The Nome Nugget
Published Monday, Wednesday
•nd Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO
Nome, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125
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A- BOUCHER.. Ed i torPubl isher
EMILY BOUCHER .Society Editor
Entered as second class matter
October 14, 1943, at the Dostoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Ac
of March 3, 1879.
Friday, April 20, 1945
LAW AND THE MAN
(Washington Post)
We are indebted to Mr.
Mark Sullivan for calling
our attention to the speech
of Senator Wayne L.
Morse on a subject to
which in the past we have
given considerable atten
tion. In our daily reading
of the Congressional Rec
ord we had somehow miss
ed it. Senator Morse, in
persuading the Senate to
attack a provision for ap
peals courts against WMC
sanctions to be appointed
outside WMC control,
made these observations:
... There is agrowing up
in this country a trend
toward . . . administration
of law by the executive
branch of Government
through administrative of
ficers who, in my judg
ment, do not have their
opinions 3nd views suffi
ciently checked tj other
branches of Government, j
I think it is a dangerous
trend.
It is proposed that the
man whose regulations
may be challenged by a
citizen . . . shall be given j
The power to set up his own j
tribunal to judge whether j
or not he, in fact, has been
unreasonable in the exer
cise of his duties under the |
act.
I think it is a very bad
principle of government
... to give the power to
pass upon . . . regulations
to a tribunal appointed by
the administrator himself.
As a result of my experi
ence with some of the ap
peal tribunals ... I have
no illusion with regard to
them, and I should like to
prevent the repetition of
such a mistake in this par
ticular bill.
We know how they
would work in practice.
We know that in practice
the chairman of the War
Manpower Commi s s i o n
would, by and large, call
the shots under the pro
posed act ... I believe
(this) irrespective of who
occupies the position. I in
tend no personal reference.
The citizen should have
protection from the arbi
trary exercise of power . . .
Repetition is a sin to be
guarded against in this
time-saving world, but
words of wisdom like Sen
ator Morse’s require reit
eration.
NAME CHANGED
(Juneau Enquirer)
We note that upon the
suggestion of Alaska Dele
gate E. L. Bartlett and
others that Secretary of
the Interior Harold L. Ic
kes has changed the name
of the “Alaska Indian Ser
vice” to the “Alaska Na
tive Service.”
We have been under the
impression that the name
of the office has been for
some time the Alaska Of
fice of. Indian Affairs.
This has been done be
cause the office, whatever
its correct name has been,
serves not only Indians but
also Aleuts and Eskimos.
However, the word, na—
tive, correctly means an j
inhabitant of a certain re-;
gion who has been born in
that region, and therefore
the term in Alaska would
take in a good many whites
who are natives of Alaska.
At any rate, we don’t
think the old name troub
led the Eskimo or the
.Aleut a great deal.
Alaska Quotas For
The Seventh War
Loan Drive I
April 9 io July 7. 1945
Series E Total
Quota Quota
Anchorage
Whittier $450,000 $810,000
Fairbanks
College 400,000 630,000
Juneau-Douglas 225,000 425,000
Ketchikan 200,000 330,000
Seward 60,000 115,000
Sitka 50,000 77,000
Petersburg 50,000 85,000
Nome 50,000 70,000
Kodiak 45,000 60,000
Cordova 40,000 55,000
Wrangell 25,000 45,000
Skagway 20,000 23,000
| Valdez 15,000 20,000
- - -
As far back as the third millen
nium, B.C., equinoxes and solsti
ces were determined in China by
the stars.
|
i MMITIM& FOR ROMAMCe ■_
I
WOKING
AHEAD
tr GEORGE 1RENSON
\JhmUU*ti7UwtiHg MUg$
■t $44w$ff, jirJbvtMt
STYMIE LAW j
On V-Day, when fighting ends
and the peoples of a plundered
world begin shouting their joy and
gratitude in a thousand tongues,
aerial bombs and floating mines
are going to seem pretty cheap. All
treacherous, and destructive ma
chines will appear in their right
light again. Their values will
show as minus quantities. Then
slow, cautious men will set to
work getting rid of them.
But there are instruments of
war more treacherous than float
ing mines, more ruinous than any
block-buster ever devised. Uncle
Sam will have one of these on his
hands when war ends unless Con
| gress does something about it. It
' is trained on American factories
I and farms now, ready to start a
bombardment on Armistice Day
and nothing can eliminate the ser
ious menace but new legislation.
Congress Can Save
The United States has a law
; against progress. It was not en
I acted to stop scientific and indus
! rial development but, if it stays
; on the statute books in peace
j time, even for a short while, it
j will be a government freeze ol
1 creative work. It was passed five
years ago to raise money for na
tional defense and keep war
mongers from profiteering on the
misfortunes of other people.
I am not criticizing the pur
poses of the act. America had to
raise revenue quickly for defense,
and right thinking people did not
want to see a crop of war-lords
enriched with blood-money. Just
the same, there ought to be a new
act, worded to take effect on the
day of victory, repealing certain
provisions of the 1940 tax law
which are war measures, ruinous
to any people at peace.
Kills New Business
The sense of the law is this:
Add up all the profit a firm made
in four pre-war years, 1936-1939
inclusive; figure 25 per cent of the
total and call it a sample pre-war
year’s profit. If a corporation
earns more than that in any year
of war, it must pay the govern
ment 85 per cent of the difference
in a special tax. It was effective
for war ends, but how will it
work in peace time?
Small business concerns can’t
grow if the law stands. Really big
I corporations can escape being dev
astated. Some will want to ex
pand further and can’t, but they
can stay big. Their competitive
lead can never be overcome by an
ambitious*rival. Here is why: by
percentage, not much of a giant
I corporation’s business is ever new
business; its . profits (however
I big) grow slowly. Small firms,
not so. What will be the net re
sult?
Service to Humanity
Thrifty little enterprises like
you and I might form will be par
aded. They can’t expand because
their dollars of increased profit
will be split two ways, 15c to keep
and 85c for the government. Many
will die as losses on development
of new products wipe out their
meager capital. Huge firms, which
have no need for substantial
growth, can develop new products
with no risk to their strong posi
tion.
A big company’s losses on new
developments can be used to re
duce taxes on profits from old
business. In this way, government
pays 85 per cent of such losses for
big concerns. It must be remem
bered however, that big corpora
tions are too few to solve the na
tion’s post-war employment prob
lem. Small firms, companies that
could double twice and still not be
large, are the backbone of Amer
ica’s wealth.
i Small companies employ 85 per
! cent of the nation’s workers. They
handle the lion’s share of our na
tional income. What their em
ployees eat makes farm prosper
• ity. If these little firms see a
chance to earn a profit, they will
i get ready for peace . . . new busi
1 ness and new jobs in large num
bers. But if until V-Day they re
main scared to expand, America',
is stymied and so is the world.
*» . V