The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-11-26
TODAY and TOMORROW
bv WALTER LIPPMANN

and would probably be considered
by the party attacked as a dis
solution of all previous compacts
by which it might be bound"
This is, I submit, very high au-
thority, and the truth that govern
ment begins when it operates on
individuals, is as well tested and
as fundamental principle as any
which exists in the whole field of
law and statecraft.
If we are serious about con-
trolling atomic energy, and about
instituting an authority which
shall for that purpose be superior
to the national sovereignties, then
we cannot ignore this principle,
or brush it aside as novel, inter
esting perhaps, but amateurish.
There Is no other way to abate
national sovereignty except to
bring individual persons within
the jurisdiction of a supernatural
authority. Anything else than that
leaves national sovereignty intact,
and all international law, so-called,
subordinate to, not superior to, the
national state.
I hold, therefore, that in setting
up rules about atomic energy, the
first step to take i to declare
them binding upon individuals. II
that is done, then no government
will have any longer the legal
right to order a citizen to violate
the rules, or to protect him if he
violates them. There will be no
defense, as there is not in the
Nuremberg trial, that the crimes
were done by order of the national
state, which is sovereign, and
that the violator, if apprehended,
is therefore immune.
Obviously, there will still re-
main the grave difficulty of catch
ing and arresting the violators of
the laws about atomic energy. If
the violators were protected by a
great power, it would require
great war in order to arrest them.
But that is equally the case under
Mr.. Eden's plan, or any other sys-
tenn of collective security"
The great advantage of making
a violation an individual crime is
that the violation of the law by a
state planning aggression will then
be much more difficult. Every
scientist. engineer, staff officer
and official who participates in the
violation will be on notice that,
if caught, he will have no i'm
munity. That is an impressive
risk, which would exist for each
one of them not only in the event
that his country was defeated but
also during the period when his
government was preparing for ag-
gresSion.
Furthermore, the fact that the
crime. had been made personal
would mean that the opposition in
any country, the individual scien-
fists or public men who wished to
prevent atomic war, could count
upon a high degree Of protection
from the rlaw-abiding states. 1t
would be difficult to punish them
for refusing to break the law: i'll
their own government sought to
coerce them, their case could at
once be brought before the United
Nations Organization.
How would the aggressor state
defend itself if it were Furnishing
one Of its citizens for refusing to
violate the international law?
Would not such coercion of its own
citizens be prima facie evidence
that it was conspiring against the
peace of the world?
Much more can be said about
the efficiency of this great prin-
ciple than can easid in few
articles. But perhaps enough has
been said to indicate its relevance
and its importance to the momen-
tous inquiry in which the whole
civilized world is now engaged.