THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
SI.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.
Monday, September 9, 1946
TIME FOR DEBT RETIREMENT
BY AND LARGE, most everyone accumulated some
money during the war. Individual savings are
at an all-time high. The supply of money was never
greater. State and local governments are in better
shape financially than they have been in many gen
erations, with treasury surpluses the rule rather than
the exception.
The skeleton at this feast is the U. S. Treasury.
By 1940 the Federal debt stood at a level higher than
some of the country’s top financiers and economists
had believed the nation could support a few years pre
viously. Since 1940 that debt has increased nearly
six times. The interest charges alone on the debt
amount to more than $5,000,000,000 a year, and con
stitutes the nex-to-largest item in the budget.
These circumstances considered, it is obvious that
the Federal Reserve Board is right in asking that there
be no further general reduction of taxes, and that the
Federal debt be dereased through economy in govern
mental operations.
If anyone is disposed to quarrel with the idea of
continuing a wartime level of taxation, let him reflect
on the fact that, from a financial standpoint, the govern
ment is worse off than at any time since the war start
ed. Only to a small degree was the war fought on a
“pay-as-you-go” basis. For the most part it was
fought on a promise -to-pay basis, and the time to pay
is not far distant. The short-term debt, represented
by war bond investments, has a first lien upon the
Federal treasury. From a Federal debt standpoint,
we lack more than $200,000,000,000, of being back
on a peacetime footing.
A debt so tremendous could easily become an “Old
Man of the Sea,” as in Sinbad, riding forever on the
backs of the taxpayers and draining away the nation’s
finincial and economic vitality. Five billion dollars
a year to spend for interest harges before anything can
be spent for other purposes in a truly appalling state of
affairs. •
i
Naturally, the debt cannot be retired in a year ori
even a decade, but plain common sense dictates that,
it be retired as quickly as possible while economic cir-|
cumstances are as propitious as they are now.
(Cincinnati Enquirer)
JET PROPULSION
THE BRITISH ARE LOSING NO TIME in keeping
up with air developments. According of official an-1
nouncement, both their military and commercial planes j
are to be converted entirely to jet propulsion, and they
already have on order a 38-ton passenger plane of the
new type, designed to cross the Atlantic at a speed
of nearly 600 miles an hour. Nothing could better
illustrate the revolutionary change that has taken
place in aviation.
There is some reason to believe that Britain leads
the world at present in this field, but the United
States probably is not far behind, if it is behind at
all. At any rate, as was made clear by the Army
Air Forces a few months ago, our military planes are
being converted to the new type as fast as production
will permit. Our P-80 Shooting Stars are already
on duty in Europe, the first of our jet bombers has gone
through test flights and, as demonstrated recently at
Wright Field, the AAF is rapidly development other
craft of an even more extraordinary nature. As for
commercial craft, American experts like General Doo
CEILING KAISER
— —
little feel that they will remain conventional for “quite
a few years,’’ even though the British seem to think
differently.
Sooner or later, however, even commercial planes
are likely to be jet-propelled. The developments of
the war years have so changed the face of aviation that
it is difficult to believe that the "first successful flying
machine was built and flown not much more than .a
quarter century ago. The conventional planes of to
day, commercial as well as military, are an amazing
advance over the early ones, but they are in turn either
already obsolete or in the process of becoming so—even
the mighty B-29.
A few years from now, with jet propulsion domin
ant, the planes that seemed so marvelous to us during
the war will be mere museum pieces. This is a cer
tainty at least as regards military aviation, and there
can be little doubt that commercial aviation—even if
it remains conventional for a longer period—will make
important advances as well. Progress in the field as
a whole has been very great, and it will be greater
still. We are nearing the time when all of us will
consider it more or less commonplace to travel com
fortably through the sky at a speed close to the speed
of sound. (Alaska Empire)
By GEORGE 3 BENSON
President of Harding College
Searcy. Arkansas
HARMONY
During the recent months
of industrial strife and pop
ular confusion, current ev
ents have been almost as
common a topic of conver
sation as the weather.
Wherever people congreg
ate, somebody opens the
subject of “What’s the
world coming to, anyhow?”
It’s a wholesome condi
tion. The common sense
of Tom, Dick and Harry has
saved this nation from ma
ny a bad spill.
Recently an old man
(slightly deaf) sat near me
on the train. With him sat
a teen-age girl, a grand- i
daughter perhaps. They
had divided a newspaper
between them. Grandad
spoke first. “There’s noth
ing wrong with this count-1
ry if everybody would get
together and do the right
thing,” he observed. The
girl looked at him, shifted
her gum and replied, “Many
an. honest heart beats be
neath a wooden head.”
NOT A DREAMER
Maybe she lacked res
pect for her elders but the
young woman was practi
cal. People in a country
this large don’t get togeth
er. Moreover they don’t
do the right thing unless
they know what it is, and,'
their education in economic
matters has been sadly neg
lected. Unless that very
(situation is corrected be
fore long, our people will
trail the British into the
wilderness of Collectivism.
I believe in specialization
, but I think no specials
(should be so narrow as &
; exclude good citizenship.
I believe in versatility, but
how can any collection of
miscellaneous knowledge
be complete without some
facts obout how men be
came free *to pursue know
ledge and get understand
ing? No people can remain
free long after their youth
cease to appreciate their sa
crad liberties. <
YOUNG IDEAS
Within the last twelve
months, I have been pri
vileged to talk with stud
ents of a great many high
schools and colleges in
widely scattered states, 4
have discussed private en
terprise and state social
ism with them, and I can
testify that most of them
seem to consider private
enterprise a failure. Some
of them have been extreme
lv well-coached to debate
against the American sys
tem. »,
Questioning them sym
pathetically, I find that a
very few of the students I
meet have a clear idea a
bout what private enter
prise is. They consider it
a system that gives special^
advantages to rich men and
big corporations. They
point out that our system
has not maintained full em
ployment, has not prevent
ed alternate depressions
and booms, and has never
equalized living standards.
LOOK TO POLITICS
It is no surprise that stud
ious youngsters are able to
pick the obvious flaws in ^
any system, but here is a
surprise: Almost without
exception these young peo
ple seem to think all the
imperfections of America’s
present system can be cor
rected by government man
agement. With the scand
alous exhibitions oi incom
petence fron V’PA to the
OPA, how cm anybody ex
pect politics o help?
Harmony h really n»ed
ed in Ameritan indusry,
and American governmet,
bit it will be found only u
a plane of better kno
ledge. Text books mi
•