THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME, ALASKA
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 6v»
$1.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAR
W. A. Boucher .Owner-Publisher
Emily Boucher .Local Editor
Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943, at the postoffice
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Monday, March 21, 1949
HOT FACTS ON THE “COLD WAR”
(New World News Service)
Today those who fail to understand the world aim and
strategy of Communism should read the writings of
Marx, Lenin, and Stalin. One of the strangest stories of
the human race was the way in which Hitler, having
stated almost exactly what he proposed to do in “Mein
Kampf,” then proceeded to do it—while millions of
people refused to believe it could happen.
Communism is an ideology. It goes far beyond poli
tics, social systems and economics. It bids to change and
control the character of men’s hearts, minds, and mor
als as well as to give them better houses, food and sani
tation.
Communism is a world ideology. Because Stalin
thinks all the time of a global strategy he is able to out
wit those statesmen fighting for mere national interests.
He will keep his own people short of food if wheat can
be used as a lever to split the democracies and further
the cause of world revolution. While waving Berlin in
the air like*a conjurer, to attract attention, he pockety
China with his other hand almost before, the free na
tions know what has happened. He is now able to main
tain peace talk at international level while snapping up
Malaya, Siam, and Burma.
Communism is convinced of the inevitability of its
own triumph on a world front in the near future. Their
materialistic conception of history tells its devotees that I
the “dictatorship of the proletariat” is at hand.
Communism does not therefore want war, because it
has nothing to gain by war. Defeat in battle might hold |
up an ideological victory towards which Communists
feel they are heading, and heading fast.
Communism, however, does not fear war. For war
will never beat Communism. No convinced Communist
would believe that Communism was less right if Russia
fought and lost a war.
Communism can only justify itself if there is no abso
lute moral law. Without absolute moral law, they can
argue it is right to use any and every means to end so
cial injustices which make all decent, men angry.
That is why Marx and Lenin condemned religion and
morality’ as “opiates of the masses.” That is why today
such intense propaganda efforts are being made to con
fuse churchmen into believing that Christianity and
Communism are the same thing. Lenin said, “the class
struggle can only succeed when the myth of God is re
moved from the mind of man.”
The danger is the democracies will denounce and do
nothing to train its own force of ideological fighters.
Editorially “The Christian Science Monitor” declared,
“Americans must match the technological revolution
they are already fostering with an ideological revolu
tion they have not yet thought out.”
FEDERAL DEBT STUPENDOUS
The national debt which reached its highest peak at
the end of the fiscal year 1945-46 will probably be re
duced a few hundred million dollars this year. Accord
ing to present estimates, it will drop to $251,600,000,000
on June 30th, compared with $269,422,000,000 at its
peak, which reflected a 16-year-increase of $263,000,
000,000.
Despite the lamentations of the financial experts in
the Thirties, when the debt was only $50,000,000,000
that the nation would be bankrupted by such an indebt
edness, there seems to be no reason to believe that the
present debt is dangerous although it does not leave
much room for increase in case an emergency arises,
such as a war or a bad economic depression.
I ONE MORE SPRMO
• i
Apparently, the national debt has been reduced about
$17,000,000,000 in the past three years. While this is not
much, when compared with the total amount of the
debt, it compares favorably with the $9,000,000,000 re
duction after the first World War, between 1919 and
1930.
The Federal debt should engage the serious attention
of those who handle the fiscal affairs of the nation. With
business and income at high levels, following the war,
there was little excuse t<? reduce taxes. The surplus
should have been applied to debt reduction. This was
doubly unfortunate because, as of today, increased ex
penses of rearmament and European relief make it;
necessary to increase taxes if there is to1 be any surplus
for application to the debt next year.
_
* " . I
WHY CONTROLS MAY BE NEEDED !
The current business situation shows a downward
trend that will not be dangerous, according to the eco
nomic experts, unless the public gets the idea that it is
a permanent drift toward substantially' lower prices.
The argument over controls to avoid inflation and de
flation will continue as long as the subject is debated.
Obviously, however, almost any price platform can
serve the economic needs of the nation but what wrecks ■
everything is the precipitate rise or fall of the struc
ture.
This process, whether it be caused by rapidly advanc
ing prices or precipitately declining prices, unbalances’
the entire economy. Moreover, it renders difficult the I
decision of individuals which, when multiplied by mil-'
lions of people, seriously affect business and the na-!
tion’s economic life.
With prices advancing, there is a reluctance on the
part of those who sell to agree to any controls. How
ever, one should not overlook the possibility that some1
form of control might be equally useful when prices be-!
gin to drop too fast. In other words, what the nation
may need, for its economic well-being, is not a device to
keep prices up or to bring them down, but the machin
ery to keep either process from moving too fast.
i
ONLY A SLIGHT DECLINE
The Consumers’ Price Index, maintained by the Bu
reau of Labor Statistics, is supposed to relfect changes
in the cost of living and the public has been hearing
much about the fact that the index has declined for
four consecutive months.
The latest figures are for the month ending January
15th. They show a decline of 2.1 per cent from the rec
ord highs of August and September. The index is still
1.2 higher than a year before, 28.2 higher than June,
1946, when price controls were ended and 73.3 above
August, 1939.
While the slight declines noted over the four months’
period are encouraging, there is no use for anybody to
be fooled by the undue emphasis that has been given
them in much publicity.
LIFTING THE LID
AT JUNEAU
♦Contined from Page One)
vote was 9-7.
A second fishing bill, providing
for increases on fishing licenses to
$5 for residents and $50 for non
residents was passed 14-2. The
Senate inserted an amendment re
quiring six months yearly bona
fide residence in Alaska for the
resident qualification.
The House, also working late,
approved unanimously Senator
Anita Garnick’s memorial to Con
gress for federal financing of a
$25,000,000 custom smelter in
Alaska. It also approved Senator
Walter Huntley’s memorial asking
for $38,000,000 additional for re
habilitation of the Alaska Rail
%
road through 1950.
Barely passing by a vote of 13
to 10 was Rep. Warren Taylor’s
memorial recommending a change
in the length of the legislative ses
sions from the present 60 days to
90 days because of what Taylor
termed “growing problems.”
The Senate approved, 11-4, a
House joint memorial asking Con
gress to allow the legislature to
fix residence requirements for di
vorces after the present two-year
requirement is outdated.
Th House passed a Senate bill
for preferential hiring of war vet
erans for public jobs, but amended
it to eliminated preferential grad
ing on examinations. Rep. Alfred
Owen, Jr., proposed the amend
ments, he said, on the grounds
that veterans should be satisfied
wdth preferential treatment if they
got the same examination grade as
a non-veteran. The vote was 18-6.
The Senate must now approve
the amendment.
The House also completed legis
lative approval by unanimously
voting for a $250,000 appropria
tion for assistance to community
hospitals.
Monday, March 22, 1949
JUNEAU, (JP)—The Alaska Sen
ate unanimously passed a bill yes
terday to establish Territorial na
tional guard units of Eskimo
scouts along the coastline facing
Russia across the Bering Sea.
A similar bill previously had
been passed by the House, but the
Senate’s rewritten version, with
emphasis on the Eskimo scouts,
must now go back there for con
currence.
Simultaneously, the House re
scinded Saturday night’s refusal
to accept a “non-communist oath”
measure from the Senate. Agree
ment to act on the bill was voted
18 to 3, but its adoption was block
ed by amendments which left fi
nal action for today;
The national guard bill pro
vides for two scout battalions
along the far western and north
western coasts for training as
“eyes and ears” of the military. It
carries a $92,000 appropriation.
Unanimous passage of the bill
came as a surprise, since it had
become as much a political as mil
itary issue.
Republicans who had expressed
hostility to the proposal swung in
to line after Republican Senators
E. B. Collins and Charles Jones
announced they were changing
their previous positions.
Jones said he would support the
bill after Lt. Col. Joseph Alexan
der testified from the Senate wit
ness stand that the “guard will be
divorced absolutely from politics.”
The political issue involving
Governor Gruening also was cited
by Democratic Sen. Steve McCut
chen, who declared that the only
two reasons for opposition to the
guard were “first, fear of use for