™s NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS_ i
VOL. LXII No. 94 NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 1960Per Copy 15<
Last Guns Fired Today In Battle
Over Gapitol Move Initiative No. 1
By WARD T. SIMS
JUNEAU, UP) — The final shots
of an angry campaign were being
fired today as Alaskan prepared
to vote on an initiative to move
their state capitol from Juneau,
its home since 1906.
Apparently backing the move
to the hilt as the state's primary
election neared tomorrow was the
vote-heavy Anchorage , area
where the capitol move proposal
was born and nurtured.
Anchorage and the populous
South Central voting area cast
23,038 of the 50,343 votes counted
during the 1958 general election.
Southeastern Alaska was ex
pected to vote almost solidly in
favor of keeping the capitol here.
There were 12,445 votes in the
area two years ago.
The central area, which in
cludes Fairbanks, and the sparse
ly-populated Northwestern area,
cast 14,860 votes between them in
1958. These two areas hold the
key.
The initiative specifies that the
capitol should be moved to the
Cook Inlct-railbelt area by Jan.
1, 1963. A committee of five to
be elected by the Governor will
select the actual location, if the
initiative passes.
Cook Inlet is an arm of the
Gulf of Alaska. It points north
easterly toward the heart of
Alaska. The railbelt is generally
considered to be that line running
between Seward and Fairbanks, a
distance of some 375 miles.
The argument for moving the
capitol was ranged over many
things, that it is too inaccessible
— it can be reached by plane
only on a year-round basis —
that it is too far from the heavy
populated Anchorage - Fairbanks
areas and that there is no room
for expansion.
These arguments are denied an
grily by the Juseau faction, which
bases its main argument on what
it claims will be the excessive
costs of moving the capitol of a
state having financial problems.
State Employes Split
On Moving Capitol
ANCHORAGE, Iff) — Returns
from a poll on the capitol move
that were distributed among state
employes continued to show a
wide regional split today.
The poll asked state employes
whether they believe moving the
capitol to Western Alaska, as pro
posed by Initiative No. 1, would
improve the efficiency of state
government. It did not ask them
whether they favored the move.
Here are the total returns from
Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau:
Anchorage: Believe moving the
capitol would improve efficiency,
299; Don’t think it would, 55; No
opinion, 3.
Fairbanks: Think it would help,
11; Don’t think it would, 8; No
opinion, 1.
Juneau: Think it would' help,
17; Don’t think it would, 237.
» ' i ~ i'
AT NOMERAMA THEATER Admission: Children $1 — Adults $2
Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Monday Tickets on sale at Little Box Office
August 12, 13. 14, and 15 On Corner 11:30-2:30 and 4:30-to8:30
One Show Each Night at 7:30 p.m. Matinee Sunday Afternoon at 1:30
No one has come up with an ac- ]
tual estimate of the cost, at least
not an estimate unfettered by
emotion.
The pro-Juneau faction also
claims the whole idea of moving '
the capitol by initiative is ills- I
gal, because Juneau is designated
by the State Constitution as Alas
ka’s capitol.
All but overlooked in the long,
costly capitol campaign were the
reelection bids of Sen. E. L.
Bartlett, who is unopposed for
- his party’s nomination, and Rep.
Ralph Rivers, who faces Demo
cratic opposition from David N.
Boyer, a Kenai hotelman.
William G. Haugaard, a Sitka
lawyer; R. L. Rettig, an Anchor
age accountant, and Jack Ryan,
a Fairbanks newspaperman, are
seeking the GOP nomination for
the House. Lawrence Brayton, a
Fairbanks surveyor, and Lee Mc
Kniley, a Palmer denist, seek
the GOP Senatorial nomination.
The polls open at 8 a.m. and
close at 8 p.m. local time. With
Alaska spanning four time zone, j
this means the first poll will open
at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time,
and the last poll won’t close until
2 a.m., Wednesday,PST.
—
Castro Seizes Most
U.S. Cuba Holdings
By RICHARD VALERIANI
HAVANA, UP) — Armed Cuban
militiamen were in full control of
most of the American property in
Cuba today after itr nationali
zation by Fidel Castro’s regime.
The r evolutionary govern
ment’s new retaliation against
the United States came only a
few hours before the island’s Ro
man Catholic hierarchy warned
against “the increasing advance
of Communism in our counry.”
It was the church’s first offi
cial criticism of the steadily in
creasing influence of the Commu
nist bloc on the Castro regime.
Prime Minister Castro and his
ministers made plain that they
stood firmly with the Soviet
Union as an economic and mili
tary ally, regardless of what
other Latin American govern
ments might think.
Castro got out of a sick bed
dramatically to announce the
seizure of $770 million worth of
American-owned property before
a cheering crowd of 50,000.
Within hours armed militia
men began moving into the plants
that included the Cuban Electric
Co., the 300-million-dollar sub
sidiary of the American and For
eign Powef Co. of New York and
the largest single investment in
the island.
Other major American busi
nesses nationalized were the Cu
ban Telephone Co., the Standard
Oil New Jersey refinery, Texaco
refinery, Sinclair Oil Co. opera
tions in Cuba, and 36 American
We Face Peace or
War Crisis, Warns
U.N. Secty.-Gen.
UNITED NATIONS, N. Y., UR
— U. N. Secretary-General Dag
Hammarskjold, warning that the
world faces the issue of peace or
war, called today for immediate
and unconditional withdrawal of
Belgian forces from the Congo,
induing secessionist Katanga
Province.
He delivered the warning in a
hard-hitting speech at the open
ing of an urgent meeting of the
11-nation U. N. Security Council
on the Congo crisis.
He called on the council to
spell out in a resolution that the
withdrawal should apply to Ka
tanga. “I do not hesitate to say
that the speediest possible — I
would even say immediate —
achievement of such a solution of
the Congo problem is a question
of peace or war, and when saying
peace or war I do not limit my
perspective to the Congo,” he
said.
“A delay now, hesitation now,
efforts to safeguard national or
group interests now in a way that
would hamper the U. N. effort,
would risk values immeasurably
greater than any of those which
such action may be intended to
protect.
Hammarskjold’s personal report
to the council was delivered as
various proposals were under con
sideration aimed at getting a U. N.
force into Katanga Province.
Russians Urge U.N.
Get Tough in Congo
UNITED NATIONS, tfl — The
Soviet Union called on the Secur
ity Council tonight to empower
U.N. forces in the Congo to shoot
their way into Katanga province.
Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister
Kuznetsov introduced a resolu
tion in the 11 - nation council
which would give Secretary Gen
eral Dag Hammarskjold power to
take any measures necessary to
compel a Belgian troop with
drawal.
owned sugar mills worth about
$200 million.
Some of these plants had been
under Cuban government con
trol for some time but had not
been formally expropriated.
Castro said that the seizures
were in retaliation for “economic
aggression” by the United States
— and made plain he meant Pres
ident Eisenhower’s slash in U. S.
imports of Cuban sugar.
However, the Seizure decree
did not extend to American banks
and other smaller American busi
ness enterprises worth about 300
million in all. But Castro indi
cated these may be taken over,
declaring “We can still take a
few things more away from them
(the Americans).”
The expropriated property will
be paid for with 50-year bonds at
2 per cent interest, the decree
says, but there wa doubt whether
any payments will ever be made.
Eisenhower Oull ines Spending Plan;
Says U.S. Power Is Second to None
WASHINGTON, UP) — Presi
dent Eisenhower laid before Con
gres today a bulky program rang
ing from foreign aid to medical :
help for the aged but warned
against “ reckless spending
schemes.”
“This truth we must take to
heart: In good times, we must at
the very' least pay our way,” he
said in a special message sent to
the Senate as it resumed its elec
tion-year session. The message
also will be waiting for the House
when it reconvenes a week hence.
In the face of Democratic, and
some Republican, criticism that
the nation’s defenses are growing
relatively weaker in the face of
Communist threats, the President
insisted U. S. military power “is
second to none and will be kept
that way.”
Saying he was taking measures
to . improve the armed forces’
readiness, he said these may ne
cessitate “a modest increase” in
military personnel and money. If
funds are needed, he said, we will
ask for them.
But national security demands
Congressional action too, Eisen
how said, and called for appro
priation of the full amount auth
Mysterious Cargoes Going
Into Cuba from Reds,
Says U. S. News
WASHINGTON, (jn—The maga
zine U.S. News & World Report
said today Soviet ships have been
delivering myserious cargoes to
Havana since June 28.
In a copyright article, it added
that since June 18 certain areas
of the interior, such as the large
Zapata Swamp on the south coast,
have been put off limits.
The number of identified So
viet technicians who have reached
Cuba through normal channels
has doubled in the past six weeks,
the article added, and at least 200
technicians and advisers known to
be from the Soviet bloc are now
in Cuba.
Crates delivered by the ships,
the article said, are large enough
to hold parts for airplanes or
rockets and “get very special
care.”
“Cuban longshoremen are not
allowed to handle them. They are
unloaded by the Russian crews.”
BLM REOPENS NOME OFFICE
Richard Quintus, Operations
Supervisor of the Fairbanks Of
fice of the Bureau of Land Man
agement, who was here last week
in the interest of re-establishing
the land office here, has announ
ced that Harry Saindon, from the
Anchorage Operations Office has
been selected to open the office
here. It was also understood that
if the General Services Adminis
tration grants the request for
space in the Federal Building, the
office should open here on the
15th of this month.
orized for foreign aid. He noted
the appropriation bill for the mu
tual security program, as it now
stands, is half a billion dollars
under this.
“The nation’s security and our
inescapable interest in a stable
world demand that these amounts
be restored,” Eisenhower said.
Eisenhower advised Congress
that he had already taken some
actions to strengthen this coun
try’s military posture, and that
the Defense Department would
carry them out “with its available
resources insofar as possible.”
White House Press Secretary
James Hagerty said the Presi
dent’s wording meant that some
funds impounded by Eisenhower
were being unfrozen, and that
Congress would be asked for more
money if needed.
The President also told the le
gislators he wants:
1. A 100-million-dollar increase
in flexible foreign aid funds “to
keep America poised for sudden
developments such as those in the
Congo where a U. S. airlift and
other effort were needed sudden
ly and critically.”
2. A 600-million-dollar author
ization by Congress for a pro
gram of aid to Latin America.
3. Advance approval for a food
for-the-hungry proposal which he
said will be presented to the
United Nations General Assembly
in September.
Eisenhower said this will be a
program, “whereby we and other
fortunate nations can, together,
make greater use of our combined
agricultural abundance to help
feed the hungry of the world.”
On the domestic side, Eisen
hower listed upward of a score
of actions that he has said Con
gress should attend to now and
not let them “go begging for
months to come.”
Eisenhower declared only six
of the 27 measures he had named
last May as required by the na
tional interest have been enacted
into law so far.
Crowds Jam Galleries
As Senate Convenes
WASHINGTON, UP) — A big
crowd — keenly conscious this
is an election year — turned out
today to see the Senate convene
with the Republican and Demo
cratic Presidential nominees in
the chamber.
Spectators jammed the galler
ies long before the noon hour
when Vice President Nixon, the
Republican nominee, banged his
gavel to open the session.
Sen. Kennedy, the Democratic
nominee, was sitting in his reg
ular place in the back row.
Up front, in an aisle seat, as
Senate Democratic Leader, was
Sen. Johnson, his party’s Vicg
Presidential nominee.
Spectators overflowed the pub
lic galleries, standing and sitting,
on the steps.