WANTS FREEDOM OF SHIPS ON ALASKA LIFELINE
The following is a “Letter to
the Editor” reprinted from the
Anchorage Daily News.
Dear Editor:
We have another hearing which
is to be held in Seattle April 8, 9,
and 10 by a committee from Con
gress. For this hearing in the ship
ping troubles, the Seattle Lifeline
Committee has prepared a for
mula for settlement of our per
iodic shipping tieups.
The formula, I believe, is so
fair that for either party not to
accept would indicate to me that
they never had bargained in good
faith nor do they intend to in the
future.
The formula I will quote in full
is what the Lifeline Committee
will present at the Seattle hearing:
(a) That shipping to Alaska
will continue uninterrupted,
based onf company regular sail
ing schedules.
(b> Both labor and manage
ment will agree to abide by de
cisions worked out at end of
either coastwise or local tieups.
(c) Both labor and manage- -
ment will agree that a clause
covering this arrangement shall
become a part of future con
tracts as they come \ip for re
newal.
Last September there were
hearings on air rates at Portland.
Last December there was a fore
man’s strike on the Seattle dock.
Now we have another strike
threat on the Seattle waterfront.
As a positive force for good in
Seattle we have the Lifeline Com
mittee working to find a common
ground for settlement of all ship
ping disputes between Seattle and
Alaska.
I agree and I am sure you will
that transportation is not only
our lifeline but could be called
the blood of our lives. I would
like to say here that last winter
I believe public indignation was
responsible for the strike lasting
only 30 days, whereas they have
averaged 75 days yearly for the
last 18 years.
I am sure none of us has any
quarrel when the working man is
^trying to better his lot or having
the shipping owners more respon
sible to their employes as long as
neither side resorts to forced
physical strength or corporal pun
ishment to force its views regard
I less of any laws set up for set
tlement because we feel our life
line of shipping must not be stop
ped.
We could say, in effect, that our
lifeline must not be bled. It shall
not be bled. I would like to sug
gest a prayer, Mr. Editor. “Oh,
Lord, we do not wish to be bled
white by another prolonged ship
ping strike; all we demand, Oh,
Lord, is to be given the freedom
of our ships be it by land, by
sea or by air.”
Morris G. Reese
Hillside Apt.
Anchorage
P.S. I read in the paper that
we are not ready for statehood
because we have no industries as
yet. This, to me, is like telling
my son and your daughter they
canot get married because they
have no children yet.
Griiening’s 13 Years As Governor
Marked By Controversy, Progress
By JIM HUTCHESON ]
AP Legislative Correspondent ;
JUNEAU, UP)—Governor Ernest
Gruening says he will devote sev
eral weeks to writing a history of
Alaska after he steps out of the
execufive mansion Friday, after a
13-year regime.
The governor said he and Mrs.
Gruening will make their home
at their summer residence on the
Eagle River, a scenic area about
25 miles north of Juneau.
Gruening said he has his his
tory project fairly well outlined
but never has found time to do
the actual writing, ulthough his
publishers have been after him
for 10 years to complete the proj
ect.
Before settling down to their
rustic rural retreat, however, the
Gruenings plan a trip to Wash
■ " ■ - --TV
ington, D.C. They will leave Sun
day—the day they move out of
the executive mansion.
Gruening said he will attend
the House hearing on statehood
for Alaska if he is in Washington
while it is in session.
The transfer of authority has
been, generally, an amicable one.
The governor’s office has been cm
the third floor and Heintzleman’s
on the fourth floor of the federal
building here for many years.
Gruening now age 66, was ap
pointed governor for the first time
by President Roosevelt on Oct. 15,
1939. He has served «ontinuously
since that time.
A former newspaper and maga
zine writer and editor, Gruening
came to Alaska from the director
ship of Territories in the Depart
ment of the Interior.
He has been a controversial ex
ecutive during most of his ad
ministration, with political lines
drawn up on a pro- and anti
Gruening basis as much as, and
sometimes more than, on party
lines.
One of the charges tossed most
frequently was that, as a gover
nor appointed from outside Alas
ka, he was taking too active a
role in territorial political activ
ities. Some of his bitterest foes
were members of the Democratic
party.
The governor often was in the
corridors of the floor on which
the legislative chambers are lo
cated, conferring with Democratic
legislators, during previous ses
sions. But in the session that fol
lowed, in 1951 and 1953, he dis
creetly remained away floor ex
cept when he was summoned for
his session-opening message.
There was a more conciliatory
atmosphere between the governor
and at least part of the Republi
can legislators during the recent
WEATHER FORECAST
Compiled by the
U.S. Dept, of Commerce Weather Bureau
Increasing high cloudiness to
night and Saturday. Winds light
and variable. Lowest temperature
expected tonight 15, high Sat. 35.
Nome data last 24 hours as of
7 a.m. today: High temperature
38, low 15. Max. wind 14 mph
from the east. Sunrise 4:47 a.m.,
sunset 7:72 p.m.
Temperatures a year ago today:
high 26, low 2. Extremes this
date since 1907: high 50 in 1940,
low -24 in 1920.
session—the governor’s swan song
session—although the lawmakers
overrode four of his vetoes and
he tossed in three more vetoes
after the legislators had gone
home.
During one of the issues on
which Gruening clashed with leg
islators during the ’40’s was his
insistent demand for enactment of
what he called “a basic tax struc
ture” for the territory.
His* recommendations were en
acted in the 1949 special' and
regular sessions after deficits led
to freezing of many territorial
appropriations. They included the
territorial income tax, a general
property tax and the business
license tax.
The property tax became in
volved in court challenges and
finally was repealed over the
governor’s veto in the recent ses
sion. The income tax, however,
yielded even beyond expectations
due to the continuing military
construction boom, and as he
leaves office the territorial trea
sury has a surplus estimated at
4 to Wz million dollars at the
biennium’s end.
Alaska Unions Charge
Defense Building
Tieup Causing
U nemployment
FAIRBANKS, UP) — Fairbanks
labor union officials charged on
Wednesday the “confusion” in
Washington is holding up the
Alaska defense construction sea
son and causing widespread un
employment in the territory.
A freeze of defense building in
the Territory was blamed for the
situation. Some contracts have
been cleared but much proposed
construction is tied up and unable
to get underway. The Alaska
building season lasts only about
five months.
“Due to the dilly - dallying in
Washington, valuable days of the
construction season are going to
waste,” said George Davie, busi
ness agent of the Carpenters’
Union. “Even if all the contracts
are cleared now there would be
so much transportation congestion
and other difficulties the work
could not be completed this sum
mer as scheduled.”
Business agents for the plumb
ers, electricians and laborers
unions here all said they have
many construction men on the
lists who are unable to find em
ployment.
ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW
NEW
Hollywood Slacks
Skirts
Formals
INFANTS’
Shoes and Clothing
Children’s — Ladies’
Knee Length Boots
Overshoes for Spring
Yard Goods
Shower Curtains
Work Clothes
AT
CAVOTA’S
The Family Store
t= =s
7 ✓ :
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES
GE WASHING MACHINE GE AUTOMATIC ROASTER
GE MAZDA LAMPS GE VACUUM SWEEPER
GE HOT PLATE THOR GLADIRON
Northern Light & Power Co.
„ .. ' ... .. —«
Made by the Distillers of Famous
Bonded Beam & Carl’s Choice.
vf*> ’■ ; 1 & j|
il . How to stop |l
I , extra wear on gears jjj
■ j j J j mission gears have full '
O v| gears. A special compound in the iKI
mmm lubricant reacts chemically to form a lubricating, ffl||
W&fj: wear-resisting coating on the gear teeth. ,
' RPM Multi-Service Gear Lubricant stands up in p|||
»i | high operating temperatures and is oxidation resis
pj|§Pj tant. It contains an anti-foaming agent that helps l|||||
control expansion and prevent leakage. Ask us ||#1
about RPM Multi-Service Gear Lubricant. -■ t
STANDARD OIL COMPANY
OF CALIFORNIA
DANCING
BOARD OF TRADE
3-PIECE ORCHESTRA
9:30 Saturday Night 1:00