THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME, ALASKA
E. P. BOUCHER . Managing Editor
CLINTON GRAY . Production Manager
Telephone: Main 125 $1.50 PER MONTH
P.O. Box 618 $16.00 A YEAR
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943 at the
postoffice at Nome, Alaska, under Act of March 3. 1879
IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED- ^
I I
FOR A NEW AND BETTER POST OFFICE
The President of the United States has recom
mended a million and a half dollars for the replacement
of the present Second Division District Court and Post
Office here which has been condemned for many years
and has been a headache since its construction in 1937.
As soon as his recommendation has been approved
all civic bodies should compile their suggestions as to
the improvements on the present structure for the
engineers before plans are drawn. Onlv people living
here know the faults of the present building. Individ
uals having suggestions they wish to make can do so
through the columns of this paper. All communications
must be signed, as no anonymous letters can be used.
RCHOFWM
tr’OSlFffi (§0KU
FIVE-YEAS old MARY ROSLOSKI, OF
COLLIERVILLE. TERM., SYMBOLIZES THE
MAT/O.M'S POLIO VICTIMS
^ BY THE MARCH i
MARYS SISTER
CATHERINE, EIGHT -
TOOK PART IN THE
NATIONWIDE TEST
OF POLIO VACCINE
LAST SPRING --
LARGEST OF ITS
KIND IN MEDICAL
HISTORY/ MARCH
OF DIMES FUNDS
HAVE BROUGHT
.RESEARCH TO
THIS EPIC
.STAGE.
MOTHER BOTH HAVE BEEN
MARCH OF DIMES VOLUN
TEERS SINCE 1940-MORE
THAN 3,000,000
VOLUNTEERS ARE TAKING
PART IN THe 1955 APPEAL,
JANUARY i TO 31.
THE MARCH OF DIMES
HAS HfLPED MORI THAU
294000 POLIO VICTIMS
swce rr was founded.
IT'S A
BIGGER job__
1
-----
By Dr. Donald R. Moberg
Assoc. Prof, of Polil. Science
University of Alaska
PART II
SPECIFIC PROBLEMS IN EACH
SECTION OF CONSTITUTION
Preamble
A preamble is not a required
feature of a state constitution, but
is very commonly included. The
following is an example of a fre
quently used one:
“We, the people of Alaska,
with profound reverence for
Almighty God and with appre
ciation for the freedom which
we enjoy, do ordain and estab- j
lish this Constitution in order !
to provide a better government
for ourselves and for posterity.”
Bill of Rights
1. Why is it necessary for a
state constitution to include a bill
of rights if the federal constitu
tion guarantees our civil and
criminal rights? The answer is
the need of the people to protect
their rights from the state govern
ment itself.
2. How complete and compre
hensive should this Bill of Rights
be? Besides the rights accorded
its citizens, most state constitu-'
tions also include in this article j
various restrictions upon the state j
government; for example, no ex j
post facto laws are to be made, j
fair use of the right of eminent
domain, no bills of attainder.
3. Should economic and social I
rights be included or should we
profit from -Puerto Rico’s experi- j
ence and leave them out, since the
federal government refused to ac-!
cept those provisions in Puerto j
Rico’s recent constitution?
Suffrage and Elections
1. What are to be the voting
qualifications? At what age—18,
19, 20, or the usual 21? What res
idence requirements at both state
and local levels?
2. How are elections to be con
ducted?
3. Is registration to be required?*
4. Here is the most difficult and
controversial problem—How are
electoral districts to be drawn?
Should we keep the present four
divisional system or should we
make a break to overcome some
of the long-standing jealousies
and rivalries?
5. Should initiative, referendum
and recall be included as more di
rect control by the people over
the three government branches?
Legislative Branch
1. Are legislators to be chosen
by simple majority or should some
form of proportional representa
tion be devised?
2. Should the legislature be uni
cameral or bicameral?
3. What of the problems as to
the structure, organization and
powers of the legislative branch?
• Refer here to the above-noted
general considerations in Part I.)
4. Should provision be made in
the constitution for a legislative
council and a legislative reference
bureau?
Executive Branch
1. Which branch should be more
powerful—legislative or execu
tive?
2. What departments or offices
should the constitution create?
How many of these should be
electiv.e appointed by the execu
tive or by the legislature?
3. What should be the terms
and qualifications of the various
executive officers?
4. What should be the duties
and powers of the governor? What
kind of veto power should he
have over the legislature—pocket
and/or item veto?
5. Duties and powers of other
executive officers?
6. Should the constitution in
clude budgetary powers and du
ties of governor?
7. Should maximum or mini
mum salaries be stated in the
constitution or should this be left
up to the legislative branch to
decide upon later?
Judicial Branch
1. Method of selection of judges
—by non-partisan or partisan
election, by appointment by the
governor or by the legislature, or
by a judicial council?
2. Tenure, term of office, salary,
qualifications of court officials?
3. Besides the traditional state
court system should the constitu
tion contain provision for a judi
cial council, such as the Model
State Constitution recommends?
4. Jurisdiction of each court in
the state system?
Revenue, Taxation
Public Indebtedness, Corporations
1. Since Alaska must assume
much more financial responsibil
ity upon statehood, the all-impor
tant question is where is the mon
ey to come from? As the major
share of a state’s income is de
rived from taxation, what are to
be the types of taxes allowed—
income, sales, property, and/or
any others? Also, should there be
a constitutional limit as to the
amount or percentage of property
or income that can be taxed?
2. Should there be a general or
specific provision concerning rev
enue and taxation?
3. Should the amount of public
indebtedness be limited in the
constitution or left up to the leg
islature?
4. What provision should be
made as to the charters given to
corporations (other than munici
pal)?
Stale Educational System
1. Should the educational sys
tem (from nursery schools to high
er institutions) have specific pro
visions in the constitution or
"should the deails be left to the
creation of the legislature?
2. Should provision be included
concerning the source of revenue
to maintain the education system
to insure that said system will be
stable and adequate to the needs
ol‘ the growing state?
3. Just what provisions should
be included as to the structure
and organization of the public
school system?
4. Should the present dual sys
tem of schools—federal and terri
torial—be abolished at once, or
slowly integrated as present plans j
envisage?
Other Stale Institutions
All federal statehood bills in
clude some land settlement to
help establish and maintain such
state institutions as penitentiar
ies, insane asylums, deaf, dumb,
and blind, Pioneers’ Home, re
formatory and correctional homes.
The chief problem here is to de
cide how many of these types of
institutions the new state wishes
to set up and which ones can be
properly supported financially.
Should other types be included,
such as orphanages, crippled chil
dren’s homes, public health insti
tutions, etc.?
Local Government Units
1. How should Alaska be sub
divided to provide for local gov
ernment? Should provision be
made for the traditional county
form or should some other form,
such as an all-purpose district, be
adopted in view of Alaska’s vast
area and sparse population?
2. What types or classes of cit
ies, towns, and villages should be
permitted?
3. What kinds of charters should
be given to them—home rule
charters or specific types?
4. Should powers and functions
Summerfield Asks
Congress to Raise
Postal Rates & Pay
Would Raise Letter
Rate to 4 Cents.
Air Mail to 7
WASHINGTON, (if)—Postmaster
General Summerfield has asked
Congress to raise the price of
mailing a letter from 3 to 4 cents
“to meet increased costs; to pro
vide facilities for growing mail
volume; to improve service.”
For the same reasons, Summer
field Monday called for a boost in
domestic air mail and second and
third class mail rates.
In all, the rate increases would
yield more than 332 million dol
lars a year. Of this, the 1-cent
increase in the cost of a letter
stamp would account for 237 bil
lions.
Summerfield coupled his bid
for higher rates with a proposal
to raise the pay of about 500,000
letter carriers, clerks and other
postal workers by 5 percent. At
the same time, he suggested a
rejiggering of salary schedules
which Summerfield said now re
sult in “injustices” and prevent
the Post Office Department “from
paying employes what they are
worth.”
The postmaster general esti
mated the bill for these salary in
creases and adjustments would
come to 129 million dollars a year.
Counting fringe benefits, this
would amount to at least 170 mil
lions a year, the Post Office De
partment said.
Summerfield’s proposals also
call for these increases in other
classes of mail rates:
Domestic air mail—an increase
from 6 to 7 cents on the first
ounce to bring in another 14 mil
lions a year.
Second class (mostly newspa
pers and magazines)—an increase
of 15 percent a year for two suc
cessive years for an estimated
yield of another 8 Vi million dol
lars annually.
Third class (advertising matter,
circulars and small merchandise
packages)—an increase of about
28 percent for an estimated gain
of about 73 million dollars a year.
of local government areas be de
fined in the constitution or left up
to the legislature?
Stale Capital
1. Where is it to be located? In
Juneau to save the expense of
moving, or to some more central
and accessible location such as
Palmer, Anchorage, Seward or
elsewhere?
2. Who is to decide the location
—the entire electorate, the legis
lature, or the constitutional con
vention delegates?
Provisions for
Constitutional Amendment
1. Should the amendment proc
ess be easy or difficult?
2. Which of the three common
methods should be included, or
should all three be allowed?
Compact with the United Stales
Schedule of transfer to the new
state government.
The federal statehood bill in
cludes in it the necessary require
ments to be placed on the new
state before the transfer from
territory to state can be accom
plished. These requirements are
generally always included in the
state constitution. ,
Miscellaneous Provisions
These usually include use of
tidelands, harbor and water rights
and state boundaries, plus other
minor matters like the state seal,
state militia. In view of Alaska’s •
long sea coast, tremendous rivers
and innumerable harbors, certain
ly some provision affecting these
would be desirable in the* s:ate
constitution.
NEXT—Guides to thp answers
to these questions.