THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
f 1.50 PER MONTH S16.00 A YEAR
Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943. at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3. 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Monday, October 11, 1948
OUR AMERICAN LEVIATHAN
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
One of the most important documents that the next
Congress is to receive will be the report of the special
commission headed by former President Herbert Hoover
which is making a thorough survey of the executive
branch of the federal government.
As instituted by the 80th Congress, the commission
has the function of recommending a reorganization and
simplification of the federal departments and agencies
which have become so numerous anH so ill-defined that
nobody—outside the Hoover Commission itself—quite
knows what the government is.
In fact, as Congress indicated by creating the commis
sion, the government does not even understand itself.
Long ago, the English philosopher, Hobbes, described
over-government as the enslaving leviathan.
More than any other government that ever existed,
our American system has become the thing that Hobbes
opposed.
The civil payroll is enormous, even though many fed
eral salaries are parsimonious.
As a political instrument, the employment of nearly
3 million persons—more than enough to determine na
tional elections—has on ocasion been evilly utilized.
In such a vast mass, individual efficiency may not be
necessary to obtain or to hold a job, and may not be rec
ognized nor rewarded where it occurs.
Just the other day Mr. Arthur S. Fleming, former,
member of the United States civil service commission
and now one of Mr. Hoover’s survey associates, remind
ed federal employees that placements—or replacements
—in their ranks exceed 500,000 a year.
In a discussion of the survey commission’s work at the
National Press Club in Washington, Mr. Hoover men
tioned some of the prevalent absurdities.
The President, he said, is charged with the task of su
pervising from 60 to 80 “independent agencies” in addi
tion to the 10 cabinet departments.
“If he were to spend just one hour a week dealing with
the affairs of these agencies,” Mr. Hoover asserted, “the
President would be putting in a 70-hour week and still
not have gotten around to major policy decisions.”
With respect to loosq federal lending of public funds,'
the former President declared that “an adroit citizen
could probably borrow from 26 governmental agencies.” j
With expert consultants and researchers, the Hoover
Commission has a free hand in its investigations, and its
report and recommendations may be expected to be non
political and nonpartisan.
Bureaucracy and the high cost of inefficient govern
ment, as the Hearst newspapers have frequently said,
constitute one of the great dangers to the republic.
The 80th Congress performed in a patriotic manner
in setting up the Hoover Commission.
The next Congress will earn a notable place in history
if it carries out the purposes for which the commission
was ordained.
A SERVICE TO THE NATION
(Anchorage Daily Times)
The Civil Air patrol is destined to become an integral
part of the military pattern in Alaska. It offers an oppor
tunity to many civilians to make themselves useful in a
world depending on armed strength to maintain peace.
Under Act of Congress, the CAP is a legal appendage
of the Air Force. Assistance through the use of Air Force
equipment and personnel will serve to make the pro
gram far more effective than it could otherwise hope to
be. Value of the CAP was proven during the last war.
Civilian pilots performed well in patrolling the Atlantic
THE PROMISED LAND
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too tom
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seacoast. The patrol activities were largely responsible
for this nation’s success in protecting shipping from en
emy submarines.
In Alaska, the CAP will be given patrol duties which
will be of great importance in the event of another
emergency. Besides guarding the sealanes, the CAP will
have vast areas to patrol in search of landing parties, in
filtration of saboteurs and the many other activities an
enemy could carry forward in the remote areas of the
Territory.
In addition, the organization will participate in search
and rescue work. Bush pilots of Alaska have proven
their value in this vicinity on numerous occasions. The
military recognizes it as a valuable part of Alaska opera
tions and plans, throught the CAP, to incorporate these
services in the general operating plans.
The CAP is now in process of organization and every
good citizen is urged to consider enlistment. While air
men will constitute the major of the Patrol, there are
opportunities for others to be of service.
The ground activities will be numerous. Desk men
will be needed to handle the organizational work. Radio
men are wanted for the communication setup which will
be developed. Supply, maintenance and other activities
furnish opportunity for men in all walks of life to help.
The Air Force has appointed Jack Carr of this city as
Wing commander, to be the commanding officer for all
of Alaska. He is presently engaged in the first phases of
organizational work, providing for the establishment of
squadrons in the major cities. •
Each squadron commander will have the task of cre
ating his unit. When the skeleton of the organization has
been established it is expected that a general recruit
ment program will be launched.
During the last war the Alaska Territorial Guard was
the only organization open for civilians who were other
wise “useless” to the military program. Through that
organization a heterogeneous mass of men learned some
of the ruidments of defense, guerrilla tactics and ele
mentary military procedures.
The Guard was never called into active duty but it
was ready and prepared to relieve troops of some respon
sibilities. These included guard duties and some defense
activities in the event of an invasion.
While there would still be a place for such a guard in
any future war, it is obvious that an air organization
such as the Civil Air Patrol would be an instrument of
even greater value.
When an emergency comes every good American
wants to be of service. Young men have their piece in
the military organizations but the older men must look
elsewhere. In air-minded Alaska, with a citizenry well
aware of the value of aviation, the Civil Air Patrol will
be a lively group. It will furnish a military activity in
which the special skills of older men can be put to use
for the benefit of the nation without regard to flat-feet,
age, girth and the other physicai qualifications which
keep many good men out of uniforms.
Low Alaska Salmon Runs
Caused Unprecedented
Mid-Season Fishing Curb
Unsually poor salmon runs in
Southeastern Alaska this season
prompted the Fish and ^Wildlife
Service to prohibit practically all
commercial fishing in that region
during the week of August 16-23,
Albert M. Day, the Service’s direc
tor, explained today. This was the
first time in the history of the
Southeastern Alaska salmon indus
.ry that fishing activities were
curbed in the middle of the sched
uled season.
Mr. Day, who returned to Wash
ington on August 25 after a five
week stay in Alaska, declared that
an insufficient number of salmon
have reached their natural spawn
ing grounds in inland streams.
The salmon runs in Southeast
ern Alaska (the chief pink salmon
producing area in the Territory)
have become lower during each of
the past six years. To protect them,
the Service opened the 1948 season
on August The legal season or
dinarily opens as early as June.
Despite this protective measure,
the salmon have appeared in too
small numbers to provide either a
satisfactory commercial catch or a
sufficient seeding in the streams
for reproduction of a new and
heavy salmon cycle.
By the end of the third week of
August, only 80,000 cases of pink
-almon had been packed this year.
In 1947, at a comparable time,
340,000 cases had been packed.
The production of pink salmon
in Southeastern Alaska in the
years 1935-1939 averaged 2,126,100
cases. An average pack of only
1,795,883 cases was recorded in the
next six years. Production dwin
dled to 991,713 cases in 1946, and
to 682,261 cases in 1947. This year’s
total production will be even
lower.
Heavy overfishing during the
past decade is blamed by the Fish
and Wildlife Service for the pres
ent crisis in the Southeastern Alas
ko salmon fishery. In addition,
many streams in which the salmon
spawn were virtually dry this sea
son because of the exceptionally
dry weather.
Alaska’s economy will be seri
usly afiected if salmon fishing
conditions do not improve. The
fisheries are the most valuable of
Alaska’s resources, providing up t
to 80 per cent of the Territory’s
income.
ADB Asks Wildlife Service
To Stock Alaska Waters
The Alaska Development Board
has called upon the Fish and Wild
life Service to inaugurate a pro
gram of stocking the lakes and
streams of Alaska with game fish.
A resolution passed by the board
at a recent meeting noted that fish
had been depleted in many Alaska
waters and that there existed other
lakes believed capable of support
ing game fish but which had al
ways been barren.
TORRENTIAL RAINS FLOOD
WHITTIER INSTALLATIONS
WHITTIER UP)—Eighteen hours
of torrential rains have flooded
Alaska Railroad installations near
here.
Regular rainfalls, in addition to
latest deluge have made it impos
sible for the drainage system to
handle the excess water. The rail
road meSshall, barracks and a
heating plant are inundated.
Railroad technicians are being
sent to the area which lies in the
Territory’s heaviest ra inbelt. Last
| year it had a total of 160 inches of
| rain.