THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday. Wednesday and Friday 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 ..Own*r-Publisher
Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943. at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3. 1879.
Nome, Alaska. Wednesday, September 21, 1949
CONGRESSIONAL FLYING
It develops that Louis Johnson, the secretary of de
fense, has no intention of stopping free air travel for
members of Congress. Earlier, because of his suggestion
that certain Senators make a trip from Cairo to Tokyo
by private plane, the idea spread through the land that
the secretary of defense was putting the economic pin
cers on Congressional travel.
There was some reaction in Congress, of course,
where various committees planned trip abroad. Natur
ally, the Congressmen wanted to fly because of the
speed of air travel and because the cost of travel would
not be charged up to the expenses of the committee. The
reaction was brought to a focus by Senator Elmer
Thomas, of Oklahoma, who asked for an accounting of
all flights made at Air Force expense by President Tru
man, vice-president Barkley and other administration
officials, including the secretary of defense himself. The
Oklahoman even suggested that taxpayers might save
money if these trips were made by commercial airplane.
Thereupon, it was explained that Senator Thomas ap
parently misunderstood the purpose of the Johnson pro
nouncement and the suggestion was likewise made that
the secretary of defense had not been sufficiently ex
plicit. The defense department point out that the air
force is ready and willing to fly members of Congress
wherever it has regular routes in operation and that, in
fact, the necessary arrangements have already been
made to fly some of the groups abroad.
It seems that the secretary of defense was concerned
with the part of the Senatorial journey between Cairo
and Tokyo, wheer it has no regular flying operation. In
addition, to the cheapness of a trip by commercial air
line, the defense department would not find itself in
competition with those who operate the Cairo to Tokyo
route.
While there is some criticism of the trips which Con
gressmen take abroad, with the suggestion that they
amount to free junkets, the possibility exists that the
nation should encourage its Congressmen, whenever
time permits, to become acquainted with conditions out
side of the United States. Naturally, the Congressmen
are not go.ing to make the trip at their own expense.
It is also a matter of general knowledge that individ
uals do, at times, get free trips through the air in con
nection with the operation of defense service planes. If
Congressmen are to be denied such a perquisite, they
naturally want to know whether administrative offi
cials, or friends of those in the service, enjoy a higher
status than the Congressmen themselves.
TAFT-HARTLEY LAW HERE TO STAY?
(Greenville (S. C.) Observer)
The Taft-Hartley Law is apparently on the books to
stay. President Truman and his cohorts in Congress, in
cluding Vive-President Barkley, have been ignomini
ously defeated in their efforts to repeal this law, deal
ing with the relations between labor and management.
The courageous fight made by Senator Taft for the
law has made him one of the outstanding men in Con
gress today, and probably never before has his prestige
been so high as it is now.
There are many people who believe that he may yet
achieve his goal of being President of the Unitedt States.
UNITED STATES VS SWEDEN’S HOUSING PLAN
(Somerset, Pa., Daily American)
The Truman housing plan, which Congress approved,
bids fair to do for the United States what Sweden’s
housing plan did for that country.
■ A dispatch from Stockholm recently said that there
are 34,000 persons on the waiting list for houses in
Stockholm alone. The World Almanac for 1949 gives the
Canadian Gold
Miners Depend On
Government Aid
TORONTO, </T)—Devaluation of
the Canadian dollar by 10 per cent
has been met with mixed feelings
by the mining industry, says V. C.
Wansoorough. executive director
I ol the Canadian metal mining as
sociation.
The base metal industry, he add
ed. and indeed all Canadian in
dustries that have a United States
dollar market will undoubtedly i
benefit. However:
“In the case of marginal gold
mines, benefits are doubtful until I
the government policy on contin
uing assistance to gold mines is
announced. At present some mines
with high production cost are re
ceiving up to $42 an ounce and '
higher for their gold. If assistance
payments are cut off, these and all
mines now receiving assistance
will only receive $38.50 and it is
doubtful if they will be able to
continue operating.
“Assistance payments to date
have been absorbed by increased
labor costs. This 10 per cent in
crease in the selling price of gold
will be largely absorbed by further
cost-of-living bonuses paid to
mine employees and by increased
costs of operation caused by the
! rise in cost of supplies, many of
| whiah come from the United
States.
“Another factor of importance
People’s Republic
Of China Formed
SAN FRANCISCO (/P)—Chinese
communist leader Mao Tze-Tung
oday announced in Peiping the
establishment of “the People’s Re
public of China.”
The announcement was made
before the opening session of the j
“Chinese People’s political consul
tative conference.” It was called
to establish a regime rivaling the
nationalist government.
“Internationally,” Mao told the i
more than 600 delegates, “We
must unite with all countries and
peoples loving peace and freedom, 1
first of all the Soviet Union and j
the new democratic countries, so
tha we will not stand alone in our
struggle to safeguard the fruits of
victory.”
A communist broadcast of the!
speech was heard by the Associat- !
ed Press at San Francisco.
It is estimated that one out of
every 200 people has some form
of epilepsy.
to the industry is that 40 per cent j
of Canadian base and strategic
mineral production was sold in the
sterling market.
“Also of importance in Canadi
an devaluation is the encourage
ment to United States investors
and the resultant benefits in the
development of Canadian mines
and the Canadian economy.”
I
population of Stockholm as 688,482.
The government of Sweden has developed the thought
among too many Swedes that if they will patiently wait,
they will be able to obtain from the government the
houses they should build for themselves.
CITY PUTS ON A WAGE TAX
As municipal governments seek new sources of rev
enue to meet pressing needs, they are inclined to experi
ment with new taxes.
In Philadelphia, the city authorities have a one per
cent wage tax, which requires all workers, whether res
ident or non-resident, to contribute to the support of
the city.
The tax was contested by a worker at the Philadel
phia naval base, who lived in New Jersey. As a result,
the worker was put in jail for ten days, although finally
released on assurance that he would appear in court
when wanted.
We do not know whether the wage ta\, as levied by
Philadelphia, has been tested in the courts of that state,
or not. The imposition of such a tax, however, indicates
the plight of the city and its desperate need for funds.
AWAITING THE PRODIGAL
« i ■ aitifcft ri'JiiTK iKM—1—tH—i i i» ——I —— i ~ nijiri ir ■ m ~1
PARTY
* COLTERS
f
COPY OF PROPOSED LAND
LAW AT NUGGET OFFICE
In a communication to the Nug
get, assistant secretary of the De
partment of the Interior, William
Warne reports that 12,000 acres of
land were used to raise agricul
tural crops, in Alaska, which is a
small proportion of the possible
estimated two million acres sup
posed ot be suitable tor cultivation
and six million additional acres
suitable for grazing. It is obvious,
he states, that the land resources
of Alaska have scarcely been
touched, despite a homesteading
policy as liberal as the present
land law would allow. The present
law, as all who are interested are
aware, has failed in its objective,
the encouragement of settlement
in the Territory.
“It is recognized that the secur
its and economy of the United
States can be and must be
strengthened materially through
the development and the settle
ment of Alaska.
As a means of encouraging set
tlement and development there
has been introduced in Congress a
bill known as H.R. 5880. It offers
a way of overcoming the major
problems which prospective set
tlers desiring to esttle in Alaska
have faced. It provides a process
for the selection of suitable lands
as settlement areas, for th orderly
and systematic classification and
surveying of those lands and for
their subdivision into tracts of ap
propriate size and shape.
Special aids are contemplated so
that settlers may be assisted dur
ing the early years in connection
with the clearing of land, the
building of roads and docks, and
the availability of needed credit.
As soon as suitable settlement leg
islation has been enacted, the De
partment will be in a position to
initiate a program directed toward
bringing new permanent residents
to settle on Alaska’s lands.”
Anyone interested in the bill
may read the copy now at the
Nugget.
Mr. Richard Small arrived with
Alaska Airlines on Monday to
work in the mechanical depart
ment of the Nome Nugget. Mr.
Small comes from Los Angeles.
SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS
ANNOUNCED BY U. OF A.
Awards have been made for the
Standard Oil Co. scholarship to
the University of Alaska, it has
been announced from the office of
the president Terris Moore.
Suzanne Schmidt Hall, a senior
at the university, ma.ioring in arts
and letters; Charles J. Awe, Jr., a
sophomore in the school of mines;
Patricia O’Keeef. a freshman in
arts and letters and Jack A. Ma
bee, freshman in arts and letters.
•
Awards were made by the uni
versity, considering the scholastic
achievements, financial need,
character and promise. It is possi
ble for the same persons to re
ceive the $500.00 award each year
of the four years, if found desir
able by the university.
Mr. and Mrs. Carl Stenson.
teachers for the ANS from Wain
wright, arrived from Kotzebue
yesterday having completed their
year at that station. The Stensons
who were teachers in the Nome
school ten years ago enjoyed meet
ing their old freinds in Nome be
fore departing for Fairbanks
where they will be met by Mr.
Stenson’s brother and drive down
the Alaska Highway and across
U. S. A. They plan a trip to Swe
den while on their year’s leave be
, for returning to Alaska.