2 THE NOME NUGGET Friday, March 29, 1947
THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Noma, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 61K
„_ _
91.50 PER MONTH $19.00 A YEAR
—_________________________
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER...Editors
Entered as second doss matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffir*
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Friday, March 28, 1947 j
Proposed Tax Program
(Daily Alaska Empire)
“IN THIS POSTWAR inflationary period, due to con-'
ditions beyond our control, the great demand imposed
upon the Territory to meet the many needs of the peo
ple... ” etc.
Such reads the preamble, written by Senator Victor1
Rivers, to a proposed tax program which would give!
the people of this Territory one of the biggest fleecings!
. yet
The “people,” for whom Senator Rivers deeply
grieves, and for whom he would pass three new tax bills, i
would cough up if these bills became law an estimated
$4,300,000 for the next biennium.
As in the past four or five legislative sessions, a net
income tax on dividuals and businesses is proposed. It j
is the old effort to push the Territory of Alaska into a
field of taxation already exploited to the saturation
point by the Federal government.
A second bill, which travels under the disguise of a
“license fee” bill, is nothing but a second income tax,
bill—this one on the gross income of businesses—and
as in the case with gross income tax, the business which
has a huge gross, but a low net profit, is forced out of j
business. This bill would collect a license fee of $15 per
year from all businesses with a yearly gross of $20,000
or less, plus an income tax on one-half of one per cent j
upon the gross receipts over $20,000. A grocery store
doing a gross of $520,000 a year would pay $15, plus an
other $2,500 for a “license” to do business—some li-j
cense. Of course this business would pay the net income I
tax, too.
The third bill of the proposed program is a general
property tax upon all property in Alaska, within and
without incorporated towns. A levy of 10 mills on the
value is proposed, and the money collected within the'
cities would be refunded—merely a matter of bookkeep
ing. In Juneau, for instance, the city would collect 9
mills, and the Territory would collect 10 mills which itj
would return to the city. Tax Commissioner (uncon
firmed) Mullaney says this tax would give the Territory!
$1,200,000 a biennium. We suppost that this would not
include the refunds to cities.
While most of these new taxes would be levied on
business concerns, the average man of the street is not
so dumb that he doesn’t realize who will pay the bill in
the end—Mr. John Q. Public.
Incidentally, two of the bills provide that up to 5 per
cent of the taxes collected could be used by the Tax;
Commission for collection and administration. If the
maximum 5 per cent were used, which is probable, this
would mean an additional sum of $185,000 for Commis
sioner Mullaney’s office, which, added to his request for|
$194,000 to run the office for the next biennium, would
give him a slush fund of $379,000,
The poor people of Alaska might be interested to know
that this was the office which was set up just two years
ago to run for $100,000 a biennium—which just goes to
show how things grow.
In 1945 the Legislature set up the Tax Commissioner
for $100,000. The Commissioner has asked for double
that for this biennium, and if the proposed tax bills
pass, would have a fund near the $400,000 mark. Using
the established formula, this would put the Tax Com
missioner in the enviable position of being able to ask
the next Legislature for $800,000.
Senator Rivers suggests that unless the program he
and Senator Walker propose is adopted, there will just
have to be a special session of the Legislature within the
next year. (The last one, last year, cost the taxpayer
about a million dollars, one reason for the present low
ebb of the Territory’s finances.) Rivers speaks as chair
man of the Taxation Committee.
Whether the Alaska Senate will respond favorably to
such a gentle prod remains to be seen. Some members
of the Senate finance committee, among them Senator
Coffey, are of the opinion that Senator Rivers knows
too little about the finances of the Territory, and bel'eve
that tax measures already passed by the Senate will be
ample—providing certain abuses in certain offices can
be corrected, and economy steps are taken.
Strange Bedfellows
(The Denver Post)
WHILE MANY AMERICANS anxiously study Rus
sian reaction to Mr. Truman’s challenging request for U.
S. aid to Greece and Turkey, Russian observers should
find even greater cause for concern in the solid prepon
derance of approval the speech elicited in this country.
Russia should find it sobering to evaluate the firmness
of U. S. public opinion in support of the President’s po
sition. In the press, in Congress, and among the public
the early reaction was a general acceptance that Amer
ica must throw not only her moral weight but her ma
terial strength against the tide of totalitarianism.
The opposition to such a “democratic offensive” fol
lows lines which could have been plotted in advance.
The Communist Daily Worker is in character when it i
calls the proposal an “empire grab masked by anti^1
Communist hysteria.” Similarly, the Henry Wallace
New Republic-P. M. axis have reacted with their ex-!
pected opposition.
•Just as the prewar America-Firsters found them-!
selves in unembarrassed alliance with the German-!
American Bund, so today do unreformed isolationists
like Senator Taft find themselves bedfollews with Com- !
munist totalitarians.
Senator Taft observes that if we assume this special
position in Greece and Turkey, we can hardly longer
reasonably object to the Russians continuing their dom-!
ination in Poland, Yugoslavia, Romania and Bulgaria
By such a statement, the Ohio Senator proves him
self typical of the false Republican leadership which is
undermining the party’s power in Congress. Mr * Taft
shows an inability to make a moral distinction between1
the aggression of Russia, based on brutal minority pres
sures in the victim countries on her borders, and the
position taken by the United States, which is to support
the right of free people to choose their own political
institutions.
This is the distinction Mr. Truman has so clearly
made. Fortunately, Americans as a whole appear to un
derstand it and its courageous implications.
THAT’S THAT By bruce gustin
•. * I
j
■ <•
John L. Lew.5 is as peevish as a
bear with a sure paw. He doesn’t
dare cut loose against the Unite I
States supreme court. He has had
one dose of punishment for con
tempt of court and isn’t inviting
another. But he has to vent his
spleen on somebody. The most
available target seems to be Dean
James Boyd of the Colorado
School of Mines, who recently'was
nominated by President Truman to
succeed R. D. Sayers as director
of the U. S. bureau of mines. So
Lewis has taken a pot-shot at
Boyd.
Fighting confirmation of Boyd’s
nomination, Lewis told a Senate
committee “we resent the fact that
the department of the interior
plucked him out of security with
out asking the men who are going
to die in the mines if they are sat
isfied.” He said that “Mr. Boyd
may be a good man—good to his
family—but we want someone who
will be kind to the coal miners’
families.” Aside from the fact that
he wasn’t asked to name the head
of the bureau of mines, Lewis’
complaint seems to be that Boyd’s
experience has been mostly in
metal mining and he may not be
an expert on coal mining safety. I
What Lewis really is sore about
is the supreme court decision up
holding contempt of court convic
tions of him and his union. Adding
insult to injury, from his stand
point, is the fact he has been
forced to lay aside his strike club.
Undecrthe supreme court mandate,
in order to get a $2,800,000 reduc
tion in the fine assessed against
the union, he had to withdraw his
notice ending his contract with the
government.
Senator Tydings’ suggestion that
President Truman call an imme
diate world disarmament confer
ence can hardly be taken serious
ly. The futility of such a move is
too apparent. In the first place,
this matter already has been
brought under discussion. And it is
plain that nothing can be done
along the disarmament line until
an effective system of internation
al atomic control is worked out
| and accepted.
The fact must be faced that
world disarmament would not be
! a guarantee of world peace. It
, would not stop political aggression
which now is the most disturbing.
The Russians profess to favor dis
FAIR NOTES
Do you sing, dance, play a musi
cal instrument, or have any hid
den talents? If so, you certainly
should participate in the “amateur
hour” at the Fair. All persons in
to ested should contact Ellen Man
deville as soon as possible. It
promises to be an entertaining
event with many new and differ
ent contestants already lined up
.aking for an evening of fun. Both
y ungsters and adults may partici
pa e with worthy cash prizes go
ng to the winning contestants. So,.
why not try out, you may land in
xi oily wood!
It also might interest you to
know that a newspaper corre
spondent and cameraman will be
in Nome for the Fair, to take ad
vantage of the many picture tak
ing possibilities and news write
ups made possible through the
reindeer events, dog races and
many other different activities
planned lor April 16 through the
20, at tne Ninth Annual Fair.
Portland Seeks SS
Service To Alaska
PORTLAND, Ore. c/P)—Portland
is applying for twice-monthly
steamship service to Alaska.
The chamher of commerce, in
disclosing the move, asserted
enough cargo is assured, both
northbound and on the return trip,
to make direct steamship service
profitable.
The chamber filed notice with
the maritime commission.
A modern airplane has at least
three electrical systems serving
radio, instruments and motor.
armament. They would still have
their Communist fifth columns all
over the world. Without any armed
forces, they could be as upsetting
a factor as they are now.
Winston Churchill’s comment on
»
President Truman’s program of
American aid to Greece and Tur
key is interesting. “No step which
I have seen taken lately has more
increased the chances of mainten
ance of world peace and world
freedom,” says the British war
time minister. “If such a step had
been taken by the United States
before the last war, it would have
stopped it.”
There is a striking parallel be
tween the present situation and
that which prevailed before Mu
nich. The British and French made
the fatal mistake at Munich of try
ing to halt Nazi aggression by ap
peasement. President Truman did
not repeat that blunder. Confront
ed with Communist aggression in
Greece, he proposed American aid
to help the Greeks stop that.
Communist squawks against the
Truman program were to be ex
pected. But the United States will
be more respected in Moscow for
the firm stand It has taken. The
Russians must understand that
President Truman is not looking
for trouble. But they also must
realize that the United States, arm
ed with the atomic bomb, is not to
be bluffed in its efforts to preserve
world peace. This country while
speaking softly can speak firmly
now in international councils be
cause it really carries a “big stick."
Russian attempts to drag the
Chinese situation into the discus
sions of the Moscow conference
cannot be taken too seriously. The
purpose obviously is to muddy the
waters. The job of the conference,
is to draft4 peace treaties for Aus
tria and Germany. The Chinese
situation has no relation to that
at all.