Evening star., 1945-12-23

compel all powers 10 adopt a system
which will make great wars improbable.
For in the next war there will be no
victors and probably no ordered govern
ment will survive. There will be only
3ommunes of peasants defending them-
selves with shotguns or pitchforks
against bands of famished survivors
from industrial regions
Nobody wants this to happen, but as
things are. it probably will happen.
There is only one way of preventing 1t,
and that is TO establish a world wide
monopoly of armed force.
So long as there are two or more
sovereign powers, with their own arma-
ments and their own policies, and with
no very great or obvious discrepancy Of
strength. so long great wars are sure
to occur from time to time, whatever
treaties or agreements may be made,
But such is the love of absolute ma
tional sovereignty that the majority in
| every powerful country prefers the pros
| pect of annihilation to the pooling Of
| armed forces which might avert disaster.
Thinking Behind the Times.
The men of science, by discovering
| how to release atomic energy have
| created a new situation, demanding a
! new political outlook. But our imagina-
| tionS and our habits of thou 1T move
more slowly than our technique, and
the slogans that govern our thinking
on international questions are 100 years
behind the times.
| If the politicians of the United States
were men of vision and imagination
they could seize the brief period of their
monopoly of atomic bombs to inaugurate
a new era. They could found con-
federation. open to every power Except
ing Germany and Japan for the present)
on certain terms.
The terms should be as follows:
/. The members should bind them
selves to abstain from aggression and to
resist Jointly any aggression against any
one of the members whether by a men,
Der or by an outside power. A court
should be established to decide quickly
whether aggression had occurred in any
given case.
2. There should be a permanent body
on which every member of the confed-
Grafton should be represented and which
should have the duty of settling disputes
between members ANY member resist
ing such a decision should be deemed
an aggressor The same body should
decide the policy of the confederation
as a whole in the event of a dispute
between a member of the confederation
and an outside power.
Would Control Bomb.
3. The confederation should possess a
powerful armed force to which each
member should contribute on a basis
determined in relation to both popula-
tion and resources. To this armed force
should be intrusted the existing stock
OF atomic bombs, all existing knowledge
as to their manufacture and a right to
claim the necessary raw materials from
any region within the territory of the
confederation. At the same time there
should be an agreed drastic limitation
of national armamentS.
4. Each separate member of the con-
federation should renounce the right to
manufacture atomic bombs This right
should be vested solely in the confedera-
tion as a whole and its armed force.
Sufficient inspectors should be appointed
to insure observance of the provision
and any obstacle put in their way should
constitute an aggressive act,
If such a body were formed under the
leadership of the United States and with
the understanding that powers remain
ing outside would be viewed with suspi-
oio o,,to a.
it is pretty certain that within very
short time it would be joined by great
majority of eligible powers
But what of the powers that might
refuse to join the confederation, at any
rate temporarily? One reason may be
| an unwillingness to admit foreign super
vision by inspectors of their armaments
) and munition works. There might then
be period of hesitation followed by
, acquiescence. If they did not give way
! and join the confederation after there
5 had been time for mature consideration,
conditions for a justifiable war would
: exist.
: United States Could Secure Peace.
The United States might retain it's
present monopoly OF the atomic bOmD
p and undertake to protect against aggres-
sion any powers willing to enter into an
alliance with it and to abstain from
: manufacturing their own atomic bombs.
: In this way. without any surrender of
sovereignty, the United States would
become the leader in bloc which would
be jointly irresistible. The risk of being
called upon actually to fight in defense
. of any power in the bloc would be
negligible since no one would dare to
attack it, In this way America could
, in all likelihood secure both her own
peace and the peace of the world at
, cost immeasurably less than that of
another war.
I know that a powerful section of
opinion in the United States still be-
lieves that America can remain at peace
when great wars break out elsewhere by
the simple process of declaring herself
neutral. Neither the First World War
, nor the second would have occurred il
. it had been known in advance that
, America would take part. In each case
: it was the fear of being involved that
caused America to be involved
> But the mood of the United States
, still favors return to normally and
, a sacrifice of all other considerations to
+ reduction of income tax AS last time,
!, America will march on toward the next
, | mor i, tho firr, heliof fb,t ;c y,,o rel,