THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME, ALASKA
E. P. BOUCHER . Managing Editor
CLINTON GRAY . Production Manager
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Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943 at the
postoffice at Nome, Alaska, under Act of March 3. 1879
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LOOK HIM STRAIGHT IN THE EYE
BIG VOLUME—SMALL PROFITS
The National Retail Dry Goods Association has re
leased a report covering the 1954 operating experience
of almost 500 department and variety stores.
The first quarter was comparatively poor. Then
improvement set in and was maintained during the final
three quarters. The total 1954 sales volume was very
high.
However, this doesn’t mean that profits also were
high. These retailers earned a net profit, after income
taxes, of only 2.1 percent of sales. In other words,
they could keep only a fraction more than two cents
out of each dollar the customers spent with them. All
the rest went to buy stocks, pay wages and taxes, and to
meet other inescapable costs.
There’s nothing like open competition to hold
prices at a minimum and keep standards of service up—
as American retailng demonstrates.
BIG PRIZE FOR THE TAX COLLECTOR
Headlines the country over were made when, for
the first time, a contestant on the fabulous TV program,
“The $64,000 Question,” risked going all the way to win
the grand prize. Had the winner, a personable young
Marine captain, missed any part of the tough seven-part
final question he would have lost the $32,000, less taxes,
he had already won.
The news reports of ths, of course, said the captain
won $64,000. Actually, however, he won $35,000 or
less. For the federal income tax will take about $29,000
of the prize and any state income tax will be in addition.
The tax collector didn’t have to take the big final
rjsk—and he didn’t have to possess the remarkable
fund of specialized knowledge that made the win possi
ble. But just the same, he will get close to half the
profit! _i
Dulles Pledges U.S.
Help in European
Atom Energy Pool
PARIS, lA*)—U.S. Secretary of
State John Foster Dulles Saturday
pledged American support to a
European nuclear energy pool,
diplomatic informants reported.
The secretary was said to have
thrown America's weight Behind
a new drive for European union in
a series of talks with leaders of a
movement to pool European re
sources for the production of
peaceful industrial power from
nuclear plants.
Dulles, it was said, told them
the U. S. Congress would most
probably amend the nation’s At
omic Energy Act to permit the ex
port of fissionable matter and
secret know-how to a European
pool, but would probably not al
low such exports to individual
countries.
This was reported to be the
message he gave West Germany
Foreign Minister Heinrich von
Brentano, one of the advocates of
a nuclear energy pool. One objec
tion to strictly national atomic
programs is that industrial nu
clear plants produce by-products
of potential use in warfare which
the French would not like to see
in German hands.
Dulles' meeting with Von Bren
tano was his final conference be
fore boarding a plane to the U.S.
The secretary of state came here
for a round of conferences with
the ministers of NATO countries
to assess the implications of the
new cold war in the light of fail
ure of the of the Geneva confer
ence of foreign ministers to reach
any agreement.
—
WOMAN DRIVER FAILS TO
SIGNAL: 10 CARS DAMAGED,
SIX PERSONS INJURED
EL RENO, UD—Oklahoma, A
woman motorist failed to signal a
turn off U.S. 66 near here Sunday.
Net result: six injured, none seri
ously, and $6,000 damage to 10
automobiles.
The first car behind jammed on
the brakes, four others rammed
together; a sixth, swerving to
avoid them, crashed head-on with
a seventh; and two others, slowing
down, were plowed into from the
rear by the 10th.
The woman driver drove on, un
aware of what had happened.
Two Men None the Worse.
For Trek in Frozen Clothes
EDMONTON, Henry Netter
and Rudolph Dickertman of Ed
monton were none the worse to
day for a mile and a half hike in
frozen clothes and in 17-below
weather.
The two men drove their car on
frozen Lake Wabamum, 50 miles
west of Edmonton Sunday to do
some fishing. The car broke thru
into five feet of water, renching
its two occupants. On their way
back for help their clothes froze
solid but doctors said they suf
fered no ill effects.
Convention Votes for People’s Right
To Initiative and Referendum in State
By FLORENCE DOUTHIT «
FAIRBANKS, OP)—Support was I
needed and given Friday in the
Constitutional Convention for the
right of the people to initiate laws
and to vote on those already en
acted.
When the committee dealing
with initiative and referendum
presented its report to the con
vention, floor delegates began to
asking such basic questions as:
Is the initiative and referendum
desirable, needed and workable?
Do these rights fit in with the re
publican form of government?
The fight was not only one
of amending the committee report
granting the people initiative and
referendum but one of saving the
principle of those two privileges.
After an afternoon of debate, a
vote to delete the initiative section
from the Constitution entirely lost
43 to 16. The decision to retain the
referendum right in the constitu
tion won by 42 to 8.
As defined in the committee ar
ticle, initiative is the power of the
people “by petition to propose
laws and to enact or reject such
laws at the polls.” Referendum is
the people’s power “to require by
petition that laws enacted by the
legislature be submitted to the
voters for approval or rejection.”
Those supporting inclusion of
the referendum and initiative used
U.S. and Britain Offer
$70 Million to Egypt
For Super-Dam on Nile.
WASHINGTON UP>—1The United
States and Britain have offered to
give Egypt $70 million to begin
construction on the Nile River of
one of the world’s greatest dams.
The State Department announced
Saturday the two Western powers
had “assured the Egyptian gov
ernment of their support of the
project.”
The offer of $70 million, of
which the U.S. would put up $56
million and Britain 14 million,
was described to be the heart of
the proposition.
The move by the Western pow
ers is designed in part to counter
growing Russian influence in the
Middle East—particularly the sale
of Communist arms to Egypt by
Red Czechoslavakia.
Fine Job Printing at The Nugget
——
»-——
these arguments: it is important
for the legislature to know that
such power exists with the people;
the ultimate trust should be with
the people, not the legislature; it’s
what the people want; 19 states
have granted these powers to the
people with good causej^and initi
ative and referendum represents
progressive government.
Opponents of the people’s right
to initiate and reappraise laws ex
pressed these views: the two sys
tems are cumbersome, costly and
unnecessary when the legislature
is* truly representative of the peo
ple; in the republican form of gov
ernment the voice of the people is
the legislature, and the powers of
initiative and referendum are out
moded ones, instituted 50 years
ago when legislatures functioned
differently than they do now.
The vote indicated the power of
initiative was seriously questioned
but the referendum right was on
pretty sound ground.
One amendment made already
to the committee proposal changed
the percentage of signatures re
quired on an initiative or refer
endum petition from eight to 15.
The vote on this was a tense 25-23.
George Sundborg of Juneau
pointed out that under the 8 per
cent requirement, by current vot
ing strength for governor slightly
over 2,000 signatures would be
needed on the petition. By the 15
percent ruling, 4,000 would be
required.
GLUE POT
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