THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE
w "all tue news all the time* < _ ^
VOL. LXXVL, NO. 11,746
JUNEAU, ALASKA, THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 1951
MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
PRICE TEN CENTS
Marines Bayonet Way Into Key Red Delenses
CONCENTRATION
SALMON CANNING
TO BE PROPOSED
A concwV’ation plan for salmon
canning and fishing operations in
Alaska for the 1951 season proposed
by the Defense Fisheries Adminis
tration will be informally discussed
at a meeting of interested agencies,
called by the DFA to open March 12
in Seattle, according to advices re
ceived by the Fish and Wildlife
Service headquarters in Juneau
from its Washington, D. C. office.
The meeting is to be conducted by
Defense Fisheries Administration
deputy Administrator Maurice Rat
tray, with Don Chaney, chief coun
sel for the FWS and Seton Thomp
son, chief of the Branch of Alaska
Fisheries for the FWS.
Representatives of packers, labor
and fishermen are invited to attend
the meetings. A regional official
from the local FWS office will be
pre-ent at the meetinsg in an ad
visory capacity to the Defense
Fisheries Administration.
Purpose
Purpose of the proposed concen
tration plan, FWS officials here said
today, is aimed at the conservation
» of manpower and materials, along a
plan similar to that utilized in
World War II and carried out in
an over-all program for Alaska. It
was found to be an economical ar
rangement in the conservation of
industry operations program dur
ing that period.
The concentration plan proposed
at this time would affect only three
Alaska areas: Bristol Bay, Cook In
let and the Alaska Peninsula.
It is understood the plans to be
discussed would apply also to the
amount of fishing gear to be used
as well as to plant operations, to
ward the effort for conservation of
materials.
General Invitation
The local FWS office has advised
its agents, Robert Mahaffey in
Bristol Bay, Holger Larsen in Anch
orage and E. C. Hinsdale in Seattle
to contact fishermen, unions and
operators in the areas involved in
the concentration plan to extend an
Invitation to them to send repre
sentatives to the Seattle meetings,
in accordance with the suggestion
from the Washington, D. C. FWS of
fice.
The Defense Fisheries Adminis
tration has set the dates for the
Seattle meetings for March 12 for
the Bristol Bay area operations,
March 13, for Cook Inlet and March
14 for the north and south districts
on the Alaska Peninsula.
STOCK QUOTATIONS
NEW YORK, March 1 — Closing
quotation of Alaska Juneau mine
stock today is 3%, American Can
108, American Tel. and Tel. 157%,
Anaconda 43, tlouglas Aircraft 104,
General Electric 56, General Motors
50*4, Goodyear 77%, Kennecott
7474, Libby, McNeil and Libby 9%,
Northern Pacific 35 74, Standard Oil
of California 4674, Twentieth Cen
tury Fox 23%, U. S. Steel 44%,
Pound $2.8074, Canadian Exchange
95.56’i.
Sales today were 1,610,000 shares.
Averages today were as follows:
Industrials 252.80, rails 85.77, utili
ties 43.63.
The Washington
Merry - Go - Round
By DREW PEARSON
(Copyright, 1951. oy Bell Syndicate. Inc.,
Washington. — Alongside the
iron curtain, Adrianople, Turkey.—
Winston Churchill’s well-coined
phrase ‘the iron curtain" has now
become so universal that some peo
ple really believe the Soviet border
is encased in iron. Actually, however,
the curtain is made of barbed wire—
and rusty barbed wire at that.
This writer visited the southern
most segment of the iron curtain
today at a spot where Democratic ,
Turkey and Communist Bulgaria
meet. This border is the start of a I
long tangled barricade zigzagging
north past Hungary, Austria, Czech
oslovakia, Germany and Poland. And |
though the fields of winter barley j
are just as green on both sides of
this barbed-wire barricade, it might \
just as well have beer, made of iron ]
as far as free exchange of human I
intercourse is concerned.
I drove up to the curtain in a
jeep with Captain Feths Seckin and
Lieutenant Ali Aksoz of the Turkish i
(Continued on Page Four)
It's Still Washday
CpI. Jay Ritter of Hempstead, L. I„ N. Y„ (left) and CpL Norman
Rosenthal of Beacon, N. Y„ stand ankle-deep in mud as they wring
I out their washing on the Western Korean front. MR Wirephoto.
I ____»_
WAGE-HOUR
BILL BRINGS
DIFFERENCES
By JIM HUTCHESON
Pros and cons developed some
sharply conflicting opinions at yes
terday afternoon’s Senate hearing
on the House-approved wage-hour
bill.
Three labor union representatives
and Labor Commissioner Henry
Benson testified for the bill ts one
that would bring benefits to a large
group of workers ir. the Territory.
Attorney Norman ’..airfield labeled
it as a breeder of confusion that
would •'bring a big business for the
lawyers.”
The section in controversy calls
for time and a half pay after 40
hours of work. There is no dispute
over tire SI arr hour minimum wage
section, which already has been ap
proved by the Senate in a separate
bill.
The sharpest clash of opinions
came in the testimony of Lottie
Edelman of Anchorage, agent foi
the Alaska Fishermen’s Union of
Cook Inlet, and Attorney Norman
Banfleld.
Mrs. Edelman contended court de
cisions held that fishermen — the
men who actually man the lines
and nets — are "independent con
tractors” and therefore would be
exempt from the proposed law.
In response to a question after
he was called to the stand by Sen.
Howard Lyng, Banfield said:
“Her statement is true to a cer
tain extent — but not very far.”
He said that in Alaska’s fishing
industry there were “many more
employes than independent oper
ators” under the court interpreta
tions.
He predicted that if the bill were
enacted into law “a lot of people
who think they would be covered
would find they wouldn’t be.”
He contended that Congress took
over the field of the fisheries in
dustry on interstate commerce
grounds, and therefore the Terri
tory could not impose regulations
where Congress had seen fit to give
exemptions.
Mrs. Edelman contended the bill,
if enacted into law, would benefit
about 5,000 workers in Alaska.
She protested that most of the
questioning by senators, and the
testimony in response, was aimed
at emphasis on what detriment the
law might be — to mining, to fish
ing, to hospitals, to commission men.
She declared it was more proper
to talk about hew it would be a
benefit to workers. |
She said that some 1,400 cannery
workers of the Kuskokwim-Kotze
bue region would benefit, as one
specific example.
Ervin Hill, president of the Alas- 1
(Continued on Page Two)
i
SOLONS OK
ORGANIZING
PROPOSALS
Joint Committee to Draft
Legislation Revamping
Financial Managamenf
A detailed plan, fully charted, for
reorganization of the Territory’s
financial administration was pre
sented to the Legislature during a
three-hour joint session this morn
ing.
The plan, presented by H. Olyde
Reeves, Commissioner of Revenue
for the State of Kentucky, was
heard also by a full gallery which
inciuded the heads of many Terri
torial departments, and by Gover
nor Gruening.
Reeves was sent to Alaska by the
Council of State Governments in
response to requests by Senate
President Engebreth and Governor
Gruening for a legislative advisor.
Opening his statement with a pat
on the back for his official audience,
Reeves said his observation is that
the Alaska Legislature is more or
derly and more expeditious than
most state legislatures.
He outlined briefly the matters to
be considered: Organization for fi
nancial management and the set
ting up of machinery for develop
ing plans to solve other adminis
trative problems.
Finance Department
The first problem. Reeves sug
gested, could be taken care of by a
central Department of Finance
headed by a Commissioner of Fi
nance, a sort of general manager
for all of the Territory’s financial
affairs.
Under this department he would
place, budgeting, pre-auditing, ac
counting, centralized purchasing,
property control and treasury man
agement, with post-auditing as a
closely related division.
The present functions of the
Board of Budget, Reeves pointed
out, are inadequate and unsatis
factory to the members of the board
itself. He proposed that the scope be
enlarged to include planning and
submission of plans for the Legis
lature.
Efficient Auditing
Pre-auditing, or checking of
vouchers before payment is made,
is very efficiently done at the pres
ent time for some departments,
Reeves said, but some funds are not
now subject to this control.
The accounting division needs to
be expanded, he said, to include an
accounting of obligations as well
as of expenditures in order to give
a true picture of the Territory’s fi
nancial condition.
Central purchasing, Reeves sug
iContinued on Page Two)
EXP. RATING
REPEAL BILL
IS ON TABU
The Scavfc*V. \s bill to repeal ex
perience rating credits provisions
of the Alaska Employment Security
Law was laid on the table In the
House yesterday afternoon by a 13
11 vote, and appears likely to stay
there for the rest of the session. 1
The motion to table the bill wa4
made by Rep. Alden Wilbur whan
the measure came up on the cal
endar for third reading. The motion,
under House rules, is undebatable.
Ten Republicans and three Demo
crats favored tabling the bill, the
vote being as follows:
To table the bill: Barnes, Gas
ser, Franklin, Hendrickson, John-j
son, Laws, Locken, MacKinnon,
Madsen, Metcalfe, Miscovich, Step
ovich, Wilbur.
Against tabling the bill: Carlson,
Conright, Degnan, Gundersen, Kay,
Hope, McCutcheon, Pollard, Scave
nius, Wells, Egan.
Rep. Conright’s memorial seek
ing permission of Congress for the
Territory to bond itself for $9,000,
000 for school construction and re
pair, passed the House by a 20-4
vote after amendment.
ine aineiiuiiieiii/ piuviuca umv
the Legislature is not to use the
bonding authorization, if it is grant
ed, unless 60 per cent of the voters
at a referendum election favor the
I proposition.
Voting against passage of the
memorial were Reps. Locken, Mad
sen, Miscovich and Stepovlch.
I The House adjourned early yes
| terday afternoon to allow the Coip
i mittee on Education and the Com
mittee on Ways and Means to hold
a hearing on the budget for the
University of Alaska,
Abolish ANS
A joint memorial by Reps. Kay
i and Johnson calls upon the Presi
I dent, Congress and the Secretary of
the Interior to abolish the Alaska
Native Service, a branch of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Reasons cited in the memorial
for this request are:
“The Alaska Native Service has
built up a staff of Federal em
ployes running into the hundreds
whose salaries and expenses con
stitute a heavy drain upon the Fed
eral treasury, including the portion
derived from Alaska taxpayers;
“The condition of the Native resi
dents of Alaska has despite these
expenditures shown no material im
provement but on the contrary has
steadily declined;
| “The policies and activities of the
ANS appear to be directed more to
ward the growth and perpetuation
of a Federal bureaucracy than the
improvement of the condition ol
Alaska’s Native people.”
Seeks I unds
The memorial asks that funds in
sums consistent with what has here
tofore been spent to maintain the
ANS be turned over to the Territory
for use in improving the condition
of Alaska’s Native residents and
placing them on a plane of absolute
and actual equality with the rest
of the citizens of Alaska.
Rep. Amelia Gundersen introduc
ed a bill to amend the Alaska Prop
erty Tax Act by fixing the assessed
valuation of unpatented mining
claims at $25 an acre instead of $500
per claim and reducing the tonnage
tax on boats from $4 to $2.
A bill by Rep. W. W. Laws would
change the date of Alaska’s Gen
eral Election to the first Tuesday
after the first Monday of November.
This was the date of General Elec
| tions in Alaska from 1912 to 1932.
It was changed to the second Tues
' day of September, which was elec
tion day from 1934 through 1944.
The 1945 Legislature set the present
date, the second Tuesday of October.,
Another bill by Rep. Laws pro
vides a fee of $1 for filing certifi
cates of birth or death except when
filed by a doctor or nurse in the
regular course of duty.
MRS. SMITH RETURNS
FROM TRIP TO HAWAII
Mrs. Ann Smith of the Territorial
Department of Taxation office staff,
has returned to Juneau aft or a
two months’ vacation visit in the
Hawaiian Islands. Her second visit
to the Islands, Mrs. Smith enjoyed
a rest in the sunshine, sightseeing
and a visit with her sister and
her family, who live there.
Charles P. Badger of Anchorage
is stopping at ths Baranof Hotel.
It Was an Anti-Tank Gun
A U. S. Marine Corps tank on the Central Korean front pauses near what is left of a Chinese Communist
anti-tank gun which was used in an attempt to stop the advancing UN forces. It was disclosed (Feb. 27)
that U. S. Marines are back in action in Korea. WiWirephoto.
RAILROADS,
UNIONS IN
AGREEMENT
But Labor Rebels at De
fense Mobilization Pro
gram Claiming Exclusion
By Associated Press
A big labor settlement was an
nounced by the White House today
—between the railroads and 15 non
operating unions — but labor unrest
over the mobilization program still
was a thorny problem.
The pay settlement for a million
railway workers came after four
months’ negotiations. It granted a
wage boost of 12'- cents an hour
retroactive to Feb. 1. In addition,
the non-operating workers will get
a cost of living adjustment which
should give them four or five cents
more an hour April 1.
Labor Bucking
[ But where the Defense Mobiliza
[ tion program was concerned, labor
was bucking like a wild stallion.
| The nation’s top labor chiefs flatly
| refused to participate in the pro
gram — and instructed union of
ficers to “resign immediately" from
posts with defense agencies.
The union leaders were out for
the scalp of Charles E. Wilson, di
rector of the Office of Defense Mo
bilization. They claimed he was
running the program for big busi
ness and excluding labor.
Truman aus ugni
But President Truman, at his
news conference this morning, said
Wilson will remain as mobilization
director despite labor’s walkout.
The President indicated he felt no
sense of crisis.
The decision to boycott the de
fense program was made last night
by the United Labor Policy Com
mittee and was endorsed by some
of labor’s biggest names, including
AFL President William Green and
CIO President Philip Murray.
“Legalized Robbery”
! The committee protested against
! “legalized robbery" in price control,
“unjust” wage ceilings, and “big
business” domination of the defense
effort.
Although labor’s break from the
mobilization agencies carried the
Implication of widespread industrial
unrest. President Truman told
newsmen he saw nothing in the cur
rent situation to prevent his flying
to Key West, Fla., tomorrow for a
vacation. •
STEAMER MOVEMENTS
Princess Norah from Vancouver
scheduled to arrive Saturday after
noon or evening.
Denali scheduled to sail from
Seattle 4 p.m. Friday.
Baranof from westward scheduled
to arrive Sunday morning south
bound.
THREW GOD KISS
Benna Kay Kime (above), aged
six, of Tulsa, Okla., wiggled her
toes recently /for the first time
since polio struck her four years
ago. She kissed her mother, Mrs.
Carl Kime, and said: “I’ve asked
God to make me walk again. I’ve
never said it out loud before. But
now I can. I guess I had better
throw Him a kiss, too.” Her par
ents say the slight, faint move
ment gives them hope she will
recover, (ff) Wirephoto.
WORKS STARTS NEXT
WEEK ON FWS VESSEL
HEADQUARTERS HERE
Establishing of offices and plans
for operations of the Pish and
Wildlife Service vessel fieet head
quarters at the Juneau subport will
be put in effect next week with
the arrival of Earl Bright. Super
visor of Vessels, it was disclosed
at the local FWS office today.
Bright is expected here over the
weekend from Seattle.
Offices for Bright and his staff
will be located on the second floor
at the subport, over the shops.
| According to present plans Bright
' will start work immediately on the
I conversion of three of the 38-foot
! Coast Guard picket boats, recently
acquired by the FWS for use as
fishery patrol vessels.
Work is also to be started on the
construction of a number of finger
floats at the subport dock to ac
commodate the Service vessels.
Overhaul of vessels will be carried
on in the shops at the subport.
RAINBOW GIRLS MEET
A regular business meeting of the
Rainbow Girls will be held Satur
1 day, March 3, at 2 p. m. in the
Scottish Rite Temple.
HUNCHGIVEN
TO CONGRESS
BY TRUMAN
Can Debate on Foreign
Policy But It Does Not
Help Foreign Relations
WASHINGTON, March 1 -lAV
President Truman said today Con
gress can debate the troops-to-Eu
rope issue and anything else it
wants to, but that does not mean
it helps relations with the rest of
the world.
He made the remark ”1 response
to news conference questions deal
ing with a report on presidential
and congressional war powers. The
report was prepared at the request
i of Senate committees which have
I been holding hearings on the ad
ministration plan to send more
troops abroad to bolster Western
Europe's defenses.
Mrs. Elisabeth May Craig, a re
porter for the Portland, Me., Press
Herald, quoted the report as say
ing "the circumstances of the pres
ent crisis make any aeoate over
prerogatives and power essentially
sterile if not dangerous to the suc
cess of our foreign policy.”
Truman said he did not feel In
any way that Congress should not
debate foreign policy. He went on
to say that Congress could talk
about anything it wanted to, but
this doesn’t mean the debates help
foreign relations.
Much of today's news conference
was devoted to organized labor’s
withdrawal from participation in
the defense mobilization program
in protest against the way it is be
ing handled by Director Charles
E. Wilson.
The President declined comment
on most of the questions, but said
he had full confidence in Wilson
and that he considered the action
of the United Labor Policy Commit
tee as just a disagreement.
The President refused to comment
on the current Senate investiga
tion of crime, the Reconstruction
Finance Corporation’s lending oper
ations, or last year's senatorial elec
tion in Maryland.
TERRITORIAL INCOME
TAX DUE MARCH 15
It’s nearing that time again!
The deadline for payment of Ter
ritorial income tax on March 15.
All persons who derive their in
come from sources both* within
and without the Territory are sub
ject to the ten per cent tax on
federal income reported.
Blanks and information can be
obtained from the Department of
Taxation. Simpson Building or Box
2751, Juneau.
MARINES
CAPTURE
HEIGHTS
Four American Jets Tangle
with 12 Russ Migs in
Aerial Dogfight
By Associated Press
U. S. Marines bayoneted their
way today to two prominent heights
north ot Hoengsong, key to the
Chinese Communist defense line
of the Korean Central front. In
the east, the U. S. Seventh Division
captured Amidong, 30 miles south
of Parallel 38.
Four American jets tangled with
12 Russian-built migs over Sinuiju,
a few miles from Red China’s Man
churin air base. Three of the enemy
jets were hit and damaged. There
were no losses reported for the
Americans in the first aerial dog
fight for several days.
Allies Push Over
Whe whole Allied line, supported
by tanks, artillery and warplanes
was pushing forward from east to
west along a 60-mile front, aimed at
straightening the line In front of a
dangerously increasing Red buildup.
UN commanders said, however, that
it was not a general offensive but
was limited in scope.
AP Correspondent Tom Brad
shaw, in an analysis of the situation,
said the UN forces are holding a
gigantic Chinese firecracker which
may be burst into an all-out Red
offensive within the next three
weeks.
Enemy Has Planes
He said the enemy has 3.000
planes it could throw into such a
massive drive — planes they have
been reluctant to use thus far. If
they should use the planes, Brad
shaw said, the UN troops would be
sitting ducks.
Absence of enemy air attacks so
far has made Allied front-line forces
contemptuous of the possible danger
and can be seen from the air, braz
'enly spread out in open and vulner
able places.
The Marine assault on two crests
of Cloverleaf Hill was the spearhead
of a Central front march toward
the heart of a 40,000-man Red Chi
nese force dug in north of Hoeng
song.
The thrusts into Amidong was
the most northerly point to which
the Eighth Army has moved since
its current offensive began Feb. 21.
OVE MILLION IN
GENERAL FUND OF
TREASURY FEB. 28
The balance in the Territorial
Treasury's general fund was $1,
170,989.81 on the last day of Febr
uary, according to figures released
today by Treasurer Henry Roden.
The fund reached over the million
dollar mark with a deposit February
28 of $407,659.11 received from the
j Territorial Department of Taxation.
I The total balance in the treasury
on February 28 was $4,753,932.66.
Outstanding warrants totaling $986.
978.11 reduced it to $3,766,954.55,
and less earmarked funds amount
ing to $3,003,623.85 left $763,330.10.
The deposit from the Tax Depart
ment of $407,659.11 brought the re
maining total up to $1,170,989.81.
Elgin E. Gregory of Seattle is
registered at the Baranof Hotel.
• • .7777 • . • •
• # WEATHER REPORT •
• Temperature' for 24-Hour Period •
• ending 6:20 o’clock this morning •
• In Juneau — Maximum •
• 33; minimum, 24.
• At Airport — Maximum, •
• 33; minimum, 19. •
• •
• FORECAST •
• •
• Mostly cloudy with inter- •
• mittent light snow tonight •
• and Friday. Lowest temper- •
• ature tonight near 28 deg. •
• and highest Friday about 34. •
• PRECIPITATION •
• (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 a m. todar •
• •
• City of Juneau — .8 inches;
• Since July 1 — 46.91 inches; •
• At Airport — .07 inches; •
j • Since July 1 — 32.57 inches. •
j.. • • •