THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome. Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
f 1.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAH
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER.Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffiop
at Nome. Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Wednesday, September 3, 1947
For Wednesday, September 3, 1947 ..
The Way To Peace Is Not Munich
(Bv Palmer Hoyt)
WHEN THE LATE ADOLF HITLER found it neces
sary to seize the Sudentenland because of the treatment
accorded pan-Germans, the world, with proper indigna
tion, termed it Fascism and international rape.
When Josef Stalin saw a “Fascist” plot in Hungary,
he decided in the name of “democracy” to handle the
situation by putting the Communists in charge, although
they had polled but 17 per cent of the popular vote at
the last election.
Most Americans, save the Communists, the fellow
travelers and Mr. Hanry Wallace, called this sudden
altruistic move a coup d’etat. They realized that total
arianism was on the march again.
It is now highly apparent that Mr. Stalin feels more
confident of “democracy” with his own boys on the job.
In Yugoslavia, one of his best men, Tito, properly train
ed in the Marxist-Lenin institute in Moscow, is in
charge. In the Russian zone of Germany, Herr Wilhelm
Pieck, who also won his letter at good old M.-L. I., is
guarding “democracy” for Uncle Joe.
The march of the Russians, a march that has since
World War II’s beginning placed Estonia, Latvia, Lithu
ania, Finland, Poland, East Prussia, Yugoslavia, Alba-,
nia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia and
points west and south under either Russian domination
or influence, has given the western democracies, espe
cially the United States, real cause for fear.
It is increasingly plain that no real peace can come to
the world unless it is based on a showdown between
Russia and the United States, and in the informed world
it is more apparent by the day that peace is a vital ne
cessity.
It s like the famous story of the hen and the hog, who
were reading a wartime headline in a newspaper that,
had been wafted into the barnyard. The headline said,
“U. S. Faces Ham and Egg Shortage.”
The hen said to the hog, “Old boy, we’ve got to do
something about it,” and the hog replied, “It’s very well
for you to talk, because with you it is merely a matter
of production, but with me, it is a matter of life and
death.”
And so it is with us, for whether the Russians realize;
it or not, our people are ever more cognizant of the fact'
that in this atomic age another war could bear no fruits
but those of disaster and death
Actually what is the nature of the conflict between
the U. S. S. R. and the U. S. A.?
The issue, crystal clear and deeply drawn, is one that
the entire world must be made aware of. Basically it is
the conflict between the aggressive police state and lib
erty, between expanding totalitarianism and democ
racy, and not between Communism and capitalism.
Because of the yawning gulf between the two great
powers of the earth, the problem of stopping the onward
march of Russian power in Europe is an extremely dif
ficult one. Once before in our lifetimes, we have seen
country after country fall before the armed strength of
an ideology.
Then it was Hitler and Fascism, now it is Stalin and
Communism. There was a time in Hitler’s mad march
when aid to threatened nations and firmness in dealing
with the aggressor would have stopped his insane ad
vance. Instead we had Munich. The course of peace to
day does not go to Munich—that is the way of death,
not life.
What, then is the answer?
The answer can only lie in a U. S. foreign policy that
SAD TAIL
1 21 I
will at once uphold the hand of the United Nations, veto
or no veto, and will support with financial and material
aid any nation in which there burns the light of freedom
and which is threatened by aggression. Only thus can a
world of freedom be built.
The Truman doctrine expanded into a foreign policy
that offers hope to the threatened and aid to the endan
gered and which will say to the Russians, thus far and
no farther, represents the only possible means of arrest
ing a tidal wave which by its own avowals threatens to
engulf the world.
Such a foreign policy must be backed by America’s
full might, all of her economic and military strength,
fully and completely marshaled.
Let those who draw back from such a complete and
irrevocable participation in world affairs pose for them
selves the alternative—war, death and disaster.
We Should Be Prepared
(Rocky Mountain News)
THE U. S. ARMY now has ohly 20 divisions, v#hile
Russia has 200, and the Soviet satellite states could put
100 more into the field, according to Lt. Gen. J. Lawton
Collins.
There are two reasons why the Soviets are able to
keep this huge force in uniform:
1. Their troops abroad are living off the land in the
areas they occupy, at small maintenance cost.
2. The manpower needs of Russian industry largely
are being supplied by the retention of Jap, German and
Austrian prisoners of war, employed at forced labor.
Our people would not permit either of these expedi
ents, even if it were not contrary to American principles
and traditions to maintain a large standing army.
But we do need a large civilian reserve force so that
we will have an effective army if it becomes necessary
to call men to the colors again. That is the American
way, and it is better than the Russian way.
There is little reason to believe that war is imminent.
But we cannot be sure. It might come without warning.
It is less likely to come at all if we are known to be pre
pared to meet any attack that could be organized against
us. So we should be prepared. And we aren’t.
Congress has approved army-navy unification and
should approve universal military training legislation
without delay, so that we will be prepared. Both are
essential to our minimum defense needs, and the longer
either is delayed the less able we will be to deal with a
major emergency.
THAT’S THAT
Now the United States is being
realistic. It has canceled one bil
lion dollars of cjebts owed this
country by Italy. These include
523 millions for supplies furnished
Italian civilians by the American
army as well as 305 million for
occupation costs. Writing this debt
By BRUCE GUSTIN
off the books won’t injure the
American taxpayers. There wasn’t
a ghost of a chance of collecting
any of it. And it will help Italy to
get back on its financial feet by
easing “burdensome clauses” of
the peace treaty.
Some of the Buchenwald atrbci
ties are going to be avenged.
Twenty-two of the Nazi beasts
who helped to make this concen
tration camp a hell hole in which
more than 50,000 prisoners per
ished have been sentenced to the
gallows. Five, including the wife
of the commandant, are to be im
prisoned for the rest of their lives.
Hanging is too good for such mon
sters, but it is as far as civilized
society can go in exacting ven
geance.
Former Prime Minister Church
ill’s description of the British La
bor government’s “crisis powers’
bill as a “blank check for totali
4arian government” is accurate.
Under this measure, the, govern
ment will have authority to tell
people where they must work apd
to take over the management of
private business which it decides
is operating inefficiently. The
“emergency” excuse for such dras
tic power does not change the
facts. Emergencies are the rock on
which democracies are wrecked.
Any people who depend upon gov
ernmental magic to solve all their
economic troubles are putting a to
talitarian noose around their
necks.
There will be widespread agree
ment with former President Hoov
er’s view that “one nation alone”
—Soviet Russia—is responsible for
the present unsettled state of the
world. As he sees it, we have only
two alternatives:
“First, co-operation with Russia
—which is improbable.
“Second, making peace among
the peoples outside Russia and her
satellites, together with subjuga
tion of her international poison
squads—which is possible.”
From all indications, this second
course is the one which will have
to be followed. Unless and until
Soviet policy is changed, co-oper
ation with Russia not only is im
probable but it is impossible.
Arthur Brisbane used to say
“repetition is reputation.’’ Any
statement, no matter how fantas
tic, if repeated often enough, will
be believed by a lot of people. The
Gallup poll of public opinion on
the Taft-Hartley act presents a
perfect example of that.
Constant reiteration by labor
leaders of the charge that the Taft
Hartley act is a “slave law’’ seems
to have convinced a lot of people.
Previous Gallup polls showed pub
lic sentiment ‘overwhelmingly in
favor of regulating labor unions.
But now it appears that of the peo
ple who have heard or read about
the new law, 39 per cent, disap
prove. only 33 per cent approve,
and 28 per cent have no opinion.
And of those who disapprove, most
cannot recall any specific provi
sion which they think is bad.
Certainly the British, seeking
relaxation of provisions of the
agreement under which they ob
tained a 3-and-three-fourths-billion
dollar loan from the United States,
should furnish an accounting of
the money already spent. After all
it is our money. If the British re
quire more financial assistance, we
have a right to know how they
have used the billions already ad
vanced to them, and to what ex
tent their socialization program
has used up their own financial
resources.
The decision in London to defer
nationalization of the steel indus
try plainly is calculated to meet
American objections that the
United States should not finance
the Labor government’s socializa
tion program. What the British do
in the way of social and economic
experimentation is their own busi
ness while they are doing it with
their own money. But how they
could afford to buy and national
ize the coal mines when they are