THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome. Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 61 x
•1.M PER MONTH S18.00 A YEAR
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER.Editor*
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffie#
at Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Friday, June 20, 1947
Cemetery Association
SINCE THERE IS NEED of a plan and execution of
same regarding our City Cemetery, an organization, un
der the Territorial law, should be organized to handle
matters pertaining thereto.
The law states that five or more persons could form
the association, and elect three or more to serve as trus
tees with perpetual succession in office to operate
and do business for the association. The association
could purchase property, or take gift, and devise and
hold land exempt from execution and any appropria
tion to public purposes, for the sole purpose of a ceme
tery.
Under the law, all such associations must make and
keep a complete record and plan of the grounds, lots,
numbers, and shall have the power to inclose, improve
and adorn the grounds and avenues, etc., or may pre
scribe rules and regulations governing such improve
ments, etc. . . .
The balance of the deal seems to fall back on the hu
man element, the part which is required for the execu
tion of the project, carrying out the details of getting
the movement underway to improve the cemetery sit
uation.
A committee of citizens is working on the matter and
is scheduled to meet on Friday evening to discuss the
cemetery situation. We extend our wholehearted sup
port.
Truman, Taft And Prices
(Rocky Mountain News)
IT’S TASY TO UNDERSTAND, and to sympathize!
with, some of the heat in President Truman’s statement
on prices and the economic philosophy of Senator Taft, j
It wasn’t fair for Mr. Taft to say that the President j
apparently is “abandoning talk of keeping prices down
in favor of heavy spending abroad that will keep them i
»».
up.
The foreign-aid programs do tend to keep domestic
prices up. Mr. Truman concedes that they “place some
strain upon the Amreican economy.” But they can’t be
judged on that basis, since their purpose is, as he says,
to help starving millions and to set up a bulwark
against totalitarian aggression.
The fact that they add to our domestic economy prob
lems, he says correctly, makes it all the more import
ant to handle those problems with vigor and common
sense.
The President asserts that he still is as strong as ever
for voluntary price reductions, wherever possible. He
assails Senator Taft as an advocate of the doctrine that
“the only way to bring prices down is to reduce the de
mand for goods”—as an exponent of the “old boom
and-but idea” that “prices should seek as high a level
as the traffic will bear.”
As to these charges, Mr. Taft can, and doubtless will,
speak for himself.
The country would be interested in, and perhaps en
lightened by, a debate between the President and a Re
publican Senator who would like to succeed him in the
White House a year and a half hence* And we think
some of Mr .Truman’s own economic philosophy could
bear further exposition.
His statement notes, as one substantial result of his
drive for voluntary price reductions, the fSct that some
I major industries have raised wages without correspond
ing price advances. Yet he still seems to put most of the
pressure for price cuts on these and other industries
whose costs are being and will be raised by wage in
creases.
In the recent moderate decline of prices, he observes,
' industrial prices have not come down as much as the
prices of farm products and food.
Well, industrial prices never went up nearly as far as
farm and food prices. And most of the business fore
casters say that the wage boosts of 15 cents an hour or
more will go far to deflate industrial profits.
We agree with Mr. Truman that anyone who can re
duce prices should do so now. But we wonder whether
he, himself, is entirely fair in putting industry so much
on the spot.
Bars To European Union
i (Anchorage Daily Times)
BACK IN THE early thirties Winston Churchill put
forward the idea of a united Europe. It was an idea for
eign to the thinking of its time—a time of going fascism,
dawning Hitlerism, Maginot mentality, ultra-national
ism, insincerity, and appeasement. Mr. Churchill, a
Tory with a vision, saw the evils and their remedy. But
no one of comparable vision and authority in all Europe
answered and supported him.
It took a second World War—which a strong, united
Europe almost surely could have prevented—to show
the true value of Mr. Churchill's remedy. Europe of 15
years ago had all the necessary ingredients of that rem
edy except one—wisdom. Today such important ingre
dients as stability, prosperity, health, and strength are
gone. And there is some question whether wisdom has
been gained.
A short time ago Mr. Churchill again appealed to Eu
rope to unite. It was an eloquent, intelligent plea which
took into account all the grim realities of the present.
Mr. Churchill urged a European federation as one of
the “four pillars of me temple of peace.'* The others, he
said, are the United States, the Soviet Union, and the
British Commonwealth. They would support a United
Nations expanded into a world super-government to
prevent war.
“Are the states of Europe," Mr. Churchill asked, “to
continue forever to squander the first fruits of their toil
upon the erection of new barriers, military fortifications
and tariff walls and passport networks against one an
; other?"
For the most part, Europe’s answer was silence.
France, which with Britain would be the backbone of
any European union, showed slight reaction. Her states
men were too busy for comment. Most French news
papers ignored his speech.
Instead there came from France the voice of Charles
DeGaulle, wartime hero, interim president, and now
head of a new and somewhat disturbing political move
ment. Following Mr. Churchill a day, M. DeGaulle
made a speech in which he called for a “strong state”
in France.
The former general said he meant by a strong state
“what others mean in reference to themselves—for ex
ample, in Moscow and Washington—a state whose chief
is a, chief and in which no confusion of powers hampers
or dilutes responsibility.”
It is odd that M. DeGaulle should mention Washing
ton and Moscow in the same breath—especially since
he must know that in the U. S. the powers of govern
ment are delegated, though not confused, and that re
sponsibility is divided, though not diluted.
Substitute the word “authority” for responsibility”
in the quotation above and you have a statement that
might have been made by Hitler or Mussolini in the
days when Mr. Churchill first proposed a united Europe.
If M. DeGaulle expresses a growing sentiment in
France today, then the difficulties of adopting Mr.
Churchill’s plan are increased 'enormously. For the
same reason the plan becomes the more urgently neces
sary.
3 Months May Decide Europe’s Fate
_ A
(By Barnet Borer)
The German military writer,
Clausewitz, once described war as
the continuation of policy by other
means than diplomacy.
What is happening in Europe
today can best be described as the
continuation of war by other
means than armed conflict
Let’s make no mistake about it
Everywhere, on the Continent.
Russia is engaged in waging war
on the west. This time she is plac
ing her chief reliance not on the
uniformed Red army but on that
civilian legion of foreign stooges
whose field marshals bear such
names as Rakosi, Tito, Togliatti,
Thorez and Dimitrov.
Having first consolidated her
power in the area lying to the east
of the Stettin-Danzig-Trieste line,
she is nqw engaged in a multi
pronged political offensive in cru
cial areas west of that line.
What has happened in Hungary
was both the continuation of what
had previously taken place in
such countries as Yugoslavia, Ro
mania, Bulgaria and Poland, and
the forerunner of what the Krem
lin intends to bring about in Italy,
France, Austria, Germany and
elsewhere.
Everywhere the chins are down.
In franc*, th* threat of national
paralysis has d*v*lop*d as a re
sult of what Premier Paul Rama
dier has called a "spiral move
ment of strikes that has taken
shape as if in response to a secret
bandmaster."
It is no coincidence that this
very serious threat to France's
economic stability occurred after
Premier Ramadier had demon
strated that his government could
aet along without th* help of the
Communists.
The Communists had not reck
oned on this possibility when they
deliberately excluded themselves
from the government early in
May. Now, through the strike
weapon which they are in a posi
tion to exercise through their
domination of many key trade
union, they are seeking to black
mail themselves back into the gov
ernment.
In Italy Palmiro Togliatti. the
Communist leader, has declared
war on the government of Premier
Alcide de Gasperi.
Togliatti has promised that the
Communists will limit themselves
to “democratic means” in their
struggle with the present regime.
Tn view of the reports tha^ a new
partisan army is in process of for
mation in Italy and in view of the
curious definition which Com
munists sometimes give to the
word “democratic,” Togliatti’s
pledge is not reassuring.
In Austria, a Communist leader
one Ernst Fischer, has warned the
cabinet that unless a Communist
controlled government is set up in
the little Danubian* republic, Rus
sia will indefinitely postpone
i making peace with it.
In Bulgaria, what shreds are
left of the Yalta agreement are be
ing tom up tyy the Communist re
gime which is headed by Georgi
Dimitrov. The British and Ameri
can demands for an explanation
of the arrest of Nikola Patkov, op
nosition leader, have been con
temptuously rejected.
The stakes in the developing
European struggle are tremen
dous. The outcome will decide the
fate of the continent for years. .
Russia's moves on the chess
board reflect both great self-con
fidence and great urgency. They
realize that if the present move
ment to bring about economic
unity in Europe succeeds, a move
ment that has won the powerful
support of General Marshall,
Russian influence will decline in
western Europe.
Once that happens Russia will
be put op the defensive in eastern
Furooe as well. The economic
Dlight of the satelite countries be
hind the iron curtain is steadily
deteriorating. Russia can do little
to keep them even if she would.
Thus far all she has done has been
i to loot them.
On the other hand, the men in