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. and EMILY BOUCHER.Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffice at
Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Monday, May 13, 1946
JUSTICE FOR FINLAND
THOUSANDS of Pacific Northwest residents of Fin
nish or Swedish birth or descent are earnestly hop
ing that Finland will get fair treatment at the Big Four
conference now in progress in Paris.
Interest in the question should not, however, be
confined to any one group. Every liberty-loving Amer
ican wants to see strict adherence everywhere to the
Atlantic Charter's ban on “territorial changes that do
not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the peo
ple concerned."
This provision of the charter will become utterly
meaningless unless there is a substantial modification
of the terms of the armistice into which Finland was
compelled to enter with Soviet Russia on September
19, 1944.
Under the armistice Finland agreed to restore to
the Soviet Union the territories Finland had ceded in
the Peace of Moscow in 1940 and also the district of
Petsamo, in addition to an indemnity of 300 million
dollars.
With regard to the territories involved, Raivaaja,
the leading Finnish daily in the United States, has;
pointed out:
These areas taken from Finland cover altogether
about 12,000 square miles, approximately lO precent
of Finland's prewar land area. Compared with Rus
sia's eight million square miles of land . . . what the
Soviet wants from Finland is merely a patch of back
yard, the loss of which, nevertheless, would constitute
for the Finns a sacrifice of disastrous dimensions.
“The loss of a large part of her southeastern
province, Karelia, would amount to an amputation crip
pling Finland both economically and culturally. ..Vii
puri, the capital of Karelia, was the second city of Fin
land. The land . . . was responsible for about 12 per
cent of Finland's food production. The Karelian indus
tries represented about 11 per cent of Finland's total
industrial output. The Karelian waterfalls generating
electric power for the use of industries were an in
valuable asset for the country, which has no reserves
of coal or oil of its own. The coastal waters of Finish
Karelia gave, before 1939, 30 percent of all salt water
fish caught by the Finnish fishing population.
“The inhabitants of this province, some 480,000
people, were a hard working, industrious populace, liv
ing happily on their small farms and in their neat urban
homes. To them the loss of this land, where their an
cestors for 30 generations toiled, constitutes an injus
tice that cannot be made good by the generosity of
their kinsmen in other parts of Finland.
“The direct losses inflicted on Finland by the
cession of Karelia are accompanied by disastrous ef
fects on the economic life of the country as a whole.
The new frontier cuts in two the railway network of an
area where it has its greatest density, and completely
bars the rest of Finland from using the convenient
waterways of the Ladoga Lake system. The greatest
drawback of all this is the fact that the Saima Canal
system, an important link between Eastern Finland
and the rest of the world, is made useless for the Fin
nish trade. The economy of the Soviet Union, on the
other hand, can make no use of the Saima Canal, since
all its traffic comes from the lakes that remain uilder
Finnish control.
“The solution imposed on Finland by the armistice
w'ill only serve to impoverish Finland’s Eastern prov
inces, and thus result, perhaps, in political consequen
ces desired by the conqueror. Abject poverty makes
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people’s minds accessible to subversive ideology.'
Finland may have exercised bad judgement in at
tacking Russia in 1941. But it must be borne .n mind
that the Soviet Union had invaded Finland two years
before, and the smaller country confined her efforts
mostly to the liberation of territories which Russia had
taken from her. And, caught between Nazi Germany
and Soviet Russia, Finland had little choice in the mat
ter.
The United States stands committed to a policy
unalterably opposed to the despoliation of any peoples.
And we have particular reason to be considerate to-*’
ward Finland when we recall how she alone, of all Eur
opean nations, scrupulously lived up to all the provis
ions of the loan she made from us a quarter of a century
ago.
W ASHINGTON — From all re
ports coming into the adju
tant general’s office at the War
Department here, the greatest ap
peal factors in the Army’s new
voluntary enlistment program are:
a free higher education when
you get out; <2> trades and tech
nical training while in service or
—we might add—<3) both.
This is particularly interesting
since colleges and universities all
over the country are reporting the
first wave of an avalanche of dis
chargees taking advantage of the
educational provisions of the GI
Bill of Rights. With demobilization
at its peak and voluntary enlist
ments in the armed services <the
benefits accrue to all branches, of
course) holding at an amazing
level, the educators are faced with
seven of the fattest years in his
tory.
Congress, eager to avoid ex-,
tension of the draft and hoping
to dodge the even greater political
hazard of voting on universal
military training, passed the Vol
untary Recruitment act which be
came law Oct. 6, 1945.
What Congress did was to ex
tend the GI Bill of Rights, with
certain additional inducements to
all persons who enlisted or reen
listed in the armed forces within
a year. ,
This of course, extended to all
fresh recruits the now generous
provisions for a free education—
or at least one so nearly free that
furnace stokers and table-waiters
working their way through college
five to 20 years ago would have
considered it a sleigh ride to a
doctor’s, lawyer’s or merchant’s
degree.
Apparently there’s many a 17
or 18-year—old looking upon it the
same way today. Recruiting offi
cers are reporting thousands of
cases where youngsters without
ready funds have been advised by
high school and freshman college
counsellors to take a year-and-a
half to three years in the armed
services and finish their educa
tions for free later on.
The details of the educational
provisions of the amended GI
Bill of Rights are too complicated
to go into here, but for periods
based upon length of service, the
government pays tuition up to
$500 per school year in any ac
credited college or university, plus
$65 a month, if single; $90, if mar
ried. At the end of top three-year
enlistments, a man may have 48
months of schooling under these
terms.
For three years from Oct. 6,
1946—and even longer, because
the educationel benefits don’t need
to be taken immediately—young
men and women will be entering
or reentering colleg. at the ex
pense of Uncle Sam.
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The name Massachusetts was
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tr;be.
Vets’ Mail Bag
As a Service to veterans
in the community, the
NOME NUGGET will publish a
regular column of questions most
frequently asked contact men of
the Veterans Admin stration in
this area. For more detailed in
formation veterans should con
tact or write to the VA unit at
46 and 47, Post Office Building.
Anchorage, Alaska.
Q. Can I convert my insurance
at any time if I decide to change
from one permanent plan to an
other? ^
A. Yes. However, if you change
from a higher rate policy to one
of a lowed rate, a physical exam
is required.
Q. I receive a pension and be
lieve I am eligible for vocational
rehabilitation. I would like to at
tend school under Public Law 16
particularly because 1 may need
the medical care that is offered
in this program. I am unwilling,
however, to have the VA or any
other government agency tell me
what I should study. Can I
choose my own course?
A. File your application and a
program of study can most likely
be worked out to your satisfac
tion. The adviser is trained to
aid the veteran in analyzing his
problems and in choosing a suit*
able course. It is not his purpose*
to compel a particular type of
training. If, after you have talked
to the vocational adviser, you are
unable to come to any agreement
for training under Public Law
16 ‘vocational rehabilitation pro
gram' you are still eligible to
train under Public Law 346 ‘the.
G. I. BilP.
Q I am going to Canada to
live and wish to go to school there
May I receive benefits under
Public Law 346 <the G. I. Bill'?
A. Yes. Education and training
benefits are available to veterans
residing outside the United States,
subject to the regulation and ap
proval of the school by the admin
istrator. However, eligibility of a
veteran for on-the-job training in
a foreign country under the G. I.
Bill has not been determined but
is under consideration. 4
Q. I went into business for my
self and not make any money the
first month. Am I eligible for
payments under the readjustment
allowances?
A. Yes. If the veteran has been
working full-time for himself for
profit in an independent establish
ment, trade, business of profess
ion, or other vocation during the
calendar month preceding that in
which he applies for allowances
and has net earnings of less than
$100, he may be entitled to re
ceive the difference between $100
and his net earnings for that
month. He may receive payments
for a period of 10 and 2/5 months.
Q. What are the new provisions
of the farm real estate loan under
the amended G. I. Bill?
A. $4,000 maximum guarantee
50 percent of the loan) with 40
ears to pay.
Q. May the proceeds of an NSLI
policy be assigned for payment of
a debt?
A. No.