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 glass matter October 14, 1943 at the
postoffice at Nome, Alaska, under Act of March 3. 1879
Subscribers not receiving tneir papers by 5:30 p.m. call
Main 125 for special delivery. After 5:30 call Black 102
REHABILITATION WEEK
President Eisenhower in a message to Congress
said:
“We should provide for a progressive expansion
of our rehabilitation resources, and we should act now
so that a sound foundation may be established in 1955.
“My forthcoming budget message will reflect this
objective. Our goal in 1955 is to restore 70,000 disabled
persons to productive lives. This is an increase of
10.000 over the number rehabilitated in 1953. Our goal
for 1956 should be 100,000 rehabilitated persons, or
40.000 persons more than those restored in 1953.
“In 19£6, also, the states should begin to contribute
from their own funds to the cost of rehabilitating these
additional persons. By 1959, with gradually increasing
state participation to the point of equal sharing with
the federal government, we should reach the goal of
200.000 rehabilitated persons each year.”
Governor B. Frank Heintzleman by proclamation
has urged the people of Alaska to observe this week
and urges the mayors of municipalities and other public
officials, leaders of industry and labor, and members of
religious, civic, veterans, fraternal and other organiza
tions to participate actively in this observance.
POLIO
Polio cases are runing lower now than for the cor
responding periods for the last three years, but they
are not lower than in 1950 and 1951, according to the
Public Health Service. However, the Service says that
1957 polio figures are the ones to watch for the results
of polio vaccinations.
Harold Salisbury, who has been contributing poetry to us for the
past two years and .who leaves soon, has submitted the following
tribute to Nome as his last literary contribution while a resident here.
NOME, SWEET NOME!
By HAROLD SALISBURY
They can talk about the beauties that enhanced the Old Home Town,
They can sing ecstatic praises of the rev’ries that abound,
They can laud the virtues of the birth-place that was once their home
And so be it,- it is just because they’ve never been to Nome!
For the scenes that seem to scintillate and make old times renowned
By the passing years are magnified and,by nostalgia crowned
But for homely, rugged beauty,- (trees and fountains overruled),
You can learn, in Nome, of splendor never taught in Memory’s school,
There she reigns o’er tundra stretches that, with vastness, lend an awe
To the rude and violent region whose relentlessness is law,
There she rules the coast embattled by the mighty Bering Sea
Queen of blizzard, calm and tempest, victor in her majesty!
Nowhere lies a town with dowry of dynamic elements
That compares with Nome, whose heritage is brutal elegance
As she flaunts her sparkling armor when the winter war is won
Or displays her shimmering drap’ries as she bows to Summer sun!
Oh, the dear Old Oaken Bucket may be music to recall
But in Nome the bucket’s merry song is pertinent to all
As the mellow incantations of the themes of happy home
Find their highest application when one sings the love of Nome!
For I love the raging blizzard when the bleak degrees are low
And I love the snow drifts scattered by the wanton zero blow
And I love the sunshine’s magic sprinkled o’er the Bering Sea
As October’s diamonds glitter far as grateful eyes can see!
Oh, the honeysuckle drooping o’er the rustic backyard shed
And the lilac bush a-blooming conjure visions in the head
But those scenes are formal,- give me those that jolt from stem to stern
In the shriek of Winter violence or when Autumn sunsets burn!
Or when subtle tints are blowing in the clouds where glories ride
Over Anvil Mountain with the purple shadows on his side
And the downright heartfelt beauty where the powers of Nature roam
Over that terrain tempestuous and the friendly Walls of Nome!
Constitutional Convention Must Allow
For Changing Times and Fast Travel
In Creating Alaska County Structure
By WENDELL G. SCHAEFFER
Public Administration Service
(Continued)
In recent years, many addition
al functions have been entrusted ;
to county boards in suburban
areas—functions that are normal
ly those of municipal govern
ments. This development stems
from the demands for services by
residents who have resisted incor
poration or annexation to munici
pal units. The result has often
been a complete confusion of mu
i nicipal and county activities so
| that few services provided by one
i type of governmental unit are not
; also provided by the other, al
| though perhaps for different peo
| pie.
i Unfortunately, most counties
: lack both the organizational struc
! ture and . unity of a municipal
I corporation. They lack self-gov
i ernment. Hence, they remain es
• sentially an extension of state
government, an extension ill-suit
ed to the performance of state
! functions and ill-adapted to meet
the needs of an urban community
or for local self-government in
^ any community, urban or rural.
Far more significant than all
« the efforts to revamp the county
structure have been the devices
! used to by-pass both county and
i municipality as government units
' through creation of special dis
tricts to levy taxes and perform
: specific government functions. In
J a very real sense, the extent to
! which such districts have been
1 created is a direct measure of the
' inadequacy of existing local gov
, ernmental structures, both county
! and municipal.
If school districts are included,
; many states find themselves sad
! died with five and six thousand
governmental units apart from
cities, counties, or townships. Ev
ery such unit has its officials and
employees, some method for rais
ing revenue, and a program for
expending it. The resulting com
plexities of structure and respon
sibility dake understanding local
government impossible for most
citizens, to say nothing of exer
cising some measure of control
over it.
Consequently, self-government
and the democratic process have
been seriously undermined in
many communities at the local
government level. The problem is
by no means limited to the urban
and more populous states. North
Dakota has nearly 4,000 local gov
ernment units; Minnesota has
over 9,000.
The Problem Facing Alaska
The question of whether Alaska
should have counties is in itself
rather meaningless. The county,
as such, i^ merely a device
through which a few services have
traditionally been performed in
most states. Examination will
show that almost every one of the
so-called county functions is ac
tually performed by some other
governmental unit in one state or
another. In New Jersey the .judi
cial function is performed by a
unified state court, and varieties
on this practice are developing or
advocated in a number of other
states. In most states education is
partially in the hands of city or
independent school districts. In
Virginia and North Carolina all
roads and highways are construct
ed and maintained by a state
highway department, and city
streets are the responsibility of
If you want to
buy, sell or rent
houses, household furniture or
appliances, see
I
George Hite—Main 123
municipalities. City and state po
lice have in many states rendered
the police functions of the county
sheriff almost nil.
There is one basic function that
the county provides, however, that
cannot be overlooked. It makes
possible organized local govern
ment throughout the entire terri
tory of a state. In a few states
there are unorganized counties,
but even these units are attached
to some adjoining county for gov
ernmental services.
The real problems for the Alas
ka Constitutional Convention to
resolve are these:
1. Which functions are best per
formed by the future state and
which by local units of govern
ment.
2. What form of local govern
ment can be created which will
have the advantages of the broad
territorial jurisdiction of the
county while avoiding the evils
that have dogged the footsteps of
the traditional American county?
3. What form of local govern
ment can be created which will
possess adequate legislative auth
ority, administrative unity, and
corporate power to perform effi
ciently all local services while
avoiding the necessity of creating
a host of duplicating and overlap
ping governmental units.
In nearly all states the need to
simplify local government struc
ture has been clearly recognized.
Over the past 15 years, the num
ber of local units has been grad
ually decreasing as various juris
dictions have successfully been
consolidated. It is commonly rec
ognized that the older, traditional
units—counties, townships, and
municipalities—cover too small an
area and are too restricted in their
authority to efficiently adminis
ter the many functions assigned
them in an age of rapid transit
and easy communication. The
trend is significant and points to
a need for a local structure that
avoids duplication of authority
and jurisdictional overlapping.
Stevenson Warns
World’s People
Want Better Living
‘'AUSTIN, Tex., UR—Adlai Stev
enson said Wednesday night that
countless people of the world are
demanding more of the good
things of life, and warned:
“We will not enjoy our own
well-being so long as they hunger.
Perhaps we will not be allowed to
enjoy it if they hunger.”
Stevenson spoke at the Univer
sity of Texas to a crowd of 5,500.
The 1952 Democratic presiden
tial candidate backed a program
of trade and aid in his speech.
He said he was not proposing
“free trade tomorrow” but “we
should recognize once and for all
that we are the great creditor na
tion of the world.”
He said if this country expects
to sell its products abroad, “we
must permit foreign producers to
sell in our market to earn dollars
to buy our products.”
Stevenson also said he wished
there were more talk about the
“durability” of the United States’
prosperity and less on “booms.”
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The vast distances and large
unpopulated areas of Alaska do
not contradict this point, they re
inforce it. The traditional pattern
of American local government
w-as created to serve a population
that moved on horseback or in
horse-drawn carriages, and which
had none of the advantages of
modern communication. In spite
of Alaska’s vast and sparsely pop
ulated territory, it is nevertheless
true that it takes less time to get
from Fairbanks to Anchorage or
from Juneau to Ketchikan than it
does to drive from one side of
Los Angeles to another. True, it
costs more, but operation of a
government, whether state 'or lo
cal, does not require daily com
mutation.
PAN AMERICAN PRESENTS...
A winter schedule to become effective
on October 4, 1955
Lv. Seattle * Flight 903 - DC6B Tuesday 1:00 A.M.
Ar. Fairbanks 5:00 A.M.
Lv. Fairbanks Flight 903 - DC-4 Tuesday 9:33 A.M.
Ar. Nome 11:30 A.M.
Lv. Nome Flight 904 - DC-4 Tuesday 1.30 P.M.
Ar. Fairbanks 5:30 p.M.
Lv. Fairbanks Flight 904 - DC6B Wednesday 3:45 P.M.
Ar. Seattle Wednesday 11:30 P.M.
Please note that all times are local standard for each city.
Round-trip fare Nome to Seattle
Is Now $227.70, Tax Included.
AGAIN PAN AMERICAN HAS TAKEN THE LEAD IN
REDUCING AIR FARES WITH THIS NEWEST 10%
SLASH OF THE NOME-SEATTLE ROUND TRIP FARE.