THE NOME- NUGG ET
Published Monday. Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
SI.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAR
Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943. at the postoffiet
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Wednesday, September 8, 1948
SITKA TAX PLAN SUCCESS
(Anchorage Daily Times)
A city sales tax has met with considerable success in
Sitka( Mayor Waino Edward Hendrickson, mayor of
Juneau, said recently while visiting in Anchorage.
“More than $9000 has been collected by the town in
the first two months after the tax was enacted,” Hen
drickson said. “The city expects to raise $50,000 a year
from the levy,” he pointed out.
Hendrickson declared a similar action is being con
sidered at Ketchikan. Revenues from the one cent tax
at Sitka are earmarked for use by the school and hos
pital.
“Under the plan transient workers pay their share
too,” the visiting mayor said.
FEAR OF DEFLATION
(Christian Science Monitor)
i
“They are really more concerned about deflation
than about inflation.” Senator Taft’s “they” referred to
the Truman Administration. And despite the Presi
dent’s pleas for legislation to curb inflation, there is a
good deal of truth in Mr. Taft’s statement. For the Ad
ministration could do much more to check inflation if it
were not afraid of deflation.
But if the spokesman for Republicans in Congress
had been making a non-partisan statement he would
have had to make his “they” much more inclusive.'Act
ually, it covers a big part of the community and defin
itely includes the Republican party. Nealy everybody
prefers the boom to even a “stabilizing recession.”
Nearly everybody is afraid that measures to check in
flation will start deflation. Producers like high prices;
workers like high wages. Nobody wants to pull out a
girder that could possibly send the whole economy
crashing.
In fact, both major parties are more inclined to insert
girders. Mr. Taft charged that every time farm prices
show any sign of falling, the Democrats rush to support
them. He might have added that the Republicans sel
dom get left behind.
In fact, the 80th Congress, controlled by Republicans,
is responsible for continuing the most indefensible sub
sidy for inflated food prices—that on potatoes. Former
secretary of agriculture Anderson urged that this war
time measure be dropped. It has cost the taxpayers
$170,000,000 and is now adding $4,000,000 a week. It
has caused the dumping of millions of bushels (the
cheapest form of surplus disposal) and costly expedi
ents to avoid dumping. But Congress insisted on keep
ing the subsidy on the 1948 crop.
“They are really more concerned about deflation,”
said Mr. Taft.
FRAYING THE CORD
(The Denver Post)
The Soviet decision to withdraw consular repressen
tatives from the United States and to close the Ameri
can consulate in Vladivostok is simply another fraying
of the slender cord that binds Soviet-American rela
tions. In fact the closure of our consulate in Vladivos
tok will make little difference. Our representatives
have not been allowed to move, freely there; they have
been confined and watched as all Americans are in the
Soviet Union.Our trade with Russia is negligible now,
as are the interests of American nationals in the Soviet
Union.
On the other hand, the Russians have much to lose.
HANGING IN THE BALANCE
'oV cs/ !
When they remove their consulates from New York and
San Francisco, they take away valuable posts. The Sov
iet government voluntarily narrows its control over
Russian nationals in this country—few as they are. In
the future, they will have more difficulty when they
want to force the return of Soviet citizens who would
rather live elsewhere.
Obviously the Soviets took this action in an attempt
to retrieve prestige, after their representatives failed to
enforce extraterritoriality on American soil. Perhaps
another school teacher episode will cause the breaking
of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and
the United States. Certainly, at least, this incident
shows how little the Russians value the maintenance of
cordial relations with this country.
If they insist on following this course, if they demand
extraterritorial privileges and are so miffed they they
retaliate when those demands are rejected, they bring
about eventual disruption of all diplomatic relations.
BARROOM “UNIFICATION”
(By Lawrence Martin)
More than a year after the legal unification of the
armed forces of the United States, Defense Secretary
Forrestal has found it necessary to demand “integra
tion” of the army, navy and air force operations, an in
tegration that Americans had a right to expect at the
time of unification.
Secretary Forrestal and the chiefs of the three serv
ices have had to call upon high-ranking officers to stop
interservice rivalry and observe the spirit as well as
, the letter of the Newport decisions regarding functions
of the services.
At this time defense is a vital factor. Nearly 80 per
cent of the American budget is being spent in direct
connection with national security. Apparently, how
ever, many army, navy and air force officers have not
yet accepted the unification of our defense forces; in
stead, they prefer to think of national defense in terms
of their own organizations.
As far as we can see, individual or service glory
hunting at this time can do nothing but weaken out en
tire program of national defense. There is no place for
petty jealousy in the armed forces, as Secretary Forres
tal made quite clear. If the present leaders of the serv
ices are not pliable enough to place the interests of the
nation above those of their individual service, it is ob
vious that new leaders must be found.
Up to date there is scanjt evidence that unification
has been more than a name on a barrom floor*.
“World revolution and world domination are avow
ed aims of the Russian Communists. Those cannot be
achieved by peaceful methods. Violence is the method
advocated. There is no escape from the logic of Dulles’
[warning that ‘the Soviet regime isnot a regime of
1 peace, and does not purport to be’.”—Bruce Gustin.
0
Alaska Highway
Good But Needs
0
Improvement
(By Vern Haugland)
<(/P) Special Washington Service'
WASHINGTON (A?)—The Alas
ka Highway is in good shape ex
cept for the southern approach in
Canada, assistant secretary of the
interior William E. Warne said.
If properly developed, Warne
told a reporter, the famous war
built highway may channel a
tourist trade of $80,000,000 to
$200,000,000 yearly into Alaska.
“But there are two or three
sections along the 550-mile strfp
in northern Alberta, between Ed
monton and Dawson Creek, that
are pretty bad,” Warne said.
The interior section, unim
proved dirt road that becomes
greasy when it rains, totals only
about 125 miles.
“Ernest C. Maihing, Alberta
Premier, told me the province
plans to put the road in shape—
relocating some sections and grav
eling them as rapidly as possible.
“We hope to pursue the prob
, lem of surface improvements
, with Canadian officials this year.”
Warne drove over the road from
Fairbanks to Edmonton, with H.
Rex Lee, interior’s assistant direc
tor of territories, Kenneth Kadow
department field representative
and Col. John Noyey, chief of
roads in Alaska.
From Fairbanks to Dawson
Creek it is a well-engineered,
high class, gravel-surface road
equally well maintained in Alas
ka and in Yukon Territory and
British Columbia, Warne said.
He added that the highway
needs:
1. Additional roadside facilities,
especially in Alaska. Canada, he
said, is far ahead of Alaska in
providing overnight facilities.
2. Cafes and gasoline stations.
Alacka has started to black-top
the first 90 miles of the road out
of Fairbanks and plans a similar
surface to the Canadian border.
“It will be necessary to hard
surface the road all the way be
fore it will become a major tourist
route,” Warne said.
“The Alaska highway already
has had a major influence on
Alaska and it is destined to be
much more important in the fu
ture. It would be a great sharrie
not to use this fine road as it
should be used.”
Warne said development of the
highway should particularly be
boosted by the cities most likely
to benefit from tourist develop
ment — Fairbanks, Anchorage,
White Horse, Dawson Creek, Ed- '
monton, Lethbridge, Calgary, and
Great Falls and Cut Bank., Mont.
0 ""
VANCOUVER, B. C., </P)—'The
British Columbia government will
have to spend another five million
dollars on the Hart Highway from
Prince George to Dawson dreek,
the Vancouver News-Herald re
( ported thise week.
[ The route, which would cut
1,000 miles off the highway dis
tance to Alaska from the west
coast, was expected to cost six
' million when work started in
1945. It was to be ready for use,
linking the Caribo Route and the
Alaska Military Highway, this
year.
“Now it is far in the future,”
the article said, quoting the pre
mier as saying the government
still was determined to put the
road through.