THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Noma, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
$1.50 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.
Wednesday, July 10, 1946
PUERTO RICO’S STATUS
E PRESENT CONTROVERSY between Governor
_tigwell of Puerto Rico and the Insular Legislature
over the expressed desire of the Puerto Ricans to have
a voice in the selection of Tugwell’s successor and their
demand for a plebiscite on their future political status
call attention anew to the colonial problems facing the
United States. In this problem Congress seems to
take only a cursory interest. Yet it is one we cannot
dodge indefinitely if we are to live up to our best tra
ditions, and if we are to do justice to the peoples who
became our wards during our imperialist days at the
close of the last century and who now seek the oppor
tunity to decide their own destinies.
Governor Tugwell’s position in vetoing the two
bills—both of which probobly will be passed over his
veto—is that the Puerto Ricans are only antagonizing
Congress and jeopardizing their chances for Congres- j
sional action in taking such positive action to call
attention to their aspirations. This appears to be a
realistic and accurate evaluation of the situation. If
it is, then it is equally an indictment of Congress.
The late President Roosevelt and President Truman
both have addressed special messages to Congress over
the last three years urging passage of legislation to
give the Puerto Ricans greater home rule. In his mes
sage of last October 16 Mr. Truman suggesetd that
they be allowed to indicate in a plebiscite not only
whether they preferred a different status but what one
of four they preferred. When such a preference had
been voted, he said that we should be prepared to grant
whichever of the four alternatives—home rule, state-'
hood, independence or dominion status—the Puerto!
Ricans selected. Three years ago in his special message
urging enactment of a bill granting a larger measure
of home rule—a bill which the Senate passed but the
House shelved—Mr. Roosevelt said that there was no
question “of the Puerto Ricans’ ability now to ad
minister their own affairs.”
The question of what we shall do with our colonial
empire must seem remote to the average citizen. But
if we ourselves are not aware of it, we may be sure!
the rest of the world is. We cannot ask other nations!
to grant independence or autonomy to their colonies!
if our own Congress is insensitive to the aspiration of;
the people of our possessions. Even a benign rule!
such as ours has been generally in the Philippines, in
Puerto Rico, in Guam and in Samoa is not good enough
if it denies to the peoples of our colonies that right to
decide their own destinies to which the great majority
of the people of this country are wholeheartedly ded
icated. If more of our citizens became interested in the
problem perhaps Congress might be stimulated to do
With Governor Tugwell retiring this would be an
excellent time to study the problem of Puerto Rico
and produce a solution that does credit to the ideals of
the American people.
(New York Times)
JOB WELL DONE
THE MOST DISTASTEFUL of all war jobs, the de
detention upon mere suspicion and without trial of
approximately 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry,
two thirds of them citizens of the United States, has
now been liquidated. It was a job made necessary
through the decision, early in 1942, of Gen. John L. De
Witt to exclude all Japanese-Americans from the West
AMtKIHCmiPOr
ern Defense Command, of which he was at that time the
commander. His exclusion order has since been vali
dated by the Supreme Court on grounds of military ne
cesity. For our part, however, we hold still to the
opinion we have expressed on a number of occasions
that the exclusion was altogether unnecessary, that it
was prompted much more by blind racial prejudice
than by military considerations and that the Supreme
Court’s validation of it amounted, as Mr. Justice Mur
phy charged in a dissenting opinion, to a “legalization
of racism.” The treatment accorded this helpless
minority remains a smudge upon our national honor
and a threat to elementary principles of freedom.
Once the exclusion error was committed, guard
ianship of the uprooted Japanese-Americans became
Federal responsibility. They had to be kept in de
tention centers until they could be relocated in parts
of the country other than the West Coast. The burden
of discharging this unhappy obligation was given to
an emergency agency, the War Relocation Authority,)
headed by Milton Eisenhower, later and through most
of its existence by Dillon S. Myer. It performed its
task with humanity, with efficiency and with a consci
entious sense of trusteeship toward the evacuees which
made some amends for the terrible hardship inflicted
upon them. All the men associated in this under
taking, and in particular Mr. Myer, who fought valiant
ly and pertinaceously against prejudice for the rights
of these unfortunates in his charge, can take pride in
a difficult job exceedingly well done.
When at last the army rescinded its exclusion order
about 57,500 evacuees moved back to their former
homes in the West Coast States. But about 51,800
settled eastward in new homes. Perhaps the dispersal
will have some benefits in better integration of the
Japanese-Americans into the American society. The
loyalty of those left here has been meticulously scrut
inized. Out of the whole number in the relocation
centers, some 3,000 including quite innocent family
members, were transferred to internment camps ad
ministered by the Department of Justice; and about
4,700 persons were voluntarily repatriated to Japan
many of them, no doubt, because the treatment they
received here convinced them they had no hope of
leading free lives in America. It seems to us that we
owe those who remain generous help in getting rees
tablished and restitution for their property losses.
(Washington Post)
Washington *
News Letter
Secretary Krug
To Visit Alaska
If present plans carry
through, Secretary of the
Interior Krug will makf
his first trip to Alaska next
month. After conferring
recently with the Secretary
about Alaska problems in
general, Delegate Bartlett
said he found the Interior
Department chief greatly
interested in the Territory.
“I urged Secretary Krug to
spend as much time as pos
sible in Alaska,” said the
Delegate, “so he can gain
first hand knowledge. It*
is evident from the num
ber of staff meetings con
cerned with Alaska he has
held since taking office and
the interest he has mani
fested in other ways that
under his administration
Alaska won’t be the for
gotten land. He has re>
vealed a sincere desire to
bring to speedy settlement
several of the controver
sial issues which has im
peded territorial develop
ment.
_m_
Honor List of World War II
Dead or Missing ^
Ninety one Alaskans
gave their lives in the arm
ed services in World War
II. According to a compil
ation recently completed by
the War Department, 22
of these were killed in ac
tion; 4 died of wounds; 58
met death in line-of-duty
but not in battle; 6 were
counted as dead under the
provision of law whereby
there is either conclusive
proof the person is dead or
equally overwhelming ev
idence that he could not
have remained alive; and
one has been listed in the
“missing” category.
On this, the most honor
ed of all honor rolls, ap
pears the names of: Daniel
T. Adams, Ralph Aden,
George F. Alexander, Jr.,
Garnet E. Archer, Charles
F. Aylworth, Bruce Brid
well, Robert P. Briffett,
Santiago C. Brigoli, Milton
A. Brown, Ralph S. Bug
gein.
Patrick Burchett, Mich
ael Carbin, L. T. Charbo
neau, Santiago U. Coron
ada, Jack H. Cox, Alfred
E. Crabtree, Jr., Willis J.
Cruden, David W. Cuddy,
Joe Da Grade, Theodore R
Dailey, John A. De Rosa,
Luciano Delena, Theodore
J. Doogan, William Eger,
Kenneth V. Ehrhart, Frank