is just the way a
wage earner, farmer, merchant, or
manufacturer, heavily in debt,
with a large family, but still in
good health, would have to plan
if he expected ever to get on his
feet and leave any heritage to his
children.
Uncle Sam is heavily ih debt,
his children have adopted spend
thrift habits, have lost the art of
hard work, are quarreling with
one another, and are growing
more and more inclined to leave
the worrying to the old man. The
need of the hour is sound counsel
from Washington for the entire
nation to realize its critical con
dition, and to act accordingly.
A Sound Program
t
I Secretary Synder’s program
I needs to be understood, for it is
I one in which the whole nation can
participate. His three point pro
gram tin my own words) would be
-bout as follows:
1. Stop the fantastic waste in al
most every department of govern
ment. Pare costs rigorously, for
| getting political expediency.
2. Let industry reduce prices
until the profits stand at a very
low level. Let labor aim for max
imum production, in order to get
a real raise through lower prices.
Such production will permit ac
tive foreign markets, a thing not
only necessary for us but for other
nations as well.
3. Let taxes reiqain on a broad
base, with only those cuts being
made which are necessary to in
duce investment in the tools of
production, while we all do our
part to reduce the very heavy na
tional debt.
Steady Employment
Personally, I would modify
item three. It is my opinion that
if reductions in the budget were
seriously and studiously under
taken, all three points Secretary
Snyder features could be achiev
ed, and we could still obtain at
the same time a real reduction in
income taxes.
Comparatively high taxes we
must have. The costs of national
living, in times of peace but
amidst quarrelsome and aggres
sive neighbors, may continue to
run high. But there are certain re
ductions that by all means should
be made in order to encourage
more venture capital. We shall
continue to need wide investment
of private captial in tools. That
will mean more jobs and more
steady employment.
Veterans May Now Be
Certified For Boats
For Personal Use
i f
Announcement was made today
bjr the War Assets Administration
that Veterans of World War II
may now be certified for the pur
chase of boats up to 65 feet in
length for personal use.
“Personal use” is defined us the
use of surplus property by a vet
eran for private purposes, and not
for use in his business, profes
sional or agricultural enterprises,
or for resale. .
Veterans desiring certification
for the purchase of vessels' up to
1 65 feet in length for personal use
may submit requests together with
a copy of their discharge to the
! Priority Claimants Division, War
Assets Administration, Region No.
37, Anchorage, Alaska. Vessels
I over 65 feet in length may be pur
; chased by certified veterans for
business use.
] It is the plan of the War Assets
I Administration office to effect
; equitable distribution of boats to
Veterans in all future sales by
certification for both private and
business use.