THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 613
$1.50 PER MONTH S1B.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, 1379.
Wednesday, October 9, 1946
Stymied Patents
(Scientific American)
Severest physical blow ever suffered by the United
States Patent Office was dealt at the outbreak of the
war when the examining divisions were removed from
their specially designed offices in Washington to an old
tobacco factory in Richmond, Virginia. Divorced from
the public research room and from their invaluable
scientific library, the examiners were forced to struggle
along as best they could, handicapped by inadequate
quarters, lack of reference material, and the necessity
for vastly increased correspondence plus arduous trips;
between Richmond and Washington.
All this could be put up with under war-time condi
tions. But the situation is still at a stymie. A start was
made to re-consolidate the Patent Office. Red tape en
twined the procedure. About half the examining divi-;
sions were returned to Washington. The rest remain in;
Richmond. No one knows what is to happen next. The
cumulative effect on the morale of the examiners is ob
vious.
More important, however, is the effect oi this othcial *
stymie on the issuance of patents themselves. Today in-1
dustry is grasping for new ideas, new products, essen-j
tial to peace-time progress. And with the Patent Office
in the tangle of war-time hinderances, protection for
these new ideas is being held up. When everyone is
looking to the Patent Office for inventions that will
speed production and operate to keep prices down, the
Patent Office is found split in twain, inefficient, and un
prepared for its vital part in the post-war era.
Here’s how the situation stands at the time of writ
ing: Over 11,000 applications await consideration by
the Patent Office. Each week the Office falls more than
500 cases further behind. Unless something is done—
and done immediately—to alleviate this situation, it
will soon be that only a young inventor can expect to
live long enough to see his patent issue and to enjoy the
benefits of the full life of the patent grant.
The need is obvious. The course of action is equally
so. The Patent Office must be consolidated, returned to
its pre-war efficiency. If this is not done, the progress of
peace-time technology will be so greatly hindered as to
act as a brake on the wheels of industry.
Our patent system is good. This has been proved be
yond question. But when it is held up mechanically so
that it can function only in an inefficient manner, then
the time has arrived for action. There is no reason why
the Patent Office cannot be restored to its former quar
ters, with all the advantages that lie there. Let’s get it
done now, so that industry, inventors, and the consum
ing public alike can benefit from American genius.
Passing The Audience
(Anchorage Daily Times)
Up to now the Paris peace conference has been
neither very hopeful nor very edifying. There are re
bukes and charges of insult among the big powers.
There are adamant stands and insistent demands by
smaller nations. Yet there is reason to believe, without
being Pollyanna-ish, that things maybe aren’t quite as
bad as they seem.
We read a lot about what this one, or that one, victor
and vanquished alike, will or won’t do. Even the weak
est and most hopeless country represented seems to
have power to add to the delay and confusion. But one
may suspect that some of the loudest talk is directed
toward the galery.
/These delegates have an audience to please. They may
be representatives of a political party hopeful of re
THE LONG PULL
taming power, or of a government which has a precari
ous popular backing, or of a nation hyperconscious of
its prestige in world matters. But whatever the situa
tion, they know that the folks back home are watching
them, and that they had better look good.
So they ask for the maximum, and perhaps a piece
of the moon besides. They present their case in the most
heroic or most piteous terms, depending on what seems
likely to be the most impressive.
This technique resembles that of union or company
officers who, in negotiating a new contract, start out
with impossible demands or implausible objections.
They know they haven’t a chance of getting what they
ask or of refusing what is asked of them. But they also
know that when they arrive at an agreement the rank
and file of the stockholders will be convinced that the
put up a stirring fight and got no worse than a draw.
Again, the approach is like that of a baseball player
or manager arguing with the umpire. He knows he can’t
win. His conversation, accompanied by vehement ges
tures, may be reasonable. But from the stands it looks
like a colorful exhibition of fighting spirit, an outrage
sense of justice, and a will to win.
The real work of the Paris representatives, as of the
collective bargainers and, in many instances, of the
members of Congress, will be done behind closed doors.
The idea of open covenants openly arrived at is admir
able, but it can be very embarrassing to the participants
to an agreement.
If it were really known how a nation’s representative
sometimes arrives at a settlement of his country’s de
mands, if all the concessions and counter-proposals and
unemotional dickering were made public, there might
be serious political repercussions back home.
The people of a country whose attention is focused
on a spokesman at any important international confr
ence must have the asurance that their man is in there
making the best possible fight for the best possible
terms. Hence a good deal of window dressing, and a
good many apprehensive moments for the spectators.
This is not to say that the Paris conference doesn’t
have many critical decisions to make and many fateful
crises to avoid. It is only to suggest that some of the
most trying dilemmas of the present will undoubtedly
be settled by reasonable compromise, and soon be for
gotten.
__ a. '
\L00X7NG\
I AHEAD
f«r GEORGE 1 BENSON
^ PMsld<rt-Hir4l*i Mkft
■ S*trtf. tritium
FRANKLIN'S FORMULA
Speaking of the Constitution of
the United States, William E,
Gladstone, the great English
statesman, called it “the greatest
piece of work ever struck off at a
given time by the brain and pur
pose of man.” But reading again
Benjamin Franklin’s famous mo
tion in the Constitutional Con
vention will make any believer
fear to give man’s brain and pur
pose too much credit.
By the middle of June, 1787,
the Constitutional Convention had
almost bogged down in its own
deliberations. Representatives of
the 13 original states had haggled
for a month and made small prog
ress. Suspicion had been sown
among them. Personal dislikes and
sectional jealousies had grown
threadbare. And on the morning
of June 16, Ben Franklin address-H
ed George Washington in these
words:
An Official Motion
“Mr. President — The small
progress we have made after four
or five weeks’ close attention and
continual reasoning with each
other is, methinks a melancholy
proof of the imperfection of h)R
man undertsanding. if
"In this situation of this assem
bly as it were in the dark to find
political truth and scarce able to
distinguish it when presented to
us, how has it happened, sir, that
we have not hitherto thought of
humbly applying to the Father of
Lights to illuminate our under
standing?
“I have lived, sir, a long time;
and the longer I live the more
convincing proofs I see of the
truth, that God governs in the af- -
fairs of men. And if a sparrow "
cannot fall to the ground without
His notice, is it probable that an
empire can rise without His aid?
We have been assured, sir, in the
Sacred Writings, that ‘except the
Lord build the house, they labor
in vain who build it.’
Declares His Faith ^
"I firmly believe this; and I also
believe that without His concur
ring aid we shall succeed in this
political building no better than
the builders of Babel; we shall oe
divided by our little, partial, local
interests, our projects will be con
founded and we ourselves shall be
come a reproach and a byword,
down to future ages.
“And what is worse, mankind,
may hereafter from this unfor
tunate instance, despair of estab
lishing government by human
wisdom and leave it to chance,
war, conquest. I therefore beg
leave to move: That hereafter
prayers, imploring the assistance
of Heaven, and its blessings on
our deliberations, be held in this
assembly every morning before
we proceed to business. . . ”
Need of Prayer ^
Mr. Franklin’s motion carried.
The Constitutional Convention
prayed, and made progress beyond
| one of the darkest hours in the
career of human liberty. The dark
hour which just precedes the
dawn is frequently an hour of
prayer, and many a devout soul
in America knows that another
such hour has come. Mutual trusty
and understanding was never
more needed than it is now.
There remains on earth only
one big country with individual
freedom in its scheme of govern
ment that’s the United States.
Whole nations plunging toward
ruin are looking to us for rescue.
It is time for prayer, by assembled
worshipers and by contrite souls
in their closets, that America may
be allowed to keep her God-givef^
freedom and granted power to
bear the responsibilities that al
ready are bearing down.
Notice Of Sale Of Guns
The Fish and Wildlife Service
announces it will sell at public
auction, to the highest bidder, for
cash, 18 guns, at 1:30 p.m. on No-'
vember 5, 1946, in the A. B. Hall
at Juneau, Alaska.
Articles may be examined
applying to the Fish and Wildlife
Service office, Juneau, Alaska,
from 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. on No
vember 4, and from 8:00 a.m. to
12 noon, November 5, 1946.