T HE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday. Wednesday and Fnuay by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO
NOME. ALASKA
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
$1.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAR
W. A. Boucher ..Owner-Publisher
Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943. at ^he postoffict
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Monday, March 6, 1950
FACTS—OUR PRICELESS WEAPON
(By George S. Benson, President Harding College)
When a certain early 17th Century church indoctrin
ated its clergymen for mission assignments, the process
was called “propagandism.” In the hands of the Nazis,
Fascists and Communists 300 years later, propaganda i
become something unwholesome only because it prac
ticed distortion of the truth and, quite often, outright
lying. Our American “counter propaganda,” set up to
meet and conquer the flood of untruths from Moscow,
can be of no real value unless it is kept absolutely
truthful.
Uncle Sam’s efforts to counteract the Moscow-manu
factured propaganda is largely the job of federal gov
ernment agencies. But there is another battle for men’s
minds close at home. On one side are the politico-social
planners, and their befuddled camp followers, who
wish to make citizens subservient to the State. Natur
ally, they never admit it. On the other side are those
who have recognized that the various phases of the So
cilaists’ planned economy would require giving up our
personal freedom.
Until recent years the Socialists had the field almost
.to themselves and were making steady headway per
suading our people we shduld adopt legislaitve propos
als making the citizen more and more the financial ward
of his government. Increasing millions of Americans
now are getting wise to the fatal dangers of such a
course. The best job I’ve observed in American “propa
gandism” in a particular field is being done today in
a large section of industry.
Our industrial workers have been the No. 1 target of
both the Communist and Socialist propagandists. For
years nobody called attention to the half-truths or chal
lenged the outright misrepresentations. No wonder a
great many workers became confused. In fact, an age
old strategy of the Socialist schemers is to spread con
fusion. The decisive weapon against them is truth—
facts. Facts infuriate the Socialist fanatics. Facts con
vict them. They hate facts.
Many companies now have well-organized in-plant
educational programs on the American way of life and
free enterprise economics. It is encouraging that most
programs are conducted with the approval and frequen
ly the active help of union shop stewards and others of
ficers. The secret of their success is that the facts used
are selected with the most painstaking care; thus they
withstand the fiercest attack of the wounded Socialists
and their duped followers.
An official of one big industry which now has a well
established Americanism program told me that early in
his company’s program a few workers spoke up with
the attitude: “Oh, yeah? Can you prove that?” or “Oh,
yeah? So what’s behind all this?” He said that at first
he and his associates had to scramble around to get the
proof, but that when they’d produce it, and explained
the mutually-beneficial motive behind the program, the
^‘skeptics” became enthusiastic “students.”
It’s a healthy thing in these times for open-minded
people to be a little suspicious of just anybody’s infor
mation, and to want to examine motives. There is so
much misinformation being distributed, even peddled,
and certainly in some quarters motives are suspect. We
might all take our cue from Missouri’s brash challenge,
“Show me!”
Yes, in these days of ideological and political debat
ing I should say, Go ahead; challenge any information,
declaration or statement not backed by facts or readily
acceptable logic. On that basis our American freedom
system cannot lose; for in all recorded history no other
system has done so much for so many, in any span of
time. Do you know any Socialists who can effectively
challenge this fact?
Rejects Hungarian
Request to Reduce
Budapest Staff
WASHINGTON, (/R)—'The U. S.
Saturday rejected a Hungarian re
quest htat it consider reducing its
diplomatic staff at Budapest. It
also accused communist Hungary
of damaging relations between
Hungary and the United States.
The department announced that
an American note was delivered
by the legation in Budapest to the
foreign affairs ministry. It was a
reply to a communist government
note of Feb. 23, asking that United
States consider slashing the lega
tion rolls.
The Hungarian request was bas
ed on communist spy charges
against the legation made during
the recent “trial” of American
businessman Robert Vogeler. The
United States again assailed those
charges as “preposterous false
hoods.”
Because of the nature of the
Vogeler trial and the “groundless
charges” against the legation staff,
the American note said, the in
quiries in the Hungarian note as
to whether the United States
would consider reducing its lega
tion staff were “improper and ir
relevant.”
This government also refused to
consider revoking its ban against
the travel of U. S. citizens in Hun
gary, affirmed its intention to
keep closed Hungarian consulates
in New York and Cleveland, and
rejected charges that Hungarian
employees of the Budapest lega
tion are mostly spies or “fascists.”
Clarification Of
Property Tax Issue
In view of the prevailing misin
formation among taxpayers in
this Division, the following com
munication from the Tax Commis
sioner at Juneau, addressed to the
Nome office of the Department of
Taxation, is hereby released for
the guidance of all concerned:
“To correct any misunderstand
ing in connection with the prop
erty tax act regarding the recent
temporary restraining court order
issued in Fairbanks, which affects
only the plaintiff Luther Hess and
The Alaska Juneau Gold Mining
Company, the intervenor, you are
' advised that the department of
taxation will continue to enforce
the collection of the property tax
1 from all other taxpayers. The re
Maj. Jordan Insists
Russia Col Much
Atomic Material
WASHINGTON, (/P)—G. Iiacey
Jordan, a former air force major,
says that from 1942 to 1944 Rus
sia got millions of pounds of
American lend-lease materials he
now knows could be used in pro
ducing an atomic bomb.
Jordan told the House un-Amer
ican activities committee Friday
the materials were cadmium, gra
phite for furnaces, and aluminum
tubes, plus thorium.
He said he got his figures from
a complete record of lend-lease
shipments which a Russian officer
gave him at his request.
For a time during the war, Jor
dan was stationed at the Great
Falls, Mont., air base. That was at
one end of an aerial lend-lease
pipe-line that flowed to Russia by
way of Alaska. Jordan said it was
his job to help the Russians get
what they needed.
Jordan was making his second
appearance before the House com
mittee. Last December he testified
that while he was at Great Falls,
the Russians sent out shipments
of uranium and heavy water, plus
big amounts of diplomatic mail
and baggage.
No Republican members of the
committee were on hand to hear
him then. They asked that he be
recalled to repeat and amplify his
testimony.
Since then the committee has
heard numerous other witnesses
tell of wartime shipments of
atomic materials to Russia.
Jordan said Saturday that he is
standing by his testimony that he
! once had a telephone conversttion
with the late Harry L. Hopkins,
! in which he says Hopkins told
i him to expedite a uranium ship
; ment.
1 He said he wanted to change the
I date of the conversation from
1944 to 1943 on the basis of later
information.
Paul Sarv, Lomen Commercial
Co. employee, who has been in the
j States for several months for a
1 visit with friends and relatives
and for medical attention, return
ed yesterday with Pan American.
straining order only prohibits the
collection of the tax from the
plaintiff and intervenor and all
I others must pay the tax.”
M. P. Mullaney,
Tax Commissioner.
LIVES—RETAIL AND WHOLESALE
ii . i
Gov. Gruelling
Attacks CAB
FAIRBANKS, (/P) — Governor
Gruening declared Saturday the
Civil Aeronautics Board is “kill
ing off our bush operators, our lo
cal Alaska airlines, our new non
scheds and still not doing what is
needed for successful operation of
scheduled carriers.”
The Governor spoke at an avia
tion conference called by the Alas
ka development board. It was at
tended by bush pilots, non-sched
ule operators, representatives of
the regular schedule carriers and
businessmen.
He declared the Territory must
have relief from “totally unsym
pathetic absenttee control of our
economic lifeline.” He said he
would discuss the problem with
authorities when he visits Wash
ington soon.
V.-A. Broke; Fires
7,800 Employees
WASHINGTON, (/P)—'The Vet
erans Administration said Satur
day it is firing 7,800 employees
because it lacks the money to pay
them.
The dismissals will be nation
wide. Approximately 3,000 em
ployees in hospitals and homes
and 4000 in other activities are in
cluded, V.A. said.
Managers of V.A. field stations
will be told today of the number
they will be required to release.
Dismissal notices will be handed
out by March 10.
I A V.A. statement said immedi
! ate action to cut the force is neces
j sary because (1) the agency is
1 short of salary funds for the rest
of the current fiscal year ending
June 30; nad <2» there would not
be enough money in next fiscal
year’s budget to pay all preesnt
employees.
19-Year-Old Goes
On Stabbing Spree
NEW YORK, (/P) — A 19-year
old youth, just released from a
hospital for the criminal insane,
slaughtered four strangers and
stabbed three other persons in a
ten-minute rampage through
crowded Brooklyn streets yester
day.
The mad knifer, William Jones,
a Negro, finally was beaten into
' submission with gun butts after
police pursued him along three
blood-trailed blocks.
Jones, turned loose as sane last
Wednesday, wouldn’t tell police
what made him grab a 14-inch
carving knife from a restaurant
and rage through the tenement
district slashing at the heart of
every passerby.
The four who died were white
men whom Jones apparently
never had seen before.
But one of Jones’ other victims,
a 20-year-old Negro, was a friend
and neighbor. Jones cut him as
the victim raised a hand in greet
ing.
Jones slashed the seven without
warning—the way Howard Unruh
crazed 28-year-old war veteran,
killed 13 persons with gunfire in
Camden, N. J., last September.
Terror spread through the
Brooklyn neighborhood as reports
of a madman wielding a knife
dripping with blood came from
one street—and then another.
In the early days of the indus
trial revolution, English law for
bade machinists to leave the
country.