THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome. Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 61*
$1.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAH
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER.Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943, at the postoftir*.
at Nome. Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1379.
Monday, March 10, 1947
Senators Get Off The Beam
(Anchorage Daily Times)
VARIOUS MEMBERS of the Territorial Senate have
openly stated their resentment toward messages' from
constituents declaring preferences in legislation.
The incident, unusual in politics, came during debate
on a bill to abolish the Alaska Development Board. The
Senators openly stated that they had been besieged
with wires, letters and resolutions from individuals and
organizations. They admitted that the messages were
preponderently in favor of continuing the board. Then
they voted to kill it.
“I resent with every atom of my being this attempt
to pressure me with telegrams,” one Senator was quoted
as saying.
“This body has been flooded with telegrams and mes
sages from one end of the Territory to the other,” an
other commented.
Wrote a reporter who witnessed the proceeding:
“Today’s debate was marked by vigorous protests
over the flood of telegrams and personal messages suo
porting the Development Board which have poured into
the capital in the last few days. They began coming af
ter the bill to kill the board was reported to the floor
by the rules committee. Such ‘pressure tactics’ may be
taken seriously elsewhere, several Senators declared
heatedly; they don’t go in Alaska.” . *
This, then was the nature of the debate when the
Senators voted 9 to 7 in favor of killing the board.
While it is gratifying to know that Alaskans are rep
resented in the Upper House of the Legislature by men
who can withstand pressure and are intent on doing
what they decide is best for the Territory in spite of
anything else, it is difficult to align this action with the
republican form of government under which Americans
live.
The Senators resented being informed of the wishes
of their constituents. To justify this resentment, the
Senators must hold themselves above their constituents.
They must consider themselves some sort of an infalli
ble group of super-beings that can do no wrong.
Until this incident in the Senate chambers, we were of
the belief that Senators were elected by the people as
their servants. We thought they were in Juneau to do
what the people want done. We thought the only reason
a few men handled this work was because it ^vould be
impossible for every citizen to go there and participate.
If the Senate action is any indication, we apparently
were laboring under an illusion.
But we are not inclined to take the Senate action as an
indication that the people of Alaska are not entitled to
make known their wishes on any legislative matter.
If the statements of the Senators relative to the flood
of messages is true, their action in ignoring the wishes
of their constituents carried the badges of a major dou
ble-cross.
If they were beseiged with messages in favor of con
tinuing the board and they deliberately killed it, they
failed utterly and most miserably in doing their duty as
the servants of the people.
Since when has it become improper for a citizen of
Alaska to write to his legislator?
Since when has it become proper for a legislator to
ignore the wishes of his constituents and vote as he
pleat es instead of as they want him to?
The power held by a Senator in voting on legislation
comes from the people, belongs to the people and is
meant to be used in behalf of the people. There is no
proper justification for resentment if the people choose
SINGING COMMERCIAL
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to advise them how they want that power used.
There may have been other reasons for opposing con
tinuation of the Development Board by the Senators,
by expressing resentment, left themselves to the most
serious charges of malfeasance.
Good Trade—For Them
(Rocky Mountain News)
RUSSIA HAS INFORMED the United States that it
views as “entirely fair” American plans to assume trus
teeship of the Japanese mandated islands in the Pacific,
taking into account the “decisive roles” our forces played
in capturing the islands during the war.
This attitude should occasion no surprise. The Rus
sians are realists who recognize accomplished facts.
Morevoer, they are Oriental traders, who known a good
deal when they see one.
Having recognized the validity of our claims, they
will expect us to accept theirs. The Soviet Union added
250,000 square miles to its domain during the war, and
covets additional parcels of land in various parts of the
world. We acquired a few sand dots in the Pacific. A
deal which nets a load of cordwood for a toothpick nat
urally gets the Kremlin’s nod of approval.
But that reference to “decisive roles” will live to
haunt us when the German, Austrian and Korean settle
ments are on deck. The Soviets feel that their role in
those areas was as decisive as ours in the Pacific, and
they are strict adherents to the doctrine that the the
victor belongs the spoils.
They saw nothing unreasonable in their seizure of
Manchurian property, officially valued at two billion
dollars, as part of their price for their six-day war in the
Far East. They will expect us to regard as “entirely
fair” their claims to any territory which they “liber
ated” and now wish to bring within the Soviet orbit.
We led with our chin when we prematurely pushed
the trusteeship proposal to the front. It could well have
waited until the draft of the Japanese treaty was ready,
i by which time other territorial issues would have, been
settled—if they are susceptible of settlement. Now the
Russians can be expected to make the best of their new
bargaining point.
THAT’S THAT By bruce gustin
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OPA officials claim the 9-mil
; lion-dollar cut in its appropria
| tion, voted by the House last week,
will wreck i^jt control and sugar
rationing. Congressman Taber of
New York, who heads the House
appropriation committee, disputed
that. He argued that on the Presi
dent’s budget statement, a 12-mil
lion-dollar cut should be possible.
“Now they come ‘in here,” he said,
“with a statement indicating they
have spent ih January and the
first half of February 10 million
dollars which is just twice as much
as they could possibly spend on
the^same ratio they have been op
erating on before. Frankly, I do
not believe a word of the testi
mony they have given us.”
There seems to be a sound basis
for charges the OPA has padded
its payrolls by holding on to un
needed employees. Taber said the
testimony showed OPA has 914
employees in the Washington, D.
IC., office, including ‘187 analysts
| who can perform no useful func
tion whatever” and that they have
•twenty-one administrative offi
cer> when they need but one or
two.” He charged “they had an
employment committee composed
of sixty-four people whose average
salary from the OPA was $7,500
;o $8,000” and whose “job was to
get out and get jobs for the em
ployees of the OPA.” From which
it appears that it is time somebody
ii-ed the economy axe on OPA.
i>eot reduction should come be
lt.re tax reduction. There can be
no eal or lasting relief for Ameri
ca i taxpayers until the nation’s
stronomical national debt is cut
oown. The only thing wrong with
he proposal of Senator Knowland
f California, to earmark 3 billion
dollar* of any budget saving for
debt retirement is that it isn’t
enough. Now, while national in
come is at a high level, we should
be paying off at least 5 billions of
the national debt every year. Ev
o v billion paid on the debt saves
20 millions a year in interest.
It burns up a lot of people to
li nk that after spending hundreds
of billions to whip Germany we
now are called upon to dig up
hundreds of millions to feed the
German people. But as long as Al
lied occupation policies prevent the
Germans from taking care of
themselves, we have to do that.
Herbert Hoover’s forthcoming rec
ommendation for sufficient Ger
man industrial development to
aise Germany’s exports to a point
where the country can become at
least partially self supporting will
be more important than his report
that we must pay 475 millions to
feed German civilians in the eight
een months beginning Jan. 1.
The Jour-power pact advocated
now by British Foreign Secretary
Bevin to prevent Germany from
menacing world peace again is in
line with a suggestion made by
i former Secretary of State Byrnes
, last spring. Byrnes proposed a “se
j cur ty treaty” which would pro
vide for concerted measures by
the United States, Britain. Russia
i and France to insure total disarm
' ament of Germany for at least
twenty-five years. The significant
thing about both the Byrnes and
Bevin proposals is that *hey indi
cate a lack of confidence in the
United Nations experiment to pre
serve world peace
That school teachers' strike in
Buffalo was a blunder. Even if the
.eachers win a salary increase, the
! public confidence they have lost
will hurt them. The city corpora
tion counsel charges that their
walkout was a violation of their
I
! contract. Any strike in violation of
‘ a contract discredits the strike' s.
In recommending an appropria
J lion of 250 million dollars for for
eign relief, President Truman took
the position that future foreign re
lief from this country should “be
administered under United States
control.” He is absolutely right
about that. We shou d realize this
after our experience in Yugoslavia.
The UNRRA, financed mainly by
the United States, continued to
pour American supplies into that
country after Marshal Tito’s gov
ernment had shot down American
planes.
In challenging the constitution
ality of the anti-closed shop
amendment adopted in Nebraska,
the American Federation of Labor
has raised one issue where it is
reasonably sure of victory. That :s
the contention that the closed soop
ban cannot outlaw existing closed
shop contracts. UndeT* the federal
constitution, ‘no state shall ,pass
any law impairing the obligations
of contracts.”
But even though states may not
constitutionally set aside existing
! closed shop contracts, that is no