i
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS __
VOL. UII. No. 3 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 1951 Per Copy— 15c
NEWS IN BRIEF !
JUNEAU, Alaska, (JP)—William |
C Strand, managing editor of the,
Fairbanks News-Miner, has been!
named to attend a Republican na-1
tional committee policy meeting in !
Washington, D. C., January 26. |
Mrs. Marguerite E. White, Re- |
publican national committeewo
man for Alaska, announced Strand
would go to the meeting in her
place. She said Strand ‘is very
able to present the views of Alas
ka Republican to the national
committee.”
LONDON, (/P)—Prime Ministers
of six British Commonwealth na
tions met secretly Saturday with
top military leaders to discuss co
ordination of Empire defense
plans with those of the North At
lantic Treaty Organization.
Although no immediate infor
mation was available on the de
tails, it was judged from the
makeup of the conference that de
fense of the Pacific and the Mid
dle East was on the agenda. The
Commonwealth is responsible as a
whole for the defense of these
two areas, along with Malaya,
Hong Kong and the Indian Ocean
territory.
The statesmen met formally
with British Defense Minister
Emanuel Shinwell and Sir Wil
liam Slim, chief of the Imperial
General Staff. Foreign Secretary
Ernest Bevin sat in.
WASHINGTON, (/P)—Rep. Tol
lefson (R.-Wash ) urged the Mari
time Administration Saturday to
allocate tc? West Coast shipyards
“a fair proportion” of the 50 fast
dry cargo vessels to be construct
ed under a $350,000,000 appropri-!
tion by the last Congress.
Tollefson wrote Vice Admiral i
E. L. Cochrane, Maritime Admin
istrator there are not sufficient
shipyards on the East Coast to:
construct the ships as fast as they |
will be needed.
He said it will require from 11
to 14 months to construct each
vessel.
Should war develop, Tollefson
added, and the Panama Canal be
put out of commission, ships!
would be urgentyl needed on thei
West Coast to serve troops in the!
Orient.
SAIGON, Indochina, (/P), French
troops, breaking out of their
northeast frontier salient in a ma
jor counter-offensive, have re
taken the outpost of Chucphaisan,
18 miles northeast of Tiemyen.
A French army communique
said Saturday night two French
columns converged on the outpost*
which the Vietminh captured a
month ago in a broad encircling
movement.
Saturday's communique report
ed that the Nationalist forces are
withdrawing before the French
advance*
LAKE SUCCESS, (^ — Britain
called on the U. N. today to make
another effort for a Korean cease
fire, but warned Red China that it
might force a break with the free
world if it insisted on acceptance
(Continued on Page Six)
“Don’t Give Alaska Statehood—We
Would Have Te Defend Her”—Russell
_ <S>
ANCHORAGE, </P) — Alaska’s
Statehood committee denounced
yesterday an anti-statehood stand
which it labeled as a “proposed
hoisting of a white flag in the face
of a red flag.”
The committee attributed the
proposal to Senator Russell (D.
Ga.), chairman of the Senate arm
ed services committee. It quoted
him as having said, during the
statehood debate in the Senate last
month, that the did not favor
statehood for the Territories be
cause that action "will fix an ob- j
ligation on the federal govern-!
ment to defend their rights in case :
of any great emergency."
The Alaska Stathood committee
demanded by resolution that the
! defense which the Senator “would
provide only for the States prompt
ly be given to strategic Alaska
through prompt admission of
Alaska to full statehood.”
;
The resolution was addressed to
; President Truman and Congress.
In denouncing the proposal at
i tributed to the Senator, the com
1 mittee resolution declared:
“This unprecedented declara
! tion of policy constitutes a (betray
al of the American citizens of
Alaska and is counter to pledges,
principals and traditions of the
United States and a violation ctf
the basic concept of equality un
der which American citizens of
Alaska are conscripted for armed
service, pay all federal taxes and
Demos Ask Eighty
Billion To Stop
Red Aggression
WASHINGTON, ^ — Senators
Douglas (D.-Ill) and Humphrey
(D.-Minn.) called Saturday for an
eighty billion dollar federal 'bud
get to help block communist ag
gression. They proposed a stiff
new tax increase to avert any bor
rowing.
Both lawmakers termed inade
quate and unrealistic a suggestion
by Senator Taft (R.-Ohio) that it
might be possible to hold the bud
get for the fiscal year starting
July 1 to within sixty-five billion.
Taft, chairman of the Senate Re
publican policy committee men
tioned that figure Friday in a
Senate speech in which he at
tacked administrative plans for
defense of Western Europe.
He said that in his opinion it
would be possible to raise tax rev
enue to meet, ultimately, the bud
get he suggested.
Douglas and Humphrey said in
separate interviews that Taft has
trained his sights about fifteeen
billion too low to provide the kind
of military protection they feel
country should have.
The budget President Truman
submits to Congress about the
middle of this month reportedly
will call for around seventy-five
billion dollars. He already has said
higher taxes will be needed to pay
for the contemplated program.
Under the current tax program,
revenue will run about forty-five
(Continued on Page Four)
perform all other duties of Ameri
can citizenship without enjoying
the privilege of full representa
tion in Congress.”
“It has 'become evident through
recent history that Alaska never
has been and is not adequately de
fended despite warnings iby such
far-seeing military leaders as the
late Gen. Billy Mitchell, the late
general of thef air force H. H. Ar
nold, General Eisenhower and
others;”
“The doctrine gives greatest aid
j and comfort to America’s com
! munist enemies who repeatedly
| declared that they do not ack
(Continued on Page Three)
i
Taft Says Truman j
Lacks Authority to
Send Troops Away
| (By Jack Ball) '
WASHINGTON, (A3) — Senator
Taft (R.-Ohio) has opened a new
phase of the bitter foreign policy
fight iby challenging President
Truman’s contention that he has
the authority to send additional
troops to Europe.
Taft said in the Senate Friday
that the President has no power to
commit American troops to a Eu
ropean defense force without ap
proval first from Congress. He as
serted that Mr. Truman had in
volved the iU. S. in the Korean
(Continued on Page Four)
“Civilian Survival” Means Full Civilian
Co-operation In “Civilian Defense”
A
Lt. Col. J. D. Alexander, direc-,
tor of Civilian Defense for Alaska
spoke to the community Sunday j
afternoon at an open Civil De
fense meeting ait the City Hall.
Considering the short notice and
lack of publicity the meeting was
well attended.
Col Alexander gave a detailed
account of the Civilian Defense
program since its inoeption in
Alaska to its present status. He
also discussed the progress of the
program in the U. S. A.
He stated that Governor Gruen
ing has requested special action
for Alaskan Civilian Defense on
medical stock; piles; emergency
rations, and special representa
tives of the Federal Government
to deal with Civilian Defense lo
cally.
Col. Alexander was very com
plimentary toward the Nome
group and the progress they have
made and urged the community to
support the leaders of the pro
gram and give unselfishly of their
time and efforts.
“A great deal of the program
has to be borne by the commun
y
ity now but possible later Federal
and Territorial aid will be avail
able on fhe basis of the co-opera
tion given,” he said
^Civilian defense should be de
fined as ‘Civilian Survival,* to al
leviate suffering; minimize dam
age from disaster; and the ability
to bounce back, restoring normal
conditions as soon as possible.”
Colonel Alexander requested
(Continued on Page Three)
Truman Wants
Many Tilings In His
Address To Nation
WASHINGTON, (/P)—President
Truman said today Russia’s lead
ers aim to “take over the world,
step by step,” and warned: “We
will light, if fight we must, to
keep our freedom and to prevent
justice from being destroyed.”
In a personally delivered “Staite
of the Union” message to Con
gress, Mr. Truman said, too, the
United States is “willing, as we
(Continued on Page Two)
WELL, DAVID DID IT
I •
,
Korean Situation
At A Glance - - -
(By Olen Clements)
TOKYO (£*)—Red Chinese arm
ies hammering southward from
Seoul forced the abandonment Off
the big Allied airfield at Suwon
Saturday and sickled sharply tow
ards the road-rail hub of Mcmju
in a double offensive thrust.
The Suwon field, 17 air miles
south of Seoul, was abandoned
Saturday at the sounds of small
arms and artillery fire drew
closer. Location of the fighting
front was not disclosed, apparent
ly for security reasons.
The town of Suwon, 20 miles
south of Seotil, was erported in
tact and still in United Nations
hands
In the companion drive against
Wonju, 55 miles southeast of Se
oul, the Reds were aiming to cut
off the southeastward retreat
route of the Allies.
Red China’s troops and their
satellite North Korean ally fought
under new orders of Premier Kim
II Sung to “pursue, surround and
destroy the enemy units.”
The stategy is timeworn in mili
tary annals and fits the hammer
and sickle design: pound to enemy
into an encircling trap for the kill.
Allied troops still fought hotly,
however, against overpowering
force, and still have maneuvering
| space.
The mass of seven Red China
armies—210,000 or more troops—
thrust close to Wonju.
Allied artillery and Red mortars
dueled for the city’s airstrip.
Smoke and dust plummeted into
the sky. Communist rifle fire
crackled from the western hills.
But <jP) correspondent William
(Continued on Page Four)
Ike Has “Whole
Hearted Backing”
Of United States
WASHINGTON, (/P)—President
Truman told Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower Saturday that he has
the “wholehearted backing” of the
United States and the other North
Atlantic Treaty powers in his mis
sion to weld Western Europe’s de
fenses against communist aggres
sion.
Eisenhower met with the Presi
dent for half on hour before tak
ing off for Pails and the first or
ganization steps looking to a uni
fied and stronger European armed
force.
The general told newsmen that
before going to the airport he also
would talk with W. Averell Har
riman, special assistant to Mr.
Truman on foreign, affairs.
Joseph Short, White Home
press secretary, said the President
discussed ihe whole world situa
tion with the supreme Allied com
mander.
“In this conversation,” Short
added, “the President made it
plain to General Eisenhower that
he had the wholehearted backing
of the United States.*
“The President also expressed
himself as being certain that Gen
(Continued on Page Four)