The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, February 4, 1949, Page 1

" THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. LXXIL, NO. 11,111 JUNEAU, ALASKA, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1949 - MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTI:S Alaska’s Income Tax Raises TRIAL OF CARDINAL NEARS END e \ Fascination, Skepticism is Result of Hearing Be- hind Iron Curfain (By The Associnted The Hungarian G in inexorably today on Josef Carc nal Mindszenty, one of its I opponents. he world oufsic iron curtain k on w nation and the s cism it re for those strange trials which occur | in Communist lands. | the Cs five judges rnment stood up be- in Budapest and recanied a letter he wrote be- | i fore his arrest last Christmas time; % in which he said that if ever hoj] admitted his guilt to government | charges azainst him it should be put down to “weakness of the esh.” Yesterday, he entered a pica of | “partly guilty” to charges of trea-| § son, espionage and black market dealings, with a special reservat.on that he did not plot to overthrow the government. His letter, disavowing guilty pleas | beforehand, has been dinned into Hungary by the Voice of America radio. In Chicago, Samuel Cardinal Stritch designated Sunday as “Mindszenty Day.” He asked all priests in his archdiocese to set aside the day for prayer for the Hungarian religious leader’s “libera- tion.” The British Foreign Office pro- tested to Hungary against that gov- ernment’s refusal to admit official British observers to the trial. Even the demise of Hungary's op- | position Catholic party was linked to the Mindszenty case. The party’s leader, Istovan Baran- kovics, who fled his country, said in Vienna yesterday the Communists tried to get him to tie the end of the party with the Mindszenty trea- son trial. The sudden death of the party apparently ended the last vestige of organized political opposit.on in Hungary. One of the Hungarian primate's six co-defendants—Duke Paul Ester- hazy—pleaded guilty today to the charges against him. The Duke, one of pre-war Hungary's richest men, was the fourth defendant to plead. e 2-Year-Old Juneau Boy Is Taken South r internationals, Feb. 16 after Karol (® Wirephoto. PAY BOOST PROVIDED IN SENATE BILL | . | Territorial officials and employees would receive a boost in pay under he provisions of Senate Bill 13, introduced yesterday afterncon by Senator Steve McCutcheon. The Bill provides that the fol- lowing officials shall, after April 1, 1949, reccive $8,000 a year: At- orney General, Auditor, Treasur- er, Highway Engineer, Commission- 'r of Labor, Commissioner of Ag- riculture, Commissioner of Mines, Commissioner of Taxation, Director of Public Welfare, Director of Un- employment Compensation Comm ion and Territorial Commissio: Veterans' Affairs. The annual -salaries of chief deruties or chief assistants of the officials listed above would be set at $7,000. The annual salaries of a Territorial employees exce; il other those To Be vflh Mother| SEATTLE, Feb. 4—®—Two-year- old Robert Larson of Juneau, Al kan native boy whose mother i patient in Cushman hospita coma, arrived here by plane day in care of Donald Fester, of the Indian Service in The lag will stay with a family Salem, Ore., while his mother is in the hospital. D The Washington -Merry - Go- Round By DREW PEARSON (Conyright, 1949, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.) —_— ASHINGTON—February 7 has been marked on the State Depart- ment calendar with a red circle. This is the date the diplomats are going to watch to see whether the Russians really want to get along with the USA. On that that the United States, France and Britain begin negotia- tions with Russia for an Aus- irian peace treaty, and the State Department has decided to let these negotiations serve as a barometer of the cold war. 2 So far the Russians have been talking peace but acting tough. While Togliatti in Italy and Com- munist leaders in France have been announcing that Russia can get along with the west, and while Stalin has said he would be will- ing to meet Truman, actually there has not been the slizhtest change in Russian policy. But when the big powers sit working for ind gencies adm spropriat cent over in force on ral Prope reported out by ate Taxation Committee yester- with a lengthy schedule ! amendments. Most impor | tant of se is an Industrial I { centive Clause designed to encou the establishment of new in- ies in the Territory by pro- viding for moratoriums on tax- es on their property for periods up to 10 years after production is started. Referred To Finance Upon the suggestion of Senator Howard Lyng, the Bill was refer- red to the Finance Committee and this brought an immediate protest from Senator Victor C. Rivers, chairman of the Taxation Commit- tee. Senator Lyng announced that he would not. vote on a single tax measure until it has been checked by the Finance Committee. Senator Rivers thought that the Taxation Committee amendments should be adopted or rejected be- fore sending the measure to the Finance Committee. “In that way the committee will have the Bill before it in final {form and can act accordingly,” the Senator said. Senator John Butrovich said that he had no particular objection to the suggested procedure but that it was highly irregular. : “It is illogical to send this bill | to Finance before it is amend- ed as the amendments may make a great difference in the revenues,” ' Senator McCutcheon said. { (Continued on Page Four) (Continued on Page SIX) "The Kennedy Kids, American figure skat Peter, are ready at their Seattle home to take off for Paris and the X T — ing champions, Karel and Liquor Bill Gets Swal, Alaska TFL Alaska’s Territorial Federation of Labor charged today that the Liquor Control Bill introduced in the Lezislature this week would set up its $12.000-a-year administrator as a czar with dictatorial powers. It declared in printed comments that the bill “creates the most pow= erful political board in Alaska.” “It will have the final say over millicns of dcllars,” the comment continued. “It will dish out poli- tlcal plums. With this unlimited power the liquor czar could con- trol night entertainment, gambling and vice. It could become a board of vice payoff.” The Federation statement said C ing c¢f persons handling would put organized labor dictates of a czar.” It all that is wrong sent laws on liquor is haven't been enforced Jutter operators’ playing ics and because the 1947 TWO ARRESTS, MURDER CASE, ANCHORAGE Air Force Master Sergeant Charged with Brufal Slaying of Woman ska, Feb, 4.—P— master sergeants ANCHORAGE, Al Two Air Force | were charged with first degree mir- | ler last night in the brutal slaying of Bertha Sickles, 29-year-old na- ve, whose batlered, nearly nude | sody was discovered in a eulvert by dogs near the outskirts of town yesterday. | The accused sold’ers were Master | Sergeant Lester L. Armagost, 23, formerly of Brookville, Pa., and Staff Sgt. Thomas M. Bashline, 27, Port Allegheny, Pa. i Anclorage police lieutenant vlrafl‘ { Barkdoll, and Lieut, John Goddard, ; of the Army’s office of special in- vestigation, issued a statement that, Armagost signed a confession ad-: mitting beat.ng the woman but, ab- ! solving Bashline of complicity. ey said Bashline had denied having' anything to do with the death. ‘The officers said Armagost ad- mitted arguing w.th the woman be- fore beating her, but that she wa: still alive when he left her. the outskirts of town, across the street from where the body was| found in the culvert. He has been! in the service five years. Bashline| is a veteran of nine years' service, eight of them overseas. Both are stationed at Elmendorf Field, near, here. The vietim formerly lived in S# " dovia and Cordova and worked in} a Bristol Bay salmon cannery dur ing the summers. She had relatives at Tatitlek, Alaska, a small village on Prince William Sound. Police said she was known to them | as a heavy drinker who had served a year in a federal jail on a larceny | conviction. Ween found her body was clad{ only in a T-shirt and an arctic boot.! Armagost was a lumberjack and: Bashline a welder in civilian life. ! — e — t 51 CRASH IN PLANE; i | | CAIRO, Feb. 4—@— Forty-four ‘pas.:ongers escaped unhurt when aj |1 ngined Skymaster carrying h Army technicians crashed islature failed to appropriate for enforcement.” termed the new bill's provis- only four enforcement fficers for the Territory “shock- and argued that restrictions in the bill stitle competition and f P and tend to raise -e> FWS ASKS PUBLIC EXPRESSIONS AT MEETING MONDAY The Fish and Wildlife Service has arranged to hold a public meeting' at 7:30 o'clock on Monday evening in the City Council Cham- bers. The purpose of this meeting is to give all interested sportsmen and others an opportunity to offer suggestions or recommendations re- garding changes in the hunting, trapping and sport-fishing regu- lations for the coming year. With the greatly increased and ever-growing population of Alaska, the protection and perpetuation of Alaska’s wildlife has reached the point where the general public must participate and cooperate in the management of this great nat- ural resource if it is to be saved from extinction, according to Dan H. Ralston, acting director in the absence of Clarence J. Rhode. He urgently requests all inter- ested persons to attend. — e — Chicago averages about 58 snow- falls a year while New York has an average of about 35. jand caught fire at Castel Benito | Airport in Tripoli, airmen arriv.ng | nere said. | The plane, chartered to the ¥ |ish War Office by & |took off from Kha Egyntian Sudan | In London, Skyways, Ltd. captain of the plane was but lthat 51 other persons a.oard 44 passengers and seven Crewmen—ess caped. The dead captain was iden-y tified as R. W. G. Kipeley. Brit- Itd. Anglo oy 1d the g i Armagost, who is married, lives on | - Josef Stalin {iives again this morning when it 1 KILLED :; Peff Mar el | 1 i Actress Patricia Mcrison talks with March of Dimes poster girl, Linda Iris Brown, at annual March of Dimes lunchecn sponsored by the New York Dress Institute for the benefit of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Linda wears her first evening dress—a white organdie creation with rose embroidery. ? Wirephoto. Josef Stalin s Invied fo Confer With President H. S. Truman al, Privaie Home in Independence INDEPENDENCE, Mo, Feb. 4.— (M—Soviet Prime Minister Stalin |is going to get a surprise invitation | when he checks in at the Kremlin teday; an invitation to meet Pres- dent Truman in the home of an ordinary American citizen. The invitation was cabled by James W. Stobaugh, 53, an em- yee of Western Union Tele- wraph Company. It read, in part: “May I respectfully invite you 'to meet with President Truman in House Bill 24, which passed lhe‘my home at 1228 Cedar Avenue, House yesterday afternoon, occupied Independence Mo, a typical Ameri- the attention of the Representa- ..°0 e in the most typical of i American communities? “Fere in this home town of our honored President, away from glit- ter and pomp where the only «rmed force in evidence is the traffic patrcl on the highway, I clieve any and all differences may be sclved.” Stobaugh said sent a similar nvitation to President “Truman, quoting his message to Stalin, Coniidentially, Stobaugh says he doesn’t think the invitations will be accepted. The cable cost him $16.12, wes dragged back into second read- ng, corrections were made in and punctuation and it ed twice more by roll call After the patching had been don» and the Bill again moved nto third reading, it passed by 15- 7 w.th two absent, with the same stion of the emergency was one short of needed for passage y clause, which ns of the Bill into upon approval vote on ad use. he two-th of the ems uls the pro nmediately 5 governor. ey McCu mediately announced int move for reconsideration of vote and Rep. F Ang esked for a call of the bring in the absent members. Speaker McCutcheon then an- e e e o 0 00 000 00 WEATHER REPORT (U. 8. WEATHER BUREAU This data is for 24-hour pe: riod ending 6:30 am. PST. In Juneau—Maximum, 21; minimum, 12. ‘ | M.S. Palisana ine Trouble RULING EXEMPTS OUTSIDE SAILORS FROM INCOME TAX 'Aflorney General |Inter- prets Provisions for Steamship Co. Clarification of reasons for the delayed sailing from Seattle of the | is given in an ex- |change of cablegrams between at- torneys for the Alas Stéamship Ccmpany and Ralph J. R.vers, Ter- ritorial Attorney General. From Stanley B. Long, of Bogzle, Bogle and Gates, Seattle law firm, |the Attorney General,yesterday re- ceived the following telegram: “In accordance with Section 5-B of the Alaska Net Income Tax Act, Alaska Steam withheld the amount required by said act in paying of the crew of the 8.8. Chief Washakie February 2. “Today sailors refused to sign on | | | | | [ agreed in writing that, at termina- tion of voyage, the Company would not withhold any sum under the Act ail with Army lisana scheduled to full load of urgently ne:d cargo, “We therefore request your im- mediate telegraphic opin'on and ad- | vice whether Section 5-B is appli- |cable to seamen employed by Alas- |ka Steam on its vessels operating between Seattle and ports in Alas- ka.” Attorney General Rivers answered as follows: “Section 5-B of the Alaska Income Tax Act levying a tax on employ- ees provides ‘. which tax is to be withheld under Section 8’ Section 8-D, which im- poses withholding .on wages earned in Alaska ‘regardless of. the place where payment is made’ requires in- terpretation as it might affect ship’s personne! who earn part of their voyage pay in Alaska waters. “We hold that such designed to cover seasonal workers who are paid in the states at sea- son’s end, and does not apply to non-resident ship’s personnel on vir- tually continuous travel.” An Associated Press dispatch re- ccived by the Empire this afternoon concerns the above and is as fol- low: Alaska’s new income tax law threatened to halt water-borne shipments from Seattle northward M.S. Palisana unless Alaska Steam| the provisions of| ity new language is ! SAILORS TO FIGHT TAX ONINCOME Other Marivnte_ Unions to Join in Seekirg Restrain- ing Order from Courts SEATTLE, Feb. 4—(® —Protest- ing taxation of Seattle scamen on Alaska trips under a new Alaska income tax law, the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific declared yesterday it will carry the fight to court. The American Federation of La< ‘Lor union, however, indicated last night that its members would resume gning on Alaska ships pending cutcome of court action. Union members earlier had refused to sign on the freighter Palisana Lecause of {the law. Bob Dombroff, newly-electeqd Se- attle agent for the Sailors’ Union safd the union had received assur- ance from the Alaska Steamship Company that tax money collected from seamen in the interim will be held up until April 1. This will give the union time to clarify the law's effect on merchant marinars, Dom- broff said. Other maritime groups, including the masters, mates and pilots' and marine firemen's union, declared | they were solidly behind the S.UP. SEEK RESTRAINING ORDER | Dombroff said S.UP. attorneys {would seek a restraining order to jprevent withholding of 10 per cent of federal withholding taxes paid Ly seamen in the Alaska trade under s oo ko= Lo s The union will establish a test case to determine legality of the tax measure, which Dombroff as- serted, takes “unfair advantage” of merchant seamen whose shps touch Alaska ports. F. A. Zeusler, executive assistant to the president of Alaska Steam- iship Company, said the ship line has asked the Alaska Attorney Gen- jeral for a ruling on the tax law jas it effects merchant seamen. | J. N. Greathopse, port agent for the marine firemen's union, joined with Dombroff in protesting addi- tional taxation of crew members. “It's rotten,” Greathouss dectared. “under this setup a man could sail on a two-year voyage to the Orient when a ship's crew refused to sign articles, but things were ironed out today when the Alaska Steamship Company promised to put the pay- roll deductions in a special fund and not pay it to the Territory. . The law, retroactive to January 1,} provides a tax be levied against all | persons gaining their livelihcod from Alaska, whether they are resi-j dents or not. The tax is 10 per ¢ nt! of the federal withholding tax. First ship to come under the new law was the Chlef Washakie, which arrived Monday. Crew of the Pali- sana, refrigerator vessel fully ladeni with Army cargo and due to sau; tomorrow, refused to sign articles| when ‘they learned of the deduction. They agreed to sail today when the company promised they would set aside the money until. a test of the law’s constitutionality is made. In addition to the income tax, ter-1 ritorial law provides taxes on all| and be taxed Lty Alaska for the en- tire voyage if his ship happened to touch Alaska on the return trip.” FEE o S E R il RUSSIA’S SECRET WEAPON IS ALASKA, DECLARES HERRING By RALPH DIGHTON KODIAK, Alaska, Feb. 4. (#P— - Russa's secret weapon, telieves U. 8. Dep. Marshal Paul Herring, is Alaska, Herring, “the law” in these parts, has been busy for months telling all who will listen that the “fate of the world will shortly hinge on how well the United States can defend Al- aska."” Admittedly no military expert, nounced that he will be absent to- {morrow and unable to move for re- consideration, explaining that he plans a short trip to Anchorage. He asked suspension of the rules and an immediate re-vote upon passage of the Bill and emergency clause. The vote was taken and the Bill was passed, for the third time, and the emergency clause adopted by a 17-7 vote. TRAPPED IN BLAZE, CAA MAN KILLED ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Feb. 4.— (P—While his roommate fled their burning apartment clad in under- clothing, a jammed tathroom win- dow prevented Marshall R. Thrash from escaping death in a blaze that swept their civil aeronautics ad- ministration quarters at Naknek on Wednesday. CAA officials here disclosed the tragedy. They said Thrash, 25 years old, had been stationed at Nak- nek, on Bristol Bay, since 1845. | The roommate, Harry J. Burton,| gyp 0ricrs contended that curb- “wld umcu?ls THEMD's by o M'lm the development of cannery- ‘Dccu')_‘ed v.m;n ::; went past it on ounag fleets would check trend of ‘[mh“aflc:?m.:ebogm'was Somi & Seattle and San Francisco crews m;fuye V‘I“nrash is ysurv:ved by ;:;: t:la’;!ng big- payrolts.put of Shespr: i father, George W. Thrash, of Lake, r__i Miss. (C | Pewer Boat Tax Lively discussion preceded the 17- 7 adoption by the House yes- terday of a bill aimed at pre- venting Alaska canneries from de- velcping their own ower-driven fishing fleets. The measure would impose a tax of $5,000 for each 30-foot or larg- er boat above a total of nine boats soperated by a single owner. Its sponsor, Alfred Owen, Jr., said the purpose of the bill is |“to spread boat ownership among |the citizenry for the benefit of ‘the Territory.” ontinued on Page Eight) At Airport— Maximum -2; minimum, 1. FORECAST (Juneau and Vicinity) Mostly cloudy and not so cold tonizht and Saturday with light snow by Saturday night. Lowest temperature tonight near 20 degrees, PRECIPITATION (Past 24 hours ending 7:30 a.m, today In Juneau City — Trace; ince Feb, 1, .01 inches; since July 1, 56.25 inches, At the Airport Trace; since July 1, 89.27 inches. #0000 00cce00c0cev 00000000 ©e9 0000000000000 00000000000 STOCK o_tigmions NEW YORK, Feb. 4.--(®—Clos- ing quotation of Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 3%, American Can 90, Anaconda 33, Curtiss- Wrizht 8%, International Harvest- er 25%, Kennecott 49, New York Central 11%, Northern Pacific 15%, S. Steel 73, Pound $4.03%. Sales today were 1,060,000 shares. Averages today are as/ follows: industrials 177.92, rails 51.86, util- ities 35. | properties of the steamship com- | Herring bases his concern “on what and warehouses. They plan an early since I came here out of the Navy test of this law, too. The income tax {in World War 1, and on simple law was passed in spe session | logic.” is mow in regular session. ll‘fld people on earth” says Her- aiesih e !ring, “because of long winters and pAN AM {vearn to think, and think straight, or you don't last long. IHURSDAY FllGHISmusm\ is a sober reflection of the ithoughts of most think'ng people Pan American’s flight from Se- R sengers and took 11 southbound. Passengers irom Seattle were: SIR'(IER IERMS Jackson, Reuben Gaine Ralph | Newbury, Hubert Merrick, Bill{ oy Buffington, Walt! Linda Ellis, 1 Pauline Harrington, Solo Gregor, . George V. Green, Marie Green,| WASHINGTON, Feb. 4.—P—The Willard Shaef- United States was reported today fer, Don Shellhorn horn, Dickie Shellnorn iterms for settlement of the dispute To Seattle: Walter Cooper, Flor- |with Soviet Russia over Berlin cur- Gronroos, R. Koah, Mr. and Mrs.| Diplomatic informants said that iDon Bachen, S. H. Dore, Helen the terms are contained in an Am- Suttich, Howard R. White, Chris erican proposal submitted to a panies in Alaska, including docks|I have observed in the territory of the Territorial Leg slature, whichy “Alaskans are among the best- 22 '" 0“ lack of entertainment. Up here you | “I honestly believe my fear of :in the area.” attle yesterday brought in 22 pa | John Bertoson, Clyde Wood, Otis Wilson, Gordon Rottluff, Donna Eilis, Sandra Ellis, | BEle CURRE"(Y Mack Harrington, ! Mrs. Bazil Rhode, Anita Shell- 'to have laid down new and stricter ence Cooper, H. J. Lynch, Harold rency. Hanson. United Nations group of experts.