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Show LL1 l llll I" . I - , f , -TM- , The fight to give statehood to Alaska will be bitter. The affairs of Alaska, on the surface, seem to have little in common with national small business. However, all retailers and newspaper publishers have a big stake in the outcome of the Alaskan Alas-kan statehood bill. The future of America's newsprint supplies and prices hinge on the action. e Newsprint, essential to newspaper news-paper publishing, is practically monopolized by four American companies. They, in turn, apparently appar-ently have understandings, or interlocking in-terlocking ownership, with Canadian Ca-nadian newsprint companies. Newsprint is made from pulp-wood. pulp-wood. Alaska has millons of acres of unused pulpwood forests. For years independent businessmen busi-nessmen have tried to establish a newsprint Industry in the territory, ter-ritory, only to be blocked by bureaucratic directives in Washington. Wash-ington. Alaska is ruled under the organic or-ganic Act of 1870. This sot provides pro-vides that all resources are controlled con-trolled by Washington bureaus. Not a tree can be ont unless permission per-mission is given by Washington bureaucrats. For some unexplained unex-plained reason, even in periods of critical newsprint shortages, the bureaucrats have refused any Alaskan tree being used for newsprint. news-print. 0 0 And, thereby, hangs a tale of continuous opposition to statehood state-hood for Alaska. e As a state, Alaska would take ever control of its resources. Supplies Sup-plies of newsprint from Alaska would break the closely controll- Ied prloe structure. Continual arbitrary newsprint price increases are posing I NU1 raomtlai t Uoalal Salim threat to independent retailers. Successful retailers use newspaper news-paper advertising. The cost of that advertising depends on the price the publisher pays for newsprint. Today flat newsprint is priced, F.O.B. mill, at $120 per ton. In 1947 it was $104; in 1943 $71; in 1940 $60. Charles G. Nichols, National Retail Dry Goods Assn. president, presi-dent, has protested increased newsprint prices. Senator John Sparkman of the Small Business Committee and Emanuel Celler, House Judiciary Committee Chairman, want to re-open a Congressional Con-gressional investigation of this problem. Thus, in Washington, even so simple a matter of giving statehood state-hood to Alaska becomes complex. As one observer states, "It's difficult to take a deep breath in Washington. Ten inhale and some monopoly resents your taking In air which the monopoly believes it should own; you exhale and some bureaucrat resents the interference in-terference with his perogative of Issuing hot air." ooo While the Internal Revenue Dept. figures out new ways to get tax dollars, strange things happen. ooo For example, EC A Bulletin No. 1833 states the Marshall Plan has given another $200,000 worth of tobacco this time to French North Africa. OOO And Washington bureaus arc working out a rubber allocation plan. ooo Bnt wo ship rubber to Comms-nlst Comms-nlst China 2,00 tons in September Septem-ber through the pert of Ban Francisco; Fran-cisco; equal to the entire IMS rubber exports to Bed China. |